When I first started in this field, there were two mediums of playback-record albums (lps) and cassettes. No, excuse me-there was another medium that went the way of the dinosaur in less time than you could say diplodocus, and that was the 8 track tape. But regardless, albums and cassettes were both analog. That was about 1980. Sometime towards the end of the 80’s, digital recordings began to manifest-first as digital lps and then as compact discs. The digital controversy in the sound healing community began about then-were digital recordings as healing and therapeutic as analog recordings?
Some scientists and researchers tried to show that digital was indeed inferior and in fact was the opposite of healing. Digital technology improved. Records became dinosaurs. Cassettes soon disappeared from the scene. The point became moot-we became a digital world. It was either digital or nothing. Digital quality continued to improve. Then, a real bright spot in the sound world appeared-Super Audio-a medium that did not play back sounds sampled at a 44.1K (approximately 22,000 Hz). The reason for this sampling rate chosen for CDs was that since humans can not hear above this 22,000 Hz., any material above this rate was deemed irrelevant (though some speculate that there is important sonic information that we can perceive with our nervous system and energy field that is well above 22,000 Hz.). Super Audio was able to sample music at 64 times the rate of CDs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD The implications were astounding for not only listening, but for healing. All those frequencies-the ones we couldn’t hear, but perhaps contained powerful and sacred energy-were present again.
Super Audio required it’s own playback unit and somehow, it never caught on. While it still exists as a medium for both recording and playback, its presence is negligible. Those who have heard it, know its power. But most never will. Enter the mp3. We are now in the age of “convenient sound”, where wallet size playback units that contain nearly all the music in the world are available. And who wouldn’t want that?
An mp3 file is compressed sound, which is the main reason why you can fit so much music in such a small system as an i-Pod. Mp3 files are about 1/10 the size of a CD file and achieves this through by reducing the accuracy of certain parts of sound that are deemed beyond the auditory resolution ability of most people. It seems our brains fill in the missing parts in terms of the sound. It’s an auditory illusion, since the sound isn’t actually there, but most people don’t seem to care. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3 It’s convenient and it’s easy. The question is: do these parts of sound that are reduced in mp3 files contains important aspects of sound that may have great relevance in terms of the healing and transformational ability of sound? Or does the convenience of being able to access so many different varieties of therapeutic and transformational music outweigh the lower quality of the sound?
Considering we are in the digital domain of the Internet, for this first writing of the Healing Sounds Blog, I thought the subject of our communicating about mp3 vs. CDs vs. Lps and any other playback with regard to healing sound seems quite appropriate.
I’d like to hear from you with regard to your thoughts on this subject?
Are I-pods hazardous to our sound health?
Should we celebrate the easy access to the variety of worldly sounds available as mp3 downloads?
Does the size of the frequency spectrum matter? Or is there something more that makes sound healing?
Let’s hear from you with regard to the question: To mp3 or not to mp3?
Great topic. I recorded in analog studios for years without satisfaction due to the limitations in frequency range. The recordings never sounded like what I was hearing when I played live. Then digital technology resolved that issue for me. When I released my first CD I was very disappointed in the MP file. It carried little of the hypnotic entrancing effects for me. I had purposely included tracks of deep pulse waves that are felt more than heard and very high frequency overtones with additional pulse waves for entrancement into visionary states of consciousness. This was all created with gongs while looking at neuro-feedback readings for assistance in composing the music. I can’t get those effects when I hear it as an MP file. The music still works evidently for some who have all my CDs on their Ipods and listen to them while doing dialysis or other treatments that take hours to do. They have let me know that they are able to entrance enough that time compresses during treatment or they sleep.
With original recordings of any quality or format, the sound is still created by speakers when the recording is played. Craig Oxford, High Emotion Audio.com, has created speakers that make my recordings sound amazing with profound measurable effects on brain functioning. They are the best I have heard my music played through. I was able to hear more deeply into the music and experience for the first time what I thought I was trying to do when I created it.
When I get music dedicated to higher consciousness I like to have it in .flac format … a open lossless compression format.
That way I know I am listening to best sound wave.
Will we ever compress our intentions?
There are a lot of factors here. If your converting to a high bit rate mp3 the difference is minimal. An mp3 at a high bit rate will not change your frequency spectrum. It may subtly change the fidelity. The most important aspect is that the material you are converting from the source has been recorded in the highest standard.
also important is what your listening through. You can listen to a lossless hi-if file or cd through bad speakers and that will limit the frequencies you are hearing. We hear from 20-20k hz if your speaker or headphones only go from 50-20k etc that will have a greater impact than the type if media a file is.
Thanks for this! I’ve been reading over at the Brainwave Entrainment Forums lately, and seeing this post was the exact ratification for much of the info I found out. 🙂
Thanks for this, it appears to me that brainwave entrainment is a tremendous technology, I’ve been looking into it for a spell now and you’ve prompted me to go and try it.
Thanks for this. Do you have any other tips that are related to meditation at all?
Just the sort of info I’ve been looking for! I’m still reasonably new to binaural beats.
This is just what I have been searching for! Do you happen to know of any good related products I could use? Thanks 🙂
Greetings!
First I would like to Thank+You ALL!
For sharing and providing us a place to communicate. Also personally to Nancy for offering Wisdom of Shakti to the Mix.
Jai Ma !
Now what I see is several points of reference, but I will comment on what I am processing right now after reading and thinking about it.
