Please forgive an inaugural post from someone who hasn't even read the rules, yet :d
The problem – as I see it – using binaural encoding/entrainment (BEE) to influence a spice journey, is twofold: first, that the entrainment effect lags behind the perception of diminishing frequency binaural sounds by some minutes; and – secondly – that the effect of this lagging transition downward in frequency is increasingly pronounced if the variance from the initial brainwave state is too great or arrived at too abruptly. In simpler terms: if you figure a 20 minute trip, and your normal, waking state is – like most people’s – operating in the Beta frequency levels, then you can’t expect binaural audio encoded at Theta to bring your brainwaves in line for several minutes (this lag effect has not been accurately time-mapped, to my knowledge) - and so it wouldn't work quickly enough. During only 15-20 minutes, the variance from Beta (30 Hz) to Theta (<7 Hz) is too great; and – in my experience – an incongruency at those level would be ignored – or even resisted/repelled – by the brain (“I can’t listen to this droning crap!”). The transition from Beta to Theta has to be relatively slow – like over 20-30 minutes. To do it right you’d need ayahuasca or another, longer-duration tryptamine. I have done this last, in fact, with very positive results.
In my own binaural project, I primarily had three considerations: couldn’t be boring, couldn’t disrupt my ‘normal operating’ head beyond the period of use, and that it had to transcend the merely mechanical (i.e. – be pleasing both creatively and aesthetically, to me). And I was testing for efficacy, or I would have included “has to work”. I satisfied the first condition – not be boring – by including music throughout, and – in order to not contradict the second of my conditions – that it not mess with my head afterwards – I chose Erik Satie’s compositions, because he intended them to be “furniture music” (that is, music that could be readily ignored). And they are that. His works – which are odd and kinda eerie – lack any real tonic chords, melodies, or mnemonic “hooks” to easily register in the listener’s memory. They are like "anti-jingles". That way I wouldn’t risk whistling the tuneage all frikkin’ day, after a week or so of trials. And – thirdly – that it be some sort of artistic experience, rather than the droning, monotonous static that some of the Brainwave Synchronizers and their ilk tend to exhibit.
What I arrived at, after some years of tweaking, is an aural account of the journey of a rainstorm across the globe - departing as shower from a forest in South Carolina; trickling and cascading along a river and through the jungles of the Amazon; falling steadily into Lake Victoria, in Kenya; forming a thunderstorm in the skies above Dondra Head, Sri Lanka; and - finally - as waves breaking against a storm-washed waterfront, in Nice, France. The entire composition is intended to be thematically arranged, and various points of brainwave activity are positioned to correspond with both the ambient, environmental sounds, and with the musical underscoring. The encoding begins at 30 hz (Beta), decreases linearly (in a nearly straight line) over the first half/first two "phases"; then drops within the Theta range (7Hz to 4Hz) through the final two phases, beginning just as the 7th Satie piece starts (the only one not on piano). The encoding is layered in multiple ways: to soften the binaural effect; to counteract unwanted effects (e.g. - Beta is layered over a separate track of Alpha encoding, since using Beta encodes unaccompanied has been suggested to cause anxiety and such); and to provide a "spike" - a separate track/layer using 20 seconds of High Alpha - to trigger a brief pseudo-awakening from the base-level Theta. During the ordinary sleep cycle, emergence into Alpha provides for the recollection of dreams experienced during the shallow sleep state (where Theta predominates) – and I wanted to duplicate this brief, pre-conscious cusp; and thus - possibly - to permit “storage” of the experience, for later recall and consideration. This spike takes advantage of the flip-side of the lagging entrainment effect mentioned above, as there is almost
no lag, for
ascending frequencies (ie - a beta frequency encoded sound will wake your ass up quick, disoriented, and in a cold sweat).
A chart of this audio piece is attached to this message.
