Psychoacoustics

Traditionally, psychoacoustics is broadly defined as "pertaining to the perception of sound and the production of speech." The abundant research that has been done in the field has focused primarily on the exploration of speech and of the psychological effects of music therapy. Currently, however, there is renewed interest in sound as vibration.

An important distinction is the difference between a psychological and a neurological perception. A song or melody associated with childhood, a teenage romance, or some peak emotional experience creates a memory-based psychological reaction. There is also a physiological response to sounds, however. Slightly detuned tones can cause brain waves to speed up or slow down, for instance. Additionally, soundtracks that are filtered and gated (this is a sophisticated engineering process) create a random sonic event. It triggers an active listening response and thus tonifies the auditory mechanism, including the tiny muscles of the middle ear. As a result, sounds are perceived more accurately, and speech and communication skills improve. While a psychological response may occur with filtered and gated sounds, or detuned tones, the primary effect is physiological, or neurological, in nature.

Research on the neurological component of sound is currently attracting many to the field of psychoacoustics. A growing school of thought - based on the teachings of the French doctor Alfred Tomatis - values the examination of both neurological and psychological effects of resonance and frequencies on the human body.

Thanks to the ground breaking findings of Dr. Tomatis, we have come to understand the extraordinary power of the ear. In addition to its critical functions of communication and balance, the ear's primary purpose is to recycle sound and so recharge our inner batteries. According to Tomatis, the ear's first function in utero is to govern the growth of the rest of the physical organism. After birth, sound is to the nervous system what food is to our physical bodies: Food provides nourishment at the cellular level of the organism, and sound feeds us the electrical impulses that charge the neocortex. Indeed, psychoacoustics cannot be described at all without reference to the man known as the "Einstein of the ear."

In the realm of application-specific music and sound, psychoacoustically-designed soundtracks revolve around the following concepts and techniques: • Resonance (tone) • Entrainment (rhythm) • Sonic Neurotechnologies (highly specialized sound processing) • Intentionality (focused application for specific benefit).

Consider the following: Anything that moves has a vibration. Though invisible, every aspect of our material world at the atomic level moves constantly. Wherever there is motion, there is frequency. Though inaudible at times, all frequencies make a sound. All sounds resonate and can affect one another. In the spectrum of sound - from the movement of atomic particles to the sensory phenomenon we call music - there is a chain of vibration:

• All atomic matter vibrates. • Frequency is the speed at which matter vibrates. • The frequency of vibration creates sound (sometimes inaudible). • Sounds can be molded into music.

This chain explains the omnipresence of sound.

Resonance is the single most important concept in understanding the constructive or destructive role of sound in your life. Entrainment, sympathetic vibration, resonant frequencies, and resonant systems all fall under the rubric of resonance.

Resonance can be broadly defined as "the impact of one vibration on another." Literally, it means "to send again, to echo." To resonate is to "re-sound." Something external sets something else into motion, or changes its vibratory rate. This can have many different effectsÑsome subtle and some not so.

From iceburgs to airport construction to the human body, soundwaves have the capacity to alter, to actually shift frequency. Simply put, sound is a powerful - yet often ignored - medium for change.

Another fascinating and important aspect of resonance is the process of entrainment. Entrainment, in the context of psychoacoustics, concerns changing the rate of brain waves, breaths, or heartbeats from one speed to another through exposure to external, periodic rhythms.

The most common example of entrainment is tapping your feet to the external rhythm of music. Just try keeping your foot or your head still when you are around fun, up-tempo rhythms. You will see that it is almost an involuntary motor response. However, tapping your feet or bopping your head to external rhythms is just the tip of the iceberg. While your feet might be jitterbugging, your nervous system may be getting a terrible case of the jitters!

Rhythmic entrainment is contagious: If the brain doesn't resonate with a rhythm, neither will the breath or heart rate. In this context, rhythm takes on new meanings. Not only is it entertaining, but rhythmic entrainment is a potent sonic tool as well - be it for motor function or other autonomic processes such as brainwave, heart, and breath rates. Alter one pulse (such as brain waves) with music, and the other major pulses (heart and breath) will dutifully follow.

When it comes to the intentional applications of music, the entrainment effect completes the circle of the chain of vibration:

atomic matter --> vibration --> frequency --> sound --> sympathetic vibration (resonance) --> entrainment.

Music alters the performance of the nervous system primarily because of entrainment. Entrainment is the rhythmic manifestation of resonance. With entrainment, a stronger external pulse does not just activate another pulse but actually causes the latter to move out of its own resonant frequency to match it.

Understanding the interlocking concepts of resonance and entrainment enables us to grasp the way external tone and rhythm can heal or create havoc. Sound affects glass and concrete as well as brain waves, motor response, and organic cells.

The following information was found on www.sound-remedies.com