Oliver's transcendental musical diary

**Tutor** · 10th June 2010, 12:54 PM

yes, it touches and moves one, opening up that which from behind the mind sees. it is like 'listening' intently is also 'noticing' intently, bringing the 5 senses together in the feel of it, arousing and igniting the intuitive sense, freeing the soul's vision. great stuff Korpo.

an after thought: hmmm, like having sex with the world. maybe that's going to far...

but, is not 'god|what is' any one's true lover?

life can be a sordid affair without the stimulating affects/effects of the arts, especially music.

me thinks,

tim

**Korpo** · 19th June 2010, 05:40 PM

Today I laid down to listen to an album I've just got in the mail - Tool's "Lateralus." I decided that I wanted to give this mostly new experience the same chance as some classical music I've been listening to - to work its effect on me.

I knew the videos for "Schism" and "Parabol/Parabola" (only after someone posted it on here on AD forums). I remember not buying the album back then when it got out - it's not the same hard-rock-ish format anymore and did not impress me in the record store back then. So, I wondered, if this album marked a new step in how Tool composes songs, and I gave it a fresh chance and exposed myself to the whole 75 minutes in one go.

I can say that within short time I experienced what I call "inner light" - an illumination that comes from downward up and starts to fill my visual field. I sometimes get this during meditation, and it came on quite noticeably after a while. The effect came on and receded, sometimes I would experience wandering blobs and sometimes this uniform light, that would build every once in a while. The whole duration of the album was interesting. There was a variety of effects happening behind my closed eyes, and I observed with interest the different qualities of when energy built, when it receded, and so on.

Oliver

**Korpo** · 2nd July 2010, 08:02 PM

Listened to Enya's "Only Time" yesterday. One chord progression was so unexpected and stunningly beautiful, it brought tears my eyes. A bit embarrassing in public, but what wonderful music!

Listened to the Adagio of Bruckner's 7th on the train in the morning some days ago. At some point I realised that I could feel the train moving, but I felt as if I had no weight. I was floating and moving along with the train. I had to open my eyes to make sure where I was. Nice feeling - just floating... So odd to feel the movement of the train still, though.

Little musical messages came my way today and yesterday. Yesterday, Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" - that surprised me. Today, parts of Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Meeting of the Spirits," parts of Wagner and Bruckner.

Actually I was asking for a representation of the state of my limited self - and I got Wagner's overture to "The Flying Dutchman" - rolling waves of violins and drums clashing against the ship at sea. So, there's some upset and turmoil. And I asked about my unlimited self, and I got the chirping quality of the scherzo of Bruckner's 7th and the beauty of the Adagio of Bruckner's 8th. It's lovely when the message is encoded in the music. You could actually listen to it and get a notion of how the two parts of my consciousness felt to me.

Oliver

**Korpo** · 6th July 2010, 09:50 AM

This one from the beginning of June.

I was playing the guitar, experimenting around. Suddenly I wanted to explore a musical idea.

You need to know that I neither know any chord progressions, nor most scales. But suddenly I had an idea for a small, "bluesy" riff that was just there. I guess it was a small variation of picking through three chords, but it came to me note by note. I knew what it should sound like, but I had try to out the notes as I am not one who can play what I've just heard, either.

So, I tried out to play the riff, and then the next note. And it would either fit or next attempt. I would compare several attempts to find the right note, but I knew what sounded right and what not. But right compared to what? The musical idea was in my head, it wanted to come out, to be transcribed note by note. I finally managed to get it right.

Now I have to wonder where it came from. I can guess it is a variation on a chord progression, but I don't know any of the chords. Actually, I don't even know why I think it is three chords! I know it doesn't derive from what I know about music, as it does not match any scale, that's probably why I think it's a chord progression.

It was just a little piece of music that popped in my mind. It did not derive from jamming, and it was already finished in terms of melody line when it arrived. I just needed to play and transcribe it. I could always go back and get back in touch with it.

I don't think that happened before. Only after rereading a part of "Music and the Soul" today I noticed the relation between how it "appeared" and the different kinds of compositional process Kurt describes. Transcribing a dozen notes riff or melody may not sound like much, but the way it spontaneously happened seemed in hindsight much more surprising than at first glance.

Makes me wonder if there's more where this is coming from and how to tap it...

Well, comparing my diary notes I know it happened on June the 7th. Two days before I was told in a reading that my musicianship arrived at a place where I need to get in touch with my soul to make progress. Kind of like letting the soul be the teacher. I was in a mood to try things out that day and that's how these contacts always happen for me. It opens me up and something happens, something unexpected, new, and if I look at it in hindsight, often very inexplicable. I think this is what is meant by "beginner's mind." It's just not easy for me to get there.

Oliver

**Korpo** · 11th July 2010, 03:22 PM

This one from a relaxation exercise I just did. I laid down on my back for an exercise I had read about - just letting the mind do what it wants for 20 minutes.

Towards the end of the 20 minutes something very unexpected happened. I heard music only to realise I had never heard it before. I knew the instrument - some bell-like jazz organ I had heard on a recording of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It was spouting notes in fast succession until I realised what was happening.

While I was still surprised something else developed. I heard an arrangement for strings, but very unusual, a trio maybe, at least one cello and I think a violin. Each was playing only a very few slow notes, but it seems like every few measures they started over, only to be slightly varied, again and again, to form a piece of music that slowly accumulated more energy with every repetition. The "starting over" was so noticeable as if one was imitating the effect of a stuck record only to surprise the listener with new variations instead.

Oliver

**CFTraveler** · 11th July 2010, 06:14 PM

You may find this interesting.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =YahooNews
I stole it from personalreality, who found it first.

**Korpo** · 11th July 2010, 06:25 PM

That is indeed interesting.

Oliver

**Korpo** · 23rd July 2010, 07:13 AM

"The Gates of Delirium" by Yes contains a final section also available as a single, called "Soon." However, if you want to listen to the full section in all its beauty, you would have to get a version called "Soon (New Edit)" (also: "Soon [New Edit]"), released on the 35th anniversary album. This is the longest version of this single edit.

These 6 minutes are not only supremely beautiful, they also carry wonderful impressions. A part of it sounds like frolicking in clouds of energy, but without any resistance, as if there were no limits, no gravity, not even limiting thoughts or ideas. Effortlessness. Also the whole section has a magical sound, sometimes sounding as if the solo instrument was playing evaporating bubbles of sound.

Oliver