Category Archives: Classical Composers

Euclid’s Reverie

In 1869 it was Thomas Huxley who considered the mysterious force, at the time named protoplasm, “the physical basis of life”. The mysterious liquid inside the cell walls surrounds the cell nucleus in eukaryote and prokaryote cells.

There are two types of protoplasms, tree-like structures called dendrites and axons.

Body of a cell

These two projections work together to spread electrical stimulation via synapses.

It is important to note that the longest axons in the human body are those of the sciatic nerve which run from the base of the spine down to the big toe of each foot.

Retinal ganglion cells, found in the inner most layer of the retina, all share the defying property of having a long axon (protoplasm) that extends into the brain. These axons form important aspects of the optic system including the optic nerve, the optic chiasm and the optic tract. Here they project information into the brain where they synapse at the thalamus.

Many different functions are linked to the thalamus including auditory, somatic, visceral, gustatory and visual systems.

The thalamus and the hippocampus are linked through the limbic system. Most of the functions involving the hippocampus pertain to short and long term memory.

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem.html

Our memories, or our reflections of specific moment in time/space, are largely reorganized and reinterpreted by our own self in a variety of ways. Throughout the totality of our global-concioussness grid, our collective memories fragment and intermingle feverishly in order to construct the formation of our physical reality.

Music can be a powerful trigger for past moments and imagination, as can certain smells and tastes. Looking back on our past largely results in a quasi-fictitious interpretation of what truly was reality.

The physical moment of each quickly experienced “in-the-now” life event instantly begins to fade and morph in our mind into an interpreted reflection which is now susceptible to our own imagination and bias. Interestingly enough, our own reinterpretation becomes implanted in our brain as a truth, and thus, reshapes our emotional body to said time/place as well as our own physical body at the cell-memory level.

This can be best recognized through the fluidity of attachment and the power of emotional magnetism.

Linus

Your brain is made up of billions of brain cells called neurons which use electricity (photonic energy) to communicate with one another. This electrical activity traveling along an axon in the brain can be detected and measured through the use of medical equipment like an EEG (electroencephalogram).

This is best known as a brainwave pattern.

Waves are defined as an energy transport phenomenon. A pulse, or single disturbance moving through a medium from one location to another location, repeatedly constitutes the wave pattern.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson-1/What-is-a-Wave

A frequency refers to the number of waves that pass through a fixed place in a certain amount of time. This measurement of waves was named after 19th century physician Heinrich Rudolf Hertz and is what we today recognize as “hertz”.

A432 Hz simply refers to an A note vibrating (number of waves or disturbances) 432 times per second.

Cymatics A432 hz

During a dream our brainwaves are typically measured at the theta level which is around 4-8 Hz. This range is most closely associated with relaxation, trance meditation, imagination, deep sleep and inspiration. At this level the physical body goes nearly limp and the mind disconnects from the body’s sensory connection to the outside world.

http://drjoedispenza.com/files/understanding-brainwaves_white_paper.pdf

It is at this point, the point of disconnection from physical reality, that we are said to be dreaming.

This is also sometimes referred to as the astral plane.

Many amazing works of art have been inspired from this level consciousness including John Lennon’s “Number 9”, Edgar Allen Poe’s “Dream Within a Dream”, And Robert Schumann’s “Traumerei”.

To further facilitate your abilities to reach the theta level you can listen to the recording below especially around the time of meditation or sleep.

As all actions first begin as an inspiration or an idea it is important to exercise your imagination and connect to the realm of thoughts and dreams. The astral plane, along with the mental and etheric planes are the layers which descend downwards towards the physical plane.

The bridge being the plasma plane.

We all must take part in the physical dream that we agree upon to be our reality and so it must be us who decide to make our reality exactly that…

A dream.

“One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.” – Salvador Dali

Amazing Discovery!! When Slowed Down to a Human-Like Time Frequency Crickets Begin to Sound Like a Choir of Angels !