I have also recently become aware of the works of Michael Winkelman, in setting up my own project of using BEE to influence psychedelic effects, as he describes the importance of Theta waves at the Global Psychedelic Forum in March of this year, thusly:
{himself initially quoting “Toward a Psychobiology of Transcendence:. God in the Brain,” (Arnold Mandell, 1980); and/or “The Psychobiology of Consciousness” (Davidson and Davidson, 1980)}:
"...'you look at all these different ways of inducing altered states of consciousness, they all basically do the same thing. They produce these synchronized Theta waves'. And it turns out Thetas is a very unique kind of signature wave in the brain. It is never predominate except in altered states of consciousness, it shows up sporadically in dream states... [...] So what this Theta wave production represents is the circuitry that links the paleomammalian brain - the limbic brain...with the reptilian brain...so you've basically got this circuitry that runs between the emotional brain and the behavioral brain; and it's serotonergic circuitry. [...] so it integrates our unconscious into the conscious, and it basically provides a synchronized experience, in terms of the two halves of our frontal cortex...and what altered states of consciousness do is not only synchronize the frontal cortex, it basically make the frontal cortex pay attention to what's happening in the rest of the brain... [
Psychonautica Episode 62 - 36:21.849 to 37:58.436]
Winkelman also writes of Theta waves [from “Shamanism as Neurotheology and Evolutionary Psychology”, in August 2002’s edition of American Behavioral Scientist - available online (as a single paper), at
Diverse procedures for inducing ASCs share physiological commonalities (Mandell, 1980; Winkelman, 1992, 1996, 1997, 2000). This normal brain response is reflected in synchronized brainwave patterns in the theta (3-6 cycles per second[cps]) and slow alpha (6-8 cps) range produced by activation of the limbic brain’s serotonergic circuits to the lower brain. This results in synchronous brainwave discharges across the neuraxis (the nerve bundles linking the hierarchical strata of the brain). These slow wave discharges produce strongly coherent brainwave patterns that synchronize the frontal areas of the brain, integrating nonverbal information into the frontal cortex and producing insight. [online pg 6, print pg 1880]
Wherein he infers the Entrainment phenomenon’s likely mechanism as a ‘mimetic operator’ – that is, as a function of music – described by Winkelman, thusly:
Music induces the theta and alpha brainwave patterns characteristic of ASCs and promotes group cohesion by enhancing synchrony, coordination, and cooperation among group members. Music enhances mutual cognitive and emotional expression through mimesis, the unique human ability to entrain the body to external rhythms, including imitation and dancing. [online, pg 6-7, print pgs 1880-1881]
It is my opinion that the shamanic use of trance/dance/rhythm/chanting is one critical piece of the experiential psychedelic puzzle that is sorely absent for the average stoner. And sound is an omnipresent element of that piece, whether one considers ASC’s link with sound through the etymology/provenance of the modern term "buzzed"; in the sense of spiritual devotees chanting the sacred "Aum" in ecstatic, transcendent unison; or in the account of Dennis McKenna going seemingly batshit crazy on the banks of the Rio Putumayo, after daring to emit a particular, sustained tone whilst tripping heavily on cubensis mushrooms.
I believe sound is one way to induce alterations in brainwave activity, and that binaural encoding is one way to exploit this connection.
My audio is just a pet project, but I would be very interested in hearing any experiences in the use of this audio – whether positive, neutral, or negative – from fellow trippers. It is available for download (after a BS, 60 second nag delay) as a 192 CBR kbps, 99 MB, 70-minute mp3 file at:
Transfer Big Files
And my explanatory notes – of both BEE and this particular audio file – are available as Word 97-2003 documents and Adobe pdf files at
Binaural Encoding / Entrainment (BEE);
document and
pdf
“Reign Oer Me”, Binaurally Encoded Audio with description and timeline;
document and
pdf
Thanks in advance for any feedback/responses –and for tolerating such a long, first screed from a newbie!
dp
"On the other hand, you have different fingers"
