Copyright: BrainWave Generator Help - Copyright 1998-1999 by Noromaa Solutions
Citation: BrainWave Generator Help - Copyright 1998-1999 by Noromaa Solutions


Overview of BrainWave Generator

BrainWave Generator is a brain stimulation application that works by generating binaural beat frequencies. With binaural beats, you can stimulate your brain to make yourself relaxed, help in meditation or self-hypnosis, enhance learning capabilities, induce sleep, help focusing attention, and so on.

For more information, click one of the following links.

Important warning

Brain states and frequencies

Entraining brain to a desired state with binaural beats

Effects of altered brain states

Technical details:

What are binaural beat frequencies?

What is modulation?

Available waveforms

Available background voices

Description of noise backgrounds

BrainWave Generator was developed by Noromaa Solutions. Be sure to check out our Web site at http://www.bwgen.com. Among other things, it contains an area for downloading presets submitted by other BrainWave Generator users.


Important warning

Since BrainWave Generator relies on external aural stimulation of the brain, the following people should not use BrainWave Generator in any case:

•	People subject to any forms of seizures or epilepsy

•	People using pacemakers

•	People suffering from cardiac arrhythmia or other heart disorders

•	People taking stimulants, psychoactive drugs, or tranquilizers

If you fall in any of these categories, do not use or even try BrainWave Generator!


Registering BrainWave Generator

BrainWave Generator is distributed as shareware. You can use it free for one month, after which you must register. Registration costs $30 for a single-user license (for personal use only—for commercial and/or clinical license, please contact Noromaa Solutions). See also the BrainWave Generator License Agreement.

After registration, the following changes take effect immediately:

•	The About window will not appear at startup anymore.

•	The Import function in the File menu will be activated. For more information about the import functionality, click [image].

•	The "Please remember to register" sound occasionally played will not be played anymore.

Ordering on-line by credit card

The easiest way to register BrainWave Generator is via RegSoft.COM. Their server uses secure transactions to guarantee the confidentiality of your credit card information.

Other ordering options

If you have trouble with the RegSoft.COM registration, you can also register via Public Software Library.

•	Register using secure transactions

•	Register using non-secure access (if your browser does not support secure transactions)

•	If the above sites are unavailable, you may try the backup site.

To order by telephone, you have the following options:

•	Call Public Software Library at 800-242-4775 (for international orders 713-524-6394), extension 15709

•	Call RegSoft.COM at 1-877-REGSOFT (for international orders 770-497-9126). Be sure to mention the product ID 8929.

Note

•	Please do not use the above phone numbers for any other purposes than ordering. For technical support, questions about BrainWave Generator, etc. contact Noromaa Solutions directly.

You can also order by fax, by email or by regular mail (credit cards, checks and money-orders are all fine). For more information, see the RegSOFT.COM Web page, the Public Software Library Web page, or email us.


Brain states and frequencies

EEG (electroencephalography) technology is used to measure brain's electrical vibrations from the surface of the scalp. The resulting EEG pattern will contain frequency elements mainly below 30Hz. The frequencies are categorized into four states as follows.

State	Frequency	State of mind
Delta	0.5–4Hz	Deep sleep
Theta	4–8Hz	Drowsy (also first stage of sleep)
Alpha	8–14Hz	Relaxed but alert
Beta	14–30Hz	Highly alert and focused
The dominant frequency in the brain's EEG pattern determines what shall be called the current state of the brain. If the amplitude of the alpha range frequencies is highest, then the brain is said to be in the alpha state. The purpose of BrainWave Generator is to affect the brain's state to achieve different results. For more information on how this is achieved, click [image]. For more information on the possible results, click [image].

Note

•	Brain's EEG pattern always consists of a wide range of different frequencies. The most dominant of them determines the current state of mind, but note that this is not any "exact frequency the brain is operating on". There are always also other frequency components present.


Entraining brain to a desired state with binaural beats

If external stimulus is applied to the brain, it becomes possible to entrain the brain frequency from one brain state to another. For example, if a person is in the beta state (highly alert) and a stimulus of 10Hz is applied to his/her brain for some time, the brain frequency is likely to change towards the applied stimulus. The effect will be relaxing to the person. This phenomenon is also called frequency following response.

When the brain's state is close to the applied stimulus, entrainment works more efficiently. Thus, when doing a sweep from one frequency to another, the starting frequency should be as close to the current brain state as possible. The sweep speed should be such that the brain's state changes steadily with it, so that the difference never gets very large. In practice, it is difficult to determine the brain state without complex equipment (EEG measurement devices). However, you can quite safely assume that during the day your brain is in the beta state (about 20Hz) and you can start a frequency sweep from there. If you are already somewhat relaxed, you can use a start frequency of 15Hz or a few Hz lower.

Stimulating the brain

The easiest way of applying stimulus to the brain is via ears. Other senses could be used as well, and vision is also used quite often (usually in addition to hearing). However, humans cannot hear sounds low enough to be useful for brain stimulation, so special techniques must be used. One such special technique used is called binaural beats.

