At the Swiss Institute for Sound Medicine And Neuroacoustics, we define sound medicine - as well as sound therapy, sound healing, and sound meditation - as practices that refer to the use of sound and music as a tool for improving health and well-being. However, these terms can have different meanings and connotations, and may include different tools or approaches.

Sound medicine as an overarching term refers to the use of sound as a means of improving health and well-being. This can include a variety of practices, such as medical frequency therapy, functional frequencies, soundscapes, sound baths, vocal toning, and the use of musical instruments, and can be used in conjunction with technology or holistic or complementary therapies. Sound Medicine is offered by a medically or scientifically trained and musically experienced therapist. Evidence-based approaches are the basic prerequisite for medical applications. In the open market, many practices are disseminated and advertised without sufficient or actual scientific validation. To support lean and peer-supported standardization in the practice of sound as medicine, we validate and develop evidence-based protocols with partners from the medical and scientific fields.

Sound therapy has a more specific focus on the use of sound as a therapeutic tool - comparable to music therapy, which is a recognized healthcare profession. This can include practices such as musical interventions in a structured, evidence-based manner to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals.

Sound healing as a term refers to spiritual rituals that use sound and music as a tool for promoting physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. This can include a variety of practices, such as sound baths, vocal toning, and the use of musical instruments, and may involve the use of frequencies or vibrations based on anecdotal evidence to promote healing.

Sound meditation refers to a practice that involves using sound and music as a focus for meditation and mindfulness. This practice is also based on a wealth of scientific evidence. It can include listening to music or other sounds, participating in sound baths or other sound healing practices, or using specific sounds or musical instruments as a meditation aid - keeping a clear focus on mindful structure and meditative framework. 

Overall, while these terms may overlap in their use of sound and music in health and wellbeing, they refer to slightly different approaches and intended outcomes.

Music and sound have been used at all times and in all cultures for mental and physical relaxation. Sound rituals can induce changes in brainwave activity, trance states, physical/cellular effects and their physiological cascades. I refer to my work with music, sound and vibrations as "sound medicine" or "sonic medicine". It is also a work with sensory perception - motion, vibration, sounds. In addition to music therapy, my personal interest also led me to study Asian medical systems for many years. In doing so, I came across meditation practices that use instruments and have great benefits for our "stress system". It's not just about calming down, but also about regenerating the nervous system. I work with meditation, vibration, self-awareness, neurogenic phenomena - primarily for mental health and prevention. During my years in Asia, I have become more familiar with numerous specific tools and methods used there. For example, centuries-old music traditions in Southeast Asia in connection with meditation. From my own practice I have gathered evidence that with the appropriate method, one quickly enters deeply relaxing states without any prior experience of meditation. It is believed that the vibrations of the instruments help the body to relax deeply. We leave the fight and flight mode. Space is created for new insights, thought processes and changes in behavior. Medicine and music also complement each other in music therapy in many other ways, for example in neonatology, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's therapy. Music also has a lasting effect on healthy people: it has been proven that certain areas of the brain are more developed in long-term musicians - for example the corpus callosum, the bar that connects the two hemispheres of the brain, as well as certain areas of the brain that are relevant for auditory and sensory processing. So there is still a lot to be explored.