The Whole Music Experience

photo credit Mitch Tobias  Global Didgeridoo: In Conversation with Stephen Kent Since we live in a world surrounded by traditional instruments, some hailing back thousands of years, some misunderstood exploited by dominate cultures such as with indigenous instruments--didgeridoo comes to mind, we must grow more conscious of our relationship to these instruments. I explored this concept in my (now between publishers) book Whole Music, in the chapter about indigenous music. Recently, I wanted to include an article on didgeridoo or interview with a player on Whole Music Experience.  Through synchronicity and me spacing out, I came across Stephen Kent, or I could say I became reacquainted with his musical contributions to world and other types of music because I reviewed his CD, Oil and Water many years ago.  Quite accomplished as a player, musicians from various genres and countries have invited Kent to collaborate with them leading to some fascinating music ...

The Beatles, Wikipedia, All You Need is Love If you practice metaphysics or consider yourself new age then you are familiar with the power of words.  Similar to music, words contain vibrations and those vibrations shape our perceptions of reality.  I have also noticed that when you listen to a particular song, you carry the vibration of that song in your body, not to mention the effects are amplified each time your brain repeats the melody and words of the song. Some people don't care about the "reality" they create and they also don't wish to take responsibility for what they create with their words, thoughts, emotions and perceptions.  I'm not addressing that crowd.  I prefer to address those of you who are on the road to mastership of co-creating and prefer to empower yourself with words, music, and sound vibrations.  Most of us may never reach mastership, but why not take the journey anyway and grow more conscious each day on the journey? As a musici...

Wikipedia As I mention in my book Whole Music , when I was a child I fell in love with timbre and the voices of the individual instruments we listened to in music class.  Each instrument conjured a specific emotions or feeling in me.  The French horn caused me to feel majestic and the cello invoked melancholy.  My moods would shift with each instrument that I heard and my moods would shift quickly. Today, I listen to more than timbre, but I have an understanding of how tone, frequencies of the tone and timbre (the color of the tone) affect me on all levels.  And I wonder what listening to an entire symphony does with its many voices, themes, keys, musical passages etc... In the concept of "whole music" I prefer not to separate musical components, but in the case of this post, I will present solo instruments for your listening and feeling pleasure. If you keep a music journal (and I hope that you do by now), write down the emotions that come up with each instr...

World   Dieter Iby Didgeridoo Street Music   Arc Music On visits to YouTube, I have encountered street musicians playing didgeridoo on street corners and sidewalks.   I can’t imagine encountering didgeridoo players on the streets where I reside, however, I can listen to Dieter Iby perform his world fusion on Didgeridoo Street Music .   The musician arranges didgeridoo with West African percussion instruments and he partners with kora player (West African harp) Stefan Charisius on Sim.Mah (Pisces) with spectacular otherworldly results.   Iby also pleases me with his song titles which feature signs of the Zodiac.   I’m not sure if the musician is familiar with astrological energies, but he certainly matches the right song to the right sign. For instance, the opener, Gu.an.na (Taurus) feels sensual and grounding to me similar to the sign Taurus and the track I already mentioned for Pisces also feels right on.   The second track, n...

Charlie McMahon & Gondwana Didj Heart Arc Music Since Charlie McMahon, mostly known as a didgeridoo player from Australia, granted me a short interview for my upcoming book Whole Music , I’m reviewing his calm recording, Didj Heart .   What I didn’t know about McMahon when Arc Music first referred me to him was that he also works as a music therapist, especially playing didj music for people suffering from autism.   In fact, Didj Heart culminates McMahon’s role as a support worker for ASPECT, a non-government agency that specializes in helping people with autism.   McMahon and keyboardist, Pasko Schravemade, also a NGO support worker, discovered how music helps autistic people with communication. While I wouldn’t lump Didj Heart into new age music, it shares qualities in common.   Besides offering music therapy for people with autism, I recommend massage therapists picking up this CD for their clients.   The music itself sounds unus...

Dream Time The Didgeridoo of the Australian Aborigines Arc Music (2010) Want to get your root and sacral chakras open?   Listen to didgeridoo, a percussive-wind instrument made from eucalyptus trees hollowed out by termites.   More than likely, if you listen to global indigenous, new age, or world music, you have come across didgeridoos.   The players mastered circular breathing as they blow into the tubular instrument, often decorated with Australian Aborigines symbols (Dream Time).   Face it, this is an instrument with indigenous mysticism attached to it, but it is an almost rare occasion that you hear Aborigines music played on the didgeridoo in context and by performed by Aborigines musicians.   Dream Time opens a window to music of the Australian bush.   And listeners also get exposed to traditional vocals, percussion, and dance rhythms. So what does this music sound like?   The stickman-vocalist pounds out quick rhythms on ...