{"id":8964,"date":"2020-02-12T13:50:41","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T18:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=8964"},"modified":"2020-02-12T13:50:46","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T18:50:46","slug":"what-are-binaural-beats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-are-binaural-beats\/","title":{"rendered":"What are binaural beats? | Exploring their legitimacy and how to create your own"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can we <em>really<\/em> use sine waves to hack our brains? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Not to be confused with the technique of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"binaural recording (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-is-binaural-audio\/\" target=\"_blank\">binaural recording<\/a>, binaural beats are created when two tones with slightly different frequencies are played separately in each ear via headphones, causing our brain to perceive an additional &#8216;pulsing&#8217; effect. Many have claimed that listening to sequences with binaural beats can reduce stress and anxiety as well as increase one\u2019s concentration and creativity. Does this phenomenon promise real benefits, or are binaural beats nothing more than an auditory illusion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to make binaural beats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For all these impressive claims, actually creating binaural beats is incredibly straightforward. In acoustics, beats occur when two tones with slightly different frequencies interfere with one another and vary in volume based on the difference between those two frequencies. When you take two similar tones with frequencies below 1.5 kHz and present them independently to each ear, your brain will begin perceiving a third pulsating tone that represents the difference between each sine wave. That\u2019s the <em>beat<\/em> in binaural beat, and it\u2019s actually an auditory illusion. In the recording below, I took two sine waves (one at 500 Hz and one at 495 Hz) and panned them hard left and hard right. Throw on a pair of headphones and see if you can hear that third tone, which represents a 5 Hz difference between the two waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio alignwide\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/binaural-beat-500-495.mp3\" loop preload=\"auto\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biohack it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first heard about binaural beats, they were being promoted as a way to get high by the alternative medicine community. Sites like I-Doser began monetizing the experience with a proprietary app that could play back purchased audio content. Their &#8216;doses&#8217; are meant for a variety of purposes, including simulating the effect of various controlled substances. Despite how skeptical you may be feeling right now (the feeling is mutual), I-Doser rode that initial wave of online interest and racked up millions of app downloads in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other companies have since followed suit by claiming that binaural beats can help &#8216;hack&#8217; one\u2019s brain through neural entrainment, in which the brain actually matches its own electrical signals to one\u2019s rhythmic perception of sound. We already know that certain brainwave patterns are associated with aspects of human sleep, dreaming, conversation, active thought, and meditation. However, claiming that binaural beats will transform you into some sort of AirPod-wearing superhuman with heightened intelligence and zero headaches is a huge stretch without solid evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, do binaural beats really work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From a research standpoint, the quality of studies as well as their results have historically been mixed. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"A 2016 study (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0166630\" target=\"_blank\">A 2016 study<\/a> found that listening to binaural beats at higher frequency ratios led to slight improvements with memory-related tasks, while other variables actually led to a decrease in accuracy. On the other hand, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"a 2017 study (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnhum.2017.00557\/full\" target=\"_blank\">a 2017 study<\/a> involving EEG measurement of electrical brain activity didn\u2019t find any solid evidence that binaural beats at various brainwave intervals had an effect on human brain activity or basic emotional states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"a recent review (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/30073406\" target=\"_blank\">a recent review<\/a> of multiple other studies did identify some correlations between binaural beat therapy and decreased levels of anxiety and pain perception, so it may still be a bit early to put this one in the pseudoscience corner. Just as with the concept itself, perception plays a big role. If someone feels like these recordings truly help them meditate better, concentrate more, or reduce restlessness, then I believe that\u2019s worth something. Binaural beats may not take you on some crazy trip but they\u2019re still worth a listen, especially when you can make your own!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s discuss what binaural beats are, how to create them, and whether they&#8217;re a legitimate phenomenon or merely an auditory illusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":8965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1696],"tags":[1712],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What are binaural beats? | Exploring their legitimacy and how to create your own - Blog | Splice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We discuss what binaural beats are, how to create them, and whether they&#039;re a legitimate phenomenon or merely an auditory illusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-are-binaural-beats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are binaural beats? | Exploring their legitimacy and how to create your own - Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We discuss what binaural beats are, how to create them, and whether they&#039;re a legitimate phenomenon or merely an auditory illusion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-are-binaural-beats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-12T18:50:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-12T18:50:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Binaural_Beats_BlogPost.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matteo Malinverno\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matteo Malinverno\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-are-binaural-beats\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-are-binaural-beats\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matteo Malinverno\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/43123e87ce32298439fa5bbdd471e89d\"},\"headline\":\"What are binaural beats? 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