Music and Metamusic—A Universal Bridge
By Barbara Bullard and Matthew Joyce
I remember being ready to fall asleep as the “special�music began. Ten minutes into the wonderful music, I felt myself lifted out of my body. Soon I soared through the deep blackness of space. Wonder and bliss filled my being as I floated through a vortex of energy. Immediately an awesome melody I can only describe as “music of the spheres�embraced me with transcendent love. My soul overflowed with healing and happiness. Tears of joy streamed down my face. For what seemed a profound eternity I voyaged through the heart of space and music. Eventually I gently floated back into my body on the bed.
Despite years of incorporating music into my meditations and explorations of consciousness, never before had I enjoyed such a rich experience. The power of music helped me transcend the bounds of earth to experience the levels of soul.
To better understand the nature of my experience and the impact of music on our lives, I turned to noted author Wayne Dyer and others who advocate the purposeful use of music for improving our health and gaining greater insights into our lives.
In his book, You’ll See It When You Believe It, Dyer asks us to consider the word “universe,�the term we use to describe the infinite and all-encompassing expanse that surrounds us. Breaking the word into its parts, we see “uni�meaning one and “verse�meaning song. One Song. The entirety of all there is comprises but a single song.[1]
Hidden right there in plain sight is one of the most profound truths of our existence. From ancient Hindu mystics to modern quantum physicists the collective wisdom of humankind has repeatedly discovered that the universe is an immense energy field vibrating on a score of frequencies. No matter how we separate the individual notes, they all play together to create a single harmonious song.[2]
The Bible, so central to the beliefs of many Western cultures, tells us that “In the beginning was the Word.�Yet many Eastern and aboriginal cultures maintain that the world was not spoken, but, rather, SUNG into existence. For a growing number of scientists, their research into the impacts of music on the brain and consciousness now favors the influence of song over speech. In fact, quantum string theory describes our bodies, all physical matter, and even the Earth itself, as cosmic instruments staying in tune with a larger universal orchestra.
The night after my first musical epiphany, I gained even more personal experience with this concept. That second evening at the Monroe Institute in Faber, Virginia, I listened to a second “special�composition. This one was more serene, more earthy. Soon after the music started I found myself walking through a lush rain forest. As I strolled among the verdant flora and myriad animals I felt filled with a deep sense of oneness and rapport with Mother Earth. I felt personally compelled to do my part for her healing.
When the experience was over I asked our group leaders, “What is that special music that’s having such an impact on me?�They smiled and told me it was a surprise. The answer would be revealed soon.
The Body-Music Connection
To grasp the widespread impact of music in general, we need only look at the marvelous compilations gathered by the renowned musicologist Don Campbell. His books, Music and Miracles, Music: Physician For Times To Come, and The Mozart Effect cover the spectrum of music’s influence on almost every aspect of the listener’s body and mind.[3]
Virtually all of us can point to one time or another in our lives when music impacted our emotions. Maybe it was the quiet strains of classical music during a romantic dinner. Perhaps it was toe-tapping rock-n-roll so compelling you just had to dance. Music plays such a central role in our experience that no Hollywood movie dares to do without it. To do so could be box office suicide.
According to Dr. Avram Goldstein of Stanford University, who surveyed people to study the impacts of various emotional stimuli, music was the single most influential factor with a “thrill rating�of 95 percent. Second place was the thrill of sex with less than 80 percent. [4] Because music affects the limbic area of the brain—which influences our feelings, monitors our hormonal systems, and governs our body’s ability to seek reward and pleasure in our lives—we can’t help but feel the impact of music on our emotions.
