Hi there, we don't use binaural beats. Or isochronic tones.
Our CTO (Adam Hewett) is the founder of Transparent Corp. His older software is used to create the vast majority of isochronic tones, and all those videos you see on youtube, etc.
Any rhythmic audio stimulus will entrain the brain. Actually, the very first research on audio brainwave stimulation used simple clicks. As another example if you had a drummer that could be precise enough, drums could also stimulate the brain.
But, neither clicks nor binaural beats nor isochronic tones sound very good. Yes, you can get used to them. Adam used them for a decade. But he spent all of that decade finding a better way.
And what he found is that if you embed rhythmic modulations into the music in a natural way - disguising it as natural vibrations or vibrato or tremolo - not only is it more pleasant, it is more effective. MUCH more effective. The intensity levels we can get using this method are much higher than what we can get with older methods and still be comfortable for the user.
So in 2005 Adam created a system that could single out instruments in a recording and add natural-sounding "vibrations". He has been perfecting it ever since.
There's a lot more to Brain.fm as well! We've perfected MIT's HRTF technology to create a kind of "3D audio". And that's the real reason we suggest using headphones for the full effect of Brain.fm. It is a vital part. We spatially place sound around you to enhance your goal (for focus it is in front of you, for sleep it mimics the rocking of a hammock, cradle, etc).
And then there's the algorithmic AI-generated music. Believe it or not, all the music in Brain.fm is produced by an algorithm that Adam spent a very long time.
The benefit? Imagine a rain sound for a second. Hundreds of thousands of drops! Imagine now that each and every drop is synchronized to the purpose of the stimulation. Now imagine a symphony... That is Brain.fm.
I'll have Adam hop in the thread soon so we can answer any further questions!
Can you provide evidence of the effectiveness of your methods? Are there peer reviewed studies that sustain your statements? Spot checking the site, there isn't much convincing evidence (a double blind trial with very few subjects that you sponsored is not really convincing).
The sounds are unusually good for algo music, which typically has very poor production values.
I doubt you've perfected HRTF, because everyone has a different HRTF, so you'll always get an approximation at best.
>Imagine a rain sound for a second. Hundreds of thousands of drops! Imagine now that each and every drop is synchronized to the purpose of the stimulation. Now imagine a symphony... That is Brain.fm.
This is marketing. As a statement about technology or user benefits, it's meaningless.
To be fair, I liked the audio a lot, and it's the best algo-comp effort I've heard yet.
The literature on entrainment seems unclear. There are a few studies about binaural beats I know of. There's not a lot in mainstream neurological journals - just in a few fringey publications - although this may have changed since I last looked.
I think if you're claiming AI-created symphonies of brain stimulation you're going to have an easy sell to the New Age demo, and a very tough sell to a lot of other demos.
Thanks much for saying that you like the audio! You seem to be into this stuff so that's high praise.
Some clarifications:
> Imagine a rain sound... synchronized to the purpose.. marketing, benefits, etc
Sorry, you're right, that was just a miscommunication. We're all a bit stressed here - didn't expect this much attention.
So part of what we're doing in Brain.fm is using synchronized modulations (pulses of sound) to affect the brain. You're right, the literature on BWE could be better, mainly because binaural beats are so well-known, and so they keep getting studied, which is unfortunate because they're not all that effective. We don't use them at all. Northwestern actually studied a bunch of major bbeat brands and couldn't detect any effect at all (at least for delta). So when I approached my friend Giovanni with a sleep protocol he was understandably skeptical, but the results as you can see on our site, are pretty damn impressive. He's now our lead neuroscientist, but still works for Northwestern too. There's a lot more to that story but I don't want to type more of a novel than I already am :)
Actually... to be honest I'm not sure I even like the name "entrainment" - Giovanni has a better theory having to do with neuron "recruitment" that is simpler and has more explanatory power. Here's the thing: any repetitive audio stimuli produces a corresponding response in the brain, provided it is consistent enough, rapid enough, and lasts long enough. Bbeats supposedly work because of the "beat" part. But these days, we can easily create beats using all kinds of methods, like modulation, where we can adjust the waveform, adjust the phase on the fly, target frequency ranges, and so on, all of which are super important it turns out. Plus - as she mentioned - we can synchronize all the other elements in the song to the same "beat." All while monitoring the effects using an EEG.
Hope that helps clarify some things. Hey, I know it seems far out, so I'm happy to answer any questions. Giovanni will hopefully be on here tomorrow. I think a podcast, video, or something with the two of us explaining this stuff is long overdue.
Anyway, thanks again! Hope you come back and and we can talk some more about it.
