Everything is Vibrating
September 25, 2006

"If it vibrates it can be tuned. Everything is energy - violins, people, potato chips, thoughts, feelings, and events. They all vibrate." (Spear par. 1)

While in a trance, Edgar Cayce once said, “The human body is made up of electronic vibrations, with each atom and element of the body, each organ and organism, having its electronic unit of vibration necessary for the sustenance of, and equilibrium in, that particular organism.” (Sugrue 147)

	In the 1960's, a physician named Hans Jenny experimented with the effects of audible vibrations on powders and fluids, a phenomenon that he called "cymatics". This is a pattern made visible by sound waves resonating within liquid.

In general, sound therapy is based on the theory that all things vibrate, and therefore everything can be relatively in or out of tune. This includes parts of our bodies, such as our brains, and things in our environment, like grasshoppers, or passing trains. While some of the vibrations are very obvious, heart beats, for instance, and some of them are not, such as colors, molecular proteins, DNA, and times of the day. Basically, any physical matter, or event, consists of patterns of movement, and consequently everything around us is contributing to a greater harmonic mixture.

Deep down within our physical selves, at the furthest reaches of smallness that scientific proof can bring us, our bodies are nothing more than fields of energy. If we could zoom in with a super powerful microscope we would find that our atoms are held together by an invisible force, and that the atoms themselves are empty. No matter how closely we look, we can hardly find a substance that isn’t just another form of energy contained withing seemingly empty space. This energy can not be created or destroyed, and all things happen as the result of it. All the events in our lives are based on the absorption and reflection this binding energy.

The common image of a Hydrogen atom, is something about the size of a marble, representing the nucleus, being circled closely by another marble, the electron. In fact, if the electron and nucleus were the size of marbles, and the electron were moving in a perfect circle, the electron would have an orbit several miles in diameter around the nucleus. The electron's enormous and complex orbit forms a pulsating cloud around the nucleus called an electromagnetic field. If all of the electromagnetic fields in our bodies were suddenly removed, we would be no larger than grains of sand. Our bodies and everything that we interact with are made of energy, and without it we simply could not exist or move around.

We are part of a very complex and extremely wide range of vibrations. The speed and complexity of their frequencies, within apparent time and space, are stacked in relation to magnitude. The nucleus of an atom, for example, pulsates with an electromagnetic frequency of 1000 trillion cycles per second. The entire atom vibrates at a slower frequency of about 1000 billion cycles per second. Working our way up in size, a molecule has its own unique frequency of 1000 million cycles per second. These molecules might belong to a heart, beating 100 times per minute. As we keep zooming out, we will keep adding longer, and longer wavelengths to the picture, such as the rotation of the earth, our rotation within the solar system, and the 230 million year rotation of the Milky Way Galaxy. The further out we focus, the more rich and complex it all seems. Even though our vantage point is a tiny pin prick in the expanse of the cosmos, we are moved by vibrations that operate far outside of our casual awareness.

It's evident that there are frequencies all around us that we can harmonize with on some musical level. Even if these frequencies are not audible, they can be used as a reference, converted into vibrations within our range of hearing, and used to make music. For example, hydrogen is the most common element in existence. Hydrogen absorbs and emits energy at 1,420.4057527 KHz. If we take that frequency and transpose it down by 24 octaves, we hit 84.5 Hz, which is very close to an E note, the lowest string on a guitar. Since about 90 percent of all matter is hydrogen, including our bodies, then perhaps notes in unison with hydrogen can resonate more harmoniously with matter in general.

If two vibrations that are nearly identical in frequency collide, then they try to combine, the result being a more efficient use of energy. In 1666, a physicist named Christian Huygenes placed two pendulum clocks on a wall next to each other. Over a short period, the pendulums eventually were swinging in unison. He tried this again with the identical results and called the phenomena "entrainment." In actuality, the pendulums in Huygenes’ experiment moved the wall back and forth by a minute amount. Since the pendulums were both moving the wall, they were able to tick more efficiently if they were not fighting each other. Ultimately, the wall was then moving back and forth twice as much, the ticking sound was twice as loud, and the clocks survived longer without winding. This is a very important aspect of life; nature seeks the most efficient use of energy, and always prefers synchronism.

