Sound – often described simply as vibrations that travel through a medium and can be heard once they reached a person’s ear. On base level, it can appear that sound is simple, here to aid the perception of this reality. But any in depth look will bring to our attention that sound can be so much more. The effect it can have on us and all living things cannot be underestimated.

Firstly, it can be slightly misleading to insinuate that the powers of sound in relation to healing and assistance is a new discovery. Ancient cultures all over have long been using sound as the backbone of ceremony. It would not be difficult to seek out an African tribe, for example, who use the likes of drumming, singing and chanting for ceremonial practices, including healing ceremonies. So we can see that these people clearly understood that sound and vibration plays a major role in our lives. On a base level, everyone understands the power of music. Imagine watching your favourite film without the soundtracks that come with it. Sound has a way of manipulating and controlling our emotions in a way that visuals alone cannot. Human beings respond to sounds. It touches them in a profound way. This could be traced to a mother’s innate response whenever she hears her baby cry in a certain tone. Such is the effect of such a tone, that research has indicated cats now mimic the tone in order to gain a response out of humans when they are in need.

We see people breaking into tears at the mere sound of a singing voice. We often exercise to our favourite tracklists. We understand that sound and music, activates our emotions, and motivates are actions.

But what is happening at a scientific level and just how far can the affect go?
Well in order to begin to understand that, we need to go back to what exactly sound is. It is vibration, which in itself is key in the way we interact with it. Sound causes molecules to vibrate against other molecules, which then vibrate against other molecules and this progression of contact passes through the air as a sound wave. There is further vibration when that wave hits your ear drum. See our class on how the ear works for further understanding, but we see that the process if based on vibration. However, furthermore, everything in the universe vibrates in some way, so in essence, existence itself is vibration. Even matter that we consider solid, including the human body, is still vibrating at its own rate. When we understand this, we can then begin to investigate the way in which different vibrations effect each other.

Another aspect to consider is how well sound travels through water. It does so at a much faster rate than it does through the air. This is because the denser the substance, the quicker the sound travels and the several more particles in water then there are in the air. Sound waves can also travel a lot further in water because of this, which is why some sounds, from dolphins for example, can travel several Kilometres. Now although our ears are currently more useful in detecting sounds outside of water, it is important to point out that we are made up of seventy percent water. So how the sound waves travel through our body could also be compared to that. Do some research into how far sound from Whales can travel and you might be surprised what you find.

Sound therapy:

The mere fact that such a type of therapy exists tells us something about what effect of sound. Sound therapy, as the name suggests, refers to a group of therapies in which sound is used to treat both mental and physical conditions. As stated earlier, the concept itself is not a new one, and has been happening since the beginning of time. Now we can even find specific healing centres around the world that specialise in this form of treatment.

It’s a treatment that comes in various different forms, and a common one is known as music therapy. This is probably one we are familiar with in some form as many of us may instinctively put on a particular song in order to feel relaxed. But there can also be the use of different sounds and frequencies in attempt to shift the frequency of a person. Sounds and music have been used to treat conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, physical pain and high blood pressure. It is even being touted as a way to reduce anxiety in patients before surgery, maybe even more effectively than prescription drugs. It is definitely a form of treatment to become familiar as its important to note, it would not have been used for hundreds and thousands of years if it wasn’t effective.