Michelle Gale (Interview Archive)

The technique behind this recording traces back to 1839, when a German physicist first noticed something odd about how the ear handles two slightly different tones played separately into each side of the head. His name was Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. He belonged to the Royal Society, ran the Prussian Meteorological Institute, and spent his career studying the physics of perception, among other subjects.

What Dove observed was a quirk of hearing: when each ear receives a tone at a slightly different frequency, the brain perceives a third, pulsing tone that isn't actually present in either sound. The effect sat as a curiosity for a long while. It only became a working audio method between the 1950s and the 1970s, and several people have since claimed credit for turning it into usable technology. Dove, though, got there first on the underlying principle.

We built this free MP3 on that same idea. The recording applies the auditory stimulus toward mindfulness and relaxation, with the aim of nudging your brainwaves toward a calmer state. There's no catch and no fee. It really is free, and it's offered as a small gift.

If you want to read the research for yourself, search for terms like mindfulness and the psychological effects of brainwave entrainment, and look at the studies indexed on PubMed.gov. The statements here have not been reviewed or approved by the FDA, and nothing on this page is meant to diagnose or treat any condition. Please follow all applicable state and federal laws.