Ambient Music and Sound Wave Healing         

The 24/7 flood of news and commentary about perplexing global and national problems has been deeply unsettling for many. No wonder that significant percentages of the public, especially younger Americans, are pessimistic about their future and have increased levels of anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders. There likely aren’t simple solutions for Americans feeling pessimist and stressed, but many are turning toward ambient music and sound wave or acoustic healing to cope better with their work and family life tensions.

Music therapy has long been thought to reduce pain perception in various health care settings, as well as to improve mood, to reduce anxiety and depression, and to enhance emotional well-being. There are thousands of Americans providing certified music therapy, often in hospitals, mental health clinics, and rehabilitation centers.

One simple therapeutic approach for coping with outside stress is sound masking. There is strong and consistent research support for the health benefits of noise suppression or masking through noise-cancelling devices. Some individuals prefer the use of recorded white, pink, green or deep brown noise for sleep enhancement and relaxation. YouTube and other internet options offer many such audios.

Also long known and commonly available are sounds or music that are set at specific frequencies. These Solfeggio frequencies are said to produce different benefits. Some of these frequencies (174, 432, and 528 Hz) seem more often praised than others for their healing properties, are easy to listen to online, and can be accessed as options with commercially available frequency generation devices. There has been less scientific evidence for benefits from the use of these and other Solfeggio frequencies, but limited research has supported certain health benefits.

More recent health care strategies have developed from our better understanding of neuroscience or how the brain functions. These strategies are based on the concept of “brain entrainment.” This is a phenomenon where the brain's electrical activity or brainwaves supposedly synchronize or entrain to the frequency of an external sound stimulus. Methods of brain entrainment have been discovered to affect favorably chemicals found in our brains, such as cortisol, dopamine and serotonin.

Evidence exists for health benefits that come from what is known as binaural beat methods. These often involve wave frequency ranges found in human brains: Gamma (30-50 Hz), Beta (13-30 Hz), Alpha (8-13 Hz), Theta (4-8 Hz) and Delta (1-4 Hz). The first three of these frequency ranges are associated with different levels of wakefulness, while Theta and Delta frequencies are found in early and deeper sleep states.  

When two audible, but different, frequencies are heard separately in each of our ears through headphones, the brain apparently perceives a third and lower tone (the binaural beat) as their frequency difference. Several key studies have suggested this form of brain entrainment has benefits in areas like anxiety/stress reduction, memory, focus, and sleep quality.

Growing scientific evidence supports, too, the advantages of vagus nerve stimulation through music and sound waves for treating anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Unlike traditional vagus nerve stimulation with implanted devices to deliver electrical impulses, non-invasive approaches of using music or sound waves are now receiving much more interest.

There are internet audio/video channels that promise health benefits from several different approaches such as ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) and “brain flossing” or bilateral sound stimulation. ASMR sounds produce tingling sensations and relaxation for some listeners, but this approach has received limited scientific research and support.

Bilateral sound stimulation, using headphones, involves sounds that seem to move or change from ear to ear to try to stimulate both hemispheres of the brain. Certain of the more expansive health and cognitive enhancement claims associated with this “flossing” have also been questioned though and have not been substantiated so far by robust scientific evidence.

There are many similarities, but also some differences, in individual human brain functioning. Therapists often recommend “personalized sound profiling” for their clients. This process creates a customized audio profile based on an individual's unique hearing abilities and sound preferences. Tailoring audio frequency exposures and particular sounds to how individuals respond is emphasized.

Fortunately, I don’t experience high levels of stress, depression, or anxiety, but I have family members and friends who do cope with these and related health problems. Over the past few months, I’ve spent considerable time exploring various online outlets that state their audios/videos provide sound wave relaxation and sleep enhancement. Some of these channels cite hundreds of thousands of listeners and display almost unanimous praise in their reviewer comments.

I’ve listened with curiosity to many of these sound healing approaches and channels. Most audios offered seemed to have had little or no personal effect on me, but a limited number did seem to have some very relaxing and sleep enhancement qualities. A few audios on Sleep Tube, Meditative Mind, and Velascape channels that are free on YouTube have impressed me. Audios that combined binaural beats (Theta and Delta wave) separation at around 174 Hz, sometimes with crystal singing bowls or soft percussive tones, have had an almost mesmerizing effect on me. Bilateral sound stimulation audios offered on the Destined Dynamics channel also had some pleasant effects for me. Bilateral sound stimulation or other sound wave therapies that I’ve described can apparently have negative effects for some individuals, so caution and very brief initial sessions are sometimes advised.

Music always held a strong attraction for me. My preferences have usually been jazz, blues, and progressive rock, but I could find something inviting in most music genres. Ambient music, developed in the 1960s and ‘70s, focuses more on acoustic tone and atmosphere while encouraging calmness and contemplation. It can be appreciated as a background experience while humans are engaged in other activities. Discovering forms of ambient sounds/music described here might offer some readers as much satisfaction as these have had for me.