Musical Frequencies Background
I am a big fan of Tesla with an appreciation that has grown over the years as I learned more about him. If he believed in something, you probably should listen to his explanation. With this said, I already knew firsthand about the power of musical frequencies as many of us innately and experientially do.
“If you want to know the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.“
Nikola Tesla
I spent three decades in the musical instrument industry from retail stores to manufacturing and everything in between. Starting out in the 70s, I was a young entrepreneur musician that loved rock and roll and the driving force behind it. The technical aspect of sound frequencies were on my radar for performance aspects and an indicator of sound quality. I did not give much thought to the power of musical frequencies other than distortion from over-driving the head room of an amplifier or the notes played in various octaves on instruments.
Regarding acoustic instruments, the quality of tone was again the main factor based on purity of sound. The benchmark of a quality piece of audio equipment, whether electronic or acoustical, is based on factors generally tied to nature of the sound, tone and frequency range. We did of course sell signal processors that altered the natural qualities of tone to produce a variety of special effects from pitch control to distortion.
Emotional Power
My experience like most is that music is part of life and extremely powerful on our emotions. The science behind this phenomenon is not often quantified yet we all seem to know that certain songs will literally change our state of mind and emotions almost instantly. Why is this and why does music trigger life experiences we had when we originally heard that song? How could a variety of musical frequencies seemingly control our mind so magically? We know it happens but don’t often consider why it happens. Think of how many times your favorite song got you in a great mood and your emotions were in the clouds!
We sold stadium level power amps, public address systems and instrument amplifiers. Some of the amps were so powerful that conducting demos could often be dangerous! I am surprised that I still have my hearing after ear bleeding levels of volume attacks on my senses. I might be reaching to plug in a Marshall amp with my ear an inch from the speaker when some idiot would flip the power switch on and hit a power chord at full volume.
Sound vibrations can hurt you badly! Everyone is aware that extreme decibel levels at close range can cause pain and ear damage. BTW, the Marshall amps we sold in the late 80s did indeed go to eleven and even went to twenty a few years later!:)
Somehow, I don’t think this is what Tesla was referring to as secrets of the universe. Volume at head shearing levels by a punk rocker probably was not what Nicola had in mind. It does however show the power of audio frequencies and high decibel levels on physiology. How does terrible, distorted , super loud guitar playing affect a person? It will turn a calm person into an agitated, angry and upset individual that might fight or run, or in my experience, kick an annoying idiot out of the store!
Musical Frequencies Weaponized
We used to sell bass speaker cabinets with what was called, folded horn designed enclosures. The speakers inside the cabinet faced rearward so the sound could reflect off the back panel. They held 15 and 18 in. speakers and the power amps were up to 600 watts for these bass stack setups. One manufacturer, Randall amps, told us at the time in the late 70s to warn customers not to sit or stand directly in front of these cabinets.
It was a short time later that a buyer of one of these cabinets contacted us to say he spent a night in the ER after his gig due to what he thought was kidney failure! He realized that he stood in front of the cabinet all night and literally was beat up by the sound pressure to the point of damaged kidneys! When we demo’d these speakers, you could see shirts and hair moving from the sound waves at what seemed like fairly low volume! Sound waves are powerful! Musical frequencies will affect your emotions and physical status!
We often sponsored events at night clubs in the southern California area such as battle of the bands and theme based or seasonal promotions. It was a different scene with club promoters that freelanced their services to clubs promising to handle all promotional needs and logistics for a cut of the action.
These guys and gals were fixtures at the top clubs from late afternoon until closing pretty much every night of the week. They would contact sponsors like myself to participate at times in judging contests, presentations, etc. so I would have a chance to talk with some of these promoters during down times throughout the evening.
Being a competitive and territorial type business, they developed some pretty interesting skills that I learned about from a few that confided in me. Without getting into a lot of dirt about the business and some of the famous artists, the point for this subject is how they would go so far as to tune the bass frequencies on the sound system to evoke, let’s say, an emotional experience for the ladies. The piped in music or DJ tunes were designed to trigger certain musical frequencies that would excite the female clientele by design! Look it up!
Holistic Health Factors from Musical Frequencies?
So, most of us don’t need Tesla to let us in on what I have covered so far. Certain musical frequencies can create powerful emotional experiences and bad music at high volumes can create pain and negative physiological and emotional responses.
Let’s move on to more esoteric observations now that we have established common ground on sound waves, frequencies and tone in regard to music. How is this subject tied into the eight pillars of health? We already established how it affects and interacts within the emotional and physical pillars. We will now explore how music can interact with other health pillars that could prove to be one of the most over-arching pillar subjects we may ever discuss.
Spiritual, emotional, social, physical, intellectual, environmental and financial are the ones I can think of at the moment with only nutritional being left out! Who knows, could soothing music indirectly boost absorption of nutrients?
Singing hymns together at church or in a choir can produce mystical results at times. There have been reports of miracles occurring many times from witnesses of gatherings curing the crippled, terminally ill, etc. I listened to a recording of a small a Capella choir practice that was believed to include the voices of angels.
The recording was authenticated as original and unaltered and the choir members confirmed they had no instruments. I heard what others apparently heard and it was the sound of perfect angelic voices overriding the small choir to sound like a hundred person choir was performing!
The choir was comprised of only about seven members from what I recall reading but sounded like a hundred-fold! I managed to find a copy of it on the net and have provided a link below. It was not a highly produced recording but just someone recording their rehearsal with an inexpensive device that had no special capabilities or effects.
