HD Sound Samples

 

Korg ms-20, Analogue synth.

Casio cz-1 Programmable digital synth.

TR-707 Rhythm composer.

MC-303 Groovebox.

 

Ibanez RM-80 Analogue mixer

 

 

Rode NTK Mic and pre-amp.

Edirol R-09 hr , 24bit 96khz stereo audio recorder (portable)

Waveterminal 192 Sound Card.

 

Boss DD5 digital delay.

Psychoactive Stereo effects can be created by playing similar,

but slightly different, audio on your left and right audio channels

and therefore into your left and right ears.

 

This technique has many variations such as binaural brainwave entrainment,

Binaural recordings,

and creating ultra wide sounding stereo audio (used by top studio’s).

 

ULTRA WIDE STEREO:

 

Ultra wide stereo is created by having two almost identical but slightly different pieces of audio

playing on two separate channels; one panned left and one panned right.

 

this can be done to an audio recording by

1. making two similar recordings of each take and panning one left and one right or

2. using the same recording, duplicated and panned left and right

but with different effects/effect settings on the two channels.

 

In the case of vst synths or samplers you can also duplicate the channel/synth in question,

after which tiny adjustments to the filter, modulation or other settings on one of them can be made.

 

The slight variation on the two channels gets translated by your brain

into extremely wide sounding audio and is an old trick for those in the know.

 

There are many ways to alter an audio track and even plugins to split a track.

Some synths can also have an oscillator panned to each channel and so can be “wide” on their own.

A final but very usefull action is to check it all in mono in case it goes bad and you need to make adjustments.

 

BRAINWAVE ENTRAINMENT: (binaural beats)

 

Brainwave entrainment is not new and has been used for hundreds of years by people

using 2 or more de-tuned singing bowls, didgeridoo’s or other instruments.

 

It has also been present in nature all the time.

The slight variations in the stereo field of sounds like the ocean or rain,

have a very relaxing effect on the mind partly due to binaural effects.

 

Listen to my stereo “Ocean” or “Rain” samples

to hear how a stereo microphone can capture this fairly well.

 

All modern binaural brainwave technologies work on elaborations of the following timeless fact:

 

When you play a sound wave,

(Particularly a sine wave) of a specific frequency, for example 100hz,

into your left ear (headphones are best for this),

and then play the same sound wave into your right ear,

but at a slightly higher or lower frequency, for example 104hz,

after some time this audio will “entrain” your brainwaves

to the frequency that is the difference between the two chosen frequencies,

(100hz + 104hz).

In this case it is 4hz. (Theta brain waves)

This frequency is known as the binaural-beat frequency.

It is also the frequency of the brain waves

that your brain will produce after listening to this audio for some time.

 

If you listen to either wave forms (100hz or 104hz) on their own

you will hear only a steady tone.

But if you listen to them together (one panned left and one right) you will hear a pulsing sound,

pulsing at exactly 4 pulses per second.

This sound is inside your head and is how your brain translates such audio.

 

Another interesting effect of Binaural beats on humans,

is that they synchronize the two hemispheres of your brain,

so that your brain wave cycles are interlocked perfectly.

This is most likely quite good for you.

 

The best wave-form to use for this, as I mentioned earlier, is a sine wave.

This is because a sine wave is the purist waveform and has the least harmonics.

Pure sine waves however are harsh and can hurt your ears or speakers,

So for this reason it is best to use filtered sine waves.

(This means making use of filters or eq to soften any harsh sounds).

The frequency of these (carrier) tones is important too,

this is why many healers use the Solfeggio frequencies or other known healing tones as carriers.

It is also said to be help full if your binaural beat freq is mathematically harmonious with the carrier freq.

 

I would obviously recommend using the highest possible resolution for all sounds

because it will produce more accurate waveforms and make their effects stronger.

 

Here are 3 ways to produce this type of audio.

 

1. Download brainwave generating software such as “Gnaural of  ”Brainwave generator”.

(export brainwaves into production/mixing software to complete production)

2. Use tone generating software like “Audacity” or “Soundforge” to generate tones,

and then import them into production/mixing software and apply panning etc.