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This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard.

https://soundcloud.com/acornavi/robert-wilson-crickets-audio (Audio of the Crickets)

This is the sound of Crickets chirping. It is two tracks played over each other. The first is the sound of the crickets at regular speed, the second is the sound of the crickets slowed down to the equivalent of a human life-span. Crickets have a very short life span and therefore vibrate at a much higher frequency. Slow their vibration down to a human level of vibration and they’re famous, high-pitched chirps begin to sound like a literal choir of angels.

The piece was recorded by composer Jim Wilson and is unmanipulated (save for the obvious slow down in tempo.)

Here is a quote from a Tom Waits interview saying the following…

—

“Q: Most interesting recording you own?

A: It’s a mysteriously beautiful recording from, I am told, Robbie Robertson’s label. It’s of crickets. That’s right, crickets. The first time I heard it… I swore I was listening to the Vienna Boys Choir, or the Mormon Tabernacle choir. It has a four-part harmony. It is a swaying choral panorama. Then a voice comes in on the tape and says, “What you are listening to is the sound of crickets. The only thing that has been manipulated is that they slowed down the tape.” No effects have been added of any kind, except that they changed the speed of the tape. The sound is so haunting. I played it for Charlie Musselwhite, and he looked at me as if I pulled a Leprechaun out of my pocket.”

—

“I had these messages saying that Robbie Robertson said to get in touch with me. So we went in studio. He said, `I want you to do whatever you feel like. And, now, these are crickets.’ So I thought, oh, my goodness. I’m to accompany crickets, see?

And when I heard them, I was so ashamed of myself, I was so humbled, because I had not given them enough respect. Jim Wilson recorded crickets in his back yard, and he brought it into the studio and went ahead and lowered the pitch and lowered the pitch and lowered the pitch. And they sound exactly like a well-trained church choir to me. And not only that, but it sounded to me like they were singing in the eight-tone scale. And so what–they started low, and then there was something like I would call, in musical terms, an interlude; and then another chorus part; and then an interval and another chorus. They kept going higher and higher.

They were saying cricket words. I kept thinking, `Oh, I almost can understand them. It’s a nice, mellow tone. And they never went off pitch until one of the interludes, where they went real crazy and they got back on again to where they were. And I know that people do not know that they’re listening to crickets unless they’re told that that’s what that is.”

—

This recording, if accurate, is truly amazing. The revelation that insects could, at various pitch levels, imitate powerful symphonic works, brings rise to many important questions in regards to the vast, complex network binding nature and the universe.

There is still much unknown about the physics of sound and the vibrations of nature but more needs to be explored and addressed. I commend Jim Wilson for his unique contribution to the musical world, perhaps other composers will look into this further.

There are truly angels among us.

-B

Click for audio of Crickets

**P.S – upon listening to this for the last half an hour I can say that this is really powerful stuff. Extremely healing, very calming and meditative. Very hard to stop listening.

The Power of Birds

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It’s a sound we take for granted – the bird call. A seemingly mundane and detached part our world, bird calls (or songs) could actually be the answer to an extraordinary question… Are we alone in the universe?

It is understood that almost all, if not all, animals communicate in some form or another but the depth of their communication is still largely unknown. Let’s take birds for example…

We are all accustomed to birdcalls. City dwellers accustom their ears to the pigeons and crows, subburians wake up to the calls of bluejays and hummingbirds and in the forest, a symphony of sounds some short (the owl), some percussion (the woodpecker) and some melodic and (the common robin or the lark) ring out against the trees trunks.

Like humans, birds learn to communicate, from birth using the mechanics and vibrations granted to them by nature. These typically take the form of a large air sacks, which then the bird, using its own individual technique, composes a song to convey a message.

And while their messages usually function as alerts, calls and courtships it is important to remember how little we know about the animal kingdom and what messages they may truly be communicating.

Just remember, that birds and their amazing acoustical abilities have shaped our own consciousness for thousands of years, including some of the great composers.

The scales, trills and runs found in Mozart’s symphonies are easily found when listening to birds in nature.

The notion that birds have shaped and even guided classical music is not so far fetched when taking into consideration the degree to which these geniuses were immersed in nature.

