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Discussion and Explanation of the Writings of Tom Campbell: The Paradigm Changes Here

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:28 pm 
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Tom C. asked me to post a description of how I generate binaural beat frequencies. There might be a better way, but this one works fine for me.

I use a BrainWave generator that can be purchased at http://www.bwgen.com/. Rumor has it that it is also available at various torrent sites, such as www.demonoid.com, as well as at various Usenet newsgroups. There is also a free Gnaural 4.0 generator available from http://gnaural.sourceforge.net/, but I have no experience with that one, as it does not appear to be as flexible as the one I use. BWGen runs on Windows XP and allows you to generate pretty much any wave profile for any duration of time. You also need a good sound card in your computer, capable of generating stereo output. Binaural beats have no effect played through the speakers, so you also need a good, comfortable pair of headphones. In BWGen, you can create so called pre-sets to bring your frequency up or down at a certain rate, adjust the volume, etc., and send the output to your sound card. If you want to listen to your binaural beats on your computer, that is all you need.

If, however, you want to take it with you, you need to capture that sound stream from your sound card and convert it to the format of your choice (*.flac, if you are a hopeless purist and nothing but lossless compression will do for you, *.wav, *.ogg or plain old *.mp3). For that you can use any stream capture software. I use Replay A/V : http://www.applian.com/replay-av/index.php I tried other packages, but for me this is the best one I have seen.

As soon as I get a chance, I will post in this section a description of the pre-set I created according to Tom's suggestions. Good luck.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:23 am 
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Another good Binaural beat generator is SBaGen, which has a simple scripting language and can create WAV files from the scripts for specific durations. Quite a handy tool. It was release under the GNU GPL (free)

[url]http://uazu.net/sbagen/[/url]


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:05 pm 
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I look forward to seeing more info posted to this thread. I just downloaded and installed Gnaural and have it open, but am at a loss as to what to do with it. It's been many years since I have done anything with binaural beats and I've forgotten everything I knew, apparently, lol.

All I'd like to create is a simple looping track with whatever pattern is most likely to facilitate the obe state ... (my son is asking to try this out and I want to give him a little taste of the adventure)


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:01 pm 
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Pilot69, I'm interested in the details of the set you created. I've been experimenting with various tones/beats, using Gnaural.

When I encode as an mp3, for my portable player, what effect does the sample rate have? That is, if I encode at the highest available (48000) can I be fairly sure of good representation? And what about bit rate? 128 vs 256 -- any ideas? VBR vs CBR?

I've been using the empiric method to test -- I transfer a file to the portable player and listen to it, and if I can detect the "beat" then I figure it worked. Is that too simplistic, I wonder?

I noticed something interesting while I was playing with tones. When I got down into the delta range, in the 0.5 to 0.05 area, the beat took on a different effect, it was an effect that I recognized from some TMI recordings that I had used many years ago -- but I had thought the effect was created by altering the volume in each channel to simulate a sound going in a circle around the head. Turns out, that's actually what the delta beats sound like! The slower the frequency, the larger the loop.

Fun stuff!


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:29 pm 
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Just realized some wrong thinking on my part in post above. Hearing a beat doesn't really mean anything, since if the sample rate affects the frequency, then I can still hear a beat, but maybe at the wrong frequency for what I want.

Next goal: to get an EEG in the loop, for immediate objective feedback... anyone else go down that path already?


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:01 pm 
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Forgot to post this other question I had: what affect, if any, might the right-left polarity of the signal have? Since people tend to be more dependent on one hemisphere over the other, I imagine that this would play a role in how the brain processes the signals. In Gnaural, there's a checkbox for switching the channels, and I've tried swapping them back and forth, but of course it's hard to tell if it matters (without an EEG, that is).


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:31 am 
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[quote="daka"]Pilot69, I'm interested in the details of the set you created. I've been experimenting with various tones/beats, using Gnaural.

When I encode as an mp3, for my portable player, what effect does the sample rate have?[/quote]

The output of the MP3 compression algorithm at a higher sampling rate will give you a bigger file and a better representation of a waveform. It would mostly matter for higher harmonics, but for the base frequency of 100Hz I used (as suggested by Tom C.), 128 vs. 256 does not really matter.

[quote="daka"]That is, if I encode at the highest available (48000) can I be fairly sure of good representation? And what about bit rate? 128 vs 256 -- any ideas? VBR vs CBR?[/quote]

At 48 Khz base frequency, you are going to drive all the bats and the dolphins in the neighbourhood crazy :~), and I am not sure what effect prolonged exposure to the ultrasound has on the human body. Again, Tom C. suggests using 100 Hz as base. You can set the left channel to generate 100 Hz, and the right channel to generate 120 Hz, dropping over to 103.78 Hz over, say 8.11 minutes (or 1 Hz per minute), which would give you the binaural beat going from 20 Hz to 3.78 Hz. This should also answer your VBR vs. CBR question. You want to latch on to your typical awareness brain wave frequency of 20 Hz, and gradually bring it down to just below the theta region (3.78 Hz).

[quote="daka"]I've been using the empiric method to test -- I transfer a file to the portable player and listen to it, and if I can detect the "beat" then I figure it worked. Is that too simplistic, I wonder?[/quote]

I would need to know the details of how you create this file to answer this question.

