Friday’s Sound Bath gig went well at the Dream Machine… under the circumstances. A lot more people came to it than the previous month. I took more instruments to layer sounds, this time a Rabel Bow to bow the Tibetan Bowls, some flutes I bought in India, and some Skaduce from Lithuania that are made from a plant (like pan pipes). An ocarina from Sweden, a small hand made Lithuanian whistle, a Turkish ney and a Moroccan Nai. Also, a 3 hole flute that I made myself and a Turkish Mey (a duduk type instrument).
All these instruments I either bought in the country of origin or made myself, they have a history for me, they remind me of times, places and people; and it was very nice to play them to people, and who apparently got some benefit from it… as they came back for more.
The negative side of the evening was that the venue was over booked, so in the distance, a few rooms down another gig was taking place. The sound filtered through the walls, and although it was not too distracting it made me realise how it was not “music/sound” that filled our space, but silence… and we needed that silence for our music to work properly. It is a hard thing to achieve in todays society…. total silence. The hum of the lights, projectors etc. it all is amplified when one is being “mindful” and one is listening to the environment. I guess this is what John Cage meant to say in the compositions.
I would like to do more of this type of music, it is very liberating to layer sound and to play free style, to work with Craig who guided people through the meditations. I will post some videos when I get round to editing them.
Ethnopiper & BusinessControlled 