More about the music

This music is based on a journey through five Sanskrit chants all of which come through the Eastern religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. On this page you’ll find a more detailed description of the structure of the music and why chant can be so powerful. You don’t need to know any of this to enjoy the music – just press play and see where it takes you… but if you are interested, read on!

Chant and Vibration

Repetition of sound has been part of the human experience for thousands of years: from the Vedic and Buddhist traditions through the Christian faiths to the schoolyard and football chants of today. Whenever you speak, sing, laugh, cry, or make sound in any way, you are working with sound waves of vibration that physically penetrate through us to the deepest level, something that we feel everyday through our reactions to the things that happen around us.

‘Sah’

This music is built on a journey through five chants but comprises several other elements. Each track has its own drone that you can hear in the harmonium or viola. It is what is described in the Indian tradition as Sah and in other traditions as the tonic, keynote or Doh.
Vibrationally, this Sah is the unchanging note that represents the synthesis of sound and silence, of pre-birth and birth, of seed and flower. It is sustained throughout the music representing the balance of life as a cycle, while the notes in between and around it become the contours, colours and textures that characterise our journey from nothingness to completeness, and back to nothingness.

How did I write the music?

As my experience of chanting deepened, I started to write my own chants. I would use texts of chants I knew or mantras I had come across in books. Generally, the chant itself comes quite easily, often through improvisation with voice and harmonium. I’ve learnt that it’s worthwhile recording the improvisation so I don’t forget the good bits! Once the chant is written down, I’ll try it with some drumming and chant it for a while to see how it feels.

When I was putting this CD together, I knew I wanted the music to be continuous and that I wanted a balance between structured or composed music and improvisation. Once I’d chosen the chants and decided what key to do them in, I started writing the ‘bridge passages’ (the beginning of Track 3, Track 4, and the beginning of track 8). These parts of the CD are the only ones that were written out in full and recorded without any improvisation. All the other tracks are improvised around the main chant and all the harmonies (the vocals you hear around the main vocal line) were improvised.

A word about Sanskrit

The ancient language of Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages recorded. It is said to be a ‘revealed’ language which came to monks gradually while they were meditating over 3500 years ago. It is a beautiful and expressive language that forms a part of many of the Eastern and Asian religious traditions.