Power Music

# THE POWER OF MUSIC

(Author not known)

There is a great deal of power in music—more than most people have ever imagined. Lingerman (p. 70) fits music into three categories: 1. Music that helps you and gives you strength, 2. Music that doesn’t do much of anything for you (“blah” music), 3. Music that definitely hurts and weakens you.

All music therapists are capable of telling about multiple ways in which music helps people. If asked, any music therapist would have many stories to tell, although Lingerman (1948) describes at length the kind of music needed, and even gives lists of examples of music to use for each of the following: for physical energy, to air anger, to calm anger, for hyperactivity, for depression and fear, to relieve boredom, for relaxation and reverie, for love and devotion, for meditation and prayer, for clear thinking, for mental clarity, for learning, for creative stimulation. In addition, he includes music for each part of daily life: waking up, planning your day, meals and good digestion, insomnia, to quiet your home, to release your child’s energy, and music and humor.

Most people are little aware of the beneficial ways in which music might be used, and music therapists have only begun to explore the powerful benefits of music.

Although I am a music therapist and a teacher of music therapists, it was only recently that I began to think of the word “power” in connection with music. For several reasons I began a serious study of that subject. This study led me to learn a major use of music which is so powerful that the only possible description is “power to the nth degree.” The remainder of this paper is a description of this powerful use of music.

One branch of my study was New Age music. At first, it was extremely difficult for me to find any material on this subject, so I started out by studying the New Age music, hoping to find a few small references to music in general topic literature. It was a shock to read the following statement quoted by Tex Marrs (1989): “I can open the doors of your (brain’s) data banks . . As you’re listening, the rescripting process is happening automatically via subliminally recorded messages.” This was a quotation taken from an interview with “Brother Charles,” one of the best known New Age composers and musicians, for Meditation Magazine. Although the natural assumption was that this was only a figure of speech or over-assumption of some sort, I was interested in reading the interview in its entirety, so I obtained a copy of the article (Harbula) as soon as possible (it took me about six months. An attempt to explain this powerful use of music now follows.

There are three general areas involved: music, the brain, electronic technology. In order to understand this use of music a few basic facts about each of these areas need to be understood. I will include these as I progress.

Brother Charles was born as Charles Cannon; he is a former child prodigy who performed all over the country at the age of 10, playing drums with Jass percussionists Gene Krupa. He spent twelve years studying with the Indian guru, Muktanando. He is very well-acquainted with electronic technology.

Brother Charles conducts audio retreats at his center in Virginia. Retreats last seven days, during which attendees spend four hours a day spacing out with his space-age meditation technique.” Brother Charles produces and sells tapes with alpha phasing to help induce relaxation and light suggestions. He also has industrial-strength tapes with theta and delta phasing which produce altered states of consciousness and with subliminals designed to change attitudes and behavior.

THE NATURE OF THE TAPES AND MEDITATION

Brother Charles uses two techniques in making meditation tapes—“sound phasing” and subliminal messages. Now I must digress in order to explain sound phasing.

Brain waves are measured in firings per second, dalled Hertz (Hz). Music frequency (or pitch) is also measured in vibrations per second in Hertz. Brain waves are classified as follows:

Beta —14-32: This is where we logical rational reasoning.

Alpha—8-13 : relaxed, peaceful yet alert state I called it alert relaxation.

Delta a: below 4. Deep mediation. Sleep.

Theta 4-7: very relaxed. Meditation state. Sleep.

In music, there is a phenomena which is called difference tones. A simplified explanation might be that when two pitches are sounded simultaneously under the right conditions, another pitch which equals the same Hz, as the difference in Hz between the two sounding pitches, will be heard, even though it is not being produced.

To go back to Brother Charles’ meditation tapes—Brother Charles uses a technique which he calls sound phasing. This is not exactly the same thing as what electronic people working with speaker, etc., called sound phasing. His definition is that phasing is “a vibrato sound,” a tone that contains two tones, the top and bottom of the vibration. Phasing is the interval between the tones. The sound we call the interval is heard only in the brain. Your brain creates that sound from the two tones.” Through sound phasing, Brother Charles embeds a sound equal to the desired brain wave frequency (3, 5, 7, or any desired Hz) into the music. This sound is heard only in the brain. It is not a part of the music. This then constitutes a musical subliminal message which is heard only in the subconscious of the brain in the same way as verbal subliminal messages. This gives it a power which consciously-perceived music does not have and will control the brain waves to match any desired frequency. At the same time, Brother Charles considers beta frequency to be an undesirable, busy jangled state; therefore, it is not to be included. Remember, this is where we do rational reasoning.

