circuits for health use?

[Marcos - Munky]

I need circuits for health use, like noise generators to make you feel/sleep better. I saw some in a magazine, and I'm very interested in this kind of circuit. Anybody know some links?

[Peter Snowberg]

You can make white noise digitally using a few 74C574 latch chips or many filp-flops like CD4013 or 74C74 with some XOR gates like 74C86 or CD4070 with a 7555 based clock using a topology called "Linear Feedback Shift Registers"....

http://klabs.org/richcontent/Tutorial/MiniCourses/fsm_mapld_2002/pdf_files/24_lfsr.pdf

There was a 31 stage white noise generator chip long ago, but I can;t remember the number. It was in an 8 pin DIP too.

...or you can use thermal noise from a transistor or diode and amplify it. Take the front of the circuit below and amplify:
http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/REALRAND/92102201.HTM

You will probably want to run and noise source through an EQ to shape it to taste.

I hope that helps.

-Peter

[Marcos - Munky]

Thanks, Peter.

[Nasse]

Lowish Q-value notch filter or bandbass filter or phase shifter makes good "wind noise" simulator/generator, just put that noise that Peter suggest through it. And maybe you need some vca circuit with it.

I once found some freeware "nature sounds" pseudo-random background noise generator for pc computer with altavista or google or something. It promised realistic sound of wind and breeze, beautifully singin  birds in a forest and crickets and so on, but it did not work with my soundcard. Perhaps it was some trojan horse virus shit. When I retire from my day job I have dreamed that someday i´ll make long recordings of birds singin in a forest. But that may take twenty years...

Few years or more than ten-fifteen years ago there was cool project series in a electronics mag called ETI. It was named "lucid dream stimulator" or something, measured your brainwaves when you were sleepin, and you could somehow control your dreams or something.

[Marcos - Munky]

There is a circuit in this site that make a people sleep better. I like to try it. The next time that I buy parts I will build it.
http://www.redcircuits.com/Page48.htm

[Peter Snowberg]

I would quickly file that circuit under "junk science".

It claims:

Many people experienced sleeping well in natural surroundings, into a tent or a wooden hut. This fact is due not only to the healthy atmosphere but also from our unconscious ability to perceive natural Earth's magnetic-fields.
The circuit generates this type of Geo-magnetic-fields and lets us perceive them: in this manner our brain is surrounded by an ideal environment for a sound sleep.

This is garbage. The earth's magnetic field does not oscillate like that or anywhere close.

Low frequency magnetic fields are shown to increase things like leukemia and other cancers in some studies and nothing in others; much of the study result has to do with who paid for it and the researcher’s bias. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified electromagnetic radiation as a “possible human carcinogen”. Some Swedish tests show the damage threshold at 1 milligauss. The Swedish government accepted a standard for ELF emissions from monitors as 2.5 milligauss. (the standard is called MPR-II).

Some more info: http://radsafe.berkeley.edu/nirsafman1101.pdf
   
I have built ELF (extremely low frequency) field strength monitors and studied the topic quite extensively. There is a huge amount of junk science out there on both sides of the issue.

The main claim I could find in my research was that ELF fields reduce ion transport through cell walls. The ultimate effect was to stop cells from functioning normally and suppressing the process of apoptosis (programmed cell death). Nicotine works the same way. Nicotine is not a carcinogen in it’s own right, but it stops damaged cells from eliminating themselves from your body.

I also made several EEG (electroencephalogram) devices many years ago and IF the circuit above has any effect at all, I can only see it as negative effect. Think of listening to a constant tone instead of white noise.

Sorry to spout out so much at this, but I have a huge amount of trouble with sleep and I have looked at all of these types of things. Give white noise a try, but forget magnetic field devices.

Just my 2 cents.

-Peter

[Ansil]

sleep clinic.

[vinny]

Do a google search- "Zapper"- another simple health related circuit. Very simple and inexpensive. Weather it actually works is up for debate, but it's simple enough to find out.

[V!N]

http://www.members.aol.com/mas1911/

Are there any mods to make that zappy true bypass ?

[V!N]

Eventhough I'm very down to earth, I do believe there is a point in sounds making you help relax (or even put to sleep?).

The ionizing things to create the same magnetic situation you have when your out camping would also help ? Or the anti-cancer Zapper ? Sorry but I don't think they will help.



Pink Floyd has done some great things with white noise effects, very relaxing to listen to just before going to sleep or while doing homework.

As in this article http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=5310 :

Acoustic white noise is useful as a masking sound to improve privacy in offices, or as a soothing sound field to help concentration and sleep. It has also been said to aid in therapy for people suffering from tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

Googling might find the right project for this. It seems quite inexpensive since the commercial white noise generators are available from about $ 18,-
If there is a project with a little pot to control the speed (or rather slowness) of the variation of the random white noise, it'd gladly build one.

I haven't found one yet, does anybody know one of these ? They seem to be issued once every ten years in DIY electronic magazines.

[Peter Snowberg]

I remember a circuit from many years ago (late 70s?) that used a white noise generator and a slow sine wave oscillator to vary the volume (read: Tremolo ). The result was supposed to simulate waves.