I will cal it… The “Techie” Factor vs The “Faith” factor.
Right now I am listennig to Shakti Rhythms by Shiva Rae. I downloaded it mp3 at a very resonable price from legalsounds.com. About one dollar for the whole CD at 192 bit rate. Converted it to CD with WinAmp. I got it now playing through an old Magnavox stereo. It is this monster octagon coffee table with a slate top. Only one channel now works. Do I wish both channels work? Of course I do! Do I wish I had the CD? Of course I do!
Does it sound better than through my old BA735 computer speakers? I think so. Better with both hooked up but for now… The sound of one channel clapping is sufficient.
Now on on the other hand… I am reminded of a parable from the New Testiment.
I hope that is ok to post it here.
From the Gospel Of Mathew.. Chapter 8 … NIV
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
7Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ……
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.”
Now I realize that a sound file type is a whole lot different than Yeshua speaking with authority to heal. But I think you can catch my drift.
“Just say the word…”
Namaste
I have been listening to inspirational music, guided meditations and brainwave entrainment recordings for over thirty years. I have listened to them on cassette players, CD players and iPods. As a busy person with things to do and places to go the convenience of taking around a couple gigs of sound recordings in my pocket makes my life even more joyous. I can absolutely feel the energy circulating through my body as I listen. My mood is elevated, my interactions with other people are egoless and I am transported to dimensions beyond the physical every single time. Is the iPod technology the best? It doesn’t have to be. It’s already perfect.
From: “Good Sound and Blues, Part 2 – Back to the Future”
by Bob Margolin
I know you. If you’ve read into the middle of this magazine, you love blues music and want to know more about it beyond what you hear. You can also enjoy and know more about your music when better recordings and listening equipment reveal more of its magic and beauty than you’re currently hearing. In my last column, “Delivering Good Sounding Blues,” I spoke of new ways to hear Blues, satellite radio and iPods. While satellite radio delivers decent quality sound reproduction, iPods when loaded with mp3’s or other forms of compressed, low quality but small sound files, sound like something’s missing.
That’s because some of the music really is missing. This “compression” reduces the size of the song file so you can get more songs on your iPod, and download them faster. It does so by literally removing “bits” of the music that are less likely to be missed, but when compared to CD quality sound, it’s obvious that the compressed songs sound thin and lifeless. Millions of music lovers, who enjoy more music because of the iPod’s convenience, are not hearing some of the sonic details that reveal the soul in their songs. Do they notice? Do you notice?
Just after I wrote my last column, a much longer, more detailed story was published in Rolling Stone which expressed alarm that most of us are getting used to lower quality compressed sound. That reminds me of thirty years ago when we recorded our sweet and warm-sounding vinyl records onto cassettes to play in our cars and the Sony Walkman portable player, the iPod of the ‘80s.
On-the-go casual listening is very pleasing for millions of people. Unlike the musicians and audiophiles and recording professionals I know, many — probably most — people want their music playing in the background while they work, travel, or relax. They’re not hanging on every note and nuance of tone, feeling cheated if their listening equipment doesn’t reveal sound in as much detail as possible. If that describes you, enjoy it. Today’s portable players are tiny yet deliver the capacity to store thousands of compressed songs, order or shuffle them as you please, and even offer a variety of equalizer settings to color your music to your taste or suit where your listening (in a car or plane, boosting the bass a little lets it be heard over engine roar).
I don’t mean to imply that there’s anything wrong with listening to music in the background while you live your life. I wish I could do it more than I do, but I usually must listen and give my full concentration as a professional, evaluating both the music itself as well as how good it sounds through the recording and the playback equipment. Besides writing for Blues Revue and BluesWax, my “day job” is as a guitarist, band leader, recording artist, and producer for my own music and that of others, and partner in a record company and label group. To professionally evaluate the music that I love and craft, I want it at the highest possible sound quality. And when I listen non-professionally, I still want it. So do hundreds of thousands of music lovers all over the world, pro or not, who buy the best listening equipment they can afford and get a big thrill from what they hear through it.
Sure, advancing technology has created amplifiers, speakers, and source components that cost as much as cars or houses. Usually, the “high end” of music playback is so revealing that the music you hear through it is much more affecting. It would seem that the quality of music reproduction would progressively improve with new technology, but it hasn’t worked quite that way.
To understand, let’s look at a parallel development. The earliest musical instrument amplifiers used vacuum tubes. These are little glass bottles with filaments inside that plug into an electronic circuit. They make the small electrical signals that come out of electric guitars and microphones loud enough to drive a speaker. By the 1960’s, tube technology began to be replaced by transistors which were smaller, more stable, and more durable than tubes. But it didn’t take musicians long to realize that instrument amps using transistors just didn’t sound as good as ones using tubes. Their instruments sounded much less expressive and sweet. Almost 50 years later, most electric blues guitarists and harp players still use tube amplifiers. Reissues of old amplifiers have a large piece of the new amplifier market, genuine old amplifiers are valuable and collectable, and there’s a whole industry of “boutique” tube instrument amp makers who pursue the magic of beautiful tone.
Here’s a worshipful “tourist” photo I took in the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas. I strongly recommend that you visit if you’re taking in some blues history in the Delta. It’s a rear view of a guitar amplifier that belonged to Robert Nighthawk (1909-1967), who’s thick, creamy vocal-like slide guitar tone is emotional and poignant, like a great singer’s voice. This amplifier was probably built in the early 1940’s, and though modern recording and guitar amplification technology tries to “model” the classic, magic qualities of primitive tube amplifiers like this, the real thing still can’t be beat.
