London electronic trio Eaux and British independent record label All Tomorrow’s Parties have enlisted the help of a research and sound engineer to create a track specifically designed to hack your brain.
The “binaural remix” of the track, Head, released from the outfit’s new album Plastics, has been sequenced by Belgian sound designer Dr Stéphane Pigeon to invoke heightened feelings of happiness and in many cases euphoria.
According to ATP Recordings, the only way to achieve the full effect of the binaural remix is to play the track through your headphones. Listeners are instructed to sit or stand comfortably with eyes closed, making sure to take three deep, long breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth whilst the track starts.
They should continue to relax for the first two and a half minutes of the tack, giving time for the brain to follow the frequency and synchronise with the programmed beats. They then are free to open their eyes, dance or just let the feelings of euphoria wash over.
ATP continue, the reason listeners have to wear headphones is that two different binaural tones are played with different frequencies on the left and right side and are processed by the brain as a “periodic beat” rather than a “sound wave.”
“After a few minutes of use the listener’s own brainwaves will begin to fall into step with, and synchronize with, this binaural beat, inducing states ranging from deep sleep to intense concentration and focus,” reads the explanation. The process is known as “brainwave entrainment” and binaural beats have been linked to other health benefits such as pain control.
Head over to the ATP’s SoundCloud page for a more detailed explanation, but first put on those stereo headphones, listen to the track below and test out the experiment on your own brain.
Eaux’s Plastics is out now.
Listen: Eaux – Head (Binaural Remix)
https://soundcloud.com/alltomorrowsparties/eaux-head-binaural-remix