Sorry... no links, but you could always adapt pedal pieces.

-Peter

[Ed G.]

Okay, it's not a circuit, but a program called cooledit can generate white noise, and it can also generate binaural beats.

Binaural beats are when you play, say 440hz in one ear and 447hz in the other ear, the brain hears a 7hz "beat" (sort of like tuning a guitar, you can hear the waver when the strings are just slightly out of tune)
The brainwaves 'entrain' to this frequency.
Around 7hz is the 'theta' mode, and that is supposed to be a good place for the brain to be. It supposedly unlocks creativity, it resets the potassium/sodium balance in the brain, and brings both hemispheres of the brain into sync.
There's been a lot of studies on this, it's not just a bunch of b.s. Do a google search for "binaural"

[amz-fx]

EPE magazine has a couple of related articles in the Dec 2003 issue.  Not on the newsstands in the US yet, but available for purchase online.

http://www.epemag.com/

regards, Jack

[Marcos - Munky]

Thanks all. If I find more things I will post here.

[vinny]

Even though O.T. in this forum,I think there may be validity to some of these experiments/projects.I think everyone here has had the experience of goosebumps upon hearing a particularly special/unique/new song or sound.That's a physical reaction to sound(s). Also,the near universal "scrinch?" that comes when someone scratches fingernails on a blackboard. Another physical reaction.I think between the two lies a lot of unknowns and room for study.And as in most things,one must practice some discernment as far as "buying in to" some belief systems.

[V!N]

Binaural beats are when you play, say 440hz in one ear and 447hz in the other ear, the brain hears a 7hz "beat".
The brainwaves 'entrain' to this frequency.
Around 7hz is the 'theta' mode, and that is supposed to be a good place for the brain to be. It supposedly unlocks creativity, it resets the potassium/sodium balance in the brain, and brings both hemispheres of the brain into sync.
There's been a lot of studies on this, it's not just a bunch of b.s. Do a google search for "binaural"

I haven't googled one that one yet, but I did give the 440 left + 447 right a shot.



(Decode this and) loop it around for a few minutes: http://users.alwaysaccess.nl/~eisen/440L447R.mp3 . I happen to find 7Hz a bit boring and anoying.

It would make a great joke to make a CD with 80 minutes of this and go sit in a railway station with your discman and some small speakers.

I think a Triwave from 4ms pedals would create much more interesting sounds. More funny as well loop this ! http://4mspedals.com/triwave/trieight.mp3

[Marcos - Munky]

(Decode this and) loop it around for a few minutes: http://users.alwaysaccess.nl/~eisen/440L447R.mp3 . I happen to find 7Hz a bit boring and anoying.

Cool. How could I generate this sound with a electronic project?

[V!N]

(Decode this and) loop it around for a few minutes: http://users.alwaysaccess.nl/~eisen/440L447R.mp3 . I happen to find 7Hz a bit boring and anoying.

Cool. How could I generate this sound with a electronic project?

Well .. my Brown Sound in a Box turned out to be a squeel-generator. Build two and you can tweak the rate yourself.  :?

My other suggestion is to start a thread in some DIY synth forum. Surely there must be a simple tone-generator project somewhere. Again, two of those et voila.


Do you have a collection of health-projects ready to go on your site already ?

[Marcos - Munky]

Thanks. I don't have anything to put in my site, I'm just searching for use in myself.

[V!N]

Well, if you have a ton of links, would you concider sharing them ?

I have a soundclip of the white noise thingy I'm after. Not for health or anything but for weird effects on stage and in the studio. It's the intro from Steve Miller Band - Winter Time: http://users.alwaysaccess.nl/~eisen/white_noise.mp3

I also foud a link of a pedal that can do a thing like this, the Apollo pedal http://www.willinet.net/~thx1136/gearpg2.html
Might be something for our co-op ?

Thinking of these other pedals, the next pedal I tried after the wahâ€"wah was an Apollo pedal. This one had a wahâ€"wah and volume, but added three other effectsâ€"wind, surf and siren. The base of the pedal was half again as large as the pedal in width and controls for the wind, surf and siren were alongside the pedal on the right. There was a selector for which effect you wanted, a control for each sounds depth and quality; and a small push on/push off switch toward the heel of the base below the control for the sirens loudness to switch the siren on. The reason I bought the pedal was due to my fascination with the flanging sound I had heard on records. This pedal held the promise of filling that desire. Unfortunately the Apollo pedal fell far short of it’s promise.
  The wind and surf effects were more sounds than literal effects. Based on a noise generator with surf being like pink noise and wind being like white noise, the pedal mixed these sounds in with the instruments signal instead of changing the signal like a real flanger or phase shifter would do. It was like the sound was laying on top of my guitars sound instead of being a part of my guitars sound. And the siren was more novelty than useful. A push of the switch would cause the siren to rise in pitchâ€"another push and the sirens pitch would fall. Not very musical unless you were trying to imitate a cop car or ambulance when you played your guitar. This left me still wanting to do the flanging/phase shifting effect I liked so much.