I've been procrastinating writing part two, since it involves the background sound(s) often paired up with binaural beats, and there is a LOT of subjectivity here.
You have the raw audible tones that carry the binaural beat, and frankly - these can be fairly monotonous to listen to by themselves. (It's like drinking black coffee -- some people can get into it, but other people need the cream and sugar to make things palatable.)
Normally the binaural sound is paired up with a background sound, to keep things 'interesting'.The background sound can be anything, and it's typically left to the personal taste of the individual.
Background Sound Categories
I Nature Sounds / Environmental Recordings
This is exactly what it says on the proverbial tin. Insert any number of different nature sounds here. Oceans, Rainfall, Rivers, Wind, etc. I'd also extend this category to include environmental recordings (not all of which really qualify as 'nature'.) For instance, some people may play the sounds of the city in the background.
II Noise
Raw noise, which comes in various flavors :
- White Noise : With white noise, the frequencies are evenly distributed. Examples of white noise - 'clean' television static [without any signal interfering].
- Pink Noise : Sometimes also called 'tan noise'. Pink noise has the frequencies distributed by octave -- because there are more octaves in lower frequency ranges, pink noise sounds 'lower' than white noise, and is bit more harmonious sounding overall.
- Brown Noise : Without getting overly mathematical, brown noise favors lower frequencies even more than pink noise does, and can sound like a lower-pitched babbling brook.
Noise can be generated by computer - in its purest form, it's pretty uniform/non-changing. This may be what you're looking for. However, some people may get bored with this - any number of effects can be added over the noise to change it up a little and/or make it more dynamic over time. (For instance, reverb or flanger, etc.)
Another source of 'unboring' noise involves tuning a radio to a frequency without a dominant signal. I find shortwave radio works particularly well for this. The noise generated tends to be very dynamic in that it can change considerably over time. When initially tuning to a frequency, you may have fairly 'clean' noise, but I find distant radio signals will sometimes 'wander' onto the frequency as atmospheric conditions change, and then leave every bit as quickly as they appeared. (If you're interested in what causes this phenomena, Google 'Skywave' or 'Shortwave Skip' for more information.)
Why is noise effective as a background?
One reason may be the Ganzfeld Effect, which states if the brain is presented with nothing but featureless/uniform/random sensory input to chew on, it can lead to hallucination, as it tries to fill the garbage input with something more relevant.
An example of the conditions that would create this effect : Somebody exploring the South Pole in blizzard conditions -- they would see nothing but white no matter where they looked. Noise kind of functions as an audio equivalent to this.
III Music
Naturally, music is often used as a background sound for binaural beats. It's not uncommon for somebody to have the naked binaural sound playing, and then play a music album in conjunction with it.
One thing to note is the sort of music selected will obviously in itself have an impact on the brainwave entrainment. (The tempo of the beat can entrain the brain by itself.) So, if you are playing binaurals intended to induce sleep, and you pair that up with faster trance or death metal, it's probably going to counteract the effect.
I find simpler, more mellow music tends to work better as a background - optimally, you need to leave enough 'frequency space' for the binaurals to shine through in the mix. If you do plan on using music that is more 'intense', you really need to regulate the volume relative to the binaural. This is especially true if you're generating the music from the same headphones you're generating the binaurals. If you're listening to the binaurals through headphones, and have some other device playing the music, I think you have more wiggle room in this regard, since the music is at a distance from you, and would be more hushed/muted as a result.
IV ASMR
This is a newer one, and I'm honestly still finding ways of getting it to play nice with binaural beats.
It stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and the premise is that certain sounds will cause a tingling sensation down the spine in some people.
If you want a crash course on what ASMR's are, just type it into Youtube, and you'll have plenty of [interestingly bizarre] examples.
Normally, ASMR recordings make use of binaural-recording techniques. (Again, binaural-recording is different from binaural beats - it's a method of recording that tries to accurately replicate how humans take in sound from both sounds.) The end result is vivid 3D -- it will literally feel as though the source of the sound is in the room with you and circling around.
Other factors that contribute to the ASMR-response involve a lot of whispering and other sounds that involve ultra-high frequencies.
If you aim to incorporate an ASMR recording right into the same audio file with the binaural beat, you want to make sure that you are setting the sample rate fairly high (to at least 44100) - this way you're not cutting out any of the higher frequencies.
One other thing to note is that like binaural beats, ASMR recordings typically require headphones - you can get some of the ASMR effect through two well-placed speakers on opposing sides, but I find headphones work the best.
One thing I find is that ASMR's and binaurals don't always get along with each other. Based on what limited testing I've done, it seems like the binaural tone constantly playing mucks a bit with the ASMR sounds. I'm thinking sidechain compression may assist with this.
To keep things nontechnical, sidechain compression basically tells one sound to get the [bleep] out of the way when another sound is present. Depending on how high you set it, it may mute the other sound outright, or at very least it will diminish it somewhat. (You'll often hear this used on commercial radio -- the background music is set to drop in volume when the DJ is talking. If the timing is done well, you'll hardly notice it.)
So, you could set the binaural tone to clear out when any sounds are present from the ASMR recording.
V Guided Meditation / Hypnosis
I'm not going to dwell on this one too much, but it's worth mentioning. Some people will use guided meditation and/or hypnosis recordings as the background sounds. This particularly works well with binaural beats in the Alpha and Theta range.
This is exactly what you think it is - somebody talking with the 'imagine you are in a forest/field/path/beach' sort of dialogue. You'll often also hear the classic 'when I count back from 10 to 1, you'll fall into a deep sleep' line.
While it seems like I poke fun at it above, I do find these guided meditation dialogues to be very effective -- they've helped me fall asleep (or at least relax) more than once when I've been stressed out over something.
Like with most of these categories, you can find examples over on Youtube.
VI 'Other'
Again, I'm just barely scratching the surface here. If you go to Youtube, you will find all sorts of videos that can potentially be used as background sounds for binaurals. A lot of these sounds run for an extended period time. [Hours]
For instance, you will find a Youtube video with an extended play of the sound of ANY appliance you can think of.
Literally - ANYTHING. Fans, hairdryers, washing machines, air-conditioners - you name it.
If you read through the comments section, it becomes immediately clear how much of this boils down to taste.
Take hairdryers, for example - people seem to either love or hate their sound. For me, the sound of a hairdryer will put me to sleep in a hurry. Obviously, an audio recording of a hairdryer is far less of a fire hazard (and power drain) than literally running one while you sleep.
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Disclaimer : While it may seem otherwise above, Youtube does not send me my weight in internet money every time I name drop them here. It just so happens they're a treasure trove (or garbage dump?) of all the different sounds in the world.
Next Blog : Hopefully I can provide some legitimate audio examples of binaural beats. I found a place that I can store the files, and am just working out the logistics now.
Also, I'm going to let you know how to protect yourself when an army of angry mimes attacks you.
(Hint : You need to trap them in a giant invisible box.)
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