In the last twenty years, audiophiles (music lovers who pursue good sound) have also been exploring new versions of tube amplifiers. They don’t measure as well on test equipment as the best transistor amplifiers, but sensitive listeners prefer the warm, realistic sound that comes through tubes. The frontal lobe of the brain knows accurate reproduction is “better,” but the warmer sound that tubes impart is more sensually pleasurable to our reptile brains.
For serious listeners, there has also been a growing back-to-vinyl trend. Though CD’s have been the primary media for recordings for 25 years now, many audiophiles can’t ignore that the emotional content of music seems to come through better from turntables playing vinyl records. Some blues fans have always known this and never got rid of their turntables and LP’s, even though there’s a lot more care and maintenance compared to CD’s or iPods. The album covers are also bigger and don’t look…compressed. Blind Pig Records recently announced that they will release some albums on vinyl. They must feel that there is enough market for that in the blues world. It’s amazing that this is happening now, when physical CD’s are no longer profitable for some record companies.
As it turns out, the man who sells more vinyl to audiophiles than anyone is not only a blues fan, but a blues concert promoter, recording studio owner, and blues record company president. Chad Kassem in Salina, Kansas has grown his Acoustic Sounds company to sell new and old vinyl albums, special audiophile editions, and some of the best equipment to play it. He also has a carefully-chosen selection of CD’s, some engineered for better sound. His business thrives with a world-wide clientele of serious (and mostly wealthy) music lovers. His annual Blues at the Crossroads Concerts at his Blue Heaven Studio and his Analogue Sounds record label, which releases gorgeous-sounding recordings of deep blues musicians, are ultimate treats for blues lovers. If you’re intrigued by the possibility of hearing the blues music you love sounding as beautiful and clear as possible, Chad’s the authority. He stands with one foot in the audiophile world and the other in the blues. And not all of the equipment and recordings are prohibitively expensive.
Great topic! For me, on the physical 3-D level, the compressed MP3 audio does in fact limit the ears training in and awakening to sound. However, on the multidimensional level, there is so much more going on, I doubt it truly matters all that much. I’m just grateful to have a means of sharing my work with others.
It is sad that the industries involved have flubbed the spread of Super Audio CD technology. Especially with the rise of BluRay for video, the absence of a audio equal makes no sense whatsoever. It seems that they could have pushed it more when the Hi-Def battle was going on in the Video world, and now affordable universal disc players are here (Oppo). I for one have a player and am waiting for something to play on it. Of course I really need to replace my entire sound system to really hear its capability, but it still sounds great (Dylan and Stones remasters, anyone????) The fact that they could make SACD-CD hybrid discs to make the transition with out anyone having to upgrade to listen to it just makes it more infuriating….Okay, I need to tone now!!! I would love any Jonathan Goldman SACD (Hybrid). I know it’s complicated and probably a risk-investment decision in making the hybrid discs, but it sounds so much better, and it is a crying shame and a step backwards not to have this technology active.
I found out about you through Shelly Kaehr’s interview on Coast To Coast. One caller mentioned string theory as the underlying vibrational energy that makes up matter, so there is definitely loss of information with any digitization. I once tried making MP3s of classical music and it just didn’t work. I am writing to learn about the connections between music and color. I am a software engineer interested in finding appropriate representations for realtime music visualization. Perhaps you can post ideas on your blog for discussion.
Hi Jonathon,
Thanks for your blog and the opportunity to contribute some of our thoughts and observations regarding sound.
From an esoteric point of view, if any part of music (or anything else) is excluded, it will have an incomplete effect on the mind and body of the listener, whether or not the omission can be physically heard. This is because the physical is only a small part of what we are.
That said, any music created by man will have imperfections of one sort or another. As we are not perfect in our present functioning, anything we make is also imperfect. Our physical music, no matter how inspired, is only an aspect of the original Creative Force.
One way we improve is through comparison. As far as using iPods and other mp3 players is concerned, excluding them could be compared to preventing all the bad singers in the world from singing. We sometimes need to start in a bad or at least limited place, to learn where to move to.
We should still be able to celebrate the easy access that these players give us. Even though the experience is incomplete and some would say, harmful, it is meeting a need by providing pleasure to millions of listeners at a level that they find acceptable and that benefits them. As people grow and become more discerning, they will become aware of the current limitations and new methods of musical delivery will be developed in keeping with their needs.
In the future as humankind’s consciousness progresses, we will eventually become able to hear beyond the currently accepted ranges and music that excludes certain ranges will sound horrendous to us.
Although the size of the frequency spectrum is important, particularly for healing, transformation and sacred purposes, there are other offsetting factors. The strength and nature of our intent is vital whether writing, performing or listening to music or sound. Our intent endows sound with vitality and direction so that it has maximum effect and gets to where it is meant to go. The strength and sincerity with which we direct our intent gives the music impact.
In addition to the conscious intent of the mind, what the heart delivers is essential to the overall quality and effectiveness of sound. This arises from our personal spiritual base, the foundation from which we operate and it can come from self, sacrifice of self, or service to others. Self means coming from a personal, self-oriented base. Sacrifice involves setting self aside through effort for the sake of something else and service is freely giving. The purest form is service; although all are necessary. Taking pleasure in hearing or producing sound and having fun with it also arise from and nourish the heart.
