“God is a frequency. Stay tuned.”
Frequency
The term frequency has been a buzz word for many years now. Phrases like raise your vibration, sound healing and similar concepts are thrown about with abandon. The challenge of course is that not all frequencies are empowering. Sonic weapons focusing on specific harmful frequencies have been used randomly including recently at Standing Rock. When a person tells me they are "raising their vibration" my normal response is, what is the purpose and to what specific frequency exactly?
Therein lies the quandry.
The scientific definition of frequency in the most general sense is, frequency is defined as the number of times an event occurs per unit of time. In physics and chemistry, the term frequency is most often applied to waves, including light, sound, and radio. Frequency is the number of times a point on a wave passes a fixed reference point in one second.
An audio frequency (abbreviation: AF) or audible frequency is a periodic vibration whose frequency is in the band audible to the average human. The SI unit of audio frequency is the hertz (Hz). It is the property of sound that most determines pitch
The generally accepted standard range of audible frequencies for humans is 20 to 20,000 Hz, although the range of frequencies individuals hear is greatly influenced by environmental factors. In air at atmospheric pressure, these represent sound waves with wave lengths of 17 meters to 1.7 cm. Frequencies below 20 Hz are generally felt rather than heard, assuming the amplitude of the vibration is great enough. High frequencies are the first to be affected by hearing loss due to age or prolonged exposure to very loud noises.(source: wikipedia)
In respect of sound it is possible to conclude the following from the above:
1) Delta, Theta, Alpha and most of Beta need to be felt as they occur outside the range of human hearing.
2) Gamma is the only brainwave frequency that can be heard. In neuroscience it is thought that Gamma waves are involved in processing more complex tasks in addition to healthy cognitive functioning.
Binaurals.
Anyone who has explored frequency as a healing device will inevitably come across Binaural Beats. A binaural beat is effectively an auditory illusion perceived when two different pure-tone sine waves, both with frequencies lower than 1500 Hz, with less than a 40 Hz difference between them, are presented to a listener dichotically (one through each ear). They have been claimed to decrease anxiety, focus attention, improve memory, improve mood and emotional states, enhance creativity, reduce pain, help with meditation, enhance cognitive flexibility, improve sleep quality and so on. Many years ago I experimented heavily with this idea in both my recordings and live sets under the concept of "frequency differentials" whilst studying songs of whales and dolphins. After exhaustive experimentation, it led me to a conclusion that today remains unpopular, quite simply, binaurals do not work as claimed.
Everyone knows that binaural believers cherry pick scientific research that shows binaurals are effective. However, in a research paper released in 2015, the following consclusion was arrived at:
Furthermore, a Harvard study was unable to reproduce the binaural effect utilizing analogue headphones, the implication being that the binaural response is electromagnetic in nature.
May I add at this juncture, if listening to two pure sine wives helps a person relax then I for one encourage it, however, my challenge with binaurals are a lot of money is being made under demonstrably false pretences.
Vibrational Medicine
In new age communities across the globe, sound healers are making bold claims. From Tibetan Bells to gongs, crystal bowls to modern keyboards, "sound baths" that apparently heal people are de rigeur. Where I live in Encinitas for example, weekly sound healing events are commonplace.
Let me make myself very clear at this point, I have devoted my entire life to understanding frequency, its impact on the human body and I feel that there are specific frequencies that have the potential to heal. However, that statement has a caveat, not all frequencies are equal.
Some years ago when I lived in Arizona, I was lucky enough to speak with a medicine man from the Navajo Tribe. I was seeking to understand the importance of rhythm, tempo and frequency in healing ceremonies. At one point towards the end of the conversation, I asked, "what happens if you get a word wrong, or a drummer plays the incorrect rhythm"? I was informed the ceremony would be halted immediately, such was the importance of the specificity of frequency and rhythm.
In this moment I learned something quite profound because I was being given information from an elder who had spent his life in training and in service, not a 21 year old who has decided they are going to call themselves "shaman" in order to make money.
There are many aspects of cultural appropriation I personally find a shame. Perhaps the most ergregious example is the wanton abuse of the term "shaman" or its feminine equivalent (and this applies to all indigenous healing facilitors).
The meditative quality of music is known, and that alone can have a powerful destressor effect on a person, however, there is a huge difference between using music to get into a meditative state and claiming that this music, and equally as importantly, the "sound healer" and not the meditative effect, is the cause of any well being that may be felt.
“There’s no scientific published peer reviewed paper that supports any of these claims. These are all cool claims. It would be nice if some of them were true. But there’s no science whatsoever that supports any of these claims.” - Chris Kyriakis USC
Music relaxes, a very important element of the healing process, however, it does not heal. When scientists llike Tesla and Einstein referred to "sound" being the medicine of the future, they, quite understandably, were not referring to a 4 minute throwaway piece of commercial pop music, they as scientists were alluding to specificity.
This is further reinforced by many scientific researchers. The remarkable discoveries made by MIT in respect of Alzheimers and 40 HZ (I do feel their frequency is slightly off) is one of many monumental shifts in the publics perception of the validity of Tesla and Einstein`s statements pertaining to sound.