If the left ear is presented with a steady tone of 500Hz and the right ear a steady tone of 510Hz, these two tones combine in the brain. The difference, 10Hz, is perceived by the brain and is a very effective stimulus for brainwave entrainment. This 10Hz is formed entirely by the brain. When using stereo headphones, the left and right sounds do not mix together until in your brain. The frequency difference, when perceived by brain this way, is called a binaural beat.

To get a stimulus of 10Hz, you may use tones of 500Hz and 510Hz, or 400Hz and 410Hz, or 800Hz and 810Hz, or so on. The only requirements are that the tone is heard well enough and that it is below about 1000Hz. Below 1000Hz, the wavelength of the sound is sufficiently small so that the sound waves curve around the skull.


Effects of altered brain states

Applying a stimulus to the brain will eventually bring the brain's state closer to the stimulus frequency. This topic describes some possible effects achievable by this.

Note

•	Just passively listening to binaural beats does not necessarily alter your state of consciousness. For example, willingness and ability to relax and focus attention affects how effective the binaural beat stimulus is for inducing state changes.

Helping in meditation

Meditation is essentially about willingly being able to alter one's brain frequency to a desired state. While meditators have traditionally used several years to learn the techniques of meditation, you can now attain the same effect with brainwave entrainment. No special training or great discipline is required. Good meditation frequencies are in the alpha range, from 8Hz to 13Hz.

When a certain brainwave state is experienced and practiced over a period of time, the brain will "learn" the state change and it will become easier to self-produce the desired brainwave state at will. Thus, using brainwave entrainment, you can expect to get some of its effects later even without any external stimulus.

Reducing learning time

The theta state (4Hz–7Hz) has been found to increase learning capabilities. In fact, children spend more time in theta state than adults, which probably explains the accelerated learning capabilities of children.

Alpha frequencies are also useful for learning purposes. You can play language cassettes, subliminal tapes, etc. during an entrainment session for a maximum effect.

Reducing sleep needs

Some people have found that half an hour a day of the Theta state can replace up to 4 hours of sleep.

Treatment of certain mental diseases

Brainwave entrainment is used in treatment of depression, low self-esteem, attention deficit disorder, drug and alcohol addiction and autism, to name a few.

Brainwave entrainment has also been found helpful in alleviating headaches and migraines.


Binaural beat frequencies

For a general description of what binaural beats are and how they can be used to entrain brain state to a specific state, click [image].

BrainWave Generator generates sound output with different audible pitch frequencies for each ear. The frequencies generated by BrainWave generator are defined by two parameters (settable in the Preset Options dialog): Binaural Beat Frequency and Audible Pitch. The sound generated for the right ear is always equal to the frequency set by Audible Pitch. The sound generated for the left ear is equal to the Audible Pitch plus Binaural Beat Frequency. This way you have an easy way of specifying the binaural beat frequency, which is most important for getting the wanted results.


Modulation

Modulation is applied on top of the generated waveforms (see Binaural beat frequencies). You can configure the modulation depth (100% depth would cycle the output between full volume and zero volume) and the modulation frequency (expressed as modulation time).

The following illustration shows an output waveform (sine wave) with modulation applied to it. In this case, the audible frequency is 500Hz, modulation depth is 50% and modulation time is 50 milliseconds (resulting in a frequency of 1000/50ms = 20Hz).

Modulation can also be set 180 degrees apart for the left and right ear. This will create a sensation of the sound circulating around your head. This option is called circular modulation.

Note

•	If you want modulation to play a part in brain stimulation, convert the modulation times to frequencies by dividing 1000 by the modulation time (for example, 1000/143ms  7.0Hz).


Waveforms

You can set the basic waveform of the generated output on the Options tab of the Preset Options dialog. The selectable waveforms are listed below.

Waveform	Waveform shape
Sine wave
Sine^2 wave
Triangular wave
Rectangular wave
25% smoothed rectangular wave
50% smoothed rectangular wave


Background voices

You can add backgrounds to your presets. Backgrounds can be either voices (wave files) or noise. For more information on background noise, click [image].

The available background voices are listed below. "Parametric" after the name means that the background parameter is available on the Background tab of the Preset Options dialog. The cycle length (sample length) is shown in case you want to make use of it as a stimulation aid.

Background	Cycle length (s)
Nature: Babbling brook	1.394
Nature: Gushing river	2.638
Nature: Heavy rain	1.332
Nature: Wind	4.627
Nature: Roll of thunder (parametric)	One-time
Nature: Night noises	1.257
Animals: Birds	3.414
Animals: Tropical birds	3.330
Animals: Seagulls	4.477
Animals: Pigeons	3.576
Animals: Mooing cow (parametric)	One-time
Animals: Baaing sheep (parametric)	One-time
Animals: Howling dog (parametric)	One-time
Animals: Galloping horse	4.337
Man-made: Traffic	4.344
Man-made: Explosions (parametric)	One-time
Man-made: Chopping wood (parametric)	One-time
Noise: Outside the head (parametric)	Non-cyclic
Noise: Inside the head (parametric)	Non-cyclic
Note

•	In addition to the backgrounds listed here, you can use your own wav files as a background.