In conclusion, everything has its place and everything is constantly improving (with the odd, temporary setback!). Each of us needs to be informed and discerning as to what is good for us as individuals at any given time.
Kind thoughts and love,
John & Lyn St. Clair-Thomas
http://www.mindsoulspirit.com.au
Personally, I prefer listening to non-compressed sound, and use .wav for mixed technology with CD tracks in my sound healing room. On the other hand, .mp3’s are fine for my choice of background music with media centre lounge room playback on social occasions, from a distance.
However, I agree with previous posters that the Love and Intention are most important in helping others together with sound, light, sacred geometry etc. The unseen network of interpersonal connectiveness is of primary concern and both practitioner and client are both affected.
I would be happy with a super audio analog or digital recording and playback system, if I had the choice.
Thanks for the great blog Jonathon.
I think the basic premise is wrong. That being, Frequency = Healing. All this intellectual talk of one frequency is better than the other, or one wave form is superior to the next is rather a silly intellectual argument that only begets more intellectual disertations.
What is the frequency of LOVE or what is the tone of Compassion? You are comparing fixed and non fixed forms.
I think the true test is how does it feel. I feel that true healing takes place when we become conscious of the fact that we are the Creator of Sound and also the Wave Interference Pattern of the sound we created.
We are the first cause and the last effect.
Listen to the song of yourself with the same Love that you used to create it.
much Love
Jim Atwell
Eduardo make an interesting point regarding the whole recording process all the way through to playback, which is an issue in itself with the many ways available to any of us to playback a particular track. If we consider intention in this way, we would have to include in that intention how our sounds can best be re-produced, without infringing on anyone’s Freedom in the process.
I recently purchased Kimba’s “Gaearth Dreaming” from CD Baby, after hearing her on Jonathan’s radio show last month. In the CD booklet, she discusses her intention in creating the CD, which included how it was recorded, and how it may be played back on different systems. You can read about this at http://cdbaby.com/cd/kimba2 I don’t have a surround sound system, so I only listened to the CD, and not to the DVD yet.
Last night, I realized that I can play the stereo version on the DVD which is a higher fidelity than the CD version, on my studio sytem. But this brings up the quality of the sound card and speakers on anyone’s computer system, which may not be able to re-produce the higher fidelity.
So it seems, in all of this musing, and with all of these variables, many of which are out of our personal control, that we have to rely on the help that we get from the higher powers, so our music and sounds can be truly healing for us and our listeners. It’s sort of like what Lord Krishna says in the Gita, that our responsibility is to perfrom our actions as best as we can, but we don’t have total control over the results.
Maybe, Jonathan, a future Blog article can be “What makes a great recording?” especially as it pertains to healing sounds.
Jonathan, this is a great subject as everyone can see by the quality of comments! In terms of BioAcoustics, we only use analogue sound when playing low frequency tones back to clients. In his book Cross Currents-(Robert O. Becker, M. D.) Dr. Becker writes that the human body uses analogue sound to keep itself in homeostasis- I think it is somewhere around pg 566-Sharry Edwards was just talking about this on her BBSRadio .com show last night- that’s how I remember the page number of the book. In BioAcoustic Sound work, we record a vocal print using a computer and the Windows application “Sound Recorder”. This creates a very high quality .wav file which is then input to special software that creates a graph of all the frequencies and their HARMONICS which were spoken during the voice recording. It is possible to determine which frequencies have too much or too little energy compared to the main body of the voice print. Those “stressed” frequencies can be balanced by playing low frequency analogue sound back to the client through a subwoofer connected to a special tone generator. Sharry Edwards has created an amazing database of Frequency Equivalents for muscles, vertebrae, biochemicals, amino acids, enzymes, cell salts, hormones, pathogens and toxins. We can correlate the stressed frequencies to that database and see what is going on at that moment in the body. These balancing frequencies must be analogue because that is the format the ear, voice and brain use to keep the body balanced. Talking to the brain in it’s language- analogue sound and in it’s most active octave- beta brain wave octave at the bottom of the human hearing range is the most effective way to entrain the brain to reset these frequencies.
In our research we have tried using digital sound over and over again- because it is much more cost effective that analogue- but it never works.
Digital sound samples 44.1k or 96k per second and recreates the waves. Then filters are added to reinsert the harmonics. An analogy that comes to mind is taking all of the bran and wheat germ out of the flour (which contained 17 vitamins and minerals, adding 7 vitamins back artificially and then calling the white flour “enhanced” with vitamins. Digital sound just can’t put the harmonics back together in a way that the brain can use to repair the body. In BioAcoustics the harmonics are the most important ingredients to help the brain retune itself physically, so digital does not work for this type of Sound therapy.
Myself, as a classically trained musician-french horn- who played in symphony orchestras for 20 years- I am an analogue lover and BioAcoustics is my tool of choice for using sound to help the body heal itself.
It occurred to me this morning that this is probably part of a larger conversation about audio quality in the whole recording AND reproduction chain. They cannot be held separately, I believe:
sound/music source –> capture (mic, mic preamp, A/D converters) –> digital recorder or computer –> chosen media (inc. file type, delivery method) –> playback system
The fact that we may declare the highest quality for a certain audio file technology is somewhat tempered by all the other elements in the chain. In a related field, home movie theaters, content providers have had to deal with the various levels of quality of the audio components & the placement of speakers in a room, for example.
