The Oster Curve was defined by Gerald Oster – one of the modern day pioneers of research into the effects of binaural beats. In his well known publication “Auditory Beats in the Brain” (Scientific American, 1973) he identified that the effectiveness of binaural beats can be optimized by presenting them to the listener at specific pitches.

For example, if one is trying to use binaural beats to entrain the brain to a frequency of 2 Hertz, the most effective pitches (or “carrier frequencies”) to achieve this are 100 Hertz or 1090 Hertz.

The Oster Curve is a graph that demonstrates the relationship between binaural beats and their optimal carrier frequencies. It is a great reference tool for anyone who wishes to maximize the effectiveness of binaural beats for brainwave entrainment.

It’s worth mentioning that binaural beats that do not conform to the Oster Curve still give rise to the frequency following effect, and are still effective. In point of fact, most of our own royalty free binaural music uses binaural beats that do not conform to the Oster Curve. The Oster Curve is simply a tool for those who wish to explore “best practice” principles with regards to their use of binaural beats.

Here is The Oster Curve:

 

Optimal Carrier Frequency (Hz) Binaural Beat Frequency (Hz)
10 0.235
20 0.444
30 0.615
40 0.768
50 0.964
60 1.210
70 1.451
80 1.659
90 1.856
100 2.054
110 2.265
120 2.581
130 2.903
140 3.266
150 3.669
160 4.073
170 4.596
180 5.104
190 5.835
200 6.821
210 7.660
220 8.599
230 9.551
240 10.604
250 12.037
260 13.935
270 15.396
280 17.023
290 18.571
300 19.453
310 20.815
320 21.767
330 22.410
340 23.248
350 23.843
360 24.459
370 24.813
380 25.140
390 25.604
400 25.771
410 26.026
420 26.103
430 26.185
440 26.232
450 26.249
460 26.250
470 26.108
480 25.775
490 25.566
500 25.410
510 25.083
520 24.688
530 24.257
540 23.836
550 23.393
560 22.993
570 22.387
580 21.466
590 20.535
600 19.513
610 18.116
620 17.206
630 16.295
640 15.479
650 14.836
660 14.087
670 13.155
680 12.580
690 11.896
700 11.210
710 10.610
720 10.029
730 9.492
740 8.722
750 8.364
760 8.059
770 7.703
780 7.318
790 7.002
800 6.661
810 6.356
820 6.116
830 5.881
840 5.642
850 5.440
860 5.280
870 5.138
880 4.846
890 4.703
900 4.565
910 4.396
920 4.203
930 4.053
940 3.894
950 3.744
960 3.623
970 3.514
980 3.391
990 3.274
1000 3.161
1010 3.015
1020 2.855
1030 2.697
1040 2.576
1050 2.460
1060 2.347
1070 2.236
1080 2.124
1090 2.011
1100 1.896
1110 1.775
1120 1.644
1130 1.523
1140 1.428
1150 1.354
1160 1.283
1170 1.199
1180 1.109
1190 1.021
1200 0.974
1210 0.968
1220 0.924
1230 0.850
1240 0.762
1250 0.666
1260 0.575
1270 0.555
1280 0.562
1290 0.536
1300 0.498
1310 0.453
1320 0.406
1330 0.372
1340 0.370