Noise backgrounds

In addition to background voices, you add noise to your presets. Noise can be used to smooth the output of BrainWave Generator so that it will sound more natural.

There are two types of noises selectable on the General tab of the Preset Options dialog: noise outside the head and noise inside the head. The difference is in the perceived location of the noise source. Noise outside the head sounds remarkably more natural, and noise inside the head should generally be used only with very low volumes.

With either of the two noises selected as background, you have complete control on the smoothness (also called "color") of the noise. You can set the background noise smoothness on the Background tab of the Preset Options dialog. A setting of 0% means rough white noise, 50% means softer pink noise and about 80–90% means very soft brown noise. The illustrations below show the noise waveforms resulting from some noise smoothness settings.

Notes

•	The noise smoothness parameter does not change uniformly across the whole range 0%–100%. For example, a change from 0% to 10% is hardly noticeable, but a change from 80% to 90% is easily noticed.

•	Due to the formula used for noise generation, higher smoothness settings produce noise with lower volumes. To maintain uniform noise volume, you will have to modify the background volume parameter accordingly.


Starting and stopping an entrainment session

BrainWave Generator contains several built-in brainwave entrainment programs (presets). To start a session with one of them, follow the steps below.

1	Browse the Preset name list to find the preset you want to use.

2	Click the Play [image] button to start the output.

- or -

Click the Preset options [image] button to view and modify settings of the selected preset. For more information about modifying preset settings, click [image].

3	To stop playing the preset, click the Stop [image] button.

Note

•	To get more information about a preset, click the Preset options [image] button and read the description of the preset.


Modifying parameters of a preset

To modify parameters of the currently selected preset, click the Preset options [image] button.

The parameters you can modify are listed below. For more information on the parameters, click the name of the parameter in the list.

Setting segment parameters (length and repeat count)

Setting voice parameters (binaural beat frequency, sound volume and audible pitch)

Specifying modulation of a preset

Selecting a background for preset

Changing parameter envelopes

Setting a parameter to track another parameter


Deleting unneeded presets

You can delete a preset that you do not need any longer by following the steps below.

1	Select the preset in the Preset name list.

2	Click the Delete preset [image] button.

Note

•	Once you delete a preset, you can not get it back. However, you can get the built-in presets back by importing the file Default.bwg. For more information on importing presets, click [image].


Renaming a preset

You can change the name of a preset by following the steps below.

1	Select the preset whose name you want to change in the Preset name list.

2	Click the Preset options [image] button to modify the settings of the preset.

3	Enter a different name into the Name box on the General tab and click OK.

4	Click the Save [image] button to save the preset with the new name.

Note

•	To save a copy of a preset to another name, select Save As from the File menu.


Importing presets

You can import a preset from an external bwg file by following the steps below.

1	Select Import from the Presets menu.

2	Select the bwg file you want to import. Bwg files can be created by exporting them from other installations of BrainWave Generator. For more information, click [image].

- or -

1	Double-click the bwg file you want to import in Windows Explorer. BrainWave Generator will open and import the file.

Notes

•	Usually you import presets given to you by other people. For example, a friend of yours may have developed a preset which he or she wants to share with you. In this case, your friend would export his/her preset, transfer it to you via email, FTP, diskette or any other means. Then you would import that preset to be able to use it on your computer.

•	There are presets available for download at http://www.bwgen.com (select the Presets link). You can also submit your own presets there.

•	Importing presets is only available in the registered version of BrainWave Generator.


Exporting modified presets

You can export a preset you have modified by following the steps below.

1	Select the preset you want to export in the Preset name list.

2	Select Export from the Presets menu.

3	Specify the file into which you want to export the preset, and click Save.

Notes

•	You can export presets into files for moving them to other computers or for distributing to other people. You can also make backups of your presets by exporting them. For instructions on how to import a preset back into BrainWave Generator, click [image].

•	You can only export one preset into one file. However, BrainWave Generator stores all presets into the file Presets.bwg (including the built-in presets). If you want to move ALL of your presets to another computer, you can simply import the file Presets.bwg onto the other computer.


Creating new presets

You can create a new preset by following the steps below.

1	Click the New preset [image] button.

2	Modify the preset settings as desired and click OK.

3	Click the Save [image] button. If you did not enter a name in the Preset Options dialog, BrainWave Generator will ask you for the name of the new preset.

Note

•	To create a preset with settings copied from another preset, select Save As from the File menu.


Setting segment parameters

Presets are divided into parts called segments. Each segment contains parameters which can be set independently of other segments. When playing a preset containing several segments, the segments are played one after another.