The second technique is subliminal messages. A few examples he has given of these are: “I am one. I am love. I am peace. I am the source of my experience. I am existence . . consciousness . . ecstasy . . peace.” He says these things are mantras that have not come down through 10,000 years in human experience, which makes up a very wholistic program of non-dual, I-conscious.

There are two interesting claims. One is that meditation is not a 20-minute phenomena, but twenty-four hours a day, the unbroken awareness of yourself as source. A retired New York policeman, who has attended the retreat, says, “It’s almost as though I’m high all of the time.”

An actress who has practiced this meditation for two years says that everything you have in your mind that doesn’t agree with the subliminal messages gets processed out. She describes the uncomfortable time when this was happening. Brother Charles calls it a purging of negative thought patterns which can occur on the mental, emotional, or physical levels. He says withdrawal from these can resemble withdrawal from toxic substances.

Please think about the implications of this. It would be easily possible to make people into near zombies at will. This is not a futuristic science fiction story which might develop some time in the future. It is a technology which is presently being used. Not only that, it is actually a relatively simple thing to do. Since I learned about it, I have learned how to actually do it, and could do it myself. Taylor (1990), in a book on subliminal messages, includes a chapter in which he outlines in detail the way to make your own tape with your own subliminal messages. It requires three cassette recorders, or two cassette players one cassette recorder and a mixer. This is one of several ways tapes that subliminal messages are produced. The musical subliminal mind control” (my own name for it) can be added very easily, I discovered, with a binaural signal generator. The cost is not completely prohibitive to acquire all of this equipment. There even are a multiplicity of sound and light machines being developed on the market today. These create any desired state in users. Some of these make use of the full range, including beta, and make many claims of benefits to such things as learning and intelligence as well as memory, concentration, and a wide range of benefits. See Hutchison (1990) for a description of the latest developments.

Of what practical use is this information, other than futuristic science glamour?

It would be very simple to take control of the minds of any group of people or even of the total world population. In Leningrad a few years ago, I saw loud speakers on street corners covering the entire city, for purposes of instant communication at any time. Could any one seriously think that it would be possible for anybody in the world to get away from music if somebody wanted to impose it on them. Beside, New Age music, which is the ideal carrier, is pleasant and innocent sounding. And since the controls are subliminal, listeners do not know they are there or that there could be any danger. Also, New Age music has become so prevalent, that the world is becoming conditioned to it. Every music store has a section labeled New Age music. There are a growing number of New Age Music radio stations. There is one in Dallas. A new one just started in Tulsa this fall. Department stores, etc. are playing New Age music all day. Not only is everyone becoming conditioned to hearing it, but nobody has any way of knowing when subliminal messages may appear on it.

But, you say, I can’t picture this ever happening. Who would be unscrupulous enough to do such a thing? Would Saddam Hussein drop an atomic bomb? To what lengths would the New World Order and also the New Age movements, both of whom advocate one-world government, go to achieve their goals and to maintain their goals? Just a thought question. If you do not know much about those two movements and would like to know more, I have all kinds of literature on and by them. And do not delude yourself that they do not already know all about this technology. It is in Meditation Magazine for any New Age person and anyone else to read. I found it, didn’t I? And—the United States government is bound to know about it. They stay in touch with all work concerning the brain. When I published about the effect of music on brain waves in the Journal for Music Therapy in 1978, I received a request from the U.S. Army for a copy of my research.

A final summary: I believe that music can be used through using music and verbal subliminal messages which can control a person’s brain waves into a permanent altered state of consciousness and eliminate all of the person’s old value system. Also (my conjecture), I believe that this would become permanent—based on the fact that a person would no longer be able to reason and desire to leave this state.

Let’s hope and pray that this does not happen, but try to individually find a way to protect ourselves.

REFERENCE LIST

Hutchison, Michael (1990). Consciousness Technology, a Consumer’s Guide. Sausalito, CA: Mega Brain.

Lingerman, Hal (1983). The Healing Energies of Music. Wheaton, Il: The Theosophical Publishing House.

Marrs, Texe (1989). Ravaged by the New Age. Austin, TX: Living Truth Publishers.

Harbula, Patrick (1987, fall). Sounds of Transformation. A talk with Brother Charles. Meditation II (4), pp. 20-29.

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