But music impacts far more than simply our feelings. It also affects our heart-rate, body metabolism, blood pressure, muscular energy, digestion, circulation, nutrition, fatigue, cholesterol levels, and brain development—just to name a few of the many other bodily elements subject to its influence. “There is scarcely a single function of the body which cannot be affected by musical tones,�says author David Tame, in The Secret Power of Music.[5]
German jazz theorist Jochim Ernst Berendt had an epiphany with music that was comparable to mine. His inspired him to research all the world’s religions to learn how music and sound affect the brain and consciousness. He shared his findings in The World Is Sound- Nada Brahma, which devoted special attention to musicians who are composing “new music of transformation.[6] The book became a classic within six months.
Musicians and readers were particularly inspired by his chapter “The Temple in the Ear,�which explores the overwhelming importance of the auditory nerve and the influence of music and sound on consciousness and health. In it Berendt points to radiological studies of MRIs which demonstrate that our auditory nerve has three times as many connections to the brain as vision does.
This becomes important for our inner journeys because as composer Murray Schafer states, “With our eyes we are always at the edge of the world looking in, but with our ears the world comes to us and we are always at the center of it.�This is why, he reflects, “Our ears are the organ of transcendence and the gateway to the soul. [7]
Berendt further demonstrates in less esoteric terms how the auditory system also connects to the thymus gland, which is our main regulator in the fight against disease, and thereby influences the immune system. Moreover, says Berendt, the auditory system maintains direct connections to every organ in the body. That means that sounds transmitted through the auditory nerve can heal the body.
“In reality we and the universe are vibration,�says Berendt, “and the sound that comes into our brain stimulates not only the brain, but also the entire immune system.�That is why Campbell, Berendt and others echo the chorus, Music and mEARicles—Yes!
Because of the strong connection between our auditory nerves, thymus glands and immune systems, certain types of music have proven to be a powerful aid in healing. I experienced this first hand when I later played some of the “special�music for one of my students, Aaron, who was in the hospital dying of AIDS-related complications.
I took three “special�CDs, Inner Journey, Sleeping Through the Rain, and Cloudscapes to the hospital. I left them with Aaron’s mother, instructing her to put on the music whenever Aaron needed sleep or relief from pain. Days later on my second visit, I was greeted by a nurse who asked where she could purchase the “miracle music�for the hospice wing. The nurse said that as long as the music was on Aaron needed no morphine.
I went into Aaron’s room and quickly learned that this “special�music is something more than ordinary music.
As we talked, the music ended. Within five minutes, I noticed a ripple of pain several inches wide spreading from Aaron’s face all the way down to his toes.
“Is the music off?!�he screamed.
“Yes,�I said as I restarted the music.
“I told them not to turn it off. It doesn’t hurt when the music is on,�Aaron told me.
In less than 10 minutes Aaron’s pain eased.
Aaron’s favorite “special�music was Sleeping Through The Rain. He turned to Inner Journey to feel closer Oneness with God as he made his final transition.
Should it be surprising that music could have such an impact on Aaron? Or on me? I don’t think so.
Holistic physician and psychiatrist John Diamond, M.D., explores the relationship between music and health in his book, The Life Energy in Music. In it he notes that at some point 95 percent of the population will suffer from low thymus levels and fatigue. This low thymus activity can be instantly raised by listening to enhancing and soothing music that mitigates the effects of everyday stress and noxious stimuli. Diamond suggests that music can increase T-cell production to five times normal levels, raise endorphin levels up to 90 times, improve resistance to illness, dampen the perception of pain, and evoke faster recovery times. [8]
As a further testament to the healing power of music, Dr. Diamond cites findings on the unusual longevity of classical music conductors. “At the age of seventy, by which point 50 percent of American men are deceased, 80 percent of conductors are not only alive, but active and working,�he writes in Your Body Doesn’t Lie. Truly, there is something incredibly therapeutic about music.[9]
Music in Our Genes
Larry Dossey, M.D. reaches a similar conclusion in his excellent article, “The Body as Music.�In it Dossey eloquently addresses an even deeper level of music when he states: “Why are we moved by music? One reason may be that the body itself is intrinsically musical, right down to the DNA that makes up our genes.�/FONT>
The idea that DNA and music might be connected originates with the work of Dr. Susumu Ohno, a geneticist at the Beckman Institute of the City of Hope Hospital in Duarte, California. Dr. Ohno has notated more than fifteen songs based on the DNA of a variety of living organisms.