You can create a new segment into your preset by following the steps below.

1	Open the Preset Options dialog by clicking the [image] button. Select the General tab.

2	Click the Add button under the Segments section.

3	Enter an identification letter into the ID field. By default, segments are assigned letters A, B, C, etc.

4	Enter the length of the segment (in minutes) into the Length field. All other durations you set on other tabs of the Preset Options dialog will be relative to this length.

5	If you want to repeat this segment several times before moving to the next segment, enter the number of repeats into the Repeat field. For an example on how to create a preset with repeating segments, click [image].

6	Use the Move up and Move down buttons to change the order of your segments as desired.

7	Switch to the Output, Sound, and Background tabs to configure the parameters of the new segment in detail. For more information, click [image].

Notes

•	When you have more than one segment in your preset, the tabs in the Preset Options dialog will show the segment whose settings they contain. You can easily change the segment to edit by pressing Ctrl+Shift and the identification letter of the segment you want to edit.

•	One preset may contain a maximum of 16 segments. Each segment may contain a maximum of 4 voices, which can be different in each segment.


Setting voice parameters

Presets are divided into parts called segments. For more information on setting segment parameters, click [image]. Each segment, in turn, may contain different voices which have parameters that can be set independently of other segments and voices. When playing a segment containing several voices, all the voices are played at the same time on top of each other.

You can create a new voice into a segment by following the steps below.

1	Open the Preset Options dialog by clicking the Preset options [image] button. Select the General tab.

2	Select the segment into which you want to create the voice, and click the Add button under the Voices section.

3	Switch to the Output and Sound tabs to configure the parameters in detail. For more information on configuring parameter envelopes, click [image]. The parameters you can configure are listed below.

Parameter	Description
Binaural Beat Frequency	Frequency of the generated binaural beats.
Sound Volume	Output volume in percents. 100% is maximum volume and 0% mean no output.
Audible Pitch	The frequency of the sound heard from earphones.
Modulation	See Specifying modulation of a preset.
4	Select the desired waveform of the output with the Waveform list-box on the bottom of the Sound tab. For graphical illustrations of the different waveforms, click [image].

Notes

•	When you have more than one voice in a segment, the Output and Sound tabs in the Preset Options dialog will show the number of the voice whose settings they contain. You can easily change the voice to edit by pressing Ctrl+Shift (or just Ctrl) and the number of the voice you want to edit.

•	You can not change the order of the voices, because they are all played at the same time. Therefore, their order makes no difference.

•	If the current segment has two voices, and the next segment has only one, the last node of the sound volume can't be moved. This is because the missing voice in the next segment means that its sound volume is essentially zero.


Selecting a background for preset

In addition to the binaural beat output of presets, they can also specify a background. The background may be one of the 19 build-in backgrounds, or an external wav file. The built-in backgrounds are divided into four categories: Nature, Animals, Man-made and Noise.

You can select a background for your preset by following the steps below.

1	Open the Preset Options dialog by clicking the Preset options [image] button. Select the General tab.

2	Select the desired built-in background from the Background list. To specify an external wav file, select Other... and select the wav file you want to use.

3	Switch to the Background tab to configure the envelope of the background volume. For more information on configuring parameter envelopes, click [image].

4	If you selected a built-in background voice which was designated as being parametric, you can also configure the envelope of that background parameter. The parameter varies depending on the selected background voice as shown in the list below.

Background	Background parameter
Nature: Roll of thunder	Seconds between rolls of thunder
Animals: Mooing cow	Seconds between cow's moos
Animals: Baaing sheep	Seconds between sheep's baas
Animals: Howling dog	Seconds between dog's howls
Man-made: Explosions	Seconds between explosions
Man-made: Chopping wood	Seconds between chop sounds
Noise: Outside the head	Smoothness (or color) of the noise. 0% means rough white noise, 50% soft pink noise and about 80% very soft brown noise. 100% smooth noise can not be heard. The noise source is outside of your head. For more information on background noise, click [image].
Noise: Inside the head	Same as above, but the noise will sound as if coming from inside of your head.
Notes

•	If you use an external wav file as the background, be careful not to use too large files. BrainWave Generator converts all wav files to the output sample rate (set in the Advanced Options dialog) so if your wav file is 1MB with a 10kHz sample rate, it will consume 4MB of memory if BrainWave Generator's sample rate is set to 40kHz.

•	You can only specify one background for a preset. Background can not be changed between segments of a preset.


Specifying modulation of a preset

The steady sound output of BrainWave Generator may sound somewhat boring as such. You can make it more "lively" by adding some modulation to it. For more information on modulation, click [image].

You can specify modulation for your preset by following the steps below.

1	Open the Preset Options dialog by clicking the Preset options [image] button. Select the voice you want to modify on the General tab, and switch to the Sound tab.

2	Specify modulation by setting the Modulation Depth parameter envelope. For more information on configuring parameter envelopes, click [image]. A modulation depth of 0% means that no modulation is in effect. A depth of 100% means that the output will cycle periodically between full output volume (as set by the Sound Volume parameter on the Output tab) and zero volume.

