How it works, in plain terms

What is actually playing?

Three things at once. Your voice. A soft noise floor so it does not feel clinical. And underneath both, two quiet tones that are very slightly different from each other, one in each ear.

Why two slightly different tones?

When each ear receives a slightly different pitch, you perceive a slow pulse that is not present in either tone on its own. If the left ear gets 200 and the right gets 206, you experience a pulse six times a second. Attention tends to settle toward that rhythm, the way a room gradually falls into step with a drum.

Why does it start slow and get slower?

The pulse begins around ten per second, roughly where a calm and awake mind sits, then descends to about six, which is the drowsy and receptive state just before sleep. That is the state worth being in when you hear the words. Starting deep and climbing does not work, which is why it runs this direction.

Why do morning and night end differently?

They are identical until your words finish. Then the morning session climbs back up so you surface alert and carry it into the day, and the night session keeps descending into deep sleep territory so you drift off once it has landed. One recording, two endings.

Do I really need headphones?

For the standard mode, yes, and it is not a preference. The pulse does not exist in the air. It is constructed inside your head from the difference between your two ears, so a speaker physically cannot produce it. If you would rather use a speaker, switch the output to speakers, which pulses a single tone instead and works fine without headphones. The first time you press play with headphones, a short check confirms left and right are the right way round, because headphones worn backwards are common and nobody notices.

What do the words in the Studio mean?

Hertz, written Hz, means times per second. Everything below is measured in it.

Binaural

Two tones, one in each ear, a few hertz apart. Your brain makes the pulse from the difference. Headphones only.

Isochronic

One tone switched on and off at the pulse rate. Works on a speaker. Less studied than binaural, and headphones are still better.

Carrier

The pitch you actually hear, for example 200 Hz. It carries the pulse and is not the pulse.

Beat

The pulse rate, in times per second. This is the number the brain is invited to follow, and it is always far lower than the carrier.

Alpha, theta, delta

Names for ranges of pulse rate. Alpha is about 8 to 12 per second, a calm and awake mind. Theta is about 4 to 8, drowsy and receptive, where your words are played. Delta is below 4, deep sleep, where the night session ends. Beta and gamma are faster, for alertness and focus, and are not used in a night session.

Envelope

The path the beat follows over a session: down from alpha into theta, held there while you listen, then out one way or the other.

Will I hear the tones the whole time?

Yes, quietly, underneath your voice. They are meant to sit behind everything rather than command attention. If you find them distracting, they are too loud.

Is this hypnosis?

Not in the stage sense. Nobody says anything you did not write yourself, and you can stop at any moment. What it does borrow is the sequencing. Relax first, then speak, because a settled nervous system is measurably more receptive than an alert one.