Yes, I am that I am What I always wanted But compromised so Until left the cocoon And stepped outside The confines of home Out into the wide world To realities of being now Not as they wanted to be But as they are right here Yes, they are what they are No matter the point of view There is that core of real To be experienced true Beyond right and wrong Good or bad, up or down For it always is that it is Divine love some call it Spirit, light and sound Free flowing through Claimed all too often By drives for stature And therefore limited Instead of allowed to be Simply what it is for real Without interpretation No coloring nor twists Just finally at long last Yes, be! Thus we are.
“Bagisacro blues” — let’s dance!
PentaMin / PentaEol — bass, singing saw, 8-string guitar and crotales — 6:23 — as loop on a separate tab
Rain and time — drops and moments
“There is no substitute for standing in the rain to waken every sense — senses that are muted within four walls, where my attention would be on me instead of all that is more than me. Inside looking out, I could not bear the loneliness of being dry in a wet world.”
“When you have all the time in the world, you can spend it, not on going somewhere, but on being where you are.”
“There is no such thing as random. Everything is steeped in meaning, colored by relationships, one thing with another.”
“Maybe there is no such thing as rain; there are only raindrops, each with its own story.”
“Maybe there is no such thing as time; there are only moments, each with its own story.”
— Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, pp. 295-300
Yes, I am that I am — swan and soul
The swan who came to greet some receptive souls — March 2022 — Hünibach, Switzerland
Just a few words Repeat themselves Over and over again That’s language To be shared Reflect reality Ideally or else Submerge illusion Which way to go It is your choice Not taken lightly But given sound Touch the heart And free soul As war rages People suffer Apparently unjust To come together Sooner or later Or part for good Any way that is What’s happening Over and over again Repeating itself Just a few words Of love will help As actions resolve Right and wrong What is that it is.
“Nature’s echo in blue calm” — where a contrast meets
Trust is a delicate matter. It takes forever to build up. But it can vanish in one instant. One lie or what’s seen as absolute negative can destroy what took years, decades, even centuries to build up. Trust! Once blemished or broken, it’s very hard to build up again and may at best remain shaky for a long time. That’s where most part ways. But how about remaining together? That’s love!
“If I don’t pick rocks and pull weeds, I’m not fulfilling my end of the bargain. I can do these things with my handy opposable thumb and capacity to use tools, to shovel manure. But I can no more create a tomato or embroider a trellis in beans than I can turn lead into gold. That is the plants’ responsibility and their gift: animating the inanimate.”
“The guidelines for the Honorable Harvest are not written down, or even consistently spoken of as a whole — they are reinforced in small acts of daily life. But if you were to list them, they might look something like this:
Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.
Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.
Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last.
Take only what you need.
Take only that which is given.
Never take more than half. Leave some for others.
Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.
Share.
Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.
Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.
The rules of the Honorable Harvest are based on accountability to both the physical and the metaphysical worlds. The taking of another life to support your own is far more significant when you recognize the beings who are harvested as persons, nonhuman persons vested with awareness, intelligence, spirit — and who have families waiting for them at home. Killing a who demands something different than killing an it. When you regard those nonhuman persons as kinfolk, another set of harvesting regulations extends…” — the Honorable Harvest.
— Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, pp. 126-127 and 183
An honorable swan beyond words
Crossing paths with an honorable swan — March 2022 — Champ Pittet, Yverdon-les-Bains
The tonality of the month of April 2022 is ReachMin or Phrygian dominant. As fully anchored Reach or harmonic heptatonality, it combines a PhrygAeolian upper with a regular Reach lower tetrachord. That is the interval of an augmented second from its minor second to its major third. Thus, ReachMin juxtaposes strong but well rounded anchored contrasts. Among its notes, the major third is the most contrasting. The enriching, uplifting, and assertive quality of this pitch arises from being one of the first harmonics of the tonic.
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 do so using a spiritually charged syllable like HU or Ōṁ / Aum ॐ, or another mantra syllable that suits you.
Attractive cool waters before dusk — March 2022 — view from Erlach harbor, lake Biel/Bienne
How much is imagined Where is the substance More a reality or illusion Can we distinguish them So intricately intertwined When we look at things What colors the image Enhances or distorts Pointing out reality Or veiling in illusion To elude experience One moment it’s here The next it will be gone As if it never happened But it’s cast in memory More or less accurately Possibly quite twisted To suit circumstances How it was in reality Until it was all over In the flow of life Move on beyond That one moment Always to the next Not linear like a river But round concentric For it is the sea of life Where history meets The prophecy of now May be a blessing In reality indeed.
