ClearBrain ClearBrain

Software Guide

How to run a session, and what everything on the screen does.

Edition 1.0 Covers ClearBrain 1.0, Basic and Pro Issued by BLS Performance, LLC

Starting a session

Four screens, in the same order every time. Everything in this guide is in both tiers unless it carries a Pro marker.

  1. Who is training Pick a name.
  2. Template Pick a state to practice.
  3. Placement Sensor in, ear clip on.
  4. Connect Find the amplifier.
  5. Start Train, then Save & Exit.

1 · Who is training

The ClearBrain opening screen, headed Who is training, with a user drop-down, New User, Continue with Current Settings, Choose Settings Template, Review Past Sessions, Manage Users and License.
Each person trains under their own name. Sessions, settings and history all follow the name, so two people sharing a computer never mix. Continue with Current Settings skips the template screen and reuses what you trained with last. Your license and its expiry date sit at the bottom.

2 · Choose a Starting Template

The same screen in Basic, showing three cards: Relax, Clear and Sharp.
Basic · three templates. Relax, Clear and Sharp. Clear is the system default and the one to start from if you are not sure.
The template screen in Pro, showing five cards: Unwind, Relax, Clear, Sharp and Ready, along a most relaxed to most alert scale.
Pro · five templates. Unwind and Ready sit at the two ends, and a template you saved yourself can be loaded from a file.

The scale runs most relaxed on the left to most alert on the right. Neither end is better than the other. Each card names the site it trains, the reference ear, and which rhythms it rewards or holds down.

3 · Placement of Sensor

The Placement of Sensor screen: a head map with the site Cz highlighted and the reference A2 at the right ear, beside two photographs of the cap showing the gold sensor sitting inside and the magnet holding it from outside.
The head map shows where on your head the sensor and ear clip go; the photographs show how the sensor and the magnet should be positioned on the cap. The sensor sits inside and is held onto the cap by the magnet on the outside. The site and reference are recorded with the session data. This allows you to compare like-for-like sessions.

4 · Connect Device

The Connect Device screen: Not connected, a Connect Device button, a Use Simulation button, and Back and Continue.
Power the amplifier on, make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your computer, then press Connect Device. You do not need to pair the amplifier with your PC yourself — ClearBrain finds it and connects to it. Searching takes a few seconds and retries three times. You can continue without a device and connect later from the top left of the Control Panel.
Simulation

Use Simulation plays a real recording through the whole app, so every screen behaves exactly as it does in a session. It is the way to learn the software without wearing the cap. Anything it records is marked simulated and is never mixed into your own history.

The Control Panel

The one screen you train from.

The ClearBrain Control Panel in Pro: user, connected device and battery top left, Menu top right, three rhythm bars with threshold lines and a Total Reward percentage, and a right-hand rail with Pause, Save and Exit, Feedback Options, Easier, Harder, Reset Difficulty and Help.
One bar per rhythm you are training. Every marked part is named below.
1UserWho this session will be saved under.
2ConnectionThe amplifier's state, and the name of the device it has found. Click this line to reopen Connect Device.
3BatteryThe amplifier’s charge, updated while you train. Below 10% the symbol and the figure turn red. The row is not drawn at all when there is nothing to report — in Simulation, or before a device is connected.
4☰ MenuHides and shows the Menu buttons on the right.
5ScaleHow the bars are scaled. Auto (Relative) fits them to your own readings; Fixed µV, shown here, holds them to a set ceiling so one session looks like the next. Click the chip to switch between the two, and use the − and + beside it to change the ceiling.
6Total RewardThe total percentage of time you are meeting all training protocol criteria.
7Amplitude nowHow high (amplitude) each bandwidth rhythm is, in microvolts (µV), and the percentage of time this rhythm is above its given threshold — measured over the last ten seconds or so, not the whole session.
8ThresholdThe white line and its number — the target for each rhythm to be either above (reward) or below (inhibit). This is the “measuring stick” to determine if you are “meeting” or “missing” your training protocol. Basic utilizes Auto-thresholding only, meaning that the threshold automatically adjusts to your own brain’s averages — making the training “just hard enough” without being too hard. Pro users can switch the thresholds to a fixed position and manually increase or decrease the threshold to meet more specific training goals. A manual threshold also draws in magenta rather than white, so you can tell the two apart at a glance.
9The barThe amplitude (how much) indicator for each bandwidth rhythm in your training protocol. Each bandwidth has its own color (Pro users can change the colors of each bandwidth), and the bar turns RED when it is missing the protocol threshold — too high for inhibits, too low for rewards.
10Bandwidth nameClick the name or the bar to switch that rhythm between its bandwidth name and its plain-language meaning — LoBeta/SMR becomes Calm/Present, which is what this picture is showing. Underneath it, (reward, auto) or (inhibit, auto) indicates whether the protocol calls for raising (reward) or lowering (inhibit) the rhythm, and whether the thresholds automatically adjust to your own rolling baseline (auto) or fixed (manual, only available in Pro). Basic opens on the meanings, Pro on the bandwidth names; either can be switched.
11StateHI, OK or LO — where this rhythm sits against its threshold.
12Start / PauseBegins the session, and pauses it.
13Save & ExitEnds the session and files it under your name.
14Feedback OptionsWhat you see and hear while you train.
15DifficultyAdjusts the thresholds to make the training easier, harder, or reset to the system defaults. Easier waits two minutes before it can be pressed again, and counts that down on the button — see below. This encourages users to “sit with it” for a bit before immediately making the feedback easier and easier.
16HelpAdvice on the “Signal” alert and other troubleshooting. There is also a link to the ClearBrain support page.
17Additional OptionsProtocol, displays and advanced settings. Pro
The Control Panel in Basic: the same bars and the same right-hand Menu buttons, with no Additional Options strip and an Upgrade to Pro button at the bottom of the rail.
Basic is the same screen, with two differences. The bars open on the plain-language meanings rather than the bandwidth names, and there is no Additional Options strip along the bottom.

