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Jody Hatton

Helpful Dude of the Interwebs

What are binaural beats? What do they do? How do they work?

In 1839, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove discovered that playing a specific tone in one ear, and a slightly different tone in the other ear, created a pulsating or wobbling sound.

Here’s a short video that demonstrates the effect:

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(Of course, Professor Dove used tuning forks, not computer-generated sounds, but the effect was the same!)

What do binaural beats do?

Binaural beats are shown to have a direct influence on brainwaves, allowing the listener to experience different states such as:

  • deep sleep
  • deep meditation
  • relaxation
  • being in the "creative zone"
  • super-learning
  • deep focus
  • alertness.

How do they work?

In the example above, you heard the binaural tone of 3 beats per second. This is a result of your brain (both right and left sides) processing the sound and mixing the audio together.

If you listen to these beats for a few minutes, your brain will synchronize with the beat and start producing more Delta waves.

Here’s a quick explanation of the various states:

Name Frequency Result (when awake) Result (when sleeping)
Delta 0-3.9 Hz Deep meditation Deep dreamless sleep, growth hormone release
Theta 4-7.9 Hz Meditation, "creative zone" Sleep stages 1 & 2
Alpha 8-12.9 Hz Relaxation, learning
Beta 13-40 Hz Alertness; feelings of being busy or stressed
Gamma 40 Hz+ Many theories; more research required

Important:

To experience binaural beats, you MUST wear headphones!

If you play a binaural beat track through regular speakers:

  1. Worst case: you may not hear anything at all (especially if using phone or tablet speakers).
  2. Best case: you’ll hear an acoustic beat, not a binaural beat. The sounds will be mixed before they enter your brain.

More Info

I’ve produced a short series of videos to explain binaural beats, their pros and cons, and various myths associated with the brain. You can watch the first video here.