Technical Bulletin
The following information is being presented in an effort to provide reliable information regarding the production and analysis of our subliminal tapes.
1. The 100,000 affirmation controversy
Many people have asked about our claims regarding the number of affirmations on the SCWL tapes. Often these questions have arisen in the course of reading some other subliminal tape company’s literature which suggests that it is not possible to get this number of affirmations on tape.
The true fact of the matter is that there is virtually no limitation on the number of affirmations that can be put on a tape, and certainly 100,000 is not the upper limit. Any sound engineer with good equipment and a multi-channel mixing board can easily attest to this fact. The controversy was apparently brought about by individuals unfamiliar with recording technology who incorrectly assumed that a speeded, single voice track was being used in the production of our tapes. Since this is not how our tapes are mastered, this criticism does not apply to any “Midwest Research of Michigan” products.
Another criticism has implied that we at “Midwest Research of Michigan” are unaware of bandwidth restrictions on magnetic tape media that limit the number of recordable affirmations. This issue is related to the frequency changes in voice messages that occur when the voice is speeded up. Everyone has probably played a 33% record at 45 rpm, and knows how this changes the voice sound into a so-called “chipmunk.” From a purely sound-engineering point of view, this “chipmunk” sound will take up more space, in terms of band- width, on a recording tape than would a normal speed voice. There is in fact a linear mathematical relationship between speeding and bandwidth. This means that if a normal voice requires a 2000 Hz. bandwidth, that same voice, speeded 2X would require a 4000 Hz. bandwidth, or essentially twice as much room. Be assured that we at “Midwest Research of Michigan” are well schooled and very familiar with these sorts of considerations, and that none of our products break any of the rules of good engineering practice. Moreover, we do not make “chipmunk” tapes! It is perhaps worth noting that those issues that others in the industry consider “problems”, we at “Midwest Research of Michigan” have long since overcome. However, it is precisely for this reason that “Midwest Research of Michigan” continues to be at the leading edge of subliminal research and development technologies. The consumer can rest assured that “Midwest Research of Michigan” can do exactly what it claims with respect to number of affirmations, and that our products are state-of-the-art in recording technology.
2. The “Blank Tape” controversy
We have recently come across articles and television programs in which alleged “experts” suggest that subliminal tapes are a hoax since they were unable to demonstrate the presence of subliminal messages with their analyses. These claims were supported by what was claimed to be “scientific evidence.” The evidence that was presented in one case was a simple oscilloscope reading, while in another it was a sonogram. Because both of these appear to be high technology type of investigations, they are unfortunately believed by consumers unfamiliar with these devices and their limitations.
To set the record straight, we have prepared the graphs on the following pages. These graphs represent speech (the statement; “Learning is effortless and easy”) and the sound of surf. All graphs were created from actual computer digitized sound. This technique allows us to sample the sound at a rate sufficient to provide us with a high resolution “snapshot” of what the waveforms of these sounds look like.
The purpose of the graphs is to clearly demonstrate the impossibility of using an oscilloscope or a sonogram to determine whether or not messages are contained in a subliminal tape. It simply can’t be done! In Fig. 1, we see a segment of the digitized waveform from the statement, “Learning is effortless and easy.” In Fig. 2, we have digitized the surf sound common to all “Midwest Research of Michigan” subliminal tapes. You will note that there is a substantial difference between Figures 1 and 2. More interesting is the graph of Fig. 3, in which we have a graph of a computer generated “sound mix” which combines the voice from Fig. 1 with the surf from Fig. 2.
Essentially, Fig. 3 is a waveform representation of a subliminal tape. It should be quite apparent that this graph is visually undistinguishable from Fig. 2, and yet we know it contains the voice message described above. In Fig. 4, we electronically remove the sound of surf, once again to demonstrate the presence of a voice track.
The point of this exercise is to illustrate that there is little difference between Fig. 2, the sound of surf. and Fig. 3, the sound of surf with an embedded subliminal. It is apparent that some investigators are looking at a mixed sound like Fig. 3, and mistakenly identifying only the masking sound.
Since the equipment required to do reliable sound analysis requires both equipment far more sophisticated than either an oscilloscope or a sonograph, as well as some highly specialized mathematical techniques, neither of which have been used in any of the studies purporting that subliminal’s are a hoax, we find all claims of this nature to be lacking legitimate scientific support.
In actual fact, with the right equipment the retrieval of evidence for the existence of subliminal information embedded in a masking sound such as surf, is not a difficult task. We are of the firm opinion that claims to the contrary are due to an inadequate comprehension of the analytical techniques necessary for this type of an investigation. Again, it is our hope that by presenting this information in an open fashion, the subliminal consumer will continue to have confidence not only in their personal experience with “Midwest Research of Michigan” tapes, but also have that same confidence in the technical expertise that goes into every product we make. At “Midwest Research of Michigan”, your success is our primary goal, a goal to which we devote our fullest effort.
Figs. 1-4: Digitized waveform representations of speech statement (“Learning is easy and effortless'(, and broad-band masking sound (surf).
