We love music.

But not all music is designed to support focus, relaxation or sleep.

Our curation team uses the psychology of attention and musical expectation to curate all of our music.

We consider tempo, pitch, dynamics, harmonic structure, texture and genre to curate sessions that specifically support focus, relaxation and sleep.

From our music curation to production, everything Sollos does is grounded in the most up-to-date scientific research.

Sollos’ music and soundscapes are selected based on decades of secondary, peer-reviewed scientific literature on the cognitive impact of different acoustic and compositional properties of audio. We are developing a broad music library so we can bring the benefits of Sollos to as many genres, aesthetics, and people as possible.

Our patented algorithms combine auditory beats and colored noise ("sound supplements") with our audio content. This approach is informed by extensive research on the benefits of auditory beat stimulation and the different spectral properties of colored noise.

Building on the foundations of secondary literature, Dr. Tara Venkatesan (Sollos’ Director of Cognitive Science) also leads empirical studies on the impact of music and auditory phenomena on cognitive, physiological, and behavioural states. This ground-breaking research guides Sollos’ iterative approach to creating music and audio that promotes wellbeing.

Auditory beats are amplitude modulated tones, associated with changes in mood and cognition. [1, 2, 3]

We use a proprietary algorithm to seamlessly blend them with music.

For focus, listening to gamma auditory beats is linked to better cognitive performance [4] and creative thinking [5].

For relaxation, listening to theta auditory beats is linked to increased relaxation and decreased anxiety [1, 6].

For sleep, listening to delta auditory beats is linked to better sleep quality and longer deep sleep [7, 8, 9].

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References:

1. Chaieb, L., Wilpert, E. C., Hoppe, C., Axmacher, N., & Fell, J. (2017). The impact of monaural beat stimulation on anxiety and cognition. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00251

2. Shepherd, D., Hautus, M. J., Giang, E., & Landon, J. (2022). “The most relaxing song in the world”? A comparative study. Psychology of Music, 51(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356221081169

3. Le Scouarnec, R. P., Poirier, R. M., Owens, J. E., Gauthier, J., Taylor, A. G., & Foresman, P. A. (2001). Use of binaural beat tapes for treatment of anxiety: A pilot study of tape preference and outcomes. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 7(1), 58–63.

4. Sharpe, R. L. S., Mahmud, M., Kaiser, M. S., & Chen, J. (2020). Gamma entrainment frequency affects mood, memory and cognition: An exploratory pilot study. Brain Informatics, 7(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40708-020-00119-9

5. Colzato, L. S., Barone, H., Sellaro, R., & Hommel, B. (2017). More attentional focusing through binaural beats: Evidence from the global-local task. Psychological Research, 81(1), 271–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0727-0

6. McConnell, P. A., Froeliger, B., Garland, E. L., Ives, J. C., & Sforzo, G. A. (2014). Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: Listening to theta-frequency binaural beats post-exercise increases parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01248

7. Dabiri, R., Monazzam Esmaielpour, M. R., Salmani Nodoushan, M., khaneshenas, F., & Zakerian, S. A. (2022). The effect of auditory stimulation using delta binaural beat for a better sleep and post-sleep mood: A pilot study. DIGITAL HEALTH, 8, 205520762211022. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221102243

8. Jirakittayakorn, N., & Wongsawat, Y. (2018). A novel insight of effects of a 3-Hz binaural beat on sleep stages during sleep. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 387. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00387

9. Abeln, V., Kleinert, J., Strüder, H. K., & Schneider, S. (2014). Brainwave entrainment for better sleep and post-sleep state of young elite soccer players—A pilot study. European Journal of Sport Science, 14(5), 393–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2013.819384

The colour of noise refers to the power spectrum of a noise signal. Certain noise colours are linked to improved cognitive performance and sleep.

Sollos uses audio technology to boost the coloured noise profiles of nature soundscapes.

Listening to white noise masks other disturbing sounds and is linked to better cognitive performance [10, 11].

Listening to pink noise is linked to better and deeper sleep [12, 13].

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References:

10. Awada, M., Becerik-Gerber, B., Lucas, G., & Roll, S. (2022). Cognitive performance, creativity and stress levels of neurotypical young adults under different white noise levels. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18862-w

11. Daee, S., & Wilding, J. M. (1977). Effects of high intensity white noise on short-term memory for position in a list and sequence. British Journal of Psychology, 68(3), 335–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1977.tb01598.x

12. Zhou, J., Liu, D., Li, X., Ma, J., Zhang, J., & Fang, J. (2012). Pink noise: Effect on complexity synchronization of brain activity and sleep consolidation. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 306, 68–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.04.006

13. Schade, M. M., Mathew, G. M., Roberts, D. M., Gartenberg, D., & Buxton, O. (2020). Enhancing slow oscillations and increasing N3 sleep proportion with supervised, non-phase-locked pink noise and other non-standard auditory stimulation During NREM Sleep. Nature and Science of Sleep, Volume 12, 411–429. https://doi.org/10.2147/NSS.S243204

To get the most out of our music, we recommend listening using good quality headphones, especially if you’re in a noisy environment.

We also recommend listening to Sollos for at least 20 minutes, to give us time to work our magic.