3	Specify modulation period by setting the Modulation Period parameter envelope. Modulation period indicates the time (in milliseconds) between the full output volume peaks. For a graphical illustration of this effect, click [image].

4	Check the Circular modulation check-box if you want the modulation to be circular. Circular modulation means that the modulation of the left and right sounds are 180° apart, thus creating an illusion of the sound circling around your head.


Changing parameter envelopes

All parameters of BrainWave Generator (binaural beat frequency, sound volume, audible pitch, modulation and background) have associated envelopes. An envelope lets you specify the value of the parameter as a function of time.

The steps below show an example of how to modify different aspects of an envelope.

1	Open the Preset Options dialog by clicking the Preset options [image] button. Switch to the tab containing the parameter you want to modify.

2	Click between two existing nodes to select the line between them.

3	Click the right mouse button on the line, and select Insert New Node. Drag the new node to the position you want.

4	Click and drag one of the node's weight handles (small red boxes) to change how the line between the two nodes should go. Note, that all lines change their shape, because all nodes are symmetric by default. To make a node non-symmetric, right-click it and deselect the Symmetric option. When you now drag the weight handles, the lines beyond the non-symmetric node will not change.

Note

•	The time scale on the x axis is the length of the current segment. This length can be set on the General tab of the Preset Options dialog. For more information on setting segment parameters, click [image].


Setting a parameter to track another parameter

Instead of specifying all 7 parameters of a preset separately, you can set some of them to track others. For example, you may want the modulation period to depend on the binaural beat frequency so that with low values of binaural beat frequency, the modulation period will be long and for high values it will be short.

You can set this kind of tracking by following the steps below.

1	Open the Preset Options dialog by clicking the Preset options [image] button. Switch to the Sound tab.

2	Check the Track another parameter check-box above the Modulation Period parameter. A list-box with all parameters appears.

3	Select the parameter you want the modulation period to track from the list-box. In this case you select Binaural Beat Frequency.

4	Click the Parameters [image] button.

5	Specify the following parameters in the Tracking Options dialog:

When Binaural Beat Frequency changes from 15.00 to 5.00

Change Modulation Period from 50 to 2000.

6	Switch to the Output tab, modify the binaural beat frequency envelope and note how the modulation period parameter changes accordingly. For more information on configuring parameter envelopes, click [image].

Note

•	If you have several voices in your preset, voice parameters can only be set to track other voice parameter in the same voice. Other parameters (like background volume) track voice parameters of the currently selected voice.


Creating a preset with a fadeout at the end

You can create a preset which gently fades out at the end by following the steps below.

1	Click the New preset [image] button to create a new preset.

2	Specify any parameters you want for the binaural beat frequency, sound volume, audible pitch, modulation and background.

3	Modify the sound volume parameter so that it stays near 100% in the beginning of the preset, but at a certain point drops down to 0%. Specify a weight less than 50% to make the fadeout start slower and accelerate towards end. The sound volume envelope might look as follows:

4	Click OK to close the Preset Options dialog.

5	Click the Save [image] button and enter a name for your new preset.

Note

•	When the sound volume of a preset is zero at the end, sound output will automatically end when the preset has played.


Creating a preset with steady audible pitch

You can create a preset in which the binaural beat frequency changes, but the audible pitch stays the same. This way you won't notice the change as actively as you do if the audible pitch also changes. You can do this by following the steps below.

1	Click the New preset [image] button to create a new preset.

2	Specify any parameters you want for the binaural beat frequency, sound volume, audible pitch, modulation and background.

3	Modify the audible pitch parameter so that it is equal for the whole duration of the preset segment. The binaural beat frequency and audible pitch envelopes might look as follows:

4	Click OK to close the Preset Options dialog.

5	Click the Save [image] button and enter a name for your new preset.

Note

•	You can also experiment with an increasing audible frequency while the binaural frequency decreases. This creates a confusing effect as the brain would assume the binaural frequency to increase based on the audible pitch.


Creating a preset with repeating segments

You can create a preset which repeats a certain pattern several times by following the steps below.

1	Click the New preset [image] button to create a new preset.

2	On the General tab, enter a number greater than 1 in the Repeat box. Modify the parameters of the segment as desired. When played, this segment will be repeated the number of times specified by the Repeat setting.

3	Add a new segment to the preset and modify its parameter so that it acts as the end of your preset. The end segment is not required, but normally you want to fade out the output after the repeating segment, or leave it playing at some different rate than at the end of the repeating segment.

4	Click OK to close the Preset Options dialog.

5	Click the Save [image] button and enter a name for your new preset.

Note

•	The end node of a segment and the start node of the succeeding segment are always equal. For repeating segments, the end node is equal to the start node. When changing the start or the end node, the other node will move accordingly.


