Sensory deprivation - advice requested

This weekend, my friend and I are planning on giving sensory deprivation another go. We enjoyed it the first time, but the problem for me is that the deafness part is proving difficult to pull off. I wore foam earplugs last time, but these didn't cut the noise out altogether.

So instead I was thinking of trying earphones plugged into a stereo playing music loud enough to completely block out all other sounds. I don't actually have earphones, and though it wil be easy enough to get some, I want to know if there's anything we can do to create proper deafness/silence. I know you can get hoods which can do this, but we don't have that sort of cash right now.

So, can anyone think of anything we can do to pull this off, while spending little, if any, money to achieve it?

Thanks in advance

Foam ear plugs PLUS headsets that block noise like they use on construction sites or at a gun range. You should be able to pick a set up at wal-mart or another mega chain with a decent sporting goods section.

FYI, stage crews wear them too, especially at rock concerts...

Well, we tried giving it another go with just the foam earplugs, but again it didn't work

I will try finding some ear protectors though, found a pair as part of a set of other safety stuff for 20€, so it'll probably be shit, but still worth a try I guess. Next time we get round to it, we're going to try with really loud music through earphones, and see if that helps

OLP, sorry it took me so long to get this up there for you. As opposed to loud music, i suggest this alternative... Brain Wave Audio Manipulation. Its a series of frequency specific Audio tones (white Noise) designed to bring about certain effects, masked out by studying brainwave patterns in different situations. They are used alot in self hypnosis, pain relief, astral projection, subliminal messaging, meditation, etc...

My point is, with a decent set of headphones, like earkandy or a good gaming headset, you can really benefit from some of the settings and therir are always new ones for download.

I suggest the transic ones for subspace... helps put you in that trance like state we all love, while blocking out the rest of the world. I have a pretty intense list of audio file on my system here, but there's a pretty good program found here.

http://www.bwgen.com/index.htm

Good luck, hope this helps.

That;s really cool

do would active noise cancelling headphones be the thing to use??

m

A subtle point to remember when attempting sensory deprivation within a scene is the ability for our minds and bodies to compensate for changes to the normal flow of sensations. When we limit input through one venue another becomes accentuated. I have been partially deaf all my life and my sense of touch has always been extremely keen. That said,I also am very aware of the inter-relation of senses. While most of us know that smell and taste overlap, the sense of hearing also overlaps the sense of touch. I can sometimes know what my children are doing in the kitchen simply by the vibrations of the bedsprings as I lay in my bed on the second floor of my house. Be aware that we don't always have the ability to differentiate the source of sensation. You may simply be "feeling" sound while wearing earplugs. Lady Di's toy, Ork

Wax earplugs are very effective and I use these in conjuction with a gasmask when I engage in SD with my patients. The gasmask allows for control of the breathing and with blindfold over the mask the apprehension can be awesome.

Here is a neat little trick i use, ear buds with the sound of waves hitting the beach, the decible level may be high but not damaging to the hearing because it is a very low frequency, at least i hope so.....you may also try bose sounnd damping headests

Thanks Amolano,

Karma to you for the link, great download. Very interesting applications.

I am planning on some sensory deprivation sessions in the next week and will try find a way to use this.

I once had a medical latex session with catheter insertion while listening to Enigma through headphones in a sensory deprivation hood, it was mind blowing, would love to try with some good trance music, we listen to heavier trance when playing at home, but not on headphones.

Take care

Happy