Two separate sound tones are directed into human ears, one into the left and one into the right. The difference in frequency between the two tones generates a third frequency that cannot be heard by the human ear; rather, it vibrates within the brain. In response, brainwaves of the same order are generated, leading the brain to establish a corresponding mental state.
At this Open Haus, Soundwalk Collective offers possibilities for just such entrainment with a curated selection of binaural sound frequencies. Each frequency has been individually spatialized such that the sound travels in accordance with its wavelength to produce an immersive experience for body, mind and soul. Throughout the day, guests will encounter 12 binaural beats.
The frequencies were created by Soundwalk Collective as a result of their extended research into the relationship between sound and brain behavior. Some are said to correspond to states of profound meditation or euphoria; others are associated with the Earth, the Sun, or with particular regions of the body. In this collective listening practice visitors are invited to explore and question these propositions.
The work is rooted in a method scientifically described as the Frequency Following Response, first studied in 1839 by the Prussian physicist, meteorologist and experimenter Heinrich Wilhelm Dove and later advanced by Dr. Gerald Oster of the Mt. Sinai Medical Centre after laying dormant for 134 years. Further research by Robert Monroe at the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences has shown that the entrainment response does not occur exclusively in the area of the brain responsible for hearing or even just in one hemisphere at a time, but rather that the entire brain resonates in unison. Indeed, the waveforms of both hemispheres exhibit identical amplitude, phase and coherence once signaled by the frequency.
Frequency Following Response is presented in collaboration with AlphaTheta. A leader in sound technology since 1994, AlphaTheta is named for the brainwaves emitted in the state of flow.