Creating a complex preset several entrainment options
Creating a complex preset with several stimulation options

This topic demonstrates how you can create a preset with several ways to stimulate the brain. Note, that this preset will probably be useless as such, so you should use only some of these techniques in a single preset.

1	Click the New preset [image] button to create a new preset.

2	Set the binaural beat frequency to a constant of 10Hz. This is the basic way of stimulating the brain with a frequency of 10Hz.

3	Add more voices and set their binaural beat frequencies as desired. This way you can have up to 4 independent brain stimulation frequencies.

4	Set the modulation depth to 50–100% and modulation period to 500Hz. This will add a stimulation effect of 2Hz (=1000/500ms) to any voice.

5	Select a parametric background on the General tab (for example, baaing sheep). Then set an interval of 10s for the baas on the Background tab. This will add a stimulation effect of 0.1Hz (=1/10s).

6	Select a continuous background on the General tab (for example, babbling brook). Check the length of the background cycle to determine the stimulation effect. In this case, it would be 0.717Hz (=1/1.394s).

7	Create a repeating segment and modify any envelope(s) to include a desired stimulation effect. Since the minimum repeat time is 1 minute, you may have to create the envelope(s) so that they repeat the desired shape several times. For example, with a 1 minute repeat setting, you can get a stimulation effect of 0.1667Hz (=1/6s) with the following envelope:

Notes

•	Simultaneous voices of different audible frequencies may mask each other out quite effectively. Make sure to experiment with different volumes for the voices for the best effect.

•	Complex stimulation options usually help in alleviating headaches and migraines, so you might want to experiment with several stimulation options in one preset.

•	One nice stimulation effect is to keep the binaural beat frequency constant and only change the audible pitch frequency. The illustration above is taken from one such preset.


Resetting default presets

If you have inadvertly modified and saved built-in presets of BrainWave Generator, you can reset them by following the steps below.

1	Select Import from the Presets menu in BrainWave Generator.

2	Select the file Default.bwg and answer Yes when asked whether you want to overwrite the existing presets. For more information on importing presets, click [image].

- or -

1	In Windows Explorer, open the folder into which you have installed BrainWave Generator (by default, this is C:\Bwgen).

2	Delete the file Presets.bwg. When BrainWave Generator is restarted, it will create a new Presets.bwg file containing the default presets.

Notes

•	Importing presets is only available in the registered version of BrainWave Generator.


Improving sound quality and/or improving performance

Sometimes BrainWave Generator output sound quality may not be high enough, there may be gaps in the sound output, or BrainWave Generator may use too much processor time. There are several options which affect this kind of behavior (for more information, click [image] ), but if you do not know how to optimize them, follow the steps below.

1	Create a new preset for testing purposes. This preset must be as simple as possible (one voice, no background, no modulation). You can create this kind of preset by clicking the New preset [image] button.

2	Select Advanced Options from the Options menu. Enter the following settings:

Samples per second = 44000

Bits per sample = 8

Number of memory blocks = 2

Length of memory blocks = 200

3	If the output quality is not satisfactory, try varying the Samples per second value in the range 30000–50000.

4	If there is too much noise in the output, try using 16 bits per sample instead of 8.

5	If there are gaps in the sound output, first try increasing the Number of memory blocks to 4, and if it does not help, up to 8. At the same time, try increasing the Length of memory blocks up to about 500.

Notes

•	Some newer sound cards may have features that somehow "enhance" the sound output. For best results with BrainWave Generator, you should turn all such features off. This includes features like bass boost, 3D sound, bass/treble adjustments etc.

•	If you are going to run other applications at the same time with BrainWave Generator, do that at the time when optimizing the output. Other applications affect the performance of BrainWave Generator (and vice versa).

•	The complexity of presets affects the performance of BrainWave Generator. Voices, modulation, background and background parameter all contribute to the processing power required to play a preset.


Preset Options Dialog

In the Preset Options dialog, you can configure all settings of a preset. The tabs of this dialog are described below. For more information on the options and parameters on each tab, click the [image] button in the top-right corner of the dialog, and click the option/parameter on which you want more information.

General

Settings on this tab specify options for the whole preset. This includes the name, description, background, segments, and voices in each segment.

Sound

This tab contains the most important output parameters of one voice: binaural beat frequency, sound volume and audible pitch.

Options

This tab contains the modulation settings of one voice (modulation depth, modulation period and the circular modulation setting) as well as the waveform setting.

Background

This tab contains options for the background: background volume and possibly a background parameter, depending on background selected on the General tab.


Sweep Parameters Dialog

In the Sweep Parameters dialog, you can set the parameters of two nodes in a parameter envelope. For more information on configuring parameter envelopes, click [image]. Note, that you can set all of these options directly in the Preset Options dialog by using mouse and right-click menus.

Constant

Check this check-box if you want the end value to be the same as the start value.

<parameter>

Sets the range of the parameter values. The parameter may be binaural beat frequency, sound volume, etc. The start value represents the node you have selected, and the end value represents the next node.