He finds that the more evolved an organism, the more complicated the music. The DNA of a single-cell protozoan, for example, translates into a simple four-note repetition. But music transcribed from human DNA––such as the body’s receptor site for insulin––is much more complex.[10]
“Listeners knowledgeable about classical music hear similarities between these DNA-based compositions and the music of Bach, Brahms, Chopin, and other great composers,�writes Dr. Ohno. “DNA melodies are majestic and inspiring. Many persons hearing them for the first time are moved to tears. They cannot believe that their bodies, which they believed to be mere collections of chemicals, contain such uplifting, inspiring harmonies––that they are musical.�
Not only can one make music starting with DNA, it is also possible to reverse the process. In other words, you take a piece of music and assign nucleotides to the notes. The end result resembles a strand of DNA. Ohno tried this with a Chopin piece and the final result resembled a cancer gene!11
Now if music affects us down to the level of DNA, I believe each of our organs is singing its own song. We are healthy when our organs are singing in harmony. We feel sick when they are singing out of tune. From my own experiences it is clear that listening to music helps the body stay in tune.
A Melody a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
For optimal health, Steven Halpern, Ph.D. a foremost creator of healing music, suggests listening to music with an alpha/theta brainwave rhythm (alpha is 7-13 Hertz and theta is 3-7 Hertz) for a minimum of thirty minutes per day.[11] Halpern bases this statement, in part, on an understanding of the correlation between vibrations in the Earth’s electromagnetic field and those of the human body. The Earth vibrates at an inaudible frequency of approximately 8 cycles per second. When the human body is deeply relaxed it too vibrates at approximately 8 cycles per second. This sympathetic resonance is known as Schumann’s Resonance, and it implies that being in harmony with oneself and the universe may be more than a mere poetic concept. 12
Listening to alpha and theta frequencies as Halpern describes helps to induce a trophotropic state, a powerful healing condition in the body. The opposite of this state is the ergotropic state, which triggers a fight or flight response that causes stress and fatigue. Busy schedules and over stimulation naturally force us into ergotropic states that eventually lead to exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and illness. Relaxing and listening to music in the alpha/theta range brings on a trophotropic state and helps restore balance.13
Knowing this, the question then becomes, what kind of music supports synchronized alpha/theta brainwave states? Since each of us is unique and has differing needs, what feels restful and healing for some may not be appealing to others. However, there are certain desirable qualities in music to be used for inner work. The most appropriate music tends to be the opposite of the kind that we play in our cars and homes as we hustle and bustle through our busy days. More often than not, inner space music contains no vocals since lyrics stimulate the logic-dominant left hemisphere of the brain, as opposed to our more creative right hemispheres. Inner music also tends to feature slower rhythms that help our heart rates and brainwaves to slow down. Furthermore, the musical formats are generally harmonic with instrumentation that facilitates an introspective or contemplative mode. The most effective musical selections are those that permit your mind to wander gently and enter a peaceful state of being. The soundtrack may center on the ambience of nature, which can help you get in tune with the natural environment, or it may feature more ethereal sounds and long moments of silence where some say we can experience Oneness or God.
So where can you find music like this? Fortunately, we live in an era of the synthesizer, new instrumentation, and the internet–all of which provide access to a cornucopia of music conducive for healing and exploring inner realms. The best way to find something suitable is to browse the aisles of your favorite music stores or to surf the web. Some good places online to start include: www.backroadsmusic.com, www.healingmusic.org and www.ethereanmusic.com. In terms of recording artists, you might want to consider works by Aeoliah, Don Campbell, Dik Darnell, Constance Demby, Steven Halpern, Steve Roach, Jonn Serrie, or Robin Spielberg, to name a few perennial favorites.
