The Integratron, built by aeronautical engineer George Van Tassel in the 1950s, is a sound chamber precisely tuned to promote relaxation and rejuvenation.
In a domed building in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert, visitors can experience an entirely new type of surround sound.
The Integratron, with its 50ft diameter and 38ft-high dome, was built by aeronautical engineer George Van Tassel in the 1950s to be a sound chamber tuned precisely to the frequencies needed to rejuvenate human cells.
Employing ideas from scientists like Nikola Tesla (best known for his contributions toward modernising the use of alternating current), Van Tassel’s structure creates an ionized environment that is believed to raise the cells’ metabolic and reproductive rate and “reset” the positive and negative charges within individual cells, ultimately providing the body with more energy and vitality.
To fully experience the effects of the all-wood building, located about 45 miles north of Palm Springs, California, the Integratron offers “Sound Baths” within its acoustically-powerful domed interior. During the 60-minute sessions, a musician plays a series of nine quartz crystal singing bowls (played by running a special mallet around the exterior of each bowl), each attuned to the human body’s various chakras or energy centres to promote relaxation and rejuvenation. Many visitors fall asleep due to the soothing sounds, others report feeling a connection to the divine and one reviewer described feeling “fireworks in my brain”.
The music plays for 25 minutes, and for the remaining 35 minutes visitors relax on cushioned mats. Private sessions are available from $30 to $80 per person depending on group size, and a “no reservations” session is also held most Saturdays and Sundays at noon for $15. The sound chamber holds 45 people, and the public sessions are open on a first-come, first-served basis. Those who want to skip the sound baths can take a self-guided tour following the public sessions for $5.