Sweep Time

Sets the times of the start node and the end node.

Linear sweep

Check this check-box if you want the start node value to change linearly to the end node value. Uncheck this check-box if you want to specify a different weight.

Sweep weight

Sets the shape of the curve by which the start node value changes to the end node value. Use values 0–100 where 50 means a linear change.

Symmetric node

Check this check-box if you want the weight value of the next node to be automatically changed to be the same as the weight of this node. By using symmetric nodes, it will be easier to create your parameter envelope so that there are no too steep changes in it.


Tracking Options Dialog

In the Tracking Options dialog, you can set the parameters which affect how the selected parameter tracks another parameter. There are two ways of specifying the tracking formula. The easiest one is to select the Specify change ranges option and set the following two pairs of from/to values.

When <tracked parameter> changes from/to

These from/to values specify the "base" range of the tracked parameter.

Change <tracking parameter> from/to

These from/to values specify what the corresponding change in the tracking parameter will be.

The other way of specifying the tracking formula is by entering Y intercept and Y/X slope values directly. The value of the tracked parameter is calculated with the following formula: P2=a+b*P1 where a is the value of Y intercept and b the value of Y/X slope. This method is only recommended if you understand the preceding description.

You can also specify limits for the tracking parameter. If the calculated tracking value would be out of the min/max limits, the minimum/maximum value will be used instead.


Advanced Options Dialog

In the Advanced Options dialog you can specify options related to the sound output quality and the memory usage of BrainWave Generator. The fields in this dialog are described below.

Samples per second

Specifies the output sample rate of BrainWave Generator. The higher the sample rate, the better the output quality. For example, CD-quality sound uses 44000 samples per second, which is the default setting.

Bits per sample

Specifies the depth of each output sample. 16-bit sound is much more noise-free than 8-bit sound. The default is 16 bits.

Number of memory blocks

Specifies the amount of internal output buffers used by BrainWave Generator. The higher this number, the more output BrainWave Generator can buffer, thus being able to tolerate higher loads on the computer without gaps in the output. The default is 4.

Length of memory blocks

Specifies the length of output buffers. Effects are same as above, but longer buffer lengths may slow down the computer because they take longer to fill. The default is 200.

Memory consumed

Shows the amount of memory consumed with the options set in this dialog.

Notes

•	To maximize the sound quality, use 16-bit sound with a sample rate of 44000.

•	To minimize unwanted gaps in the output when your computer runs other applications as well, use as many memory blocks as possible and as long memory blocks as possible.

•	Following the above two points will lead in high memory usage, which will in turn decrease performance. Experiment with different settings to find the optimum. For more information, click [image].

•	The length of memory blocks set the minimum change rate of the output parameters. If you have a rapidly changing parameter (for example, an audible frequency sweep from 10,000Hz to 100Hz), you will have to decrease the length of memory blocks to make the change sound natural enough.


Preset

Preset is a set of parameters which define a brain entrainment session. There are several built-in presets included with BrainWave generator, but you can also create your own presets.


Segment

Segment is a building block of a preset. A preset may contain just one segment, or several segments. Segments are played one after each other in the preset. Segments may contain one or more voices.


Voice

Voice is a building block of a segment. All voices play simultaneously in one segment, so their order has no meaning.


Waveform

Waveform denotes the format of the sound output. The most basic waveform is a sine wave, which produces a pure one-frequency output. Other waveforms (sine^2, triangular, rectangular and smoothed rectangular waveforms) introduce harmonic frequencies into the output. For illustrations of the available waveforms, click [image].


Envelope

Envelope means the set of output parameters as a function of time. The output parameters may change any way you like as time goes on. For example, you can define the binaural beat frequency to start at 15Hz, then descend to 5Hz during 8 minutes, and last increase to 7Hz during the last 2 minutes. The resulting curve is called the binaural beat frequency envelope.


Binaural beat

If a steady tone of 400Hz is applied to your left ear, and a steady tone of 410Hz to your right ear, the difference, 10Hz, will be perceived by your brain. Since inaudibly low frequencies (like 10Hz) are required for brain stimulation, binaural beats are the way of applying such stimulus.

For more information, click [image].


Brain stimulation

Brain stimulation is a way of altering your state of consciousness. BrainWave Generator uses binaural beat frequencies for brain stimulation.

For more information on brain states, click [image].

For more information on brain stimulation, click [image].


The New Preset command creates a new preset. After having changed the desired options, use the Save command to save the preset. For more information on creating new presets, click [image].


The Save command saves the modified preset.


The Save As command saves the modified preset with a specified name.


The Delete command deletes the currently selected preset. For more information on deleting presets, click [image].


The Export command exports the currently selected preset to a file. For more information on exporting presets, click [image].


The Import command imports an external preset file into BrainWave Generator. For more information on importing presets, click [image].


The Exit command quits BrainWave Generator.


