Sound Meditation

Chapter Five

from The Human Experience: Flowing with the Arts

Author, Val Flamini, Ph.D.

Inspired by populations that use sound for inner exploration

Brief description of the activity

▪ Take part in a meditation that focuses on sound

▪ Record your reflections

*The full activity description is provided at the end of the document.

Organized Sound

People from all over the world love to listen to music! Songs, or organized sounds, have engaging characteristics that tug at our attention. Vibrations, timbre, rhythm, and melodic intervals unfold with momentum like a journey for our mind and body. Focusing intently on these music elements may contribute to a feeling of transcendence. Sounds are woven together, encouraging the abandonment of thoughts to just listen and feel. In some cases, the lyrics engage the listener; others get lost in the relationship between. Charming rhythmic patterns or a steady beat may captivate our attention and cause us to move- with or without consent! We may also experience sound by connecting it to a memory. Thoughts about a familiar sound may develop into a story: I remember that sound from when I played the flute in the school band. The flute in this song sounds different. Is it made of wood? Our minds may drift to images of Kokopelli playing a wooden flute, seated on the boulder by the creek,... our imagination runs wild inspired by musical sounds!

We may also feel sound in our body. This may be the result of intentionally directing our attention to how our body feels while listening or the sensation may occur before we can interpret the sound source. For example, the sound may startle or soothe our nervous system before we have time to think. You may have also felt your body react to a steady beat or an infectious groove by spontaneously moving with the music. These reactions to sound and music are somewhat involuntary. Our perception of sound is determined by the rate of vibrations. Our interpretation of sound occurs after the acoustic wave travels to our ears and our mind considers the information. The vibrations from sound may also be felt by our bodies. Purposefully dropping awareness in the body to receive vibrations from sound is another way to experience music. Try it: think less, feel more!

We also experience sounds throughout the day. Many different sounds such as those from machinery, animals, or from nature may also combine to form a soundscape experienced wherever you are. The random collection of sounds may be perceived as pleasant or otherwise. Whether or not you label the soundscape that surrounds you as a positive or negative sound experience, the sounds have likely commanded your mental and physical attention.

Some people find immersing in musical sounds more meaningful than a casual, pleasant experience. Publications about the mental and physical benefits of sound have increased over the past decade. Sound healing practices have become a popular alternative therapy practice. Evidence supporting a theory that sound heals is accumulating. The details of this phenomenon, including how and in what ways, is still a mystery. Sound healing research is relatively new and warrants further investigation; however, the practice of using sound and music for positive mental and physical outcomes is evidenced as far back as human music making has existed.

Primal Sound and Spiritual Practice

Sound meditation is not a new practice. Indigenous populations and organized religions have used voice and instruments for deep contemplation throughout recorded human history. For example, ancient Indian Vedic chanting is a toning practice intuited by sages during elongated sessions of meditation. The practice involves a vocal resonating approach that has been passed down for thousands of years. The syllables chanted, the melodic line, and the placement of the syllables in the mouth while singing are inspired from meaningful connections to the universal soul, Ātman. This toning practice is considered both “a vehicle awarding liberation (Moksha) that is also designed to please the senses" (Beck, 2021). Specific syllables and mantra chanted in the ancient Sanskrit language aim to heal and achieve positive outcomes by eliciting a spiritual connection to the gods.

Sounds from nature have also inspired music practices aimed at elevating the conscious. Wind, water, and bird song are just a few examples of natural sounds that have provided tone and melodic inspiration to transform spiritual energy. These sounds have been used in Japanese Gagaku music rooted in the indigenous Shinto belief system. Gagaku songs of nature aim to conjure the harmonizing power believed to move through humans and nature, the kami spirit. Another example of natural sounds integrated in music is from the Kululi people of Papua New Guinea. Steven Feld’s ethnomusicology research revealed the incorporation of nature in music associated with everyday life. The Kaluli people included bird song motifs in their song melodies used during transformative ceremonies. The significance of these bird inspired melodies stems from the belief that the birds are reincarnated human ancestors. Birds are believed to be communicating to humans through their songs various messages from the Kululi ancestors. Recordings and images of the Kaluli songs and ceremony include costumes made of bird feathers and instruments made from natural materials such as shells. The bird melodies add meaning and depth to music used during ceremonies as well as musicking in daily life.

The simple tone and vibrations of human made instruments has also provided a foundation for centuries of external sound meditation. Instruments such as the Aboriginal didgeridoo, also known as the yidaki, provide deep resonating tones and profound vibrations. Playing the yidaki requires deep concentration and command over the respiratory system. Producing the unbroken drone sound of a yidaki involves a circular breathing pattern while consistently buzzing the lips. This instrument is known for its unusually low pitch and mesmerizing harmonics. The longer the yidaki, the lower the pitch production. There are two types of yidaki songs discovered in research on the Yanyuwa people, an Aboriginal tribe in the Northern Territory of Australia called Borroloola. The Yanyuwa may use the yidaki for: 1) casual songs not considered “sacred or secret” such as the walaba and a-kurija, or, 2) songs with more serious, ceremonial intention called Dreaming songs. These Dreaming, or kujika, songs are believed to contain information from past ancestors or beings. Kujika songs are considered sacred and secret. Specific conditions are required for these songs, such as where and when they are performed, and who is permitted to perform and listen to the songs.

