Healing Music For Dogs
Canine Sound Therapy
About This Project
Ever wonder how sound and music affects your central nervous system? Turns out its similar to how it affects dogs. Heather McElhatton interviews classical pianist and “Dog Music” composer Lisa Spector and her colleague Joshua Leeds, a world-renowned expert in bio acoustics about their book and accompanying CD series “Through a Dogs Ear.” More information at: throughadogsear.com
Research:
An official definition of psychoacoustics is “a branch of science dealing with hearing, the sensations produced by sounds, and the problems of communication.” Psychoacoustics may also be thought of as “the study of the perception of sound.”
As a psychoacoustician, I study the effect of sound on the human nervous system. After a few decades of research and observation, I know that auditory input has a much larger impact on the psyche and body than most people think. When our auditory process is under- or overwhelmed, or when we have difficulty processing sound properly, there can be multiple and far-reaching ramifications.
One of the profound joys I have found in the clinical studies of music for dogs is the discovery that many of the same principles and effects of sound are shared by people and animals. This reinforces what soundworkers already know — that sound is a potent energy that is not to be taken for granted.
Over the last fifty years, musicians, producers, and therapeutic professionals have clarified and innovated music and sound techniques that naturally affect our human body pulses — brain waves, heart rate, and breath. We’ve learned to play the human body in a purposeful way. By adding the natural processes of resonance (the ability of one vibration to alter another), entrainment (the effect of periodic rhythms to speed up or slow down the brain, heart, and breath), and auditory pattern identification (determining when it is conducive for the brain to be in an active or passive mode) to the musical palette of harmony, melody and form, it is now possible to create potent soundtracks for specific purposes.
But what does psychoacoustics have to do with the health and well-being of our canine companions? This is where bioacoustics comes into play. The Acoustical Society of America defines animal bioacoustics as the study of sound in non-human animals. Like psychoacoustics, it is a branch of science that deals with the relation between living beings and sound.
– Joshua Leeds