The Menu Buttons

  • Start begins the session; it becomes Pause while you train.
  • Save & Exit ends the session and files it under your name.
  • Feedback Options opens what you see and hear — the next section.
  • Easier and Harder move the threshold. If you are missing it most of the time, press Easier; if you are meeting it constantly, press Harder. Reset Difficulty puts it back.
A dialog headed Making it easier, reading that the baseline will reset with easier threshold settings and to try the new settings for two minutes. Beside it the Control Panel, where the Easier button is greyed out and showing a countdown reading 1:53.
Easier explains itself, then stands down. Look at the Easier button while the message is up: it is greyed out and counting down — 1:53 here. That is how long is left of the two minutes, not a timer until anything happens on its own. When it reaches zero the button turns back into Easier and can be pressed again. Harder has no wait and no countdown.

Feedback

What changes based on your brainwaves. Select the type of feedback — visual, audio, both, or none.

The Feedback window from a live session: a Visual Feedback section with Fullscreen Overlay, Windowed Overlay, a display chooser and a click-through tick box, and an Audio Feedback section with ClearBrain's Sound and Hook Another App, both off.
Two kinds of feedback, and they can work together if you want. Visual is an overlay that dims your computer screen when your brainwaves are outside the training protocol, or clears when they are meeting the protocol. ClearBrain opens with the Fullscreen Overlay option, which dims and clears your whole screen. Switch it to Windowed Overlay for a resizable dimming option to put over another program, or positioned in a corner as a continuous, non-invasive indicator of your training. Audio feedback produces or changes sounds on your computer. It can even modulate the audio of another program — like a streaming video.

The overlay, meeting and missing

A game playing at full brightness behind the overlay control bar, with the ClearBrain panel at the lower left.
Meeting the protocol. The screen is clear.
The same screen moments later, dimmed, with the bars on the ClearBrain panel showing two rhythms off target.
Missing it. The same screen dims until you are back. Nothing is covered up and nothing stops.
The overlay opens by itself

A session starts with the fullscreen overlay already on and click-through on, so you can keep using the computer underneath.