The panhuman practice of listening while meditating inspires and encourages contemplation in modern times. An instrument with a similar affect as the yidaki is the church organ. The organ is more widely used in Western meditative settings. The organ can play a pitch as low as 2 octaves below middle C and is known for audible harmonics that provide a spectrum of sound. Perhaps you have seen listed in a church bulletin the “meditation” portion of the service. Such a meditation song played on the organ may have a slow tempo that includes a droning low tone coupled with a meandering melody. The magnetic property of the low, droning vibration may allow the listener to feel grounded while simultaneously transcending them beyond the present moment. Both the yidaki and the church organ potentially entice listeners to turn their awareness to the mind and body with introspection.

Sound Meditation

A focused awareness meditation on an object, such as breath, is a task that exercises the mind. Sound meditations focus on an external object: sound. Some people find sound meditation a more accessible way to meditate. People all over the world listen to music as a part of everyday life. Music listening is a familiar experience and musical sounds easily hold our mental and physical attention. Similar to a typical focused awareness meditation, observing thoughts and bodily sensations associated with the experience is part of the meditation. Should your mind wonder away from the object, which for this meditation is sound, you gently escort it back to listening. This sound meditation also has characteristics of a body scan meditation. You are encouraged to monitor bodily sensations that may arise while hearing sounds. As these sensations enter your awareness, observe with curiosity and compassion. Simply swipe away judgmental thoughts or stories you start to follow, then return to listening.

Tips on how to listen while meditating on sound

For a transcendent experience, it is helpful to abandon previous knowledge of music that might cause you to label, compare, or analyze the sounds you hear. Imagine you are a small child receiving sounds for which you do not know the words to describe. Those with music knowledge and experience may find this difficult. Try this: After acknowledging observed thoughts or analyzations that arose from a distance, swipe the thoughts to the side and come back to truly listen and feel the sounds for what they are. There are great experiences that may come of labeling and analyzing music but connecting to music through meditation is a different kind of music experience. Temporarily transition from a person that is thinking about music to a person that is engulfed by music. The following is a quote from a research study investigating strong, transcending experiences with music:

I was filled by an enormous warmth and heat. I really swallowed all the notes that were streaming out in the air, not a single note, effect or sequence missed my hungry ears. The music became so distinct. I was captivated by each of the instruments and what they had to offer me. Nothing else existed! I was dancing, whirling and really gave myself up to the music and the rhythms, overjoyed—laughing. Tears came into my eyes—however strange that may seem—and it was as a further sign, some kind of liberation. The music set me free from my sober everyday life. (Gabrielsson, 2010, p. 8)

Those who have difficulty letting go of terms and details while listening may try alternating their attention between parts and the whole. Focus on the simple aspects of sound as if tasting ingredients of a complex sauce: sharpen your focus to taste the rosemary, then widen your scope to appreciate its contribution to the whole sauce.

Music ingredients, or elements, that combine to make up a song or soundscape may be separated from the whole and appreciated. This may assist in the task of focusing on sound when your mind wants to wander to unrelated thoughts or analyze. You may choose to only focus on one of these elements or shift during the song to focus on different elements, one at a time. You may also zoom in and out with your attention like a camera: zoom in for the individual music element and out for the whole soundscape. Another approach is to allow the experience to just happen and focus on individual elements when you feel your attention has wandered. Here are just a few music elements that may be useful for a focused experience.

Timbre

Timbre is often described as the color of sound. It is the quality of the sound determined by the overtones. It is how you recognize which person’s voice is calling your name from another room, even when there are two females in the house that may be calling to you. This is also how you decipher between the sound of a flute and that of a steel drum. Even though they may play some of the same pitches and are both made of a metal, they do not sound the same. The materials used, their shape and size, and the way you produce sound from them result in different resonating qualities that contribute to the timbre. It is not the pitch of the instrument or what it is playing, rather, it is the quality of sound. Examples of words used to describe timbre include bright, dark, warm, and other adjectives that you would use to describe color. Listening for timbre and how it may make you feel is a way to focus on sound.

Vibrations

As a soprano singer, I admit I am a little disappointment I have not broken a glass resulting from singing a high note. I guess I haven’t found a glass with the same harmonic likeness as my voice. This phenomenon is an example of sympathetic vibrations. Another example would be windows or furniture inside the house vibrating because of a passing car blasting 808 bass through the neighborhood. Perhaps, that same offering of bass caused you to feel something vibrate in your body. Those sensations in your body are also an example of sympathetic resonance. Your passive body parts have their own frequency (rate of vibration). The frequency of your body parts may be amplified by the bass equaling that body part’s resonant frequency range.

You may enjoy the experience of monitoring your body for vibrations. This may be accomplished by either dropping your awareness in your body, then wait to notice when you feel a part of your body react to a sound. You may notice a buzzing, pulsating, tingling, shocking, or pleasant feeling. You may also scan your body while listening to the music: Direct your attention to your toes and then slowly scan to the crown of your head, or any direction you choose. Pay attention while scanning for sensations that seem coordinated with the music or sounds. It may be useful to imagine you are being scanned by a wand or traced with light. As you scan, hover over any body parts that may be reacting to the music with sensations that differ from the surrounding areas of your body. Just notice the sensation for what it is.

