From The Mail Bag: How Do You Do What You Do?

Today we look a what is the most asked question at my sessions and from people online: How do you do what you do? This goes along with, What are you thinking?, and, Are you improvising?

A full answer would be very long and complicated. It would also not mean anything to anyone other than myself, because it's based on who I am, how I think, and how I feel.

The Alchemy and the Ecstasy 

A Typical Session

When I present a Meditation/Healing/Therapy Session (you can call it what you like), I base it on 3 main criteria:

1. The room I'm playing in. Different sized rooms, and different acoustics, call for different sounds and techniques.
2. The people I am playing for. What are their needs and intentions that they have brought with them?
3. How I feel at the time. What are my moods, vibes, and intentions.

These 3 factors set the main tone for the session. On the next level, yes, I improvise a lot, all based on the 3 criteria above. But I also work with a plan, which is more a sense of flow. There is a basic pattern that I work with, but the sounds I attach to the pattern change, based on the 3 criteria above.

There are certain sounds and melodies I like to play each time, but they may be shorter or longer, or I may not play some of them at all. The same with the instruments. I may feel the need to concentrate on 1 instrument, or a set of instruments, more on a given night because I feel it is needed. On some nights I may not play certain instruments because they are not calling to be played.

What is The Pattern?

The flow pattern I currently work with is based on ideas I have been studying for over 40 years: Alchemy and Sacred Geometry. Within those Ideas I work a lot with the Five Elements (Air/Earth/Fire/Water/Ether), prime numbers, shapes, and actual real time geometric space. And I work with a sort of mythology of a Sacred Journey based upon all of the above.

I also work heavily with the sounds of my instruments. I don't work with the actual frequencies (i.e. 440Hz, etc.), because I have found that for what I do, they don't matter, as everything is constantly shifting. When I buy instruments, I don't really care what the frequency (in Hz) is. I'm more interested in the actual sound and whether is affects me and is something I can work with.

The #1 thing I have learned in all my studies and experiences is that the Universe is fluid and constantly changing. So to try and hold fast to any sort of tuning theories does not work for me. And this is where the improvising comes in, because that is always fluid, dynamic, and changing with the flow of things. 

The more I try to make certain things happen, or to stay in a static pattern, the more things end up changing in response to the living, evolving Universe.

And sometimes I'm just having fun making interesting sounds. I've been fascinated by sounds my whole life.

The Deeper Meanings

Beneath all of this are some deeper meanings and much more involved ideas that don't need to be revealed. It's more important that the people at my sessions have a positive experience than they need a lengthy explanation that would confuse the whole experience. It's not as important to know every little detail that your surgeon or auto mechanic did, as it is to have a positive result at the end.

Find your own way to work your magic and continue to refine it each and every day.

~ MB

Chop Wood / Carry Water / Play Gongs™

Over the past 9 years and 3 different blogs, I've written almost 500 blog posts. That's a lot of my time and energy devoted to putting my thoughts and ideas out there on the internet for you to read. If you've enjoyed reading them, and have gotten value out of them, please consider a donation. You'll be helping me keep writing for hopefully another 9 years. Thank You ~ MB.