I'm glad you mentioned the cultural/historical influences (pianist-composer and psychologist here). Over several decades, I''ve looked at the research on influences of music on the body and brain, and by and large, no one kind of music has been found to be definitively powerful.

As far as brain waves, although gamma waves may be associated with anxiety and/or problem solving, in advanced meditators, it is often associated with a profound state of inner silence and a sense of oneness with everything.

That's pretty advanced stuff, but there are some interesting experiments everyone can do quite easily. When you first lie down to sleep, as your body relaxes and mind gets somewhat quiet, your brain waves shift into alpha. This is Stage 1 sleep, and a significant number of people think they have insomnia because they think "sleep" means they're completely unconscious. In fact, thoughts occur in Stage 1, but they're just calmer and quieter. If you can learn to recognize the slight shift in consciousness from first lying down to shifting into Stage 1 sleep, the fun then really starts.

if you stay aware but deeply relaxed, you'll notice at some point your thoughts begin to get more disconnected and dream like. If you're very aware (but still relaxed!) you'll notice vivid dream images starting to form. You may start by noticing a play of abstract lights just behind your eye lids, sometimes turning into interesting geometric patterns. If you stay with it, you can actually watch a three dimensional dream starting to form.

The coolest thing about this to me is that EVERYONE experiences this - every human being who has ever lived goes through these stages when going to sleep. But most fall into unconsciousness before seeing this process. You can actually learn to stay with it and GO DIRECTLY INTO A DREAM AND REMAIN CONSCIOUS. This goes beyond fun into some TRULY wild stuff!

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