However, finding the right music is just the first step. To truly make the most of the listening experience, we must also be willing to fully participate in the process by surrendering to the “intent�of the music.
Constance Demby, a well-respected symphonic space musician, whose classic Novus Magnificat was voted by New Age Voice as one of the 25 most influential ambient albums of all time, explains that for the music to take you to soul levels you must be a willing participant. She encourages listeners to participate in “frontal listening,�as opposed to background listening. Ask to be taken to the same realms that the music came from, she says. Open your heart, surrender, and let the music in all the way. People can go much further when they consciously focus on the music and surrender to it. By allowing their minds to follow the music they are led to the Source of the music—and its transformational power. In a sense, it means meditating with the music. [12] 14
Therefore, when listening to music for healing or voyages to inner and outer space, it’s best to begin with the proper attitude. Next, sit or lie down in a noise-free environment where you know that you will not be disturbed for at least 45 minutes. Make sure that you’ve rid yourself of all distractions. The best approach is to create a sacred space where you can relax, reduce worrisome thoughts, and minimize external stimuli. Doing so helps to open yourself to inner visions created by the auditory nerve’s response to the music.
It’s clear to me that I wouldn’t have had such profound experiences with music if I had not also been in a conducive state of acceptance. At the Monroe Institute, renowned for facilitating states of expanded consciousness and out-of-body experiences, we were freed from all our daily distractions—no watches, cell phones, newspapers, or TVs—for an entire week. My colleagues and I each came with the intention to explore the consciousness of inner and outer space. I am certain that being in the right frame of mind helped facilitate my transformational musical encounters.
So what was the “special�music they played for us at the Monroe Institute?
More than Music—Metamusic
I eventually found out at the concluding morning session of my weeklong professional workshop. The compositions I’d been listening to, and those I later gave to Aaron, were what is called Metamusic. The first evening was titled, Inner Journey, and the second evening was Sleeping Through the Rain.
Metamusic is music that is specifically designed to promote healing and encourage voyages to inner and outer space. The audible musical compositions are then significantly enhanced by the synergistic addition of Hemi-Sync brainwave signals. These subaudible electrical sound wave patterns are blended and sequenced to support different states of consciousness.
Hemi-Sync works by playing slightly different tones in each ear, which then harmonize inside your brain. To better understand, imagine playing two notes on the piano. If played one after the other you hear the difference between them. But when played at the same time, you hear them in harmony. Hemi-Sync works the same way, except that since the tones are subaudible the synchronization process occurs inside your brain instead of outside your ear. When precisely controlled Hemi-Sync tones are combined in the brain, the entire brain begins to resonate. It becomes ‘entrained�to the frequency, producing a unique whole-brain state known as hemispheric synchronization, or Hemi-Sync. When Hemi-Sync is added to relaxing music the result is Metamusic.
The magic of Hemi-Sync and Metamusic lies in its capacity to deliberately and directly induce the trophotropic state. By recording subaudible alpha and theta frequencies beneath the already engaging music the Monroe Institute creates musical tools with a powerful healing potential.
Many people first seek Metamusic for meditation, inner exploration, or for guided imagery work. Favorite selections among Monroe Institute enthusiasts include:Ascension and Higher, both by J.S. Epperson, Deep Journes y by Steven Halpern, Inner Journey and The Journey Home, both by Micah Sadigh, Mystic Realms, and Into the Deep by Matthew Sigmon and Julie Anderson.
Because the Hemi-Sync tones can be adjusted to any frequency, including the sleep inducing delta range, Metamusic can also be used to help people with insomnia and sleep disruptions. More than 30 million Americans suffer from insomnia and sleep disorders. Metamusic helps a growing number of them to drift off to sleep more readily and enjoy rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is essential for good health. The most popular titles of this type are: Midsummer Night, by Alan Phillips, Sleeping Through the Rain, by Matthew Sigmon and Julie Anderson, Portraits, by Lenore Paxton and Phillip Saidi, Cloudscapes, by Ray Dreske, Gaia by Richard Roberts, , and Transformation, by Micah Sadigh.