“Wake and ready for an new day” — Aeolian with a touch MinReach — piano — March 2022 — 5:35
“Time is not a river running inexorably to the sea, but the sea itself — the tides that appear and disappear, the fog that rises to become rain in a different river… In circular time… stories are both history and prophecy, stories for a time yet to come. If time is a turning circle, there is a place where history and prophecy converge.” — Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, pp. 206-207
Pebbles sparkle in a creek — February 2022 — Valle Maggia, Ticino
This February-March 2022 Tonalibus update announces the global release of the album Tonalibus Cooperation A. First though, it highlights Tonalibus playlists with new personal sound samples. Thus, the playlist Tonalibus D is now complete. In addition, playlist Tonalibus E experienced a very decisive beginning. Then there is a recap of the February 10 cooperation concert in Basel. Finally, this update concludes with inspiring quotes on harmony and a corresponding comment.
A completed and a new playlist in the Fidibus shop
This playlist High Mountains on fire, light, and sound is now complete with 12 pieces covering 72 minutes of original music. “Courage it takes” and “無為 Wu wei – contemplation” came about from the preparations for the cooperation concert in Basel on February 10, “Blessings may be” and “Guggisbärg-Melodie” from live concert recordings.
This rapidly growing playlist Freedom of sound and harmony so far includes already 6 pieces offering 33 minutes of new music. This includes a rhythmic and a calm LydReach sound sample, “Happy birthday, Robin Hood! (for K.)”, “Thundering liberty and freedom”, “Bagisacro blues — let’s dance!”, and “Tagicrosago — W. A. Mathieu’s dark horse” that is offered as sample below.
“Tagicrosago” — PhrygDorian — tanpura, 8-string guitar, crotales, singing saw, gong — March 2022 — 5:45
The here mentioned new titles are available also under Sounds, individually and as loops. The recordings concluding playlist Tonalibus D as well as the two new LydReach samples are under Winter 2021-2022. While further recordings from playlist Tonalibus E are under Spring 2022. And the early 2022 cooperation sound samples mentioned below are under Cooperation 2020-2021.
As announced in a previous blog post, Cooperation A – the album was released on global music platforms on February 22. Details about it you find under Cooperation A — Album in the Fidibus shop. It presents spontaneous improvisations as in playlist Cooperation A, including the new “Starry Sky” and “Heart in Misty Forest”. A sound sample is offered below.
“Cheerful Hey, Hey! — a happy dance” — Mixolydian — voice by Christina Braun — 8-string guitar by Ulrico — 5:18
February 10 cooperation concert — recap
Concert car packed up to and on the roof
Cooperation concert venue in action
Fretted vichitra veena
8-string guitar
In the Happy Garden – sound & song
Cooperation concert with Ulrico and Marcel Haag QuBa, Basel February 10, 2022
More concerts in various cooperation configurations are currently being planned. A private living room concert with Ulrico is scheduled for April 2 in Liebefeld, a suburb of Bern.
“By singing a tone in tune, you tune your room and your family and your neighborhood. It is not otherworldly that this is so. You place the energy of your sound into this world, and this world’s energy does not die; instead, it transforms. And whatever it transforms into carries with it forever the history of your good intentions.”
Harmonic territory, “even if it proves impossible to describe, it is nevertheless your territory and is eminently possible to explore. A true musician knows the inner ground. Singing is the royal road to this inner land. Once inside, you become the mapmaker. You name the canyons and ranges, the hidden valleys, the underground rivers, the unnameable. The most amazing thing is that your map seems to be more or less identical to mine. (*) That’s why music connects individuals, communities, cultures, maybe someday a global population: We are more the same than different. And yet, vive la différence. Without it, music, like evolution, would be long gone.”
“Treat the naming systems … as if they were true. But we must remember that they are not quite true. It is crucial to understand the limitations of the names we use. The half truth of a construct in the mind can actually close our ears to the truth of a sound in the air. Incomplete or false constructs may lead us away from the subtlety we seek. … From now on we will have been forewarned, and prepared for imminent wobbles and collapses. We will understand and adjust.”
“It is powerful, upon hearing the music of strangers…, to recognize the common threads that connect the harmonic resonances of various peoples. This is not personal authority but the collective power of being human. Whether or not you were musically trained, you would sense the power of the harmonic resonances. But when you yourself can make such sounds, you realize the way in which you are this power.”
“Pure tones can learn to be alive inside your body.”
— Harmonic Experience, W. A. Mathieu, pp. 90, 94, 101, 129, and 131
February-March 2022 Tonalibus update — conclusion
(*) — Indeed, W. A. Mathieu’s harmonic mapping appears largely identical in essence to the one of Tonalibus. Although he gives much more weight to and nests also the fifth harmonic or overtone (the major third) besides the third one (the fifth or quint) as basis for his fundamental harmonic mapping. Tonalibus, on the other hand, sticks more closely to the pure Pythagorean approach, i.e., the quint cycle, and gives more weight to the natural sequence of harmonics or overtones. Still, it is most evident that views of harmony are rooted in commonality. As Mathieu put it above: “We are more the same than different. And yet, vive la différence.” After all, there is always so much, much more to explore and experience in harmony, life, and love. 🙂
Shadow profile on snow covered mountain brook boulders — February 2022 — bridge over Kiene, Fulbrunni, Switzerland
