Question About Low Frequency Sounds

You guys understand that the EEG measures electrical wave patterns, not physical motion. Our bodies do vibrate, and the frequencies have more to do with the heart rate and the resonances of the different body cavities and chambers. The sound production of the voice is a very interesting science which is well described back to the 70's. I recall an article in Science back to that era when I was a serious voice student although I cannot quote you the date. The reason we feel different frquencies in different parts of our bodies have to do with these resonances, not to be confused with the chemo-electrical output of cental nervous and muscular tissues .

Here's a link to a story on the BBC website about research regarding infrasonics and church organs. It concludes that low frequency sounds from church organs are responsible for a wide range of emotional responses that people may feel at religious ceremonies.

Our brains "VIBRATE?"

Stacy

If you look here at the table of contents (left column under No 2) you can review the course I've been taking on brain frequency training. But after two years at I still can't get off 1hz. The doc says I'm the first person he's seen with a resonant frequency of 1hz. I'm a good sleeper.

Hope to see ya in class

zzzzzzzz
I remain,

Onhwy61,

The information about brain waves are true. They are the typical brain activity as measured on an EEG (electroencephalogram), and often used in sleep studies.
Delta waves are found in the deepest stages of sleep, while beta waves are much higher in frequency (relatively) and seen in REM sleep.

What their implications on music is beyond me.

Doc

Lugnut,

thats a sonic distupter, i saw something about them on the discovery channel a while back. Its an interesting design, you can even make a DYI project out of this.

Its about a 3 foot metal cylinder about 8inches to a foot in diameter. One end is sealed and has a sparkplug type igniter in the center facing inward to the tube. gasoline is fed to it and the spark plug causes the gas to explode.
The resulting ultra-low frequency resonation can be aimed and directed (isnt it supposed to be non directional?) by the open end of the tube

the effects are usually a combination of nervousness, severe nausea and vomiting, loss of conciseness, confusion, and dimentia, depending on range of target.

I dont think they are allowed to use these yet, i think they are still in prototype stages because they are worried about possible long term effects and even the lethality of it.

hehehehe. mount one of these puppys in the bed of my truck, next poor sap who tailgates me will blow mcdonalds all over his nice lexus. hahahahaha

dont quote me on any of this, it was about a month ago i saw this, but this is what i remember. it might not be 100% accurate

Thanks for all the intelligent responses. Here's a link to the site where I found the info. Someone named "MusicMedicine" is the main contributor.

I've experienced nausea when exposed to low frequency sounds, so I have an inkling about how powerful sound can be. I'm just wondering if this effect is used in movie theaters or dance clubs to elicit emotional responses in the audience. Also, vinyl playback can produce all sorts of low frequency resonances and I wonder how this might influence the emotional states of the listener.

Aircraft designers have learned that any tendancy for the plane to oscillate (say in pitch attitude) at 1 to 2 Hz should be avoided. Humans (and that includes pilots) can't cope with that frequency, and when they try to do so they induce worse oscillations. Slower, they can follow, and faster they can average.
Flashing lights and sound at certain frequencies can also be distracting.

Hey 2001Impala, thanks for the laugh, that was a good one!

I saw this in Reuters this morning :

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3401200

Onhwy61,

I am well aware of what region Rap musics bass is concentrated, my comment was meant in jest.

Furthermore, I enjoy listening to some of it. As far as you finding my statement offinsive, GROW UP!

I thought 2001Impala's comment was funny but I don't listen to boom-boom music much. However Onhwy61's comment was even funnier! When reading about thugs, violence, and animals, he relates it to Rap music. Quite a definition! ;)

I did some research in motor control drives a few years ago as part of an electrical engineering project. It turns out that we had to program a notch filter for the 7-8 Hz frequency because of the driver's feet pulsating the accelerator. It was the human natural frequency that was turning up as weird spikes in the motor controller's input. We were all surprised. I don't think the scale shown here is quite right but we definately have natural frequencies, just like everything else. Arthur

2001impala, besides being offensive your comments are wrong. Rap music's bass is concentrated in the 60Hz to 120Hz region. Know what your talking about before you start typing!

There has been a lot of research into non-lethal warfare using this technology. The military funded this research and law enforcement is embracing its use domestically. I'm working from memory here so the exact numbers may be incorrect but the concepts are real. Somewhere around 8 cycles the human body is rendered uncontrolable. 4 cycles and the mind enters the nightmare state. Of course, this was when using extreme amplitudes, however, I doubt there is any potential use to enhance our listening pleasures.

Perhaps that would explain why getto thugs are so prone to violence. Too much deep base (20-30 herts, Maniacal state). All along I thought it was that they were simply animals that have broken the fabric of soceity.