2024 tonal Archives

This May 2024 Tonalibus update highlights two tonality derivatives and recordings from a recent cooperation session with Christina Braun. Further, it provides an update on Tonalibus playlists and new sounds. Finally, this update touches on the popularity of Tonalibus releases on Spotify.

Two new tonality derivatives

Two tonality derivatives — PentaMinMix / PentaEolDor and PentaLoPhryg / Bairagi Bhairav — are new in the extended pentatonalities tables and tonalities overview. (Derivatives are not further detailed in the catalogue.)

“իմաստուն Imastun survivors” — calling for silence — PentaMinMix / PentaEolDor (derivative) on F# (184 Hz) — 8-string guitar, conch, voice, tanpura — 6:28

“Pebbles in the pond” — a touch of a raga — Bairagi Bhairav raag based on C# — Christina Braun: voice — Ulrico: 8-string guitar — 5:38

Tonalibus cooperation recordings with Christina Braun

New cooperation recordings with Christina Braun (voice) are now in playlist Coop B and April 2024 Sounds:
“Ever forward into the open” — blue destination (↓)
“Cherry blossom dragon” — spring awakening
“Pebbles in the pond” — a touch of a raga (↑)
“Straight forward” — dare jump in head-on

“Ever forward into the open” — blue destination — PentaMin/PentaEol based on D# — Christina Braun: voice — Ulrico: singing saw, bass, 6-string guitar — 4:15

May 2024 Tonalibus playlists & sounds update

Playlist O and April 2024 Sounds conclude with above mentioned coop recordings. The new Playlist P and May-June 2024 Sounds start with:
“Querencia” — the place where one’s strength is… (↓)
“मैत्री Maitrī base” — the privilege of breath (↓↓)
“իմաստուն Imastun survivors” — calling for silence (↑)

“Querencia” — the place where one’s strength is drawn from — Lydian on C# (276 Hz) — 8-string guitar, big gong, tanpura — 7:05

Popularity of Tonalibus single releases

On Spotify, a most significant online music platform, Tonalibus listeners have recently more than tripled, the new release of May 4, 2024 “Breath of life chant” was already played many hundred times, and the piece “Once upon a time — again and still on the way” from June 2023 has well exceeded a thousand times.

“Breath of life chant” — the answer within — PentaMin / PentaEol on G# (207 Hz) — whistle breath, fretted vichitra veena, tanpura — 8:03

May your gardens sprout harmonious life, love, and peace!

“मैत्री Maitrī base” — the privilege of breath — TetraMin, PentaMinMix/PentaEolDor (derivatives) on C# (276 Hz) — 8-string guitar, tanpura — 6:55

May 2, 2024May 2, 2024

Breath of life chant – the single

Tonalibus single release — “Breath of life chant”

“Breath of life chant” — the answer within — appears globally on May 4, 2024 as new Tonalibus single on:

Amazon, Anghami, Apple Music, MediaNet, Boomplay, Deezer, Instagram/Facebook, Adaptr, Flo, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio, Claro Música, iTunes, Joox, Kuack Media, NetEase, Qobuz, Pandora, Saavn, Spotify, Tencent, Tidal and TikTok & other ByteDance stores.

“Breath of life chant” — the answer within — PentaMin / PentaEol on G# (207 Hz) — whistle breath, fretted vichitra veena, tanpura — 8:03

During extremely soft mantra chanting, so soft it is more breathing than chanting, in a flowing transition from the syllable HU to OM, a faint, largely involuntary whistle sound can become apparent, whistle breath! This is very subtle but powerful and can aide in finding one’s fundamental pitch. The piece “Breath of life chant” is based on whistle breath.

April 26, 2024April 26, 2024

Tonality of the month: Lydian

The tonality of the month is Lydian — a regular diatonic heptatonality.

Lydian on C# (276 Hz) — 8-string guitar — April 2024 — 3:16 — as loop on a separate tab (or via right click, if available)

Lydian, a partially anchored regular diatonic heptatonality and Pro(gressive) tonality, is the tonality of this month of May 2024. It differs by only one pitch from the well known major scale by including the triton instead of the quart. This gives it a very distinct and somewhat lofty feel. On piano keyboards, it corresponds to the white keys with F as fundamental. This tonality is one of Gregorian or church modes. However, it appears in many different musical styles, not just in Gregorian chant, ancient Greek and medieval, but also in romantic and modern music, including jazz and popular tunes. Because of its wide spread use in Polish folk music, some refer to it as Polish mode.