For example, those of us that wrote about the experience of live sound & music as being ideal (for those that can attend & afford it ;-), were referencing a direct connection to the sound/music. But even then, we may have to contend with a sound reproduction system as part of the event.
Blessings,
Eduardo Martinez
musician – composer – artist
info@EduardoMartinez.com
http://www.EduardoMartinez.com/
Nashua, NH 03063 USA
Hello Jonathan
I create files in WMF format when I make files for the Multivib Sound Pharmacy.
Composing music for body perception has a quite different approach than makin music for binaural perception.
Still, they are two sides of the same page in the book of life.
Olav
Hi Jonathan! I love your blog! This is going to be great! I really don’t know much about sound technology. I have to depend on other people to explain it, research it, etc. However, I just know that personally, music from the stage, the screen, the computer, the CD player or the iPod, all has the potential to transport me in a healing way to a better place and to do so quickly! As I learned long ago from you and many others, the intention is the most important thing and for me, I would add, any previous associations wth this music or genre of music. Look forward to future posts and hope you’ll also sign up for my blog at http://www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com/blog.
Many blessings on you and your work!
Alice Cash
I am not scientifically knowlegable about MP3 players and find the technical jargon confusing. I do know however that my intuition tells me that sound is needed for healing in its purest form and should not be distorted. There is so much distortion of everything nowadays in our lives and society. However, there is more to sound healing than the sound. There is the intention behind the healing; there is the energy flow between client and healer so it is difficult to say. I prefer pure sound and aas some of thw writers have said – it is choice – and we have the choice to use MP3’s or not. I choose not to.
What a wonderful discussion to be having from the perspective of the implication on healing! I am so used to debating this with other musicians/artists who don’t also work with sound healing and so only see it from the ‘musical’ point of view rather than also the ‘healing’ one.
For my part – as many have said, I am not a scientist an therefore cannot quote what the scientific world implies are the correct parameters or conditions for sound healing. However I do know that the beauty and fullness of analogue sound cannot be matched in any way by mp3s given their complete lack of quality. They are as someone else commented a disposable way of listening to music, making it a quantity over quality issue.
For me, quality always wins out. I’d rather listen to something that sounds wonderful on all levels. I know through various recordings I have made with various bands that if we as musicians could record the ‘old fashioned’ analogue way we would every time!!!! the energy is present, the feel is present, the complete sound is present.
However I do agree that intent is a vital part of healing with music/sound.
I suppose it will be left to the individual to decide whether mp3s work for them or not – as others have commented here that they do. Perhaps it is reminiscent of the ‘which healing modality works for you?’ debate as we all know that we all respond differently to different types of healing/treatment (some love acupuncture some hate it etc) so maybe this is the same. Some will be more sensitive to the quality of sound and others not.
The problem is whether those in power will give us the opportunity to have a choice or whether we will all be forced to accept mp3s and only mp3s as the only way to hear sound.
I sincerely hope not.
Thank you Jonathan for raising the debate and for continuing to inspire and educate.
Blessings always,
Deborah
funny thing. i have found that dancing or meditating to an in iPod hooked up to very expensive speakers does not give the same ‘feeling’ as the same CD played on a very cheap ghetto blaster. I hardly ever use my iPod speakers anymore. interesting.
Hi Judith– I am in the process of doing some of same things—- I believe garage band on a mac will do the editting, mixing etc that you want…. I don’t know on a regular PC–Kate
A very interesting subject, Jonathan, et al.
As a musician & recording engineer, I deal often with the question of good-enough audio quality vs. audio format convenience. My current thoughts & feelings are more towards live performance, though, as mentioned by Zacciah & others before. Not only is a live music performance a unique, never-to-be-duplicated-live-ever-again sound event (with mistakes & all ;-), but we as musicians can also transmit & receive the other elements of sound healing: intent, harmony, empathy, direct feedback loop with the audience, etc. I have focused most of my music-listening time towards live music lately, & hear & feel a tremendous difference. The energy, the vibrations, the interaction with the musicians, or with the audience when I am playing, all priceless! As an electronic engineer, I am often tempted to analyze all the factors that affect sound recording & reproduction, & I do. Others here have already exposed very eloquently those aspects.
Having said the above, I also understand that lossy compression standards were created as a consumer vehicle for music & video consumption. Us in the field of sound healing are using the technology that was created for slightly different purposes. In the absence of a live performance, & high-quality audio delivery methods, I’d say that mp3s are better than not having any recording, for many people. Such a delivery audio format can also interest someone in attending a live performance or purchasing a CD, which is always a great thing.
I for one, though, have been researching DSD as a recording medium (future proof, as you can then translate those audio files to the recording format du jour), as well as a playback medium for my own music & sound healing practice. I also feel fortunate to deal with sound & music at this time in history, when the technology exists for someone on the other side of the planet to hear my music 🙂
Blessings,
Eduardo Martinez
musician – composer – artist
info@EduardoMartinez.com
http://www.EduardoMartinez.com/
Nashua, NH 03063 USA
The Japanese are leading the way with psycho-accoustic corrolation measurements of brain blood flow using a variety of audio projection systems. As one demonstrable result, there are now spherical ultrasonic transducers on the speaker market. Research can be viewed online via Web of Knowledge at your local university.
