Guides
Articles on how the sounds are made and what research says. Each ends with a summary from the evidence database.
Technique
- What are binaural beats?The beat you hear when each ear gets a slightly different tone: how it arises, why it needs headphones and what research says.
- What are monaural beats?A beat formed when two tones are summed in the same channel; no headphones needed. How it differs from binaural beats and what is known.
- What are isochronic tones?A tone switched on and off at regular intervals: how it is made, how it differs from binaural and monaural beats, and the state of evidence.
- White, pink and brown noiseHow the colours of noise differ, why they sound different, and what is known about masking and sleep.
- Why are headphones needed?Why binaural sessions need stereo headphones, which sessions work without them, and how to check your headphones are on correctly.
- The Shepard tone: a rise that never endsHow the Shepard tone, which seems to rise forever, is built, where it is used and how to listen to it in Frekans Studio.
- Makam tuning: what are 53 commas?How Turkish music divides the octave into 53 commas, the interval names, the comma values of makam scales, and 53-comma tuning in Frekans Studio.
Brainwave bands
- Brainwaves: delta, theta, alpha, beta, gammaThe rhythms seen in EEG, the frequency ranges of the bands, and what is known about whether sound can change them.
- Delta waves (below 4 Hz)What the delta band is, its link with deep sleep, and what is known about listening to delta-rate beats.
- Theta waves (4-8 Hz)What the theta band is, its link with drowsiness and meditation, and what is known about listening to theta beats.
- Alpha waves (8-13 Hz)What the alpha band is, its link with eyes-closed rest, and what is known about listening to alpha-rate beats.
- Beta waves (13-30 Hz)What the beta band is, its link with alert thinking, and what is known about listening to beta-rate beats.
- Gamma waves (above 30 Hz)What the gamma band is, its link with perception and attention, 40 Hz research, and listening to gamma beats.
Frequencies
- 528 Hz: tradition and evidenceWhy 528 Hz is popular, where the "Solfeggio" list comes from, and what small studies on 528 Hz actually found.
- 432 Hz tuning: what is known?The origins of 432 Hz tuning, the 440 Hz standard, and the findings of small studies on 432 Hz music.
- Solfeggio frequencies174, 285, 396, 417, 528, 639, 741, 852, 963 Hz: where the list comes from, its link to music history and the state of evidence.
- 7.83 Hz and the Schumann resonanceWhat the Schumann resonance is, why it is not sound, and how a 7.83 Hz beat relates to it.
- 40 Hz gamma stimulationWhy 40 Hz sound and light stimulation is being researched, what human studies found, and listening to 40 Hz on headphones.
Comparisons
- 432 Hz or 440 Hz?How big the difference between the two tunings is, whether the ear can hear it and what research says.
- Binaural or isochronic?How binaural beats, monaural beats and isochronic tones differ, and whether there is evidence that one works better.
- Do binaural beats actually work?Research on binaural beats for focus, anxiety, sleep and brain waves: positive findings, null results and why they conflict.
Using sound
- Sound for sleep: noise, nature sounds, binauralWhat research says about sounds that accompany sleep, and how to set the volume, duration and position of the source.
- Sound for focusNoise, binaural beats and Pomodoro: what research says about using sound while you work.
- Sound for meditationWhat sound does in meditation: what the evidence says about timer bells, background sounds and beats.
- Slow breathing: what do six breaths a minute do?Research on breathing slowed to about six breaths a minute for heart rate variability and stress, its limits, and safe use.
- What are singing bowls and sound baths?How a singing bowl makes its sound, what a sound bath is, and how strong the research on health effects is.
Safety
Explore
- Astral projection and out-of-body experiencesHow neuroscience explains out-of-body experiences, "astral projection" practices, and what is known about sound's role.
- What does the CIA "Gateway" document really say?What the 1983 document circulating on social media is, what kind of text it is, and whether it counts as scientific evidence.
- Lucid dreaming and binaural beatsWhat lucid dreaming is, what was measured in the brain, and whether there is evidence that binaural beats increase it.
- Frequency myths: was 432 Hz banned, is 528 Hz harmful?Evidence-based answers to common questions about a 432 Hz ban, harms of 528 Hz and how long to listen.
- Where do chakra frequencies come from?The origin of the chakra concept, the different lists that assign frequencies to chakras, and which school the set used in Frekans Studio comes from.
- The makam and darüşşifa tradition: what is known?The effect of makams on mood in Ottoman sources, the Bayezid II Darüşşifa in Edirne, and the present scientific status of these accounts.