The Overlay Control

The Overlay Control bar: a drag grip of dots, the ClearBrain wave mark, a Pause button, a Click-Through: OFF button and a red Close (Esc) button.
The overlay comes with its own small control bar. It opens at the top of whichever screen the overlay is on, and it is always on top of any other program.
1GripDrag the bar anywhere you like. It stays where you put it for the rest of the session.
2Wave markHides the Control Panel, and brings it back out in front of the overlay.
3Start / PauseStarts and pauses the session without leaving the overlay. It also tells you where you are: it reads PAUSED while you are paused, and SIGNAL when ClearBrain has stopped on an unusable signal — press it then and Help opens.
4Click-ThroughWhether your clicks pass through the overlay to whatever is underneath it. Grey is off, green is on. This button only appears on the windowed overlay — the fullscreen overlay always has click-through on, so there is nothing to switch.
5✕ Close (Esc)Closes the overlay. The Esc key does the same. The session keeps running.
The Feedback window with Windowed Overlay switched on and reading Windowed overlay is ON, beside a small separate ClearBrain Overlay window on the desktop and the Overlay Control bar at the top.
Windowed Overlay instead. A small window you can resize and park anywhere — it dims and clears exactly as the fullscreen one does, without taking over the screen.
1The windowed overlayResize it and put it where you want it — over the program you are working in, or in a corner as a quiet, continuous indicator.
2Click-ThroughThe switch described at 4 above. It only appears now, because the overlay is windowed.

Sound

The Feedback window with ClearBrain's Sound expanded: an Off and On switch, and choosers for Sound, Response and Direction.
ClearBrain's own sound. Pick the sound, what it responds with, and which direction means you are doing well. Fine-tuning lives in Advanced Settings.
The Hook Another App panel: an Off and On switch, three numbered steps, a Reload button, an app chooser and an app volume range slider.
Or hook an app you already have playing. Open it, press Reload, pick it from the list.
The panel reading ON, softening firefox dot exe, with a green live level bar, beside a Netflix tab in a browser whose video frame is black.
Hooked. The panel reads which app it is softening and the green bar is the live level. The volume range sets how quiet it goes when you drift. Note, the browser playing Netflix in the picture above is black because Netflix prevents screenshots of streaming videos.

Pro unlocks all the options

Everything you need to create your own specialized training protocol.

The Additional Options strip expanded, showing three closed sections: PROTOCOL, DISPLAYS AND STATS, and ADVANCED SETTINGS.
Three sections, all closed until you want them. Protocol is which rhythms you train, the site and the reference. Displays and Stats shows you all the data in convenient and customizable ways. Advanced Settings lets you look and tinker under the hood.

Protocol

The PROTOCOL section open, showing three buttons: Sensor Placement, Training Protocol, and Bandwidths.
Three things inside.
Sensor Placement open: the head map with Cz and A2 marked, the site box, a reference choice of left or right ear, and a show cap outline tick box.
Sensor Placement. Move the sensor to any 10-20 site and say which ear the reference clips to. Recorded with the session.
Training Protocol open: a row per band with Inhibit and Reward buttons, a Mode set to Auto, and a control slider.
Training Protocol. One row per rhythm: inhibit or reward, auto or manual, and how hard.
The same table with Theta and LoBeta/SMR switched to Manual with fixed microvolt values, and the panel above showing their threshold lines in magenta.
Manual looks different on the bars. A manual threshold draws in magenta and the label underneath reads (inhibit, manual), so you can see at a glance which rhythms are pinned.
The Bandwidths editor: a table of bands with Name, Lo, Hi, Color, Train and Delete columns, and buttons to add a band, apply changes or reset to default.
Bandwidths. Rename a band, move its edges, pick its color, or add one of your own.

Displays and Stats

The DISPLAYS AND STATS section open, showing five buttons: Multi-Display, Average Amplitudes, Spectral Display, Rhythm Trace and Waveform.
Five displays. Each opens inside the panel, or in its own window.
The Multi-Display panel: tick boxes choosing which displays to show together, and an Open Multi-Display Window button.
Or several at once. Tick the ones you want and open them as one strip.
A wide Multi-Display window across the foot of the screen showing a rhythm table, cumulative averages, a live spectrum, a rhythm trace and per-band waveforms, with the Control Panel above it.
The Multi-Display, on a real session. Put it on a second screen and leave it there. Each display in the Multi-Display can be auto or fixed scaling, and expanded to show more or less of what you want to see. Right click any display for additional options.
Average Amplitudes open: a table of rhythms with current and cumulative columns, a Theta/Beta ratio row, and a bar chart.
Average Amplitudes. Now and so far, per rhythm, with Theta/Beta.
Rhythm Trace open: tick boxes per band, scale and window controls, and a line graph of three rhythms over the last thirty seconds.
Rhythm Trace. The last 30 seconds, rhythm by rhythm.
Waveform open: a scale slider, tick boxes for raw and each band, and stacked waveform traces for Theta, Full Alpha, LoBeta/SMR and HiBeta.
Waveform. The signal itself, raw or split into bands.

