It's All About Resonance

An Interview with August Worley, the inventor of Pyradym

August Worley is a college professor and an energetic healer living in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He’s also an electrical engineer and the inventor of a remarkable new device called “Pyradym”. While it may sound a little far-fetched, this pyramid-shaped device generates sound, light, and a physical vibration that is helping heal people from anything ranging from headaches to phobias.

Also a gifted musician, Mr. Worley has had a long and varied professional career in the electronics industry as an engineer, and at one time was touring with the reformed Emerson, Lake and Palmer as a keyboard technician. In 2002 Mr. Worley moved to Asheville, North Carolina to work as a design engineer for the late legendary synthesizer pioneer, Dr. Robert Moog. We sat down with the inventor of this technology to ask him a few questions about his interesting new concept…

How did you start bringing together the ideas related to creating an electronic instrument to be used as a sound healing device?

Well, I’ve always been what I would term a “progressive” person. Aside from learning how to play several musical instruments, I was always interested in the way that music “feels” and the way that it can make you feel. I guess I have always been aware that sound as music has a healing aspect to it as well as a transcendental aspect to it when it is appropriately organized. That led me to study the art of composition and arranging music. I had also been studying meditation, which led me to the study of toning as a way of achieving a more transcendental state of awareness.

Then when I began to develop and expand my intuitive abilities, it all came together as a cohesive concept during a group meditation in August of 2003. In that meditation, I had a deeply profound vision in which I was sitting in front of a small, glowing pyramidal object that created the most wonderfully warm and somewhat “reminiscent” tone, accompanied by a physical vibration. It was a very profound experience to say the least, and one that stayed with me for months afterwards.

I continued to remember the special feeling of peace and divine connection that I had when I was in the presence of the pyramid instrument, and was subsequently guided that I should use my expertise as a electronic sound product design engineer to build one similar to the object I saw. So I guess you could say it was a natural – almost organic – process of combining my learned skills with my intuitive abilities, which I believe is pretty much how most of the best concepts become a reality – every new technology starts as a concept.

How does Pyradym work?

Basically, Pyradym generates a relaxing stereophonic sound that you listen to through a set of headphones, and along with that sound is the associated physical vibration. It’s very easy to use and intuitive to use, and it requires very little musical training whatsoever to operate.

It uses the 7–tone Chakra system as a universally accepted tuning “platform”, so conceptually it’s tuned differently than a musical instrument. It also differs by focusing the “intention” of the sound generated by the instrument, and directly relates it to the human body. People can easily and readily relate with what sound and vibration associates to which body region, so it takes to a whole different level the concept of using sound to address the human body as a unified energetic system.

It’s designed to function along the same lines as more traditional mechanical tone sources such as singing bowls, but with a lot more flexibility and versatility. And it’s also portable, so you can place it anywhere – on the floor, under a massage table, on the massage table, any flat resonant surface – you can even attach it to the wall!

It acoustically couples to whatever surface it’s in contact with to transmit its physioacoustic sound energy through the associated media, as well as produce audible sound through the cabinet’s sound chamber.

Music is sound, but sound is not necessarily music

Music therapy is becoming more recognised as a useful healing modality, yet you distinguish the sound that Pyradym creates from music. How do they differ?

Well, I think we first need to define some terms. There’s music and there’s sound. Music is sound, but sound is not necessarily music. It is the degree of intent as well as the content that defines sound as music. But there is a significant level of left-brained involvement in listening to music.

Your brain maintains a level of awareness as you listen to a piece of music, consciously and continuously evaluating the experience, usually comparing it with music consumed in your past in the evaluation process. This does not suspend the passage of time as effectively as continuous, repetitive forms of sound such as those generated by Pyradym.

I like to say Pyradym creates “pure sound”. It’s not a musical instrument per se, however it does generate the same crucial sound elements as those generated by musical instruments, but at the same time it removes the performance aspect associated with playing a musical instrument. Pyradym focuses the effective components found in all healing music, and provides an instrument for anyone who wants to use the healing elements of sound – regardless of whether or not the user has had any musical training.

