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12Hz Alpha Waves
No 12 Hz beat exists in this file. The two channels carry the same material and nothing in the loop pulses twelve times a second, so anyone here for alpha entrainment should know that before pressing play. What it is instead: a wide, low B flat drone, brighter and more restless than its theta-named companion, with one high note floating far above everything else.
Ready to play
Stack this under rain or a fire, keep the blend, and play it with your screen off. Slo, on iOS, Android and Mac.
Why the name does not match the file
Checking each channel on its own, the largest difference between them is about half a hertz. A 12 Hz binaural beat would need a gap two dozen times that size. Following the phase relationship between the channels gives a drift under one hertz, not twelve. The file does not pulse at 12 Hz either: its strongest swelling runs far slower, and at twelve there is nothing to find.
A real one is on the site for comparison. The Schumann Fundamental file puts a different tone in each ear, far apart, and beats at exactly the 7.83 Hz it claims. The 2Hz Binaural Beats file fails the same tests this one does, and that page covers the research: one systematic review of fourteen EEG studies found five results supporting entrainment, eight contradicting it and one mixed, and described the literature as inconclusive at best.
What it is worth playing for
The pitches make a B flat collection spread over four octaves, with a deep G underneath holding it down and a single high note sitting two octaves clear of everything else. That lone note is the only brightness in the file, and it is what separates this from the flatter, darker 5Hz Theta Waves.
It is one of the widest files on these pages, so it opens out on headphones and pulls towards the middle on a single speaker. Steadier tonal neighbours are Deep Focus and Flow. Try the 12Hz Alpha Waves and brown noise blend in the free sound mixer for a fuller bottom end.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a binaural beat?
No. The largest difference between the channels measures about half a hertz, and a 12 Hz beat needs a gap two dozen times larger. The file does not pulse at 12 Hz either.
Does listening to alpha frequencies produce alpha brainwaves?
No dependable evidence shows that. A systematic review of fourteen EEG studies found the results split, five for and eight against, and called the literature inconclusive at best.
Do I need headphones?
Not for any beat, since there is none. Headphones do make the stereo spread obvious, and this is one of the wider files here.
What is the high note I can hear?
A D sitting on its own two octaves above the rest of the file. Everything else is packed into the low registers underneath it.