Shoot for total transparent reproduction. DC-200kHz. Don’t limit yourself to outmoded CD standards. Go with the digital studio master.
No tubes please. Let users who like that apply it during playback.
Our real-time analysis programs run during playback will clearly show every shortcut you take. You don’t have to compromise. So dont.
Good luck Jonathan.
Make a good decision.
Jonathan Thank you for the temple of sound. It is a wonderful tool that I have notified my mandala interns about. I have a question for you and those who seem much more adept at recording sound. I am into the transmission of healing work conference sessions using my olympus wave digital recorder. I then translate it into mp3 files so most people can get a copy and use their ipod or computer to listen to it. However does anyone know what software one can use to edit/splice parts of the file that do not work? Remember I am not techniqually as qualified as all of you sound people. Any help on this to keep the quality of healing sound qualitative. thanks Many blessings Judith Cornell Manifesting Inner Light http://www.mandala-universe.com email ommandala@earthlink.net
Aloha!
When the whole digital movement began I saw companies playing the digital banners as another cash crop of widgets. Mp3 was part of them and Hi8 to DV another. And now DV to HD. Have you ever tried to work with HD and render the video! And then it ends up on Youtube!
They sold another generation of widgets and then another and then another.
The consumer was blasted with digital is better and the analogue folks were forced to change over … or at least most of them!
However, from my of working in the sound healing and sacred geometry for over 20 years http://www.dreamweaving.com the most healthy viewpoint is the healthy attitude of Love. It makes all the difference in the Universe.
For many years I quietly researched the effects of different geometries on the aura and this led to using the dodecahedron around the sound table as the optimum shape to modify the sound.
Why? Because it creates new harmonics and makes the sound come from 12 directions or dimensions. Thus enriching the sonic experience and the mechanics of tingling of every cell via the music being felt and heard from the cymatic/vibroacoustic or whatever you want to call it sound table.
So, for me when developing sacred sound environments I ended up making decisions based on the widgets in the market. Mp3 was out there and Mp3 needs be used as a sound source as well.
And clearly the natural instruments combined with heart centered live performance are optimum.
Yet, we cannot yet achieve that on large scales and it becomes numbers game.
Having observed this Mp3 question over the years, and read the personal experiences in the blog here I still feel that the INTENT is the most important quality and the FEAR that Mp3 is less than has more influence on the healing component than any 8 bit or even 320 bit compression or whatever lossless compression. Get real geeks!
Surely the Universe is ever giving abundance and we limit our abundance by getting caught up in the stuff.
All this stuff gets in the way of simply being.
And last but NOT least Spirit can and does influence the sounds we hear continually, so invite them in when you listen. And put the Mp3 question aside for the moment and focus on the higher connections and the bliss .
Blessings,
Benedick
I don’t have much to say regarding this issue, maybe i haven’t informed myself enough. I have experienced many physical changes through the use of sounds and have noted that Mps have had more of an effect on me. Well that’s my two cents. I can vibrate with music or tones as we all do; whether we are conscious of it or not.
I do value Mr. Goldman’s work and will continue my own personal insights into sound healing.
Jonathan
Thanks for the opportunity of this blog, and for your keen insight into this issue, as well as every one else’s excellent commentaries.
I don’t listen to mp3, so have little experience to create any analysis, but have something relevant to share.
I suspect there is a vast difference in compressed digital sound vs. analog, but I have to leave any proof to the scientists.
I think you and the others commenting have done a good job of covering the basics. I suspect empirical data at some point will complete the arguments for or against mp3.
I know, in my own experience, nothing equates to live music, the rich tapestries and harmonics of sound fill the air.
These sound vibrations, and other energies, emitted by both musician & instrument, as well as the involvement of the listeners, all add to, as I see it, the vital living experience of everyone present.
I, in part, say ‘see’, because I have actually seen the sound fields generated by live musicians, which I have never experienced with recorded music. (It’s not unlike a Cymatics show, in 3D.)
These vital energies, when working with clear healing intentions, and even moreso, with conscious interaction with the subtle (pure) realms of consciousness, as many sound practitioners engage in, provide an experience I have not seen mastered in any reproduction of sound.
That being said, I believe the further we remove ourselves from those complete harmonics and living vital energies, the less we receive the imprints of the full spectrum of light and color which sound emits.
I am far more the intuitive than the scientist in this field, and will have to leave it to the scientists to find the best solution that approaches whole living sound. (Kind of like Whole Foods….)
But, knowing how digital compression disrupts the quality of all files (.jpg vs. .raw photos, for instance,) it is difficult to imagine the fullest imprint of information that allows the listener to perceive the complete body of intent and sound of any musician or sound healer can be accomplished through compressed files.
I vote for the lowest impedance*. (yahoo/education: * An analogous measure of resistance to an alternating effect, as the resistance to vibration of the medium in sound transmission.)
I will say that I feel it is incomplete to suggest that sound healing only or primarily impacts us, or occurs, at a physiological/cellular level. (Sorry John, I DO appreciate the wealth of information you bring, to this discussion, and to the entire field.) For those focusing on physiological healing, this may be important news. Yet, it is known that high frequencies carry a lot of information. As an intuitive sound healer, I believe we cannot simply dismiss the importance of higher frequency (like dismissing the missing harmonics of analog sound), which may carry a tremendous amount of energy and information our pscyhe, energy field, greater mind and being, perceive, and couple into the overall healing transmission/reception of sound.
