Nestor Kornblum is co-founder and co-director of both theSpanish and the International Associations of Sound Therapy. He has workedtirelessly over the last 12 years to promote the use of Sound and Overtonesinging as a healing modality worldwide. It has also been a personal desire ofhis to bridge the gap between the more spiritually and esoterically focusedOvertone singers, and those focused mainly on using it as a musical art form.His new instructional book with CD “Overtone Chant: the Practical Guide”, withtext in 6 languages, was written in response to requests from his students inthe many countries where he conducts workshops. Together with his wife MichêleAverard he has published several CDs of music with overtone singing and ancientacoustic instruments for healing and relaxation.
During the last century, the Western world has rediscovered and scientifically proven thatwhich ancient cultures already knew, and which in the East has always beenknown;
The Universe is made of Sound
“In thebeginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1,1).
Everyatom, particle, and molecule is in constant vibration, and so has a pulse.Pulse creates waves which our senses perceive as form (physical or etheric).Everything that has pulse, wave and form – that is to say everything in theUniverse - has a sound.
The basicprinciple of healing with sound is the concept of resonance (the vibratoryfrequency of an object.) The entire Universe is in a state of vibration. Thisincludes human beings. Every organ, cell, bone, tissue and liquid of the body,and also the electromagnetic fields which surround the body (aura), has ahealthy vibratory frequency. If we are not resonating with some part ofourselves or of our surroundings, we become dissonant and therefore unhealthy.Our naturally healthy frequency becomes a frequency that vibrates withoutharmony, creating illness.
Through theuse of sound, and particularly our own voices, we can project the correctresonant frequency toward and into, any unhealthy part of ouselves, thusreturning it to its normal frequency, and resulting in a HEALING. This occursthrough sympathetic resonance when one vibrating object influencesanother vibrating or even stationary object, causing changes in its vibratoryrate. An extreme example is a singer causing glass to shatter.
Therefore,if we wish to effect a change within ourselves or our environment, on eitherthe physical or etheric plane, we first must identify the sound/s that correspond,and direct the sound at the part/s in question.
Sound hasthe capacity to change form at the physical, etheric, emotional and spirituallevels, and also all these levels simultaneously.
Our focusis to learn how to use sound and discover the sounds necessary to establish (orre-establish) a healthy vibration in all parts of the human organism at anindividual and planetary level.
In this waywe may positively influence human evolution towards the attainment of a higherconsciousness and a healthy physical form.
Tuningforks emit pure sounds that are represented as pure sine waves, without anyharmonics. They can be used in a great variety of ways.
To activatea tuning fork, one holds the single stem, and strikes the fork on a block ofhard rubber or wood covered in leather or fabric. Make sure the surface cannotscratch the fork. Strike in such a way that only one of the two prongs touchesthe striking block, that is, at 90º to the surface.
Firstlylet’s look at how the forks can be used on the physical body. The stem of theactivated fork can be placed on the bones and articulations to restore movementand flexibility, and aid the development of connective tissue. They stimulatethe flow of lymph and blood to the area of application thereby speeding up thehealing process, and promote deep relaxation and the elimination of built upstress and toxins from the joints.
For thosewho have a working knowledge of the meridians, or using a clear and simplechart, the forks can serve as tools for vibratory acupressure. Using the “shu”points, which are the master points of each meridian, the Shiatsu points,reflexology points of the feet or spine, and other reflex points on the body, avibratory signal can be sent more strongly, rapidly and effectively with atuning fork than with traditional acupuncture needles.
Both FabienMaman (author of ‘Music and Sound in the 21st Century’), and HansCousto (author of “The Cosmic Octave”) support the use of forks directly on thebody, as do I. All the organs can be tuned in this way.
Given ourvibratory nature and that of the forks, it is fast and effective throughsympathetic resonance to bring each meridian and its corresponding organ/s backinto harmony.
Placing theactivated fork near the ears (no closer than 5cms) helps also to balance andregulate the metabolism of all the organs, which have a direct link to theauditory nerve. This also has a powerful regulatory effect on the entirenervous system, creating deep relaxation or stimulation, depending on which forksare used.
We can alsouse the forks very effectively in the bio-energetic fields around the body,known also as the subtle energy bodies or aura. As is the case with thephysical organs, sets of tuning forks have been created specifically for the 7major chakras. Chakras are spinning vortices of energy that correspond with andare located in the area of the major glands. They are visible to some people,and can be detected with modern equipment. The vibrating forks can be held ormoved in a circular way around each chakra. Be aware that the chakras extendout from the body both in front of and behind each one of us. The subtle bodiesare divided into layers, the first three of which most concern us at thepresent time of our evolution. In order of closeness to the body they are theetheric, the emotional or astral, and the mental energy layers. Tuning forkscan be used to entrain the chakra or energy layer in which the fork isvibrating, thus harmonizing, balancing and assisting in the release of stuckenergy which may have accumulated in the area.
