Question regarding KASINA's AudioStrobe settings

[Neuro-Surfer]

Dear team,

I am exploring a couple of the original AudioStrobe pioneer recordings from Tamas Lab at the moment. Some of them are fantastic - e.g. Eternal Elements.

On the KASINA, there are a number of settings that change the visual output for AudioStrobe. I am not very savvy regarding the encoding specifics though and am a bit puzzled: I thought I'd have to choose setting 3RG-L/R in order to re-create the original AS experience. I recently read in another post though that the correct setting is 8RG.

Main intention is that I'd like to experience the session as closely as possible to how it was intended/conceived by the composer/programmer.

On a related note, do any of these settings change the perceived entrainment frequency? I suppose not, as the frequency stays the same, regardless of switching between left/right or between colors: Even if it switches left/right, you are activating BOTH hemispheres each time (would be different if you activated left or right visual field). Just wanted to validate this point as it is relevant for some of the entrainment sessions.

Thank you very much and best regards
Michael

[Robert Austin]

Hello, Michael--if you want to experience these TAMAS sessions as close to the original as possible, then select ColorSet 2: all the original AS decoders back in the early-mid 90s used red LEDs, and the sessions were created with that in mind. Choice of color does not affect the actual frequency--that's determined by the encoded frequencies.

In the Human visual system, light from the center of each eye passes to both sides of the visual cortex, so alternating left/right at 16 Hz is stimulating both sides at 16 Hz, rather than each side at 8 Hz. But the phase between hemispheres is different than if both are being stimulated simultaneously. Stimulation in the far left hemi-field will stimulate only the right side and vice versa, but this requires that the LEDs be pretty far to the left and right--with sunglasses, they would need to be about where the arm attaches to the lens. Dr. Tom Budzynski developed such a system in the late 80s, and ran a series of EEGs with it, to test his hypothesis that one hemisphere could be entrained to a different frequency than the other. He told me that this could occur, but only for a few seconds before the two sides 'snapped back' to a common frequency.

Hope this helps!

Robert

[Neuro-Surfer]

Thank you Robert - really appreciate your answer. Love the historical context and sharing of Budzynski story. I know the DAVID system achieves the left/right visual field separation and got their TruVu glasses to work with the KASINA on AudioStrobe setting 8... but I have to admit I rarely use them; while I feel a definite effect with some typical Audiostrobe sessions (Tamas Lab's Wheel - Theta is my current favorite), I never got much of a result from the few hemishere-distinctive sessions I have.

By the way, do you know a journalist by the name of Jason Louv? He mentions Brion Gysin's Dreamachine in a couple of his writings (that guy came up with a flicker machine in the early 60s; he was a buddy of Burroughs and those guys certainly appreciated means to explore different states of consciousness ;-) --- Louv never mentions mind machines in that context and I was wondering whether I should drop him a line in case he is indeed unaware of them...

Best regards
Michael