Seeing is believing, but a bizarre experiment revealed that people are affected by sound they cannot hear nor see. Scientists working at Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral analyzed the responses of 250 people who heard a 50 minute piano recital and also inaudible vibrations, too low in pitch for them to hear. The audience's emotions intensified as the inaudible sound vibrations were blasted out. Those feeling uncomfortable before the concert got increasingly angry. Their emotion intensified during the piano performance. Others, who were initially happy, got progressively more joyful. Focused concentration on music has a mesmerizing effect, almost hypnotic. The surprising thing is that this is also true for inaudible sound.

In experiments people felt physical affects from the silent blasts: tingling in the back of the neck and a strange feeling in the stomach. This should not come as a surprise as many scientists confirmed harmful effects from unheard or unseen vibrations, such as microwaves and electrical energy. A science experiment conducted by students in Denmark demonstrated that unheard vibrations from cell phones mutilated bean sprouts in a matter of days. Sharry Edwards who brought forth the science of BioAcoustics, certain sounds can make us physically ill.

It is well documented that sound entrains brainwaves, creating specific states of consciousness, and of course music makes us feel as we dance to a lively beat and feel sad with another song. Clearly vibrations of sound change us.

At least within the hearing spectrum we have a clue as to the impact of sound vibrations because we can hear them. Vibrations, even those unheard, can intensify our emotions – for better or worse. Our brain waves can be deliberated altered with sounds, with a similar result – altering our consciousness. Can we be brainwashed or influenced – without a clue as to what is impacting us?

This revives the ancient argument about free will versus destiny. Do we choose our emotions and thoughts, or do we respond like robots to unseen vibrations?  Inaudible vibrations have a strong impact on us – our body, mind and emotions, and we are helpless to avoid the strong influences. Waves in close proximity combine – like it or not.

As a consequence of this breaking new knowledge - we should not take people’s emotional responses personally – maybe their behavior is a result of some unheard sound vibrations or influence. 

Finally, are there “Sound Stalkers?”  Are people creating unheard blasts to thin the populations or at least make them ill, depressed or angry? Given all the people creating computer viruses with intent on wreaking havoc… this action would not be hard to conceive of. How many unscrupulous people are blasting us with unheard sounds – what kind of protection do we have?

Sound blasts can be used for good – for nutrition, for encouraging positive emotions, to elevating our consciousness and awareness, and more. How about educating people how we ingest sound? We should monitor unheard vibrations and be warned of their effects. Ultimately, when are we going to take what we listen to seriously?

Plotinus of ancient Greece wrote: “Harmonies unheard create the harmonies we hear and wake the soul to the consciousness of beauty.” He suggested that subtle, unheard sounds (such as those coming from nature) are the sounds that influence musicians to create beautiful works of art. Whether or not unheard sounds (from tiny volumes or out of our hearing range) help or hurt us, is not the biggest issue. We are influenced by all kinds of vibrations, without a clue to their influence, which can be significant. It is time to wake up and take control of our vibratory world!