3.Use 2 vst synths playing sine waves panned left and right

and frequency analysing plug-ins to tune them to the correct frequencies.

 

Commonly used methods of binaural wave manipulation include:

1. Using more than one pair of stereo panned waves

(to produce more then one brainwave frequency at once)

2. Using other waveforms (square, saw, etc).

3. Slowly “Ramping” from one freq to another (to change from one brainwave  to another)

4. Frequency modulation.

 

Another very effective tactic is to mix recordings of nature,

some white or pink noise

or other interesting audio with these waves to add to the effect.

 

Listen to my “Deep Space” category for an example,

(30 min brainwave entrainment program, 7hz ramps down to 4 Hz + Stereo Sea)

 

Another interesting point to remember

is that it is possible to alter the left/right pitch of any audio

to create mind altering effects.

Melodies, sound effects or even full music files are effective in varying degrees.

 

Although this method does work with speakers and most sounds

for creating psychoactive effects,

if you are doing brainwave entrainment

then it is better to use headphones and sine waves to get full and accurate entrainment.

 

You can use the chart below to make your own brain wave effecting wave files.

Longer study aid, sleeping, healing, energizing, out of body travel programs

or even short mind bending sounds for use in electronic music.

 

There are many charts and lists of different binaural beat frequencies

and their effects on the mind available online.

 

This is just the standard list of frequencies that your brain is capable of generating

and thus can be entrained to, using binaural beats.

 

BRAINWAVE / BINAURAL BEAT FREQUENCY CHART:

 

>40hz               gamma waves         Hyper thoughts

13-39hz             beta waves           Active/alert

7-13hz              alpha waves            Relaxation

4-7hz                theta waves            Deep relaxation/meditation

<4hz                 delta waves             Deep sleep

 

 

BINAURAL RECORDINGS:

 

Binaural recordings are recordings

that are only effective when listened to through headphones or a special speaker arrangement.

They are made using a dummy or real live persons head

with tiny omni-directional mics placed in its ears.

After processing with special software, these recordings

simulate exact 3d placing of sounds,

making a sound that was behind or in front of the mic-head

sound like it really is behind or in front of your head

when you listen to the stereo recording on headphones.

 

It works because your ear-lobes and head shape filter sounds in different ways

depending on the direction that they are coming from.

The mic-head filters sounds in the same way,

and then the played back recording

(with the help of special algorithms and processing done to it first)

tricks your brain into believing it’s real.

 

I would appreciate any donations possible so that I may purchase this equipment,

and make these sounds available to you.

 

 

 

 

Sound healing is a complex subject involving physical and non-physical aspects,

however from a physical perspective the most important aspects are:

Specific frequency or tuning (hz), wave-forms of these frequencies and harmony between the frequencies.

 

The equal temperament tuning we use today uses note frequency’s that were chosen for economical reasons,
and are in fact slightly out of harmony/tune with each other,

some people say this is what has caused the slight disharmony in our society.

The A=440hz standard reference pitch has an even stranger background involving

a Nazi called Goebels and other odd folk.

 

There are however many scales and tunings that are in perfect harmony with themselves

(all the frequencies divide perfectly into each other)

Perfect harmony in music creates harmony and health in the listener,

whereas disharmony in music creates disharmony and ill health/thoughts.

 

If you think this is a subject for freaks and geeks, think again.
Many big names/studios/orchestras have and still do use these techniques/tunings,
they just don’t talk about it much.

 

DO IT YOURSELF:

A good place to start is to re-tune your synth’s master pitch to escape A=440hz
and find a different master pitch.
In my opinion ANY pitch will better that one chosen by a Nazi.

There are 2 ways to change a vst synths master pitch:

1:Use the master pitch adjustment setting on the synth.

2:Use a .TUN file to over ride and create a new master pitch.

An interesting master pitch many are using today is A=444hz,

when using 12 tone equal temperament scale
this makes your C into 528 hz.

Check that C=528hz with tuner or tuner software to be sure as this is the important note,

(444hz is just your reference pitch here)

528hz is known as the love frequency by many healers and is also the magic note in the
Ancient Healing Solfeggio scale. (more on that later).
On the colour spectrum 528hz is green,
the colour associated with the heart chakra by healers and mystics for centuries.

