healing with minimal music

MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE · Post by **MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:00 pm

The healing it gives me is the ability to escape from everyday life and associated stresses.....

Repetitive, minimal music is even better as it has the hypnotic effect....

I just wish i never started producing so i wasn't so anyaltical

hydrogen · Post by **hydrogen** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:06 am

Quick question... Do you guys think that making minimal or listening to minimal has actually made you less intelligent? sometimes i feel like the trance inducing rhythms actually dulls the mind, or just takes it to another dimension and you never come back. Not really sure how to explain other than that...

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:14 am

i know, its such a difficult subject to talk about.
its a multi-facetted subject, and maybe the production forum is the wrong place.
but here's an example of why i think about it;
for the last few years i've had problems with my throat, exacerbated no doubt by my life style, but which i believe has deeper origins.
i've read a few books by certain healers assoiciated with the Esalen Institue in California, and one writer's works have helped me a lot in healing myself of various illnesses, so although i'm a complete sceptic unless something is proven to me, and i'm not normally open to quack therapies, i kind of see that this healer is potentially on to something.
so i thought i'd consult her works about throat problems.
she insists that throat problems are due to blocked creativity.
well it so happened that i had noticed that my throat always got worse when i was struggling in the studio, and when i was flowing creatively, it was absolutely normal.
then i began thinking about the possible negative effects of certain frequencies on the throat. the throat is basically a musical instrument, so it has a vibrational range, and this can surely be affected negatively by some frequencies outside the range of human speech.
so i began thinking it was important to be careful with frequencies especially above that range, maybe some of these aggressive high frequency vibrations are causing distress to the delicate tissues of the larynx.
maybe when i'm not flowing creatively, its because i'm not 'tuned in' i'm making sounds which are fighting with my own constitution, and so i'm very aware of the frequnecies i'm using, and the vibrations i'm sending out.

so i suppose i'm conciuosly trying to heal myself when i make music.

a similar thing happened to me around 8 years ago, when i was having trouble with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) i was really ill with it for about 3 years, and i considered that certain low frequencies could be adversly affecting the rhythm of my intenstines. i used to monitor at high levels in the studio.
so i started to drop the levels, and spent a long time deciding which frequencies to use in the sub-bass. i would sit listening to (feeling) tones, micro adjusting them till they seemed to resonate with me, and felt comfortable.
there were a few other factors which contributed to the problem i'm sure, but it was completely gone within a few months, and the doctors had given up on me !

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:18 am

hydrogen wrote:Quick question... Do you guys think that making minimal or listening to minimal has actually made you less intelligent? sometimes i feel like the trance inducing rhythms actually dulls the mind, or just takes it to another dimension and you never come back. Not really sure how to explain other than that...

for me no. i feel it expands awareness.

WYRL · Post by **WYRL** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:35 am

The power of suggestion is a wonderful thing in any art.I find music made in melancholy,anger or frustration for example can be healing for the artist and the listener if the intent is to share a common bond or thread that my be hard to express any other way.For me Techno music has always been a way to connect people on a fundamental level where there's no need talk or rationalize because speech has been replaced by the language of dancing.Music that comes across as not being to contrived even tho the low level mechanics are quite the opposite have great healing effect on me and although consciously seeking out healing freqs is not part of the way i work personally I'll probably give it more thought after reading this thread!
Saying that,I do try to project a good vibe or intent onto whatever I'm working on.Not just music.
So....Hippy sh!t?I think so

the deep end is not for everyone but I'm really looking forward to seeing where this thread go's.
Carry on!

Opuswerk · Post by **Opuswerk** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 12:01 pm

Saw the first post yesterday, but needed some time to think about it.
Funnily enough I just discovered Wolfgang Voigt Gas project and listened to it all evening. This is techno as close to healing music as i've heard in a nice way.

As for the healing process, I think it should be divided in 2. As much as I agree with steevio on how one particular sub can affect his intestines, it seems to me that logically such a frequency will be different for each body. As we all resonate to different frequency, our bodies being made differently and with different amount of water etc... The range with sub might be pretty big though and it could be justified there, but as soon as you reach the higher spectrum then it shouldn't be such a small range. But i'm talking totally empirically here

.
As for the second healing process, the one of the mind; I feel music is highly associated with it. I for example need to be creating or else I fall into depression, ie no long holidays on a beach doing nothing for me. It just drives me nuts.
I think in that field, minimal can have a very strong healing power. As the repetitivity allows for a great impact on the target. Like a massage actually. It might even be the best suited music for that.

I do however feel a bit lost typing now...

Might be interesting to hear someone who's good with psychoacoustics. Or to look into how art has dealt with this matter before (healing with colours, forms, etc...). That was pretty big in the late 70's if i remember well....

steevio · Post by **steevio** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:22 pm

Opuswerk wrote: As much as I agree with steevio on how one particular sub can affect his intestines, it seems to me that logically such a frequency will be different for each body. As we all resonate to different frequency, our bodies being made differently and with different amount of water etc...

yes, i agree, this is why i say i'm healing myself when i make music.
i'm not consciously trying to heal others, basically because i dont know how.
but i'm interested in the possibilities.

Opuswerk · Post by **Opuswerk** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 3:40 pm

steevio wrote: yes, i agree, this is why i say i'm healing myself when i make music.
i'm not consciously trying to heal others, basically because i dont know how.
but i'm interested in the possibilities.

That's why i mentioned the mental part of the healing. There are obviously tones and chord progression that sound sad or happy or aggressive. So there's obviously things you can write that will have a imact on the listener. maybe it'd be easier to list music we think heals us, and figure out it's common characteristics.

I'm a big fan of Satie, Gas (recently), Earth wind and fire (yes that heals me

)
I also think some studio1 records heal me. Like Gelb or Lila.