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Maybe you have already heard some music specially designed to vibrate at a specific frequency, inducing certain moods and consciousness. In this article we tell you a little more about this trend, the history behind this type of music, and why it could be beneficial for us.
You have probably already heard about the effect that music has on the cells of our body, through viral videos that show the ways in which water molecules are organized when exposed to different styles of music. What you may not have known is the relationship this has with sound frequencies, whose effect on our organism has been studied for decades with extremely interesting results.
SONIC WATER CYMATICS LABORATORY STUDIES OF VISIBLE SOUND AND VIBRATIONS. An interactive installation by Sven Meyer (Elfenmaschine & kymat.de) Kim Pörksen (PIECE OF CAKE).
What are frequencies? Generally speaking, we can define frequencies as the measure of the number of repetitions of a phenomenon per unit of time. In the case of sound, these are wave patterns in which the frequency indicates the number of cycles of the repetitive wave per second. Frequencies are usually measured in Hertz (Hz) in honor of the physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, who discovered the photoelectric effect, the propagation of electromagnetic waves and the ways to produce and detect them.
As you may know, all matter vibrates, since the atoms that make up the different molecules of everything we can perceive are constantly vibrating against each other, generating their own vibrational frequency. And it is here that science and music find, once again, a space for joint exploration.
In 1988, biochemist Dr. Glen Rein, M.D., discovered something that resonated with ancient traditions by testing the impact of different musical styles on human DNA.
By exposing vials of identical human DNA to four types of music of different frequencies (Gregorian chant, Sanskrit chant, classical music and rock), Rein found that the rate of ultraviolet light absorption – an essential function of healthy DNA – increased by 5% to 9% in samples exposed to Gregorian and Sanskrit chant. This indicates that exposure to these styles of music may have a healing effect on the human organism.
A couple of decades earlier, the physicist Winifried Otto Schumann mathematically documented what he called the heartbeat of the earth, which has since become known as the Schumann resonance. This is the electromagnetic resonances that exist at the surface of the earth and the ionosphere, which is electrically charged from lightning discharges that have a low resonance of between 7.86 and 8 Hz.
Later, Herbert Konig took the study a step further by studying the connection between Schumann resonances and the human brain, discovering that the earth’s heartbeat coincides with different levels of human brain activity. Konig noticed that the resonances coincided with five different states of these waves: delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma, states that occur spontaneously during our daily lives, from sleep to states of creation or learning.
We are already seeing that the relationship between the frequencies at which our brain vibrates correlates with the vibrational frequency of the earth, but how does this relate to music? To go more deeply into this, let’s talk about Solfeggio frequencies.
Solfeggio frequencies originated in the 11th century with the music theorist Guido d’Arezzo, who developed an ascending musical scale that was later studied and named by Joseph Puleo in the 1970s. Puleo’s studies demonstrated that the musical tones that make up this scale have measurable effects that restore balance and well-being to the human body.
Now, what are the Solfeggio frequencies and effects studied? There is varied information between 6 and 9 different frequencies, which are: 174 Hz, 285 Hz, 396 Hz, 417 Hz, 528 Hz, 639 Hz, 741 Hz, 852 Hz, and 936 Hz. The effects range from being vibrations that decrease pain, help in tissue regeneration, reduce unconscious defense mechanisms, release trauma, increase energy and consciousness, facilitate communication with others, and integrate the activity of the two hemispheres of the brain, among many others.
Thus, lines of musical creation have been developed that seek to generate sounds of these frequencies, to achieve the desired effects on the listener. Electronic music has been one of the main styles that have facilitated this type of work, since the use of technologies and equipment can achieve greater degrees of precision.
Something similar happens with binaural sounds, which have proven to have beneficial effects on sleep and memory, among others. Binaural sound can be defined as an illusion of auditory processing, which is what happens when we hear a different acoustic frequency in each ear through headphones, but the brain perceives it as a single frequency. The perceived frequency is the difference between the two frequencies heard. For example, if we hear a frequency of 325 Hz in the right earphone and 315 Hz in the left earphone, the binaural rhythm will be 10 Hz, and our brain will perceive a low-frequency rhythm resulting from the composition of two different sounds. But be careful, if the difference between both frequencies exceeds 40 Hz, our brain will perceive them as different and the desired effect will no longer occur.
The benefits of binaural sound occur when the brain responds to this sound perception by altering neuronal waves, tuning to frequencies that can be related to states of well-being and relaxation. For example, delta waves (between 0.5 and 3 Hz) are the slowest, and have been associated with deep sleep states, so binaural delta sound is very relaxing and can induce sleep states. Beta waves (between 12 and 38 Hz) correspond to the state of active thinking and wakefulness, so beta binaural sound has proven to be useful to increase cognitive performance, improve mood and long-term memory.
Because of all of the above, music emerges as a tool not only for artistic and cultural purposes, but also for personal work and scientific research in ways we might not even have imagined. What are you waiting for to try the effect these frequencies can have on your own mood and consciousness?
