Inducing brain state via music

[cloudyday2]

When I am depressed I have noticed that the rhythm in certain music that I ordinarily like sounds out-of-sync so that I can't stand to listen to it. I started googling and found things like binaural beats and audio treatments for feral cats and alpha/beta/theta states.

Does anybody have some insights into these things? I suppose the same thing might be true of periodicity in visual stimuli.

(I am posting in this forum, because these techniques seem to be popular among spiritual people as an aid to meditation.)

 

[TheOldWays]

beats can alter your brain state for sure. I used to practice a bit of shamanism and would use a drum beat to journey to the otherworld to chat with my spirit animal. was pretty intense what adding this constant rhythm could do to your brain in that meditative/trance like state.

 

[Robban]

When I am depressed I have noticed that the rhythm in certain music that I ordinarily like sounds out-of-sync so that I can't stand to listen to it. I started googling and found things like binaural beats and audio treatments for feral cats and alpha/beta/theta states.

Does anybody have some insights into these things? I suppose the same thing might be true of periodicity in visual stimuli.

(I am posting in this forum, because these techniques seem to be popular among spiritual people as an aid to meditation.)

There are songs and music that are only five minutes wonders, then there are so called evergreens.

songs and music can be used in many ways,

I don,t watch films, I think they are silly, specially if you pay attention to the background music,

all to affect the mind,

Military music can be used to muster a people for battle.

As old ways said the monotonous beating of drums,

It can be very seductive, "Horst Wessel" is one.

I have never been dependent on music for any reason.

But as it is now I have disturbing nieghbours,
so to solve that I bought wireless headphones,

first I played mostly thunderstorms but now am finding more music,

Unfortunately that is how it is,

 

[cloudyday2]

Does anybody else notice that your experience of the rhythms of songs varies with mood? There are songs that I normally enjoy that become extremely irritating when I'm depressed. I feel like the drummer is deliberately making the rhythm wrong to annoy me, and I wonder why I thought the song was pleasant.

I think this is a clue to depression. There must be something going on in the brain's processing of sound.

Maybe a person could start with a rhythm that is compatible with the brain in its current state and gradually adjust the frequency of that rhythm to nudge the brain into the desired state.

A person might also use this method to make the brain ready to go to sleep at night. I sometimes have trouble getting to sleep.

 

[Robban]

Does anybody else notice that your experience of the rhythms of songs varies with mood? There are songs that I normally enjoy that become extremely irritating when I'm depressed. I feel like the drummer is deliberately making the rhythm wrong to annoy me, and I wonder why I thought the song was pleasant.

I think this is a clue to depression. There must be something going on in the brain's processing of sound.

Maybe a person could start with a rhythm that is compatible with the brain in its current state and gradually adjust the frequency of that rhythm to nudge the brain into the desired state.

A person might also use this method to make the brain ready to go to sleep at night. I sometimes have trouble getting to sleep.

Or it could be you are not in the mood for listening to it
just then, or you have gotten tired of it,

There is a time for everything, or so it goes.

I don.t know what depression is, same with a lot stuff, nowdays mostly called by abbreviations.

I don,t know of course but I have a feeling that some if not many focus too much on what someone has said have.

 

[cloudyday2]

Or it could be you are not in the mood for listening to it
just then, or you have gotten tired of it,

There is a time for everything, or so it goes.

I don.t know what depression is, same with a lot stuff, nowdays mostly called by abbreviations.

I don,t know of course but I have a feeling that some if not many focus too much on what someone has said have.

Yeah, sometimes I think the mental illnesses are overemphasized. I suspect that nutrition might be a factor too. In the past people ate a lot more vegetables. About 40% of the people in the US have the MTHFR mutation. Normally the mutation doesn't matter, but when you eat processed food like breakfast cereal you can't digest some of the B vitamins. So you don't get enough B vitamins, and those important for the brain. If you eat vegetables then it isn't a problem. That's one possible reason why everybody seems to have brain problems lately. Plus we are just eating junk food too much. IDK

But I agree that a lot of this is probably pharmaceutical companies trying to sell their latest snake oil to people.

 

[cloudyday2]

beats can alter your brain state for sure. I used to practice a bit of shamanism and would use a drum beat to journey to the otherworld to chat with my spirit animal. was pretty intense what adding this constant rhythm could do to your brain in that meditative/trance like state.

Here is an article I just found that compares different methods of brain entrainment. Apparently the best method is visually through flashing lights. The binaural beats that I always hear about are the least effective. The most effective audio method is isochronic tones. I don't know about the shamanic drumming. The brains states seem to be on the order of 10 Hz, so that is faster than a musical rhythm.