[quote="daka"]I noticed something interesting while I was playing with tones. When I got down into the delta range, in the 0.5 to 0.05 area, the beat took on a different effect, it was an effect that I recognized from some TMI recordings that I had used many years ago -- but I had thought the effect was created by altering the volume in each channel to simulate a sound going in a circle around the head. Turns out, that's actually what the delta beats sound like! The slower the frequency, the larger the loop.[/quote]

I can't comment on that, sorry, never tried to go that low into the delta region.

[quote="daka"]Fun stuff![/quote]

I hope this helps. If you need more information, you can e-mail me, and I will send you my pre-sets, but I use BWGen, not Gnaural.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:49 am 
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[quote="daka"]Forgot to post this other question I had: what affect, if any, might the right-left polarity of the signal have? Since people tend to be more dependent on one hemisphere over the other, I imagine that this would play a role in how the brain processes the signals. In Gnaural, there's a checkbox for switching the channels, and I've tried swapping them back and forth, but of course it's hard to tell if it matters (without an EEG, that is).[/quote]

Daka, the right hemisphere (subconscious, connected to the left ear) processes a lot more information, and typically operates at a higher frequency than the left hemisphere (“rational“ thinking, connected to the right ear). So, I put the lower channel into the left ear and the higher channel into the right ear to sort of get them to meet in the middle. But I am not an authority on that subject and this is not to say that this is the right or the only way of doing it. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 9:58 am 
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I hope you don't mind me butting in here. I downloaded the bwgen onto my mac and will be trying the different schemes you recommnd. So far it makes total sense to me. Your information is appreciated. The different tones come in very clear and crisp. In fact, I think more so than the little Muse Photosonix I have. I will be keeping in touch once I get it figured out or if I have quetions maybe I talk to the experts.
Thanks, Larry


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:05 pm 
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[quote="Pilot69"]
Daka, the right hemisphere (subconscious, connected to the left ear) processes a lot more information, and typically operates at a higher frequency than the left hemisphere (“rational“ thinking, connected to the right ear). So, I put the lower channel into the left ear and the higher channel into the right ear to sort of get them to meet in the middle. But I am not an authority on that subject and this is not to say that this is the right or the only way of doing it. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.[/quote]

OK, that's enough of a rationale for me to go along with.

BTW, here is an interesting visual test to supposedly see whether one's right vs. left hemisphere is dominant:

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0 ... om=mostpop

I briefly played with various audio/binaural signals while watching the animation, to see if there was influence, but I simply did not spend enough time/attention on it yet -- but could be fun for other intrepid explorers to play with.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:12 pm 
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[quote="Pilot69"]
Again, Tom C. suggests using 100 Hz as base. You can set the left channel to generate 100 Hz, and the right channel to generate 120 Hz, dropping over to 103.78 Hz over, say 8.11 minutes (or 1 Hz per minute), which would give you the binaural beat going from 20 Hz to 3.78 Hz. This should also answer your VBR vs. CBR question. You want to latch on to your typical awareness brain wave frequency of 20 Hz, and gradually bring it down to just below the theta region (3.78 Hz).[/quote]

Thanks Pilot69, this helps a lot. Ironically, I had already settled upon 100Hz as the base frequency, just because it was the most comfortable for me.

Is it true that the initial frequency must "latch" on to the brain's working frequency at the time, in order to facilitate the so-called entrainment? If one started with a, for example, 4Hz beat, would it just take longer than if one gradually brings it down, or does it simply not make the quantum leap at all?

In any case, I will try using the specs you describe above, thanks very much.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 10:53 pm 
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Daka,

The ramping down from 20Hz to 4 Hz, then staying at 4Hz for as time, then ramping back up to 20 Hz is a good way to start. Like training wheels on a kid’s bike. Eventually the 20 - 4 - -20 sequence becomes 10 - 4 - 10; next the time spent in transition between 10 and 4 gets shorter and shorter and then eventually it is just 4 (no transition is necessary). Finally it is nothing at all (0Hz) as the training wheels come off entirely and you are on your own ( no aids, no devices) with an ability to create a steady vibration state in 2 seconds or less any time you want to day or night under most any environmental conditions you find yourself in.

Most people who try to avoid the training wheels stages by leaping directly to the endgame end up out of the game altogether. Everyone is different -- start at a place and go at a pace that optimizes your learning rate. You may have to do some experimentation over several months to find that place and pace.

By the time you outgrow the need for binaural beats, they are becoming a trap. They put you up like a tethered blimp — stuck at the end of the rope.

You have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run — only much later do you win a prize at the county fair for running superbly. Don't begrudge not being where you would like to be (an ego issue), just start from wherever you are and learn.

Tom C


Last edited by twcjr on Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:56 am 
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Daka,

I can add from my experience that the effectiveness of entraining depends on the volume. Tom C. suggests 7, if your volume scale is 0 to 10.

It also helps if your player has an equalizer, because you can then set all the higher harmonics above 120Hz to zero. This way you will not be destructed by the sound the equalizer produces otherwise in those bands, even if there is no signal there.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:21 pm 
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Pilot69 -- regarding volume, it's hard to calculate except that when I record to mp3, I'm setting the recording volume at -15db, which works for the portable mp3 player that I'm using (puts it in a mid-range). I have found that I prefer to not have any "noise" background, just the tone. Also, the equalizer option on my player is not very sophisticated, just gives various presets (rock, jazz, etc) and I choose whichever one is most comfortable to listen to, often the "bass" on since it emphasizes the lower frequencies, which I guess is the goal.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:50 pm 
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The title of this thread seems like it'd make an appropriate sub-section -- I want to start a discussion of EEG devices, but not sure where it might go best.


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