	The pattern of Saturns rings is formed by unstable resonances with its inner moons.

Entrainment is similar to harmony. For instance, if we look at Jupiter’s moons, we find that the moons are exerting gravitational tugs on each other as they pass each other in orbit. Because these pulls are always in the same direction, and at the same time, the planets have become aligned with each other in a very stable mathematical pattern called an "orbital resonance." This happens when the orbital period of one moon has become a whole number ratio of another. Since whole number ratios are what makes consonant sounding relationships between two notes in music, the moons truly have a harmonious relationship.

Our brains exhibit entrainment with pulsation, commonly called the Frequency Following Response (FFR.) In the early 1900's, doctors began documenting brain waves with electroencephalograph (EEG) units. It was discovered that with the use of low frequency oscillations or flashing lights, test subjects could be steered into varied states of relaxation, hypnosis, and altered states of thought. Modern research has shown that these techniques can be used to treat patients with anxiety, sleeplessness, and ADD/ADHD.

In a book called “The Silent Pulse”, George Leonard has drawn an interesting parallel between the speed of classical music vibrato, 7 cycles per second, and Theta wave frequencies, which occur in the brain during deep sleep, ranging from 3 to 8 cycles per second. From my own experience, I know that vibrato evokes a very passionate feeling at 7Hz, but anywhere even minutely outside of that, the feeling is very different. Perhaps we intuitively hone in on vibrations that are in unison with our brainwave frequencies.

One of the best examples of entrainment is our natural tendency to synchronize our sleep patterns to a 24 hour cycle. It is quite difficult do things that oppose the timing of the earth, because it always feels like we are fighting the greater force of our natural rhythm. One way to feel in tune with our body is to be in harmony with the earths cycles, eating and sleeping regularly. The earths rotation is the fundamental frequency that our lives function at.

Tones can be derived from the earth, the sun, the moon, and every other planet and moon within our solar system by looking at the octaves of the orbit frequency. In the late 1500's, a mathematician and astronomer, named Johannes Kepler, discovered that the distance between the planets' orbits mathematically create the intervals of a consonant musical scale, a theory which came to be known as "the music of the spheres". Not only did his work inspire centuries of continued research in cosmic harmony, but his spirit has lived on in numerous symphonic works, based on his musical ideas.

Since the rotation of the earth is, on average, 1 pulsation per 24 hours, we can transpose it upwards by 24 octaves to arrive at 194.18Hz, which is pretty close to a “G” note. This frequency also happens to be in unison with a particular shade of orange, which is known to increase cell growth.

The color orange-red has a direct influence on the process of cell division. In Canada, for example, Professor Max Luscher proved in several series of experiments that the growth of testes in drakes can be controlled by the use of color. Two groups of drakes were kept under different colored lights in otherwise identical conditions. The testes of drakes reared beneath an orange-red light grew twice as fast as those of drakes kept below pale blue light. From the standpoint of harmonics, the results of this experiment seem very logical. The color orange-red is the 65th octave of an earth day and maximum resonance of the DNA chains (carriers of genetic information) lies exactly in the middle of the 66th octave of the day. This maximum is the first overtone of the color orange-red. Since the tone that vibrates most strongly with the fundamental tone is the first overtone, this color also entails the vibration of the DNA chains, thus multiplying their vibration rate. This explains why this color has such a vitalizing effect. (Cousto 43)

In Western music, orchestras tune their instruments to "A", which is otherwise known as "concert pitch". In India, instruments are tuned to C sharp, which happens to be the 32nd octave of the earth year.

	Phi-Music Microtone/Brainwave Generator (PC) is a stand-alone MIDI processor that enables musicians to use alternate tunings based on atomic elements, solar resonance and brainwave frequencies. Bob Moog called it "...One of the most potentially valuable resources of contemporary music technology."