Genetic scientists also use this frequency to repair broken DNA strands.

Obviously this method only has the 528hz effect when your music is in C,

because then your root bass note and most sounds will be octaves or harmonics of 528hz.

A beter method is to use .tun files to change your synth’s master pitch to C=528hz

and leave A out of the picture  altogether.(read on to learn more about .tun files).

 

Another interesting master pitch often used is A=432hz.

This frequency (432hz) is also known to have healing/magical properties,
and was widely used before A=440hz was enforced.

When you tune to A=432hz (using equal temperament scale),
Then the next C comes out just a little above 512hz,
If you use the Pythagorean 12 tone scale,
then it comes out at exactly 512hz.

My track “Ancient Structure” under “Music-Space” was made at  A=432hz using such a scale.

(If are using .tun files you can also just tune to C=512hz and forget the A)

The octaves of C=512hz are very interesting numbers:

4hz, 8hz, 16hz, 32hz, 64hz, 128hz, 512hz, 1024hz, etc

This sequence of numbers is the code by which living cells divide

and is used by many other things in the universe as a map.

I believe  computers should resonate in some way to this

and octaves/harmonics of this frequency because the computer memory itself operates in octaves of 512hz.

 

 

RE-TUNING SCALES

One of the main reasons why people retune their scales,
is to have notes with frequencies that are perfect multiples of each other and so resonate smoothly together,(music is maths).
Many musicians do this simply to get “sweeter” sounding harmonies.
Harmony in music = harmony in the listener = healing.

The name used today for such a scale is a “Just-Intonation” scale.

A “perfect” scale however, can only be played in the same key as its root note,
playing it in a different key requires a complete re-tune of the instrument.

 

For example when using equal temperament with a master pitch of

A=444hz, you can play music in C or any other key and it sounds fine(ish)

(if you have never heard a perfect scale before)

However with a perfect Pythagorean scale, if you tune your master pitch to A=444hz

and play in A, then it sounds better and purer that equal temperament,

but now if you try to play in F or C (while A is your root note), then it will sound very out of tune.

Nowdays it is possible to change keys with vsts by simply duplicating the track and loading a new scale with a new root note on the copy, so when you change keys you actually change instruments.

 

All music used to be made like this and tuned with purpose,

Pythagoras even had a different scales for creating different moods and healing various ailments etc.

Then equal temperament was invented,
it “tempered” the tuning and made a scale “playable” in any key without re-tuning.
But also made a scale with imperfect harmony’s and no major healing possibility’s.

We have become used to it now,

and  don’t even have anything better to compare it to anymore

but when it was first invented, people hated it because it sounded so horrible.

 

Re-tuning the individual notes of your synthesizer or other musical instruments
out of equal temperament into another scale is called “Micro-Tuning” and is actually an ancient art.

 

The best way to tune vst synths is is to use .TUN files,

they work on many vst synths like Albino, cronox and z3ta

and can be created using micro-tuning software like Scala.

However these programs mostly use commands and are very hard to use,

so I have made and posted some useful ones in the .Tun Files category,

I will post more if there are many downloads, (if you want a special one made please contact me)

 

.TUN files can be programed to over ride the vst synths masted pitch and create a new one,

this is what I have done with these ones ,

the root note (note 1 in scale) and master pitch are also part of the file name,

making these .tun files very user friendly.

 

If a synth or midi-tuner only adjusts in cents or percent,

then frequency-analysing software can be used to accurately tune your notes or master pitch.

It is actually wise to use analysing software all the time anyway,
to make sure that your synth really is doing what it say’s it is (not always the case).

There are millions of scales and even more theories on which are the best.
But at the end of the day, if a scale sounds good and feels good then it usually is.
If you find one that sounds and feels better that equal temp then you are on the path.

Often science says that a certain scale or tuning is good but when you try it,
it feels and sounds bad.
I find it best to follow my feelings in this situation and not my head.

 

Another one of my favourite master pitch and scale combinations is A=417hz (master pitch)

with a 12 tone Pythagorean scale.

