Leela Music Newsletter, April 2008Michael Stribling Here's an overview of what you'll find in this issue:
The new CD, Love, Light, and Water, is finished and in the process of being manufactured. Radio promotion is set to begin June 1. I'm hoping to have the CDs available for you at CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, iTunes, etc. around the first of June. (Of course, I may have a few available from the trunk of my car before then ;-) Work continues on the hypnosis project, and the first compilation CD -- Music for Lovers -- is quickly taking shape. It's a busy time right now, and that's a good thing.
We've come such a long way. And we have such a long way to go. But we're on our way. All of Creation is in constant evolution, always developing from one state of perfection to another state of perfection. We seem to recognize the developmental process at work in many areas, but not all. We know about the stages of physiological development, mental and intellectual development, emotional development, moral and ethical development; there are even those who believe in stages of spiritual development. I'm one of them. Beyond the individual, however, I like to think that all of humanity is slowly developing, as a species, increasing in consciousness and awareness, even though it doesn't always seem that way (don't watch the evening news for evidence of this idea). As a species, we understand things differently than we did in the past. The classic example for me is cosmology (our understanding of how the universe works, and our place in it). We used to think that the earth was the center of everything (it was flat, too, not round, remember?), and the sun, moon, and stars all revolved around us. After a time, when we had evolved a bit more, we figured out (after much protest, many burnings at the stake, etc.) that the earth revolves around the sun; that our sun and its planets, our solar system, is one of billions of solar systems in our galaxy, and our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies; that something called gravity keeps things moving the way they do; that the essential "substance" of the universe is not inanimate subatomic matter, but energy and information (i.e., consciousness); etc. Over time, our understanding has grown, as we have grown. We've grown up ... a bit. And as we grow, we continue to learn more about the universe and our place in it. In a similar way, our understanding of God, Self, Spirit, Creator (whatever term you choose) has also changed, and our understanding of the Divine is a direct reflection of our level of consciousness and awareness at the time, i.e., our current level of spiritual development. What's my point? I'm optimistic about the future, because I'm persuaded that we're "growing up", as a species. In spite of our "issues" (which, by the way, we've always had), we're better, overall, than we used to be. Maybe the '60s musical "Hair" had a good idea there when they sang about "the dawning of the Age of Aquarius", with "harmony and understanding" and all the rest of that hippie stuff :-). We've come such a long way. And we have such a long way to go. But we're on our way.
Newsletter subscribers, and long time friends, Jim and Annie Compton-Schmidt, shared with me an article about music -- well, sort of. It's about a new "geometrical theory" of music, looking at the connection between music and mathematics. The old idea of "the music of the spheres" has been around for a very long time; in a sense, the motion of the heavenly bodies creates a perfect symphony of movement and interrelationship. Recently, a group of music professors has tried to translate music into the language of mathematics, specifically geometry. It's intended to help us understand music in "deeper and more satisfying" ways, to understand the logical structure that links various musical concepts. I read that the idea is to "reduce music to its mathematical essence." So what can we do with this deeper understanding? The researchers suggest we could develop new musical instruments, toys, visualization tools, new ways of educating musicians ... maybe even find ways to make more beautiful music (I just had to toss that idea in the mix)? It's probably something to look into ... However, I can't help but wonder a couple of things. In my view, some things don't lend themselves readily to analysis by mathematics (although we certainly seem to have a love affair with numbers, and we have for millennia). Using geometry to understand music seems a bit like using a thermometer to understand color (okay, maybe not the best comparison, but it's the first one that came to mind). I don't think geometry is likely to capture the essence and power of music any time soon; they operate in different dimensions. But hey, I guess I need to read the research! What are we going to try to quantify with numbers next? the human spirit? the taste of ice cream (I'll give the new pistachio with fudge a 9.7)? sex?! For more information about this geometrical theory of music, go to http://www.physorg.com/news127659537.html
Every issue, I give away a free CD (autographed, of course :-). If you're on the mailing list, you're automatically entered in every drawing. This month, the winner is Esmeralda Lopez. Congratulations! ============================================================ That's it for this issue. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you liked, or didn't like, in this issue, and any recommendations or requests you have for future editions. Thank you for your support. Please invite your friends to visit my website and sign the guestbook. Oh yeah, it's okay to order some CDs, too! They make wonderful gifts :-). I also have a page on MySpace.com. Have a look and join the list of friends at www.myspace.com/leelamusic I wish you peace, joy, and love. Namasté, Michael Stribling If you would like to be removed from my mailing list, please reply to this email and type the word "unsubscribe" in either the subject line or the body of your reply. One more thing: if you change your email address without telling me, I won't be able to send you any more newsletters. So, please keep me in mind if/when you change your email address. Leela Music Newsletters
|