Advanced Settings

The ADVANCED SETTINGS section open, showing six buttons: Feedback Timing, Simulation, Display Theme, License, Display and Signal Tuning, and System Defaults and Templates.
Advanced settings for additional fine-tuning, or creating/loading an individual training protocol.

After the session

Save & Exit files the session and asks one question: Review Session Data, or not. Either answer takes you back to Who is training, where Review Past Sessions… reopens anything saved earlier.

The Session Saved dialog: the session file name, the question Would you like to review this session now, a line saying ClearBrain returns to the user screen either way, and Review Session Data and Close buttons.
Saved. The session is filed under the user, the date, the time and the site.
The Select Session window, headed Sessions for Ben Test: a scrolling list of rows, each with the name, date, time and duration, one row highlighted and marked SIM.
Review Past Sessions lists everything that person has trained, newest first. Simulated sessions are marked SIM.
The Review Session window for a session at Cz: top left, the training protocol this session against your average with Worse, Worse and Better verdicts over coloured bars; middle, the session average per band; right, the trend across sessions; underneath, rhythm trends over the whole session with a tick list of bands; and buttons for Replay Session and Export Results to PDF, with the name of the PDF just saved beside them.
Review is the session in four pictures. Top left, each rhythm in the current session's protocol, against your own average, with Better or Worse underneath. Middle, the session's own averages. Right, the same rhythms across your recent sessions. Underneath, how each one moved while you trained. Export Results to PDF gives you a copy to keep or send.
The Replay Session window: amplitude bars per rhythm, the average up to now, a live spectrum, three band waveforms with a tick list to choose them, tick boxes for Ignore Delta and Training-only, and a Play control with an elapsed time and a Time slider.
Replay plays the session back as it happened, with the displays live. Drag Time to jump.

The PDF

Page one of the session record: header figures for session length, time training, signal paused, sessions to date and both Theta/Beta ratios; this session against your average per rhythm with Worse, Worse and Better verdicts; the training protocol table with band, role, mode, threshold range, average, median and SD; and a minute by minute graph of the protocol rhythms with their thresholds drawn as dashed lines.
Page 1. The session at a glance, the protocol it trained, and minute by minute.
Page two of the session record: average amplitudes this session for all eight bands with your average marked on each bar and the difference in microvolts and percent, both Theta/Beta ratios against your average, and a session by session line graph of the protocol rhythms with this session circled.
Page 2. Every band against your own average, and the trend across sessions.
Like with like

Comparisons are kept to sessions trained at the same site, and simulated sessions are kept separate from real ones.

When it pauses

Training stops on its own when the signal cannot be read cleanly. That is the app protecting your numbers, not a fault.

The Control Panel during a signal alert, with SIGNAL in orange across the bars.
This is what it looks like. SIGNAL across the bars, and the session holds where it is until the signal is clean again.
The Help window: a Signal Alert section listing skin preparation, movement, blinking and jaw tension, an It's Pausing Too Often button, a Getting started section, and an Open Support button.
Help lists the four usual causes — skin preparation, movement, blinking, and jaw or face tension.
A dialog headed Training is pausing often, repeating the four causes and explaining that the button makes the app more tolerant without improving the signal.
It’s Pausing Too Often lets a noisier signal through so the session can carry on. It does not clean the signal up, and it never lets a bad frame set your thresholds — re-seating the sensor is still the real fix.
If it pauses constantly

Clean the site, use a skin-prep gel such as NuPrep, and re-seat the sensor so the gold comb is through the hair and on skin. Check the ear clip too — a loose reference looks exactly like a bad sensor. If it’s still not able to get a clean signal, restart ClearBrain and try again.

Basic and Pro

What the two tiers share, and what they do not.

 BasicPro
Training, with the live barsYesYes
Visual and audio feedbackYesYes
Easier / Harder difficultyYesYes
Review, Replay and PDF exportYesYes
SimulationYesYes
TemplatesRelax, Clear, SharpAdds Unwind and Ready, and allows you to create your own
People you can trainUp to 3No limit
Change the protocol, site or reference—Yes
Extra displays and stats—Yes
Pop-out windows and multi-display—Yes
Advanced settings and calibration—Yes

A Pro key unlocks the same installed copy — nothing to download again. Enter it under License… on the opening screen, or Upgrade to Pro on the Basic panel.

Support

Installing ClearBrain is covered in the Installation Guide; the amplifier, cable and cap are covered in the Hardware Manual.

clearbraintraining.com/support