Although the recordings of binaural beats has only been feasible from advancements in technology, the power of binaural beats has been known throughout the centuries. Age-old civilizations have been aware of the power and benefits of binaural beats decades before science has caught up with them.

Obviously these cultures throughout the years did not call them binaural beats or even knew what they were. All they knew was that steady rhythmic noise created extremely powerful healing and spiritual effects. Scientist Melinda Maxfield, PhD, conducted studies on the drum beats played in the rituals of these different civilizations and discovered that they beat at a consistent rate of 4.5 beats per second. This steady rhythm causes a trance-like state to its listeners. This is created by the brain shifting into a 4.5-beats-per-second brainwave state, which is a low Theta brainwave frequency.

In almost every culture throughout history, binaural beats have been an important part of the healing and spiritual development of man. With the use of consistent beats and chanting, the Tibetan monks, Native American shamans, Hindu healers, and mastered Yogis have been able to cause ranges of brainwave states for transcending consciousness, healing and spiritual growth.

It wasn't until the mid 1800s, when Heinrich Wilhelm Dove found binaural beats, that science had eventually caught up. And though scientific research still continued, binaural beats stayed a sort of mystery for the next century. In 1973, Gerald Oster assembled the scattered binaural beat research since Dove and wrote "Auditory Beats in the Brain". In his research paper, Oster offered extraordinary fresh insight and new laboratory discoveries to research on binaural beats.

Oster saw binaural beats as an extraordinary tool for cognitive and neurological research. He believed binaural beats could answer questions like how animals were able to locate sounds in their three-dimensional world and the remarkable ability of animals to focus on specific sounds with lots of other noises around them. Oster also thought binaural beats were a tremendous tool for assessing medical problems. Not only auditory problems but also for more general neurological conditions.

Consciousness and binaural beats were first researched by Robert Monroe who tried to mimic a subjective impression of 4Hz oscillation that they associated with astral projection, also known as OBE. On the evidence of his discoveries, Monroe created the binaural beat personal growth industry by creating The Monroe Institute, which is now a non-profit binaural beat study and education organization.

From this time, binaural beats have been greatly researched and scientists know a tremendous amount about our brainwave frequencies and how they are influenced by binaural beats. With this new research and technology, we have been able to create the powerful binaural beats that are known today.