Since the sound of a sitar is mainly determined by the resonance of the overtones of the plucked strings, the sympathetic strings have to be tuned very exactly. This is the reason why tuning up takes longer in India than in the West. Moreover, during this prelude, which is known as "alaapa", the musician not only tunes his instrument to the keynote, which is known as the "sadja", or the "father of the others",he also tunes himself to it and gives the audience the opportunity to do so, too. According to Indian tradition, the "sadja" (or "sa" for short), is the everlasting, never-ceasing tone. It stands for the primordial vibration, which is called "nada" and which is expressed as "om." (Cousto 57)

In 1973, a student named Dorothy Retallack experimented with the affects of music on plants contained in soundproof chambers at the Colorado Woman’s College. In one chamber of plants, she played Led Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix for short periods during each day. In another chamber, she played North Indian Classical music, consisting of Sitar and Tabla drums. Over time, the plants in the rock music chamber withered and died. All the new growth was happing on the side of the plant furthest away from the speakers, and the plants were growing in chaotic circles, as if looking for an escape. In the Indian music chamber, the plants flourished and circled around the speakers, facing it, as if to absorb more of the music. She tried this with several other types of music and concluded that the plants clearly preferred harmony, especially in the form of Indian music and classical strings. This study has been performed by many others, in similarly controlled tests, yielding the same results.

Not so mysterious, are the effects of music on human emotions. Music has been an integral and necessary part of our lives since time immemorial. It can relax or invigorate us, transform our surroundings, help us organize our thoughts, and provide inspiration. When we hear music that we like, we are hearing a reflection of our own inner rhythms, and when we express music with movement of our bodies, we are digging within ourselves and pulling out veritable feelings that eclipse words.

Hans Cousto states that, "Perception is the result of resonance, for when we hear or see something, the entire body resounds in unity" (13), and furthermore, "According to the pitch involved, each vibration will have a certain effect, either stimulating or soothing." (14)

	Raves are basically vibration-sychronizers for thousands of animated bodies (pictured: Defcon1, one of many hardstyle events in the Netherlands.)

Multi-media art is a means of deliberately producing resonance in certain ranges of frequency in order to generate certain reactions. This is how music and light shows cause a release of physical energy. The more you are able to let this energy flow freely, the more your whole body will be able to resonate in reaction and the closer you will come to that state which is known as ecstasy. (Cousto 17)

Even though our taste in music varies a lot, we all seem to share the same interpretation of what emotion the music is conveying. In the late 60's Dr. Manfred Clynes invented an electronic system called a "sentograph", that allowed him to record a persons deliberate interpretation of an idea in the form of a finger movement. Test subjects were asked to express specific emotions, such as anger, love, grief and joy, by pushing down on a pressure-sensitive transducer with their finger, which would generate a short pulse that could be recorded and stored, for later analysis. It was discovered that subjects responded to each emotion the same way on different occasions, and that different subjects responded identically to the same emotions, regardless of sex, or culture. The pulse curvature for each emotion was very different, but everyone’s interpretation looked identical. Clynes also found that when subjects were asked to listen to musical compositions and create a finger pulse in response, the pulse was different for each piece of music, but interpreted with the same pulse by different people. Like musicians responding to the swooping hand movements of a conductor, we all share the same understanding of how emotion relates to a simple pulse. These pulse shapes can be used as modulation curves, to influence desired emotions through changes in an electronic waveform.

Vibration is a deep rooted part of our existence. Because many natural frequencies lie outside of our perception, we fail to recognize what effect they have on our thoughts and emotions, how they synchronize physical processes, hold our bodies and our universe together. Learning how to identify and utilize these frequencies and waveforms opens up new frontiers in music and sound design technology.

References:

Cousto, Hanz. The Cosmic Octave. Mendocino: Liferhythm, 1987

Leonard, George. The Silent Pulse. Layton: Gibbs Smith, 2006

Spear, Deena. Preface. Ears of the Angels. Carlsbad: Hay House, 2003

Sugrue, Thomas. There Is a River. New York: A.R.E. Press, 1997

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