When the Show Parameters While Playing option is enabled, the sound volume and frequency are shown in the BrainWave Generator window. With this option disabled, the parameters are not shown in the window. This could improve performance slightly.


The Advanced Options command brings up the Advanced Options dialog.


The Play command starts playing the currently selected preset.


The Stop command stops playing the currently playing preset.


The Pause/Restart command pauses or restarts the currently playing preset. While being paused, other applications can not do wave-type sound output.


The Preset Options command lets you modify parameters of the currently selected preset. For more information, click [image].


The Help Topics command shows the BrainWave Generator Help.


The About command shows generic information about BrainWave Generator. This includes your registration information.


The Edit command opens the Sweep Parameters dialog where you can specify parameters for the selected node.


The Delete command deletes the currently selected node from the parameter envelope.


The Insert command inserts a new node after the selected node into the parameter envelope.


The Symmetric command lets you toggle the selected node between symmetric and non-symmetric. For symmetric nodes, the weights on both sides of the node are always made equal.


Refreshes the Y axis range. If you have changed the parameter envelope values so that the range is wider than necessary, you can use this command to reset the range to the minimum possible range.


Specifies the output sample rate of BrainWave Generator. The higher the sample rate, the better the output quality. For example, CD-quality sound uses 44000 samples per second.


Specifies the depth of each output sample. 16-bit sound is much more noise-free than 8-bit sound.


Specifies the number of memory blocks BrainWave Generator will use when generating sound output. For more information, click [image].


Specifies the length of each memory block BrainWave Generator will use when generating sound output. For more information, click [image].


Binaural Beat Frequency parameter sets the difference between the sound output of the left and right ear. For more information on binaural beat frequencies, click [image].


Sound Volume parameter sets the volume of the sound output. 100% means the maximum volume as set in your sound system volume settings.


Audible Pitch parameter sets the pitch of the audible sound for the right ear. The pitch for the left ear is equal to Audible Pitch plus Binaural Beat Frequency.


Modulation Depth parameter sets the modulation of the sound output. 0% means no modulation and 100% means that the output will cycle between the full volume (as set by the Sound Volume parameter) and zero volume. For more information on modulation, click [image].


Modulation Period parameter sets the time between two successive modulation peaks. This parameter has no effect if modulation is not in use (Modulation Depth is zero). For more information on modulation, click [image].


Background Volume parameter sets the volume of the background voice. If None has been selected for background (on the General tab), this parameter has no effect. For more information on backgrounds, click [image].


Background Param parameter depends on the selected background voice. If a non-parametric background has been selected, it is not is use. If a parametric background has been selected, it reflects the parameter settable for that background. For more information on backgrounds, click [image].


Visual Frequency - Not yet implemented


Visual Brightness - Not yet implemented


Visual Modulation Depth - Not yet implemented


Visual Modulation Period - Not yet implemented


Specifies whether this parameter tracks another parameter or is specified independent of other parameters.


Specifies which parameter this parameter tracks, i.e. which parameter the envelope of this parameter is based on.


Adds a new voice into the preset segment.


Deletes the selected voice from the preset segment.


Specifies the number of times this segment will be repeated.


Specifies the length (in minutes) of this segment.


With these buttons, you can reorder the segments into the desired order.


Deletes the current segment from the preset.


Adds a new segment into the preset.


Shows the voices in this segment.


Shows the segments in this preset.


Specifies the background of this preset.


Specifies a textual description of this preset.


Specifies the name of this preset.


Specifies the identifier of this segment. The identifier should be a letter A–Z in which case you can change to this segment easily by pressing the ID letter with Ctrl and Shift depressed.


Specifies whether the modulation of this voice is circular or regular. This parameter has no effect if modulation is not in use (Modulation Depth is zero).


Specifies the waveform of this voice.


Click this button to change the options by which this parameter tracks another parameter.


Specifies the start value of the node you are modifying.


Specifies the end value of the node you are modifying.


Specifies the start time of the node you are modifying.


Specifies the end time of the node you are modifying. This is equal to the start time of the next node.


Specifies the sweep weight of the node you modifying. If the node has been set as symmetric, this may also affect weights of other nodes.


Specifies whether the node you are modifying is symmetric or non-symmetric. For symmetric nodes, the weights on both sides of the node are always made equal.


Select this check-box to make the end value always equal to the start value. If you want to change the end value, clear this check-box first.


Select this check-box to make the sweep weight fixed at 50%.


These edit-boxes specify how the tracked parameter is mapped to the current parameter. The mapping is specified by selecting how the current parameter will change when the tracked parameter changes. For more information, click [image].


Select this button to specify tracking options by entering change ranges. For more information, click [image].


Select this button to specify tracking options by entering a and b parameters directly. For more information, click [image].


Specifies the a parameter of the tracking options. For more information, click [image].


Specifies the b parameter of the tracking options. For more information, click [image].


Specifies limits for the current tracking parameter. If a value calculated by the tracking options would exceed these limits, it is set to the limiting value.