Plus, the intention of the instrument is to function AS a healing instrument, not as a musical instrument. It incorporates full spectrum brain entrainment techniques using light as well as sound, something musical instruments or other sound therapy devices don’t do, and at the same time providing a physioacoustic stimulation designed to resonate the human body – all in a beautiful enclosure that’s extremely easy to use.

Why did you create Pyradym?

Aside from feeling a compelling sense of “mission” from what I guess you could call my “vision quest” experience, it just seems logical to me that having a convenient and interactive way of treating our bodies to harmonious resonant frequencies can go a long way towards correcting some of the damage induced by our toxic environment. Consider the “envelope of frequency hash” being generated in our hostile electromagnetic environment. I believe we underestimate the refractory impact the EMFs being generated in our technologically-based societal environment is having to our immune systems, aside from what we ingest.

You know, a few years ago a widely circulated survey published the average life spans of people in various occupational groups. “Experts” were surprised to find that orchestral conductors were the longest lived occupation in the survey. I read that and thought “why wouldn’t this be so?” Aside from the obvious aspect of the aerobic activity of the involved upper body movement, they are being regularly washed at the cellular level in a shower of pure, harmonious resonant frequencies being generated right in front of them! In fact – they are essentially the focal point of all of the sound being generated by the orchestra, aren’t they?!

I very much see Pyradym as a tool of empowerment, and I also see it as part of my mission to empower people! Recorded sound has a major drawback associated with it in that it is not interactive – it is essentially a “snapshot” of the moment the sound was conceived and eventually written on to a little plastic disk. Recordings are not a tactile experience and they are not dynamic – they don’t “evolve” along with the listener.

A sound or music recording that may light you up like a pinball machine one day may not have any impact the next day – and I’ve had that experience with many recordings through the years. As a musician, I can also testify that there’s nothing like the energetic connection of actively interacting with the sound source, as one does through the instrument that is producing it. Pyradym interacts with and responds to the user.

You are currently using the instrument in your energetic healing practice – how do YOU use it?

I simply use a small wooden table to extend the length of my portable massage table, and place the instrument on the head end in close proximity to the client’s head. I’ve also recently started to use a special headrest I invented that is designed to stimulate and resonate the occipital region of the skull, which is where our brain’s visual cortex is located. It seems to enhance the profundity of the out of body experiences that my clients have reported in their sessions.

I’ve since met with a few practitioners who specialise in craniosacral therapy and they have described to me that this is also a key area for applying pressure to induce the “still point” response and increase the movement of spinal fluid through your system, which can remove tissue tension and improve your body’s ability to relieve pain and stress naturally.

By using sound to resonate the human body we can essentially massage it structurally

What other results have you witnessed?

My clients regularly report of feeling less stressed and happier. Pyradym has also shown an ability to relieve migraines, cramps, and joint pain. Some of my clients have also reported dramatic increases in their sense of well-being, a greater sense of clarity of their “inner voice”, and some have noticed marked increases in their arousal states. Yes, I’ve collected a few rather “bawdy“ client testimonials over the past few years! (laughs)

What do you mean when you say “resonate” the human body?

One of the unique things about the sound frequencies generated by Pyradym is that they are not musical “notes” per se. The arbitrary standard tuning system currently used by musical instruments is an “un-natural” convention that was adopted in the early part of the last century specifically so that groups of musical instruments could effectively play with one another.

They are NOT tuned in relationship to the human body. Pyradym is – it uses a unique mathematically proportional scale relevant to the human body and is designed to sympathetically resonate the human body at typical characteristic resonant or “signature” frequencies. The principle of sympathetic resonance allows a profound aspect of energizing the human body.

Everything that occupies physical space has multiple resonance frequencies, and the human body is essentially a large resonant cavity to begin with. Every physical structure that makes up the human form has several characteristic resonance frequencies, as well as the associated harmonics. Esoterically, the energy of LIFE is ALL about resonance, but by using sound to resonate the human body we can essentially massage it structurally.