“When two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” We find it in Matthew 18:20, Singing and praise music in general is said to please God in the bible. It appears that he is also a music fan that presumably likes harmonious and pleasing music too!
What better way to create a connection with our maker that is fun, uplifting and healthy with social benefits! Oh yeah, that leads us to the social health pillar…
It’s also part of religious gatherings and the social aspect can be uplifting and cathartic for many that wish to be around like minded individuals. It’s a safe, positive and harmonious environment that has been proven to boost immunity, health and mental clarity and calmness. Singing simple hymns with others can be magical. I have felt this at times when the music has been pure and people actually get “slain in the spirit”. This now leads to the intellectual pillar…
You may think of religion or worship as a faith based action and not considered an intellectual exercise at the outset. Bible study consists of just what it says and the interpretation for guidance in your faith. I find a good bible scholar fascinating because they are usually highly educated and can really break down the meaning of what can be challenging at times for the neophyte lay person. I am a Christian believer after keeping my distance for years but got hooked due to great bible scholar’s teachings.
You can easily believe the bible is just a series of parables that aren’t actually real but meant only to inspire without a bible scholar’s analysis. I thought the bible was symbolic for most of my life until I realized the teachings were real and the predictions are dead on without exception!
It takes study, faith and an alert mind to decipher the bible and this means it takes intellectual health and in turn develops intellectual strength. No bible study or church service or gathering is conducted without some type of praise music. There is something that primes and connects the spirit and opens the mind’s intellect.
Music and the Proven Intellectual Benefits
A study back in the 80s came out that children who learned a musical instrument developed higher intellect or IQ. Boy did our industry jump on this study and it became the mantra for music companies world wide afterwards. Do you want your child to become smarter with proven scientific research to back this claim? Buy him or her a musical instrument and lessons and create a budding Einstein! We literally sold hundreds of synthesizers that were promoted as keyboards that kids will love while getting smarter!
We stacked dozens of an entry level $500 model, made by Seiko, in the middle of the store and parents would come in and say they were there to pickup something called a synthesizer for their kid! It was not unusual for us to sell a dozen a day to people that had no idea about what they were buying!
So we definitely have the intellect pillar covered and looking back, it really was true. Kids were just plain smarter that learned an instrument at the earliest age possible while adults struggled as though something closed off in their brain after a certain age. Parents will spend lots of money on their kids if they believe they can better their lives and futures. This leads us to the Financial Pillar….
I realize that I am stretching things a bit but bear with me in this exercise. Finances are not a one way street of saving money only. It encompasses investing and that could mean more than stocks, bonds and real estate and include human resources like your children! What better way to invest your resources
if you are convinced that it will return much more than money? Would you spend ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred thousand dollars or more for a pill that would raise your child’s IQ by a minimum of ten percentage points? Think of the possibilities and the future you could provide them! It may assure their ability to create financial security and have the wherewithal to take care of you in your old age! It’s a no brainer!
The promotional ads did not picture stoned out kids jamming in a garage in case you were wondering. They most often depicted a 6 year old Asian kid playing Mozart on a violin or piano with a smug look:)
Emotional Effects of Musical Frequencies
In my case, I not only made a living for thirty years because of music but my children learned instruments at an early age through our Rock-school program and are now very bright adults. A double whammy win! They are super smart and successful and they value their surroundings and environment in a rational and healthy way and not like some climate change kooks. OK, did you see what I just did? Yes, I worked in the Environmental Pillar like no other segue you will ever experience,….smooth huh?
Musical frequencies and the environment go hand in hand just like bread and butter, hamburgers and French fries, peanut butter and jelly,…. Why? Both are natural, God given and unadulterated if left untainted by dark forces.
Take music in the 20th century until the last decade or two. Sure there were sad songs, dumb songs, funky tunes, jazz riffs gone wild, da blues, punk, hard rock, country western, bluegrass, etc. What was the common theme? They were pure and unadulterated, heart-felt songs that while evoking emotions, they did not poison the soul.
What do I mean? They spoke of love, heartache, betrayal, sadness, happiness and all the real emotions but you know what they didn’t promote? Suicide, killing cops, overdosing on fentanyl, committing crimes, looting and burning businesses, racism, satanic worship, anti-American propaganda, etc. The onset of rap followed by the depressing grunge genres began the downfall of music that has not recovered to this day! It was a form of pollution, yes, environmental sound pollution!
I am not taking a Pollyanna-ish approach to this as I listened to some pretty hard and acid rock in my day and still like classic rock but there was a difference, and the vast majority was at least inspirational unlike some genres today. We became polluted with the brain washing propaganda that got the youth to think that bad was good and good was bad.
Sure, we need to take better care of our physical environment but let us not forget that we also have noise pollution in the form of damaging levels of propaganda and garbage music with lyrics that need to be flushed. Clean up your personal environment with your choice of music and how it affects you and others for a positive result in my humble opinion!
Musical Frequencies Summary
So there you have it! Music can legitimately be included into at least seven of the eight pillar of holistic health! Maybe if you wrote a song on a slab of dark chocolate, around 90 percent cacao with no sugar, we could include the nutritional pillar but I will think about it further and get back to you if I come up with a better reason.
Stay tuned for the more technical and potentially dark side of sound waves in a future edition. Why do musical frequencies alter our mood, intellect, spiritual, social and other pillars of health? I also plan to cover the mind control CIA tactics and other audio and sound wave technologies and frequencies like 5G that are changing the world and minds!
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