BTW I have a flickering fluorescent light above my desk, and I suspect that might be entraining my brain to a unhealthy frequency.

Here is an example of isochronic tones. I haven't tried it yet, so I don't endorse it LOL:

 

[cloudyday2]

^ Here is a shamanic drumming video that I like much better than that isochronic tone. It probably isn't authentic shamans though. I can't find any that are authentic. Maybe it is not something they like to share for religious reasons.

 

[TheOldWays]

I used this video all the time. The guy explains what shamanistic journeying is all about then around the 2 to 3 min mark he hits the drum for 15 mins or so.

 

[cloudyday2]

I used this video all the time. The guy explains what shamanistic journeying is all about then around the 2 to 3 min mark he hits the drum for 15 mins or so.

Thanks, that one seems to get me into a somewhat meditative state. I tried to imagine the desired surrounding, but it wouldn't work. I seemed to see glimpses of a very pretty animal sitting behind a tree trunk looking at me, so that was something. Mostly I saw what a person typically sees with their eyes closed - darkness with little bits of amorphous light.

Probably it works better when a person is practiced. I do feel more relaxed, so that is the theta waves at 4-7 Hz

 

[Robban]

Thanks, that one seems to get me into a somewhat meditative state. I tried to imagine the desired surrounding, but it wouldn't work. I seemed to see glimpses of a very pretty animal sitting behind a tree trunk looking at me, so that was something. Mostly I saw what a person typically sees with their eyes closed - darkness with little bits of amorphous light.

Probably it works better when a person is practiced. I do feel more relaxed, so that is the theta waves at 4-7 Hz

What to you seek to meditate on?

 

[Robban]

What to you seek to meditate on?

Maybe meditate on when the best time would be to
replace that flickering light with one that works.
haha.

 

[cloudyday2]

Maybe meditate on when the best time would be to
replace that flickering light with one that works.
haha.

Hmmm. That is too practical. LOL

 

[Robban]

Hmmm. That is too practical. LOL

I meditate a lot,
I meditate on His wonders in my past,
up to the presemt moment,

You too have a past,

If He has got us this far, then we can be sure He will finish the job.

But, you may have been a good little boy,

 

[MehGuy]

Can't say binaural beats have done anything for me. Seems like a gimmick for the most part.

Although I do feel spiritual trances from music. Especially from repetitive minimalist music. One of the reasons I love the black metal genre so much.

 

[cloudyday2]

I meditate a lot,
I meditate on His wonders in my past,
up to the presemt moment,

You too have a past,

If He has got us this far, then we can be sure He will finish the job.

But, you may have been a good little boy,

I haven't meditated much, so I meditate on that itch on the end of my nose that won't go away. LOL

Mostly all I am seeking to achieve is a trance state. In the past I would stare at something until I am aware of everything - all the shadows in my entire field of view and all the humming sounds in the quiet that I normally don't notice. It's very exciting to hear and see all those tiny details.

I guess that isn't meditation technically. I don't do all the thought control and breathing that I hear about. I just like the trance feeling.

 

[dlamberth]

That's weird. Double post. Sorry

 

[dlamberth]

For Journeying I use this that also came as an mp3 with the CD on Sandra Ingerman's book "Awakening to the Spirit World".

 

[cloudyday2]

Can't say binaural beats have done anything for me. Seems like a gimmick for the most part.

Although I do feel spiritual trances from music. Especially from repetitive minimalist music. One of the reasons I love the black metal genre so much.

The drumming @TheOldWays linked in post #9 is interesting. There are a lot of secondary sounds in the drum that sound like birds and things.

 

[Robban]

I haven't meditated much, so I meditate on that itch on the end of my nose that won't go away. LOL

Mostly all I am seeking to achieve is a trance state. In the past I would stare at something until I am aware of everything - all the shadows in my entire field of view and all the humming sounds in the quiet that I normally don't notice. It's very exciting to hear and see all those tiny details.

I guess that isn't meditation technically. I don't do all the thought control and breathing that I hear about. I just like the trance feeling.

When I think of meditation I think of shutting out all
external noise and being alone with myself and God,

and more or less be taken aback in awe and wonder.

Don,t know if it is trance or what but at times I,m taken off, where I don,t know, but you can get to see things,
but it is not possible to talk about them,

It can feel strange though, to land so to speak,
and not sure what day it is.

Kind of having a peep behind the curtain.

But in all this nothing is brought on by chanting or beating drums and stuff, it is just out of His goodness..