So, by imparting an appropriate low frequency sound energy related to the characteristic resonance frequencies of the mass structures of the body, which are your organs, glands, etc., you are not only vibrationally massaging these internal structures, but are also stimulating their capacity to detoxify.

The physical sensation of Pyradym is similar to the sensation of being vibrated in a vibrating chair or bed, but it is perceived as being much more pleasant.

Mechanical vibration systems can cause side effects such as nausea, motion sickness, and “acclimation” to the sensation. There are a number of mechanical bed or chair systems out there that have limitations placed on their amount of use for that very reason. That doesn’t happen with Pyradym’s physioacoustic system – you can run it 24/7 if you want to without any adverse effects. In fact, I often sleep with it running – all night long.

Earlier you mentioned brain entrainment. What is that?

Entrainment is the occurrence in humans where the major biological systems can be induced to synchronize with one another. And the application of an appropriate sound is a highly effective and non-invasive means of causing biological entrainment. So for example, if you listen to a slow repetitive sound, your brain, breathing, and heart rate will slow down and syncopate with one another, providing a deep sense of relaxation. Therefore you can resolve insomnia without the use of chemicals.

I’ve been approached by researchers in pediatrics studying children diagnosed with ADD and Autism looking for a non-chemical means of suppressing unruly behavior. Also, the stereo sound field generated by Pyradym helps induce “whole brain” integration. This integration aspect can help to stimulate the neurological structure of the brain which can facilitate better cognitive reasoning, more efficient learning skills, and better motor coordination.

I’ve recently read a study out of the NYU Medical Center that indicates coincidentally that one of the standard tones generated by Pyradym may help to induce a resonance within a specific region of the brain that would provide support of the central nervous system and help offset the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. That’s powerful.

There’s a timelessness about the pyramid that resonates at the cellular level with humans

There is also currently an emerging body of work in the field of brain chemistry which is delving into exactly how the attributes of sound effect our perceptions of “reality”, and discussing the reason Monks tone while they meditate is to help them alter their state of consciousness.

High resolution tomographic imaging scans of the brains of Buddhist Monks during meditation revealed a decrease in activity in the parietal lobes, while at the same time portions of the right temporal lobe become more active. I believe Pyradym induces the same brain patterning.

A repetitive, rhythmic sound along with the associated vibration has been shown to produce this same brain pattern activity and trigger out-of-body experiences similar to the type achieved by the Monks. That’s another great benefit of the entrainment aspect of Pyradym. For people who wish to practice meditation, but can’t shut off the “mind chatter” in their heads long enough to achieve a deeply transcendent state, Pyradym is great because it helps to quiet that mind chatter to enable you to alter your consciousness and really “go deep”.

It appears to place you between that known as the delta and theta brain states. Some clients have said they were very relaxed, yet aware throughout the entire session even though I and the people in the next room could hear them snoring loudly! (laughs)

Yet still another aspect of physioacoustic stimulation is as a technique of sensory modulation – the use of vibration as a continuous tactile input to stimulate the dorsal columns of the spine so that pain signals are inhibited. Physioacoustic stimulation can function as a sort of “sonic massage” in the same sense that a normal massage can, and this massage therapist never takes a break!

So at the end of the day, Pyradym can be used as a general way to stimulate and facilitate the human body’s innate self-healing mechanisms, which is by nature a much more profound and perfect way to address the complicated systems within our bodies. I like to say that the sounds generated by Pyradym “go where they need to go”!

You know, I watched the film “What The Bleep Do We Know?” the other day, and I was inspired by the words of one of the quantum physicists, Professor John Hagelin, who in reference to the complex chemical exchanges that occur within our bodies every second of our lives, pointed to his chest and remarked that “the most sophisticated pharmacy in the universe is right in here”. It led me to ponder why we as humans always tend to look outside of ourselves for the solutions to our chronic health problems.

Why not look towards stimulating the human body into producing exactly what it needs to heal?