Overtones

Overtones remind me of prisms. Overtones are frequency parts of a whole pitch, or tone. Overtones define the quality of a pitch or sound. Listening with acute focus and awareness may allow you to distinguish overtones the way a prism breaks up light to reveal colors that compose light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). Like a rainbow of colors breaking apart the core source, which is light, overtones are layers of tones that relate to the core fundamental pitch. Depending on the timbre or color of the sound source, overtones may be bright and easy to discern, like a shiny yellow, or may seem dull and absent from the sound experience, like a dark violet. The material is often a factor in our ability to discern overtones. Striking a metallic bell will result in more noticeable overtones than striking a piece of wood, for example. The human voice may also have a spectrum of overtones which are dependent on a person’s vocal production, their human body parts, and how they articulate sound with those parts.

Noticing overtones requires focus on the pitch (the fundamental) of an individual instrument or voice while also noticing if there are accompanying pitches that move with the fundamental pitch. The overtones may be quieter than the fundamental pitch and often have a different timbre. They may be more “fluty,” or raspier, or seemingly absent of vibrato like a straight tone.

Soundscape for Sound Meditation

The example given for this activity may make the task of focusing on sound less challenging. The song lacks the music organization of pitches and rhythms found in a typical song. This collection of sounds is considered a musical soundscape. With the lack of structure, your thoughts are not likely to attach to a previous music experience or anticipate musical resolutions.

“Overflowing Emptiness”

Instruments used in “Overflowing Emptiness” include: the didgeridoo, handpan, Native American style flute, ocean drum, shakers, samba whistle, shell chime, and singing bowls. Composer and performer Kennedy Oneself aims to guide the listener to a “blissful emptiness” through this unique musical offering. An unusual approach to instruments is used in the creation of his soundscapes. For example, the samba whistle in this song simulates birds and frogs dispersed throughout the song. The drone of the didgeridoo, or yidaki, may also be experienced throughout the song. Kennedy uses ecologically conscious practices to craft his own didgeridoos. He hallows out the inside with fire and uses recycled and renewable resources. There are no plastics or toxins to cover his instrument; rather, a resin made of oranges peels, cashew resin, and a milk-based lacquer.

Kennedy has generously shared soundscapes such as this with troubled teens and those recovering from addiction. He is devoted to the healing power of vibrations “exploring how different sound frequencies affect the consciousness of the listener.” Serene meditative music is his “greatest passion.”

Follow the link, Overflowing Emptiness | Soul Medicine Vibrations (bandcamp.com), to listen to “Overflowing Emptiness” for the sound meditation activity. Consider downloading the song if you would like to loop the music for a continuous sound meditation experience. It may be more ideal to set the listening example on a loop to avoid the distraction of the music stopping, and then having to start it again. Three to six repetitions, about 15-30 minutes, may be the right amount of time to fully immerse in sound. If time or an inability to download and loop the song is an issue, you will still be able to achieve a sound meditation with one play.

Activity Description

Meditation on Sound

If you are hoping to experience sensations in your body from the music, a speaker would be the best source for this activity. Using earbuds/headphones may be useful if you are hoping to block outside sounds from disrupting the experience. It depends on your situation. Sensations may be felt in the body with either the speaker or headphones.

• Choose a place to comfortably sit or lie down where you are unlikely to be disturbed.

• Elongate your spine and make any adjustments until you find a comfortable position.

• Scan your body, from your toes to the crown of your head noticing any sensations.

• Take in a cleansing breath: inhale all the way down to your low back and hold a couple seconds. Slowly exhale, following the breath out of your lungs. Breathe in this way a couple more times, then, allow your body to breathe naturally on its own.

• Play “Overflowing Emptiness” either through a speaker or use earbuds/headphones.

• Focus your attention on the sounds. Possibly zooming in and out as previously described.

• Drop your awareness to your body and notice any sensations that may arise.

• Notice with curiosity any judgmental thoughts, associations, or labels that arise or that may be associated with bodily sensations.

• Gently escort your attention back to sound and sensations if you find your attention has drifted.

• When the song has finished or you are ready to conclude the meditation, perform another body scan. Notice the overall feeling you may have after meditating.

• Wiggle your fingers and toes. Inhale slowly and exhale a few times.

• Softly open your eyes and take your time as your awareness comes back into the room.

Reflections

Reflections are to be recorded in a written or audio journal just following the meditation. See the prompts below to help communicate your meditation experience.

• Were you able to listen and/or feel the sounds?

• During your meditation, what features of the soundscape elicited more thoughts than the others?

• Were there specific body parts that reacted to the sound?

• Note any differences in what you felt during the first body scan before listening and the scan at the conclusion of the meditation.

• What part of this experience will you take with you today?

Before moving forward with your day, you may want to give gratitude to yourself for allowing time to experience sound in a meaningful way.

Posted September 15, 2022

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