Two tuningforks can be used simultaneously or consecutively to apply specific musicalintervals the zone in question. Each musical interval (an interval is the namegiven to the distance and relationship between any two musical notes e.g. the 5th,the 6th, the 3rd and so on) affects the emotional, mentaland physical body in a different way. Some intervals have a calming,tranquilizing effect and others a stimulating or activating effect. Yet otherscreate tension, release or other reactions. There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’intervals, they all have an effect which can be used in Sound Therapy dependingon the desired result.
FabienMaman and John Beaulieu (author of ‘Sound and Music in the Healing Arts’) haveeach developed their own system for using forks in this way, as have MichêleAverard (my wife and partner in Sound) and I.
JohnBeaulieu has actually pioneered the therapeutic applications of some of themost commonly used forks. These include the Otto forks and the Solar HarmonicSpectrum. The Otto Forks are octaves of the note ‘C’, and the three forks areC: 32Hz, 64Hz, and 128Hz (Hz stands for Hertz after the discoverer, and meanscycles per second). The Solar Harmonic Spectrum is a set of 8 forks reflectingthe natural octave, and also known as “Pythagorean Tuning”: Do, re, mi, fa,sol, la, ti, do. It was Pythagoras who discovered the Harmonic Series orOvertone Series, and this scale forms the basis of the original 8-note octaveused in Solfège. In the Anglo Saxon countries this is represented by theletters C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. This set is ideal for applying the differentmusical intervals directly to the body, made more effective when the forks areweighted at the ends, or in the subtle bodies, for which weighted forks are notnecessary. With these 8 forks it’s possible to create all the major intervals,the 2nd DO:RE, 3rd DO:MI, 4th DO:FA, 5th DO:SOL,and so on.
The Swissmathematician and Sound Therapist Hans Cousto presents in his book a wholesystem of planetary forks for healing. He calculated the solar year of eachplanet, that is, the time it takes to circle once around the sun, and convertedthe resulting figure into an audible tone. The most well-known and commonlyused of these forks is the “OM” fork, or Earth Year Tone fork. This is awonderful tone close to C# (C-sharp) that can be used for just abouteverything. Because we live on an enormous vibrating body, the Earth, it isobvious, given the laws of sympathetic resonance, that we are vibrating in harmonywith the Earth’s major cycles. The Solar year is the most vital of thesecycles. Of course, when we become ill, our vibration becomes distorted or‘dissonant’, and loses harmony with this cycle. The OM fork works to returnthis harmonious vibration to our entire system, physical, mental, emotional andspiritual. It can be used first near the ears, so the sound travels through thebody and brain from the auditory nerve. It can then be used in the subtleenergy bodies, and finally on the bones and meridians of the physical body. Aswith all the forks, it is most effective if one hums the tone of the fork withone’s own voice. This increases the power of the treatment substantially.
Tuningforks create a bridge between Sound and structure. They are material orphysical in nature, yet vibrate strongly enough to transmit that vibration.They also vibrate, as does the human body, according to specific harmonicproportions which reflect the geometry of their structure. The phenomenon ofsympathetic resonance is reinforced by their use on or around the body. Fromatom to molecule, to cells and DNA, the body is constructed from geometricshapes that fit together to form the whole. The tuning forks, by closelymatching some of the most vital of these natural ratios, is able to “entrain”the body’s vibration and return it to its “optimum”, healthy vibration. Theyare wonderful, useful tools for use in Sound healing, and we suggest that theybe used in conjunction with other instruments such as singing bowls and moreimportantly the voice and vocal harmonics (overtone chant).
Eachinstrument has a different effect on the human system, so it’s good to keepthings simple at first. If you already have or wish to acquire a fork or set offorks, have fun and enjoy experimenting with them on yourself before tryingthem on anyone else. For those who are sensitive to sound and vibration, thesensations evoked and created by the forks can be very strong. As with alltherapeutic tools, it is wise to go slowly, taking note of any changes orimprovement in one’s condition.
It isimportant to remember that the tuning forks are tools, and all tools can beused in many ways that may be completely original. We always encourage studentsto follow their intuition and their own inner ‘knowing’ when using the forks,and never to limit themselves to someone else’s system or structure. As anintroduction to the healing power of Sound, the forks are practical andenjoyable to use. They can assist one to develop the confidence to try other soundtools such as the voice.
