|
 |
|
| An Interview with Joshua Leeds |
Joshua Leeds is a music producer, educator and sound researcher. He is one of few published authorities in the exciting new field of psychoacoustics: the study of the effects of music and sound on the human nervous system. Since 1986, he has produced over 30 recordings, collaborating with leaders in health, psychology, and neurodevelopment.
Joshua conducts seminars internationally for music, healthcare and education professionals. He is the creator of Sound-Remedies.com, an online resource for psychoacoustic music, books and videos.
Joshua resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. Further information on his work can be found at his website: www.ThePowerOfSound.com
EW: Can you briefly explain what psychoacoustics is?
JL: Psychoacoustics is the study of the perception of sound. This includes how we listen, our psychological responses, and the physiological impact of music and sound upon the human nervous system. In the realm of psychoacoustics, the terms music, sound, frequency, and vibration are essentially interchangeable, because they are different approximations of the same essence.
The primary subject material of my research has been the effect of music for wellness, healing, learning and productivity. Additionally, in 2004-05, I was directly involved in the study of the effect of music on 150 dogs.
EW: What are some of the findings?
JL: The goal of the dog study was to determine if music had a similar effect on canines as it did on humans. To our great surprise, we found that dogs entrain to external rhythms like we do (although few wag their tails or tap their paws to the beat), and that they also respond to the complexity or simplicity of sound patterns like we do. The brief bottom line is that specific soundtracks may be used to reduce anxiety in dogs and help alleviate certain behavioral issues.
This is timely because pharmaceutical companies are ramping up to release medications for dogs based on similar molecular formulas used with humans. Prozac for dogs? In the next year, there will be numerous new drugs available for the canine market. Psychoacoustically designed music, for people or animals, is a natural alternative to the pharmaceutical approach.
What to me is ultimately the pay-off of this research is the understanding of the universal power of sound. What affects us 2-leggeds also affects our 4-legged and even winged companions.
EW: What are some personal applications of psychoacoustic principles?
JL: When considering psychoacoustics, the most important concept to understand is that sound is a nutrient for the nervous system. From this awareness - brought forward by the great sound researcher Dr. Alfred Tomatis (1920-2001) - we begin to arrange our lives with due deference to what sounds we are putting into our bodies - similar to how we consider food, water and sunlight.
Dr. Tomatis taught that the auditory system of the unborn child is fully active by 16-18 weeks in utero, and that sound is as important to the neurodevelopment of the fetus as food through the umbilicus.
As we mature, sound serves as an energy source that can either charge or discharge our nervous system function. Consequently, the intentional application of sound (or music) can be used to either relax or arouse the nervous system. We use all kinds of stimulants or depressives in the course of each day - drugs, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, sugar... not to forget chocolate!
In my talk at East West on September 28, 2007, I will explore how we use various energy sources to self-medicate, and at what point this can turn into addiction. Even with music!
EW: How can auditory retraining and sound stimulation be used for staying healthy?
JL: This is a great question and a little difficult to answer in a brief time. Most simply put, Tomatis devised a way, using specially treated music of Mozart, to retrain middle ear function. By taking in a full spectrum of sound, we are able to function in a more balanced and enlivened way.
EW: What can we do to protect our nervous systems from the over-stimulation of sound that’s inherent in living here in the Bay Area?
JL: The simple answer is protecting your hearing. But it goes beyond safe sonics. What we are really talking about is the conscious regulation of frequency infusion. We are like sponges, soaking up all the stimuli coming at us from a hundred directions at once. Wireless, cellular, television, email, radio, faxes, phones, advertisements, babies crying, dogs barking, people talking - buy, sell, read, listen, look, be alert, respond, make decisions, etc. It can be overwhelming. We keep this pace up for years and years, and then we wonder why there is such a spike in disease. I believe that chronic over-stimulation leads to diminishment of both nervous and immune function. What can we do? Stay conscious and practice self-care. How much energy can you take in and output without depletion? The practice of balance in this digital age is a hard re-adjustment to make because we live in a 24/7 culture that says, “Bring it on!” I’m not so sure about this, in the short or long-term.
|
|
|
|