Mozart would have awoke in the morning to an orchestra birds outside his window. The sound would have been impossible for composers to escape thus many classical pieces utilizes the sound of the orchestra and piano to emulate birds.

Bird of Paradise performing a mating dance

There is a reason that their highly advanced communication intrigues us, it’s because we can recognize, as musicians, their aural capabilities and complexities. Bird melodies and rhythms are far more sophisticated than our greatest composer’s compositions. Even the complex rhythms found in modern dubstep, which utilizes very complex rhythmic patterns, don’t come close to that of a song bird. It is proof that some creatures still have us beat in a realm we thought we had dominion over; music.

It is important to respect the other musical beings vibrating out in nature. There are many more out there and each one, including us, uses there body in a physical manner so as to produce a signature vibration uniquely their own. When a male bird courts a female he must put on the most beautiful dance and sing the most beautiful song and that is how he wins her heart, through creation and creativity.

Nature is a creative network and their is no lack of vibrational energy or creativity in the animal kingdom. Birds inspire us with their amazing vibrational capabilities; Sing, shine and fly as their colors light up the forest.

Nothing brings a human joy like the sound of two birds echoing off the hallow tree trunks. The path is never wrong when the birds are chirping.

So next time you hear a piccolo or a flute, thank the birds because it’s the sounds of nature that inspire us humans to emulate it’s voice through our musical instruments.

Thank you birds!

-B

What Happened to Classical Music??

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So… Classical music… What the hell happened?

Where did the 500 years of musical imagination predating pop music vanish off to?

It’s funny how little people think about, remember or care for classical music these days. I think most would find it hard to name or recall a single classical piece. Beethoven… Which one was he? He was the deaf one, right? No he was the one that went crazy…?

I’ll help you out… All of them went crazy, Beethoven was the deaf one… And this is Bach…

Classical music isn’t as complex or dated as it seems to be. Just because the men (and they were mostly men) are only known through oil paintings and handwritten letters doesn’t mean they are not still relevant.

Classical music is simply music and as music it will always be relevant. So long as there is emotion and beauty in the sound than nothing else matters.

Currently there is too much hype in music. Too much money. For example…

Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Diddy

…I mean, his pour is amazing… But…

Music should always be about the moment; The sound; The emotional impact. If vibration is the electrical current of the universe than it is true… Music moves us. It puts us in motion.

Emotion.

If all the supernatural, metaphysical power of music proves to be true than what does that mean about the centuries of music that preceded ours?

What does it say about our classical composers?

They were brilliant.

They constructed worlds and stories told entirely through sound. The voices in their head would not be silenced and what they created was remarkable.

These composers tortured themselves, literally, just to communicate a message written in sound yet we barely remember them.

The Superheroes

Mozart

Liszt

Brahms

The best storytellers the world ever knew.

Storytellers in sound.

It’s easy to forget about the hundreds of compositions and composers that existed prior to Frank Sinatra. Lost in the following decades of money and a billion dollar music industry…

But, there is a place for instrumental music, symphonic music and opera in this day and age. Classical music does not have to only exist in Universities and overpriced concert halls.

It was never intended for that audience.

Meet Modest Mussorgsky…

Mussorgsky

Does he look like he gives a shit about anything?… This man composed Pictures at an Exhibition and was one of the most influential composers in Russian history. He was savage, self-taught and blackout drunk almost all the time.

The violinist Paganini thought he was the devil.

Liszt slept with everyone’s girlfriend.

And the rest died of syphilis or something worse.

Paganini

These weren’t light-hearted people. These composers were filled with fire, intensity and passion.

As we move towards the future we must take what we know about music structure and the composers that lived before us and push music further. There is no better way than to learn from the past… So… once in a while…

Put on a classical recording.

And while you do…

Remember that somebody living hundreds of years ago had a musical thought so powerful they were compelled to grab the nearest feather pen and wet ink and spend years out of their life to write down this composition so that one day, hundreds of years later, it could be performed solely for you…

…It’s trippy to think about…

-B