Because these musical selections are specifically designed to take listeners into deep states of relaxation and consciousness, they should NEVER be used while driving a car or moving vehicle.
Metamusic is not just for inner work and healing though. By combining music with Hemi-sync frequencies in the stimulating beta harmonic range, it can be used to induce periods of sustained creative energy and mental concentration. Titles such as Illuminations, Remembrance, Einstein’s Dream, and Indigo for Quantum Focus, all by J.S. Epperson, as well as Seasons at Robert’s Mountain, by Scott Bucklin, and Baroque Garden, by the Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble were all designed to stimulate a coherent brain state that enhances learning and peak performance. Many of selections were created to help those with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and other learning challenges, but they’ve proven very popular among those who simply want to work and study smarter, not harder. 15
Conclusion
Music is truly a bridge to good health, and Metamusic is a marriage between the innate power of music and the wonder of Hemi-Sync. I agree with Deepak Chopra, M.D.’s belief that it is our duty to humanity to be as healthy as we can possibly be. We are all ripples in a vast cosmic sea, and the vibrations of our mental, physical, and spiritual beings affect everything else. As Chopra says, each of us is, in effect, a wave of sound that hums a tune throughout our lives. 16
By making conscious choices about the types of music that we listen to we can improve our health, explore inner realms, and enhance our creative and mental performance. As we become healthier and happier through the use of uplifting music, so too do our relationships with others and with the world around us. How could it possibly be otherwise when the entire universe is singing a single song?
To find out more about Metamusic or the impacts of music on health and healing, visit our website at www.dnamusic.com or Monroe Products at www.hemi-sync.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Barbara Bullard has been a professor at Orange Coast College for 38 years. In that time she has been featured in Who’s Who Of America’s Teacher, Outstanding Educators of America ,California Speech Coach of the Year, and a five time recipient of the prestigious NISOD Teaching Awards from the U. of Texas. She has researched music and metamusic on the body/ mind for three decades.
Matthew Joyce has been exploring human consciousness for more than 20 years. He is the publisher of Higher Self Guides. He writes frequently on self-improvement and metaphysical topics.
Bibliography and Suggested Reading
[1] Wayne Dyer, You’ll See It When You Believe It, p.88.
[2]. Lynne McTaggart, The Field, Quill Publishing.
[3] Don Campbell, Music and Miracles, Music: Physician For Times To Come, and The Mozart Effect
[4] Avram Goldstein, Physiological Psychology, 1980, Vol 8 (1), pp. 126-129.
[5] David Tame, The Secret Power of Music..
[6] Jochim Ernst Berendt, The World Is Sound- Nada Brahma, Destiny Books and The Third Ear.Henry Holt & Co,
[7] Murray Schafer, Music Physician For Times To Come, ed. Don Campbell, ed. P. 74.
[8] John Diamond, The Life Energy in Music
[9] John Diamond, Your Body Doesn’t Lie
[10] Larry Dossey, �The Body as Music,�Music and Miracles, ed. Campbell, pp. 55-56.
11Ibid.(For more info on DNA Music see http://www.oursounduniverse.com/ or www.dnamusic.com.
12 Steven Halpern, www.spiritinthesmokies.com/interview
13.Alan Hobson, M.D. “Sleep and the Immune System,�The Chemistry of Conscious States: How the Brain Changes Its Mind.
[12]4Constance Demby, http://www.newagevoice.com/
15 For more info on the beta-metamusic read Focusing The Whole Brain, ed. Russell, Hampton Roads or into RemembranceMusic.com for “Metamusic: Opening The Learning Door in the ADD Mind, Children of the New Earth, Vol. 2, Issue 2.
16.Depak Chopra, M.D., “Music and Vibrational Healing,�Yoga Journal, March/April 1993, p. 109.
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