Thursday, May 26, 2011

monsoon point


i use music to reflect, adjust, or sometimes even define the space i am in.
because the work i do demands and even functions best when accompanied by
a high level of creative tension which teeters into stress,
i balance my being in the space of my home
with a form of music loosely described as ambient.

filled with texture and colour, emotive and sometimes even spiritual,
it revibrates the high pitched buzz that i accumulate through the course of a day.

the effect is to allow the subtleties of sensitivity to re-emerge.

a few years ago i came across a beautiful disc of music by a musician named al gromer khan.
go here to see his paintings, read his writings, and learn about his music.

the disc featured the vocals of amelia cuni.
listening to her sing is like watching the ink flow from a fountain pen onto a vellum page,
each note tracing the curves and sudden arcs of each letter;
at first with your eyes
and then with your entire presence.


go here to learn more about amelia.

together they have created a disc of music in the dhrupad tradition.

to learn more about dhrupad, go here.

this is a long piece of music in a time when music is typically offered in three to five minute frameworks, so may i respectfully suggest that if you listen to the first three to five minutes,
you'll get a sense of the whole.
alternately, put it on in the background and continue.

15 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

This is beautiful Steven - I love your metaphor for her voice. I do agree that in one's working life it is wonderful to come home to something really calming like this.

OceanoAzul.Sonhos said...

steven, magnificent music, thanks for sharing. Words evolve and embellish in a propitious place, as the music.
oa.s

Valerianna said...

I have some of his music - a non-invasive accompaniment to the forest chorus! and I love how you describe Amelia's singing, I feel that flowing, liquid voice. I think you might like some of my music, someday I'll share some of my CD on my blog. I keep saying this, but I really intent to!

Reya Mellicker said...

You have introduced me to so much incredible music. THANK YOU!

Reya Mellicker said...

Just purchased this. It will be excellent in the treatment room. THANK YOU!!!!

Jo said...

How gorgeous.

I thought as I listened that Reya would want it for her treatment room and I see that is so!

It's now on my list of Favorites and will accompany on many of my meditations and writing adventures.

Thank you very much for sharing this, Steven.

Cheryl Cato said...

Lovely. I can see why Reya would purchase this for her work... perhaps I should recommend it for my masseuse. I love your description of Amelia's voice.

steven said...

weaver thankyou. there's an aspect of the cuneiform about dhrupad singing that i really admire and sometimes even crave. sinuous and then angular with soft corners. steven

steven said...

oa.s, the music is extraordinary in the right context. i'm so pleased that you enjoyed it. steven

steven said...

valerianna you know that your music will appear at exactly the right time. i think that music is self-aware. steven

steven said...

reya - you're very welcome! i bought this music a few years ago and used it to help open doors into painting and then writing. music simply arrives where it is needed. i'm so happy to know that it will support your work and that of your clients. steven

steven said...

jo - isn't that cool. that's what i use this music and lots of other ambient music for. it creates a space that is as engaging or as disengaged as i am abale to welcome. i listen to so much music in the course of a day and especially in the course of opening the various doors i need to open in order to write or think or even simply to settle my presence. i wish i could do the same for missouri. steven

steven said...

lizzy it really depends where you want to go. i had a few years of shiatsu and i know that the music, the energy (present or not) of the practitioner and myself, had a very direct effect on the likelihood that i would be realigned . . . or not. steven

Ruth said...

I am soothed. I agree with Grizz and you about the ink and vellum, how luscious. I am certain I have listened to Amelia before. This is such good music for when I do Pilates. I think I'll leave her on while I continue to check blogs . . .

Thank you.

Kathleen said...

Steve--I just love it when you share your music. I'm always prowling for creativity-evoking ambient music. This is lovely!