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Re: Binaural Beats



> ....................................... However, if you listen to this
patch
> through headphones - so that the two tones never have an opportunity
> to interfere mathematically, electrically, or in the air - you still
> hear the beats! This phenomenon, known as binaural beats is caused by
> "interference" occurring in the nervous system. Although such
> interference is of a very different physical nature than the
> interference of sound waves in the air, we experience it as similar.

Exactly! Its a whole different thing from beats that are generated when two
similar tones are played in the air. With headphones on there is no physical
interference of the tones and it is purely a neural effect that causes the
perceived beating, so it is not just a case of combining two similar sines
in a  wave editor and seeing the beating pattern!

It causes, as I understand, a change in the actual frequency of your brain
waves tending them towards the frequency of the perceived beating. That's
why it is sometimes used for meditation as you can use it to slow down your
brain waves (which is what some of these 'brain machine' relaxation devices
try to do). The guy running the experiment is actually attempting to make a
musical  instrument that reads your brain waves and uses their frequency to
control sound. After some practise you can control the frequency of your
brain waves to some degree and it is this that he is investigating with the
experiment. Direct brain control of a complex synthesis system? Now that
could be good.

Kingsley

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