Why do we tend to believe that the only solution is an externally ingested, chemically-based one? Why do we introduce drugs, and typically a laundry-list full of side effects, into our bodies whenever it’s out of balance? Why not try inducing the body to chemically balance itself? Your body can produce exactly what it requires to heal itself – and your body doesn’t produce “side effects”. Why not use something so subtly powerful as sound? Sound can penetrate mass, organize matter, regulate the body’s functioning – all at the cellular level. PLUS – you can easily control it, there is immediacy to it, it feels good, and it’s fun to use!

Q: Why is Pyradym a Pyramid?

Well, when you think about it, most of the great ancient healing temples were pyramids, so I wanted the instrument to possess that aspect. In fact, the Pyradym enclosure is scaled exactly as the Great Pyramid in the Giza Complex in Egypt, with all of the sound and light generating circuitry residing on a printed circuit board that’s at the same relative vertical position as that of The King’s Chamber in The Great Pyramid.

This pyramid’s geometry was chosen for a number of esoteric energetic reasons which I won’t get into, but there’s certainly a transcendental quality to that particular geometry that resonates within the human subconscious mind. There’s a timelessness about the pyramid that resonates at the cellular level with humans – much in the same way that the shape of the guitar, or the violin or the cello does, because the basic shape of those instruments were also chosen so as to emulate the timeless contours of the female body.

And I also wanted it to resonate aesthetically and be as pleasing to the eye as possible for the people that work with it. That’s why I used as many natural external structural materials as possible: the hardwoods, the Brazilian quartz crystal, the copper. People connect to natural materials in a special way, and I wanted people to connect with Pyradym in the same way that musicians connect with their instruments – and to regard it with a sense of reverence and love.

The energetic carrier frequencies associated with the intention of love and joy facilitate healing, and if people fall in love with Pyradym it makes it that much more effective and fun to use!

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

It’s ALL About Resonance: A BioResonance Healing Therapy Discussion by August J. Worley

This quote from a 1942 interview with Nikola Tesla places together three profound physical properties that can otherwise be described as that underlying the principle of resonance. Resonance is a key principle of the universe and can be used in a variety of different applications, but becomes of crucial importance when used in reference to the art and science of purposefully inducing a periodic stimulus to the human body with the intention of creating the positive physical outcome known as “healing”.

Resonance, (whose etymology implies the use of sound), occurs when two or more tuned frequency systems interact in such a way as to induce an energetic transfer. However, not strictly constrained by the sonic spectrum, the property of resonance is demonstrated daily in a multitude of commonly-used technologies such as radiotelegraphy, microwave cooking, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or something as simple as running your finger around the rim of a wine glass to produce a tone.

I choose to interpret the “vibration” aspect of Tesla’s resonance statement as an operative subset of sonic frequencies that falls specifically in the bandwidth of that which can be perceived by the human body physically. Although there is a tremendously wide spectrum of frequencies of all variety that impact the human body on a continuous basis, only those that can be felt at our mass density level are vibrational in the strictest sense.

For example, even though at this very moment it is likely that a number of microwave frequencies are passing through your body, you do not specifically experience these frequencies physically as “vibration” because their wavelengths are too short to trigger the neural response known as “feeling”, (but they do have an impact regardless!)

Accordingly, the term “frequency” may be used rather than “vibration” to differentiate the vocabulary of periodic energy in order to distinguish the non-physical from the physical perception, and to raise the awareness of which energy spectrum we are dealing with when we discuss the associated sonic fields of electromagnetic field therapy, and the lesser-known science of sound therapy known as physioacoustics.

Through the course of my work with sound, (including as an design engineer for keyboard synthesizer pioneer Dr. Robert Moog), I became uniquely aware of the generation of frequency and vibration as not only a technology of what we term as “music”, but also of how the fundamental components of the sound, (its waveforms, envelopes, etc.), can directly influence our perceptions of not only the physical self, but also of our emotional self.