While MP3 may be ‘adequate’, and ‘convenient,’ and while these have their place (especially in our modern society wracked with ‘convenience,’) we might then ask, when we speak of ‘wholeness’ (the meaning of ‘healing”), are our lives diminished to ‘adequate’ and ‘convenient’, or do we wish the whole spectrum of life to be upon and within us?
I vote for Whole Sounds.
Many blessings,
Zacciah Blackburn
The Center of Light
Institute of Sound Healing and Shamanic Studies
http://www.thecenteroflight.net
I am pleased with MP3 as I can finally post some of my Lambdoma sounds on my website. As Jonathan so often mentions, “intent of healing” is the most important factor, whether it is voice, cassette, CD or MP3. In pure harmonics there are overtones and undertones, one reaching to the highest frequencies of light, and the other reaching to the lowest frequencies of gravity. Even though these limits may be compressed by MP3’s, the vibrations continue to both ends of the electro-magnetic spectrum and become magnified by our consciousness. Thanks, Jonathan for having this interactive blog.
Frankly, MP3’s were created so people with slower internet connections and small capacity players could get music quickly and easily.
The creators of MP3 compression never expected MP3 files to sound as good as uncompressed files and they don’t.
For any serious listening all but the highest bit-rate (320 kbps) MP3’s are woefully inadequate, and given the low cost of memory and storage there is no reason to settle for any MP3 encryption whatsoever. Using a lossless compression methodology such as FLAC (for PC music servers) or Apple Lossless (for iTunes) will deliver far higher fidelity.
Anyone who uses iTunes can easily change the encryption bit rate in their preferences file so any CDs they copy into their iTunes folder will be a lossless file with no MP3 encryption. Unfortunately ITunes default encoding rate is a pitiful 128 kbps.
Do yourself a favor – change your iTunes defaults now…
Check out this story on Gus.
http://marqueemag.com/industry-profile-digital-audio-pioneer-gus-skinas-fights-for-the-chance-to-do-it-right/2008/07/01/
As a performer who’s entire musical offering is built on entering the
trance state … I have a a great deal to say about sound quality.
That feeling of “transmission” is lacking with Mp3s, and even standard
16bit CD quality. These formats take energy to listen to ( not much
but trust me, if you mix audio for a living 8 hrs a day you feel it
draining you ). Analog Tape and DSD do carry the “Transmission”, Not
just a replication of the original material but the actual energy and
vibe that was there when the music was performed.
Tierro
Producer/Engineer/Composer
I think that the main question is what makes music or sound healing in the first place? We can then take those variables and see what effect mp3’s and compresssion have on them, and to what extent.
This is easier said than done because we all have to agree somewhat on what thoses variables are, and then, how to test them.
Maybe a more subjective approach would be appropriate. Set up a blind test with some subjects listening to tape recording over time and some listening to digital recordings of the same music. And then, similar to the TM and Relaxation Response studies, using, perhaps, their same variables, see what the results are.
I remember a similar debate going on in the 70’s as to whether it was better to take natural vitamins or those produced in a laboratory. The main concern was that the laboratory version of say, vitamin C produced in isolation, was missing the “harmonics” so to speak of natural vitamin C. I for one, opted for the natural ones for that very reason.
Perhaps, until the music industry comes up with something better, sound healers and therapists can recommend to their clients what they feel in their hearts is best, and deliver their products accordingly, maybe in addition to CD’s and MP3’s.
Two examples for healing purposes… One is to make available high quality cassettes, which many people still have the ability to play, if they so choose. I believe I saw that some of Jonathan’s music was so available.
Another is to use high quality wav files, although the download time may restrict the size of the files. This is, of course, contrary to the instructions given by Apple for their iPods:
“Use Compressed Songs: iPod’s cache works most efficiently with songs of average file sizes (less than 9 MB). If your audio files are large or uncompressed (including AIFF or WAV format), you may want to compress them, or use a different compression method, such as AAC or MP3, when importing them into iTunes. Also, consider breaking very long songs or tracks into shorter tracks that have smaller file sizes. If you encode your music at 128 Kbps, your iPod will fill its cache about every 25 minutes.”
I agree with Jonathan that this subject is incredibly important. Since the move to digital audio in the early 80’s I believe we have lost an important emotional connection to the music we listen to. Distortions in the time domain (jitter and sampling inaccuracy) may fool us, but they don’t fool our brain. The sharp filters used for digital audio add to the problem by adding phase distortion. The kind of emotional delivery from the artist to the listener that was once possible with analog tape, vinyl, and live performance is now a rarity. These are sad tidings for music lovers as it is becoming harder and harder to emotionally connect with music. Furthermore, instead of music decreasing stress, as it can, the advances in recording technology (digital audio workstations and MP3 distribution) have served to increase the listener’s stress because the brain must work harder to correct the inaccuracies. And the inaccuracies from digital playback systems are of the kind that do not occur in nature. And for this reason, I believe there could be an impact on health.
For almost 10 years now, we have been working with Delta Sigma recording technology (DSD) that fixes many of these unnatural distortions. This recording and playback technology is what is used in the Super Audio CD. While, in the beginning of our project, it looked promising that we could right a lot of wrongs, it is unfortunate that the major labels have not embraced this technology. In fact, it is probably MOST unfortunate for the labels themselves, as a stronger emotional connection between their artists and their listeners would have resulted in much better financial health for them.