With this combination A flat=396hz, A=417hz and C sharp=528hz,(first three solfeggio tones.)

 

12-tone Pythagorean scale:

0:          1/1               0.000  unison, perfect prime

1:       2187/2048          113.685  apotome

2:          9/8             203.910  major whole tone

3:         32/27            294.135  Pythagorean minor third

4:         81/64            407.820  Pythagorean major third

5:          4/3             498.045  perfect fourth

6:        729/512           611.730  Pythagorean tritone

7:          3/2             701.955  perfect fifth

8:       6561/4096          815.640  Pythagorean augmented fifth

9:         27/16            905.865  Pythagorean major sixth

10:         16/9             996.090  Pythagorean minor seventh

11:        243/128          1109.775  Pythagorean major seventh

12:          2/1            1200.000  octave

 

The SOLFEGGIO SCALE. is an important magical/healing scale that many people are talking about these days.

(see charts at bottom of page)

 

I made some very interesting discovery’s while working with this scale.

That being when I re-tune the master pitch on my korg m2-20 (analogue synthesiser)

so that it’s A is the same as the solfeggio RE (417hz)

and turn up the resonance to bring out the harmonics (while playing A)

then when I sweep through the them using the high pass filter

they (the harmonics) are exactly the same intervals and pitches as the solfeggio scale

with the exception of UT (note 1) which is just not there.

it is easier to hear the harmonics if you play the A 3 octaves lower (52.125hz).

It is also possible to sweep higher or lower and hear notes above and below the known solfeggio,

(The real “lost” notes?).

I have posted this file in the “Solfeggio Tones” post, it is called “korg solfeggio”

 

 

If you listen to the file  ”Sweep RE – LA” in the “Solfeggio Tones post” (sine waves)

you will hear that all the intervals and tones are the same as the harmonics in “korg solfeggio”

and that they sound very familiar when you slowly sweep through them. (ancient universal memory?)

 

I now recognise these harmonic intervals as being the same as those in

overtone chanting, digeridoo, jaw harp,  analogue synths, and probably all natural sounds.

If you are making music using these natural methods then the overtone intervals are always the same.

However if you want the overtones to be the exact solfeggio pitches too then as I said, tune your “A” to 417 hz . (this only works with drone instruments playing only A=417hz or its octaves).

 

You may be wondering why RE or  A=417hz (note 2 in solfeggio)

seems to be the root note and not UT 396hz (note 1 in solfeggio)

This worried me too until i found a chart explaining that UT 396hz is the preparatory tone,

to prepare youself for the next five tones, so in a way note 2 (RE) is actually note 1 in the scale.

This is why I first posted “Sweep RE – LA” without UT (before I saw the chart),

because it was dissonant with the rest the tones.

The 5 tones  RE, MI, FA, SOL and LA can all be played simultaneously

and produce a lovely pure chord without UT, which it seems should be listened to first separately.

 

Below are 2 Charts that I found online:

 

Chart 1.

The Solfeggio Scale

Ut – 396hz -  preparatory tone to prepare the body, soul, and spirit to receive the next five tones

Re – 417 hz – tone to begin resonance with the Divine (resound or balance frequencies)

Mi – 528 hz – tone to begin healing and extraordinary changes (miracles)
Fa – 639 hz  - tone to seek out limitations imposed upon us (slaves to mindsets)
Sol -741 hz -  tone to loosen, release, unbind, untie, open, free (solve, resolve)
La – 852 hz – tone to open the vocal chords (release the lips)

hz = frequency of vibration or cycles per second

source: http://www.utqueantlaxis.com/

 

Chart 2.

Love perfect circle:

The Solfeggio Scale + 3 extra “lost” tones? “re”-discovered recently by scientists.

NOTE:  The “new” notes are said to be healing and may be ” lost” solfeggio notes.

new-174 Hz

new-285 Hz

UT – 396 Hz –old. Liberating Guilt and Fear
RE – 417 Hz –old. Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change
MI – 528 Hz –old. (LOVE) Transformation and Miracles (DNA Repair)
FA – 639 Hz –old. Connecting/Relationships
SOL – 741 Hz –old. Expression/Solutions
LA – 852 Hz –old. Awakening Intuition /Returning to Spiritual Order

SI? – 963 HZ – new

I have posted the whole scale + new tones as pure unfiltered sine waves
under “Solfeggio Scales 88khz 24/32bit sine waves”.
They can be looped in a media player on repeat for healing/meditation
or used to tune musical instruments or soft-synths by ear.