At its essence, the best music resonates us: it has the ability to elicit a response at a number of levels through a particular type of resonance known as sympathetic resonance. I believe this principle is why you feel that you like THIS particular song, but not THAT one: some aspect of it – at perhaps an ineffable level - resonates with you. Esoterically, the energy of life is “ALL about resonance”, but by organising sound frequency, (by what I term ”coherent sound”), beyond the scope of “entertainment” (music) to resonate the human body, we can essentially induce a form of “massage” to create a positive experiential change at a number of levels.

The principle of sympathetic resonance also allows an elegant way of energizing the human body. Everything that occupies physical space possesses multiple resonance frequencies, and the human body’s being essentially a large resonant cavity makes it easy to resonate in a variety of ways. Every physical structure that makes up the human form – right down to the cellular level - has a characteristic resonance frequency, as well as a number of associated harmonics above that frequency.

The term “sound” indicates the lowest bandwidth of our total frequency spectrum. As such, it has the profound ability to penetrate any substance and to organise matter down to the molecular level. In this way, sound additionally alters our “reality” at a much more fundamental level because it can penetrate and move though solid matter.

And one of the most sublime aspects of resonance is that the appropriate frequencies will reinforce themselves. It doesn’t take that much energy either: research has shown that an optimal bone tissue support using small amplitude physioacoustic stimulation is obtained with less than 10 microstrains of vibration, which is quite subtle. We ourselves persistently generate a form of natural physioacoustic energy normal functioning of our bodies which appears to diminish as we age. The deterioration of those energy signals parallels the aging process, suggesting there may be a correlation to chronic old-age bone tissue ailments.

So, by imparting an appropriate low-frequency, low-amplitude energy related to the characteristic resonance frequencies of the mass structures of the body, (which are your organs, glands, bones, etc.), you are not only vibrationally massaging these internal structures, but are also stimulating their capacity to detoxify and rebuild, which can also lead to an improved state of health.

In my sound therapy practice I use low frequency sound to create an associated physioacoustic vibration as well as to modulate an electromagnetic field, (as generated by my Pyradym instrument - blatant plug!), as low sonic frequencies have a tendency to create excitations and resonances of an infinite number of higher harmonically-related frequencies. Again, everything that occupies physical space possesses multiple resonance frequencies, and our physical body structures are no different.

Each body structure has a broad band of characteristic resonance frequencies that continually change as WE change and evolve. So, by using subharmonic frequencies, one can cause an excitation of any mathematically proportional frequency above it. This is another interesting property of resonant systems: structures with higher resonant frequencies will actually “pick out” the appropriate low frequency and resonate with it. And best of all, the unique properties of sound allows us hear these frequencies and feel them, making them very easy to work with.

By energizing the human body using bioresonance, we are essentially organising it at the deepest levels. Using sound frequency in this way to “attune” the body, (or induce it to literally be “at one”), we are stimulating its innate ability to heal itself. Think about it: your body has a very elegant system for rebuilding itself – and it’s doing so RIGHT NOW! The most remarkable complex chemical exchanges are occurring within your body 24/7 - EVERY second of EVERY day of your life - whether or not you’re aware of it! To paraphrase quantum physicist, Dr. John Hagelin, “the most sophisticated pharmacy in the universe is in your body”.

Frequency and vibration, no matter how you choose to define or distinguish them intellectually, imply the most profound principle in the universe – that of resonance. As such, resonance is a metaphor for the energetic expression of the Universe at its most fundamental level, or “the way things REALLY work”. It’s ALL about resonance!

August Worley is a degreed Electrical Engineer with an associated minor in Performance and Music Composition Studies. He began his professional electronics career working for Moog Music, Inc. in Buffalo, New York and moved to Asheville, North Carolina to work with the late legendary synthesizer pioneer Dr. Robert Moog, in developing his last keyboard, the MiniMoog Voyager synthesizer.

An Inventor, College Professor, Sound Therapist, and Reiki Master, his latest invention, Pyradym, is a patented, electronic user-controllable sound, light, and Physioacoustic instrument designed to stimulate the human body’s innate self-healing mechanisms as well as naturally create altered states of awareness.