You may enjoy a sound sample or tonality loop as sound mantra for contemplation or meditation. This can help with upliftment, purification, and focusing. Or it could simply be used as soothing background sound for relaxation and regeneration. If you care to hum, chant, or sing along, you could use a spiritually charged syllable like Ōṃ / Aum ॐ, or HU, or another mantra syllable that suits you.

April 17, 2024April 17, 2024

April 2024 Tonalibus update

This April 2024 Tonalibus update highlights an upcoming Tonalibus single release featuring whistle breath. Further, it announces the development of Tonalibus album sampler playlists and new sounds. Finally, this update touches on the therapeutic use of live music.

May 4 Tonalibus single release — “Breath of life chant”

“Breath of life chant” — the answer within — appears globally on May 4, 2024 as new Tonalibus single on:

“Breath of life chant” — the answer within — PentaMin / PentaEol on G# (207 Hz) — whistle breath, fretted vichitra veena, tanpura — 8:03

April 2024 Tonalibus playlists & sounds update

March 2024 sounds concluded and playlist Tonalibus O “Balance of life and love” by now offers six pieces within 62½ minutes of meditative music, including new:
— “Tears of joy” — mantra of soul with a waking toddler’s song, or as plain mantra of soul — multi-octave G# chant with a fusion of mantra syllables like Ōṃ / Aum and HU, unifying much of the spiritual foundation of Tonalibus
— “Perfect imperfection” — one step closer (below)
— “Consciousness” — the one state worth considering
— “Breath of life chant” — whistle breath plain — new additional version highlighting whistle breath alone

“Perfect imperfection” — one step closer — IonAeolian / ClusterBal (melodic major) with a touch of Ionian on E (164.3 Hz) — 8-string guitar, small gong, tanpura — 12:01

New Tonalibus main album sampler playlists

For each of the four so far published Tonalibus main albums, ABC, DE, FGH, and IJK, there is now a selection of some ten pieces or about 1¼ hour of diverse, mostly meditative, calming world music available (below), among Fidibus shop playlists, as well as on Spotify as public artist playlists.

^{IJK sampler}

^{FGH sampler}

^{DE sampler}

^{ABC sampler}

Therapeutic music in action

“Music’s value lies in its inherent ability to enhance connection and communication, as well as to benefit physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing… Therapeutic music is live acoustic music, played or sung, and specifically tailored to [an] immediate need. It is an art based on the science of sound… [and] uses the inherent healing elements of live music and sound to enhance the environment…, making it more conducive to the human healing process.” — NSBTM website, National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians

Tonalibus Ulrico on April 13, 2024 at the Kientalerhof Campus for Body Therapy, Kiental, musically accompanying applied practice sessions of an advanced training course on craniosacral osteopathy for body therapists led by Jürgen Westhoff — photo by Karin Gsöllpointner

May you live with ease, happy, and at peace!

March 20, 2024March 20, 2024

Tonality of the month: ReachMix

The tonality of the month is ReachMix — a Reach or harmonic heptatonality.

ReachMix on F# (184 Hz) — 8-string guitar — March 2024 — 5:15 — as loop on a separate tab (or via right click, if available) — for upliftment, purification, and focusing — “Consciousness” — the one state worth considering

ReachMix, a fully anchored Reach heptatonality, is the tonality of this month of April 2024. This tonality combines a DorMixolydian upper with a regular Reach lower tetrachord. ReachMix is similar to the tonality of the previous month, ReachMin, except that the sixth is now major instead of minor. The basic melodic element (pakad) of the Bairagi Bhairav raga presented last month with ReachMin is still somewhat noticeable in the new ReachMix sound sample above. However, there is a heartfelt expansion to an additional parallel more elaborate resolution pattern onto the lower quint. This highlights the rounded balancing quality of the DorMixolydian upper tetrachord.