Tag: sound

Practical Guide to Vibrational Medicine: Energy Healing and Spiritual Transformation

Practical Guide to Vibrational Medicine[rating:.5/5]

Vibrational Medicine is allegedly written by someone with an M.D. With that being so, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that the author had a fair amount of education and was capable of writing a book that while potentially controversial (nothing wrong with that per se) but was supported by real research which, of course, would also be listed in a well-written bibliography. Don’t expect anything like this; however, from Richard Gerber – the guy is a real QUACK!

I originally had high hopes for this book – with the topic being “vibrational medicine” there is an incredible wealth of information on all kinds of related topics – including the complete sound spectrum and the electromagnetic continuum. Obviously an enormous amount of time could be spent on examining readily (and empirically) identifiable uses of such waveforms but that seems to be expecting far too much from Gerber.

Instead of science, Gerber decides to spew forth endless pages of New Age quackery beginning with a seemingly never-ending discourse on chakras and other such garbage. He refers to “research” conducted by clairvoyants, psychics, faith healers, “medical intuitives”, and a whole plethora of other euphemisms as the basis for his drivel. This appears to be designed to legitimize the fact that he can’t support the bizarre ideas he presents.

While one can’t help but wonder if Gerber must have missed his thorazine when he wrote this nonsense, he covers many of the most ridiculous modalities of “healing” but ignores many, many valid ones. For example, Gerber doesn’t even mention the use of sound – a treatment modality that has found uses in essentially every culture and yet he goes into such bizarre topics as long distance “color therapy” where the healer merely “thinks” of a color while projecting his/her healing thought upon a patient who happens to be miles away.

In fact, this book contains so much meaningless tripe that it might be best to sum it up by hypothesizing a visit to Gerber’s “medical” practice. For example: suppose you are in the midst of a massive heart attack. After reading this book, it is easy to imagine that Gerber would tell you that his on-staff “medical intuitive” took the day off in order to find some more snake oil. As a result, he needs to call the psychic hotline first (because he can’t read your aura) and will need the so-called clairvoyant at the other end of the line to bathe you in “indigo” in order to unblock your chakras. Let’s not forget that you will need to be facing west, during your heart attack, and have magnets placed upon your chest as you sniff the essence of dandelions that have been fermented in a green room (shaped like a pyramid, of course).

While there are so many promising approaches to healing that use legitmate techniques for overcoming sickness, books like this do nothing but harm those who are doing real research into alternative medicine modalities. If you have any sense, at all, avoid this unscientific pile of excrement behind … after all, you wouldn’t want to block your chakras!

Tibetan Ting-Sha: Sacred Sound for Spiritual Growth

Tibetan Ting-Sha[rating:.5/5]

Need I say more? This “book” is about the worst I’ve ever read – and I’ve read plenty. Not only that but the tingshas that are included are of the worst quality: in fact, they’re so bad that it’s embarrassing. I’ll review both (the book and the tingsha) to warn others about this substandard drivel:

Tingsha – as already noted, of that absolute worst quality. The sound that mine make are horrible (and that’s putting it mildly) – I’d rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard. The tingsha that included are covered with eight auspicious symbols – most traditional instruments are unadorned. Of course, that makes them look “pretty” but that has nothing to do with quality – which these are not.

Book – very little is actually devoted to the discussion of tingshas and the little that is, is filled with errors and meaningless drivel. A closer look reveals that the book is merely filled with fluff and absolutely no substance. In fact, very little of the book pertains to tingshas; rather it contains rambling discussions on the “eight auspicious symbols,” other cultures (Indian, Chinese, etc.) other than Tibet, and other non-related information.

The errors and false information provided are astounding; examples include:

Page 10 – [the tingshas included with the book] are “pitched in approximately the key of E major.”

Facts: a pair of resonating objects (such as found in a tingsha) cannot be tuned to E major or any other diatonic Western scale – the author’s claim that they are is simply STUPID! Furthermore, each cymbal that came with my book is “tuned” to F# and G respectively which, of course, makes the author’s statement even more absurd.

Page 13 – “each individual ting-sha [sic] is skillfully tuned . . . to create a perfectly matching pitch for each pair.”

Fact: As noted above, my tingsha was not “perfectly matched” when; in fact, they were “tuned” to a minor second, one of the most dissonant intervals to the human ear! In other words, they sound awful!

Page 32 – “Musical prodigies, such as Mozart and Beethoven. . .”

Fact: Huh? What? Mozart is; of course, a well known prodigy, Beethoven, on the other hand, most certainly was NOT! Duh!

Pathetically, because the author is clueless as to what he was supposed to be writing about (he’s certainly NOT a scholar), he rambles on about topics ranging from Edgar Allen Poe to Feng Sui to add fluff. It’s too bad that he provides very little about Tibetan tingshas and most of what is mentioned, is just garbage. Avoid this nonsense at all costs – you’ll be glad you did.

Modern Recording Techniques, Sixth Edition

Modern Recording Techniques[rating:5/5]

With so many horribly written books on the market, particularly those pertaining to technology, I was absolutely thrilled with Modern Recording Techniques! Even though I’ve had years of experience as both a musician and with technology, I’ve had almost no formal experience with audio recording equipment. This book not only clarifies things that have befuddled my feeble mind for many years (smile), but it also did an incredibly effective job at explaining concepts that are completely new to me. Examples are well chosen and the few downloadable tutorials provided on the author’s web site for this book are, while simple, also very effective. This book will remain as a useful reference for many years to come and I’m very happy that I purchased it.

Healing Power of Sound: Recovery from Life-Threatening Illness Using Sound, Voice, and Music

Healing Power of Sound: Recovery from Life-Threatening Illness Using Sound, Voice, and Music[rating:5/5]

It is often nearly impossible to find good books on the use of sound for healing that are not filled with a bunch of new age garbage (as a rule, I’ve found most of those types of books to be so filled with shoddy “research” that I tend to shun them entirely). This book, however, was written by an M.D., and a respected one at that. While The Healing Power of Sound is really a collection of Dr. Gaynor’s anecdotal experiences using such things as Himalayan Singing Bowls, he provides readers with a cogent and coherent overview of the use of sound as an ancient and highly effective treatment modality. Of particular interest is the fact that Dr. Gaynor in an oncologist and works with terminally ill patients who are often in tremendous pain.

With luck, others in the medical and helping professions will read this book (and; hopefully, with an open mind) and begin to learn about the very effective ideas that Dr. Gaynor describes.

Power of Sound: How to Manage Your Personal Soundscape for a Vital, Productive, and Healthy Life

Power of Sound: How to Manage Your Personal Soundscape for a Vital, Productive, and Healthy Life[rating:4/5]

The Power of Sound was, overall, an interesting book on psychoacoustics. Written by a musician, the author describes many of his personal experiences and with the use of sound for healing and describes many fascinating stories regarding those who advocate for the use of sound and music as therapy. Overall, Joshua Leeds does an excellent job and his book leaves one wanting to learn more. Just the same, my own personal biases prevent me from fully endorsing this book as some of his references are, at best, weak. Most notably are those pertaining to Don Campbell and the “Mozart Effect.” Campbell’s book lacks substance and essentially plagiarizes (and bastardizes) the legitimate work of Gordon Shaw, I cannot fully accept the work of those who endorse Campbell.

I would; however, recommend this book to those who are willing to read it with a critical eye and find that it has a great deal of heuristic value.