If you compare these pure waveforms with other normal waveforms in

audio editing programs you will see how special they are.

 

 

 
Many people use extreme pitch shifting/bending and other processes to isolate hidden sounds in samples.

If you do this, it is quick and easy to make new samples that appeal to you and that nobody else is likely to find even if they have the same sample bank.

However if you pitch shift/process CD quality samples (44khz 16bit) too much then they become seriously degraded with strange audio artifacts.

To give yourself more “headroom” for processing and resampling before hearable problems occur you will need to set your pc workstation to the highest possible resolution.(sample/bit rate settings)

You will also need to use samples of the highest compatible resolution.
It is important that the samples were originally recorded at a high resolution.
(not low quality samples converted to a higher resolution)

The higher the resolution, the more you will be able to pitch shift/process/resample without hearable audio degradation.

 

It is often necessary to convert and audio files sample/bit rate to a higher or lower resolution, there are some important things you should consider when doing this.
 

BIT RATE CONVERSION:

When converting audio to a lower bit rate DITHERING is needed to avoid digital distortion.

Converting audio to a lower bit rate will (obviously) deacrease its sound quality.

When converting audio to a higher bit rate then dithering is not needed.

Converting audio to a higher bit rate will not increase or decrease its sound quality.

 

DITHERING:

Dithering should not be applied to the same audio more than once.

 

SAMPLE RATE CONVERSION:

Converting audio to a higher sample rate will not increase or decrease it’s sound quality.

Converting audio to a lower sample rate will (obviously) decrease it’s sound quality.

To avoid loss of data it is best to convert sample rates in whole numbers, for example:

88.200 khz to 44.100 khz or

96.000 khz to 48.000 khz

 

 

 

 

When you record audio into a computer it gets resampled to your system/project resolution settings.
After that, even if you only make a volume adjustment it gets resampled again.

Resampling degrades audio.

If your system/project resolution is 16bits/44khz (cd quality) then your audio can degrade to below cd quality even if you only lower the volume or adjust the pitch a little.
 

When monitoring or just listening to music at high resolutions you have more depth and clarity, you can hear soft sounds like reverbs more easily and very high frequency’s are more accurately translated.

VST effects like reverb, phasers etc love high resolution settings because they have more sound to work with and always sound richer,clearer and better.

 

 

When choosing a higher sample rate,
it is important to consider what resolution you want your final rendered file to have.

88khz is better then 96khz if you want to render to 44khz (cd quality) later, because they are whole numbers of each other and divide into each other without causing data loss.

If you want a finished product of 48khz(movies/games) then working at 96khz will be better. 
(converting 88khz files to 96khz will still give you plenty of “headroom”)
 

When choosing a higher bit rate you should remember that some music production software uses 32bit (ieee float) for internal calculations and resamples all audio recorded to that resolution.

This means that you will need dithering to render anything at a lower resolution than 32bits.

 

It is best to use samples that are of the same resolution as your system/project resolution settings.

If some or all of your samples are of a different resolution, then you need to convert them first.

(Read my “How To Convert Samples” page to do it without data loss.)

 

These samples cannot be played on this site, you need to download them.

There are are 32/24 and 16bit and 44/88khz wave files and mp3 versions of some of them.

All samples are posted at their original resolution (no upsampling)

If a sample has a low level ,it is because it was recorded that way and means that I did not want to boost (resample) the audio, it’s better if you do that.

If you hear hiss or noise or aliasing on a hardware sample that’s because my old synths are dirty and nasty and speak a language of there own.

If you cannot play a wave file on your system, you may need a better sound card or different software.

Or alternatively you can convert the samples to a lower resolution before use.

These samples still sound really good when converted to a lower quality because more dynamics were captured in the origional hd recording

click on file to download (wave files or mp3s).