Manipulative Aspects of Music

Abstract

Every sensory stimulus, be it visual, audio, or some other, generates a brain response in the area of the cortex where such information is received, and processed, and gives full meaning or perception of the experience. The cerebral reaction can be monitored by measuring cortical activity through the synchronized response of a large number of neurons, ie. the formed electric wave. EEG scans show that the waves of the brain response in the alpha and beta bands are synchronized around the carrier rhythm of the music track. The sinusoids of the brain waves move in phases so that the peak of the wave always occurs at a precisely defined interval at the point preceding the next beat in the rhythm of the drum. In this way, the rhythm actually synchronizes the brain waves. For centuries, people have used binaural rhythms at 4.5 beats per second and thus causing various mental states. Although unaware of binaural rhythms, shamans were unmistakably known to cause shamanic trance, playing the drum about 4 to 7 beats per second for 13 to 15 minutes. They knew how to recognize the power and positive effects of binaural stimuli. This paper is an attempt to shed light on some possibilities of the manipulative capacities of the phenomenon called music.