So… at the Super Audio Center in Boulder, we continue to promote the use of DSD recording and playback technology. We’ve developed a multi-track audio workstation that is native DSD (the Sonoma) and we believe our work will have a very positive impact to the emotional health of music lovers. While we have yet to be involved with recording projects of the healing nature, I can only imagine that this technology will greatly help in the effectiveness of healing with sound.
We are always open to demonstrating what is possible with this technology. If you have an interest, please contact us and visit our Boulder studio for a playback.
Gus Skinas
Super Audio Center / Sonoma Systems
http://www.superaudiocenter.com
To mp3 or not to mp3 is an interesting question. Sonically, mp3 can be described as ‘muddy.’ Try connecting your mp3 player through your home stereo and then compare the sound of a CD. The mp3 is a bit like listening to a good stereo through a thick wool sweater. Millions of people put up with this muddiness for the sake of convenience yet I’m about to defend the mp3 format in the sound healing arena. Read on to learn why.
Historically, sound healing has involved immersing our bodies in a rich, harmonic soundscape so a key question is: Do the cells in our bodies need the higher harmonics or is the relatively poor performance of the mp3 format adequate for sound healing purposes? Clues lie in the following three observations.
1. The work of James Gimzewski of UCLA, California, has shown that the cells of our bodies ‘sing’ to each other, a form of intracellular communication. The song examples I’ve analyzed were all fairly mid-range in character, lying roughly in the range 100 to 1000 Hertz. I would certainly like the opportunity to analize a wide range of cell songs but provisionally I would say that if we wish to ‘feed’ our cells with sound, the important upper limit seems to end somewhere around 1000 Hz, easily within the mp3 bandwidth. Some people might say “Aha! but it’s not mp3’s bandwidth that is relevant to sound healing but its compression– the amount of data removed.” This is addressed in my third point.
2. Cells not only live in a watery environment they are largely MADE from water. Water’s high frequency transient response to sound–its ability to follow fast moving sounds–is fairly slow. My colleague, Erik Larson, and I are co-inventors of the CymaScope, an instrument that makes sound visible. (www.cymascope.com) When we observe sounds imprinted on water we see that as the frequency increases it requires an exponential increase in sound energy level to make such imprints visible. The underlying reason is connected with the excursion of any matter to high frequency energy. Only very small volumes of water exhibit a good hf response, for example the tiny volume of fluid in the ear’s cochlea. If we increase that mass of water, for example within the tissues of the body, the response to h.f. sounds rapidly deteriorates. This is another reason why we suspect that the cells in our bodies are not too interested in sound frequencies above 1000 Hz. Again, mp3 is saved!
3. Regarding the compression of mp3 signals, it’s true that much data is lost in the process but again it is in the high frequency area of the audio spectrum where the distortion is greatest, frequencies that the cells in our tissues don’t appear to register. In the lower frequencies the missing data is almost certainly ‘filled in’ by the elacticity of the water in our cells. I’ll explain why in a little more depth: All the building blocks of matter, atoms and molecules, are in a state of periodic vibration at a rate dependant on the local temperature. When an area of water is imprinted by sound frequencies every molecule uptakes the additional periodic movements. The lower the frequency the more efficient the uptake. So, each molecule is now vibrating in many different ways simultaneously. At lower frequencies, say up to 700 Hz, if we suddenly stop the sound and then re-engage it a microsecond later what do you think happens in the water? Actually ‘not much’ is the answer. The molecules have a certain inertia in their periods of motion and they carry on as if we hadn’t interrupted the sound. In other words, the water does not appear to betray the removal of the sound for that brief moment.
To summarise and conclude: High frequency sounds may not be an important aspect of cellular communication. Low frequency sounds do not betray a momentary absence of sound. Thus, mp3 may be saved as a sound healing format? If anyone disagrees with my analysis I remain open to a good counter argument!
The best digital recordings are made using tube microphones and/or tube audio components. The reason for using tubes is that they actually add harmonics to the sound which makes them sound richer, smoother and more alive. If an Mp3 takes all that away then we are missing what the artists are intending use to hear.
I have really sensitive ears so I hear a big difference between uncompressed audio and Mp3’s. If I am using music to meditate to I won’t compress it because it makes a difference to me in how it sounds and therefore in how it makes me feel.
Another thing most non-musicians don’t know is that most studios are recording in 24bit which is way better than even CD quality. After it’s all mixed down and sounds really great they have to take it down to 16bit (cd quality). So even then the consumer doesn’t get to hear how the artist heard it in the studio.
Here is what I suggest to all the companies that are making Mp3 players. Solid state technology is becoming bigger and better all the time. You can now get 60gig solid state hard drives for your computer that run just as fast as the kind with spinning disks. (solid state drives have no moving parts). With the internet becoming faster (the ability to download an HD movie in a second) and personal media players with larger storage capacity there is no reason we can’t get super audio or 24bit audio (uncompressed) to be the norm and MP3 the thing of the past.
Remember the law of impermanence. The mp3 will soon go away. Bluray HD discs are giving people superior picture and audio quality and I feel we’ll soon demand that same fidelity from our Media Players.
In conclusion I say mp3 for now and demand better quality for tomorrow.
This is an incredibly important subject. I look forward to seeing the response from all those people interested in this long neglected area of sound healing.