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A very short story: The
devil was out with a friend one day, when the friend suddenly tapped
him on the shoulder, saying, "Look over there Mr. Devil, there's
someone, and he's picking up the truth. You're about finished, Mr.
Devil." To which the devil replied. "Oh give him five minutes, and
he'll make a concept of it."
PORTAL
As the full moon rises above the tank, no one doubts that
spirits will come out of the air and down into this place, to play and
echo and improvise through the persons of us all.
1. BEGINNINGS: Out of the void a voice calls out to
find it's place. It calls out in C but is continually pulled up by the
C# conch and finally the C# didgeridoo, which with the Thai Khaen,
begins to assert the.......
2. WARRIOR'S CHOICE: A choice that trusts in the
power of intention. Rafael Bejarano, the wonderful didgeridoo player,
believed that C# was the resonating note of the universe. There are
many different opinions on that. The Hum is a sound made up of many
sounds, and like the metaphor that it stands for, seems to be able to
lie under and accommodate every step of the journey.
3. BODACIOUS MUD: Brian Swimme uses the term,
"galloping mountains," to remind us of a bigger picture of the history
of the universe and our place in it. "In the presence of eternity,"
Robert Green Ingersoll wrote, "the mountains are as transient as
clouds." I think I read somewhere that Mt. Everest is over fifty feet
taller than when Hillary and Tenzig climbed it in 1953.
4. GOIN' HOME: A chant of longing with no words but
in the refrain. A year after recording, I found the perfect words for
it in Stephan Mitchell's book, A Year to Live. "Gate, paragate,
parasamgate" (translated, "Gone, gone beyond, altogether gone beyond")
I always hear these words in the chant now.
This is a place of perfectly circular echoes, each sound
becoming pure ambient presence, unveiling all of it's inner dynamics
like the unfolding of a flower.
5. SWIRLING GRACE: This also is a recurring metaphor
in sound. The realm of possibilities is always alive, as when the tank
takes the sound of two Mbiras, played against it's walls, and turns the
notes into a choir of overtones.
6. SOLEY: The Huichol indians have believed that the
soul emits a high whistling sound, and that sound is a means of calling
the soul back into the body. This is a chant that Aubrey and I sang in
the tank, and to which Vickie Dodd later brought the intention of a
prayer for unity.... for bringing opposites together.
7. CIRCULAR CYBER CAFE: It was a good time for a
laugh.... Totally metalytical dude.
8. HEY LAI YEI and OCARINA GARDEN: Also
called, "The Chlorophyl Molecule," in another nod to the history of the
universe, when 3.7 billion years ago, this molecule was able to receive
the light of the sun and thus, set the stage for plant and animal life.
The underlying theme of this piece is the ability to receive, another
lesson from the tank.
The sound in the tank is before language. All sounds blend
and swirl and transform like the waves and ripples that wash over sand
patterns at the bottom of an ocean tide pool..... Beneath the far off
canopy of moonlight, the candle flames flicker.
9. SWIRLING GRACE and THE PASSING: A prayer
of gratitude.
10. KHAEN PRAYER and HEADIGHTS IN THE DISTANCE:
The
tank
has always been particularly friendly to the Khaen, a 16
bamboo reed instrument, which loosely translates into 'mouth organ.'
The title is a Casteneda reminder of our death, of which we get
glimpses like headlights in the rear view mirror of a car, appearing
and disappearing behind hills .
11. CLEANING THE LINK (of intent): and LA BAJADA:
(the descent) Almost every culture believes in some kind of descent or
dark night of the soul from where "the lark ascends," as William Blake
would say. With each new struggle comes renewed wisdom. The descent is
a challenge to survive and then find a greater good. I got the title
from a rest stop between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
There is a moment in the religion of Santeria when the
presence of the god comes down to ride the worshipper like a horse,
displacing personality and taking over form, moving voice and body like
a divine puppeteer. That is what I've come here to find. I want more
than anything to dig down below the geologic layers of representation
and meaning, to find the body of the earth and the rhythm and notes of
all things.
12. LACRIMAE RERUM (The tears of things) and THE BIRD
OF WISDOM: Casteneda writes of a mysterious 'Bird of Wisdom' that
"pauses in its flight for a moment to give man hope and purpose." (The
Power of Silence)
13. CELEBRATION: It was a good time to celebrate.
As Orpheus falls... and the children dance... and no one
can doubt there are angels in the symmetry of these sounds... the grail
that we seek is direct, unmediated experience.
14. REMEMBER: Relates to all we have experienced
before, but also that which is in our cellular memory, the memory that
includes our whole history in the universe...... hydrogen atoms
creating galaxies...... that connects us to our oneness.
15. HOME: I am always deeply moved by Jesse Manno's
concertina and vocal and how they seem to bring us to a place that
feels like home.
16. Reprise: THE OCARINA GARDEN
I seek a language that is pure, but only a language that
is without words or pictures can meet that demand...knocking away that
which is superfluous, digging to find the words to express what is
always beyond words, logic, reason and self absorption. For now I
deliver to you this journey, this travelogue, this spiral, this ritual,
this prayer.**
** Italicised notes from Ralph Melcher's story of his journey
to the tank, "Hearing Voices," published in Fish Drum Magazine, Volume
16, 2001
MUSICIANS on PORTAL: Rafael Bejarano-
didgeridu, huaca, wind whistle, percussion, vocals. Thomas Blomster-
duga
drum,
bell
tree,
percussion,
vocals. Scott Christensen-
didgeridu, 'dream state' synth, recorded stream. Tom DeFore-
mbira, vocals. Vickie Dodd- vocals, prayer and intention. James
Hoskins- percussion, vocals. Aubrey Lande- vocals. Ron
LaPlace- vocals, percussion. Jesse Manno- flute, saz,
drums, percussion, sipsi, ocarina, pouli sticks, concertina, vocals. Dexter
Payne- flute, percussion, vocals. Michael Stanwood-
didgeridu, conch shell, duga drum, khaen, Tarahumara drum, tibetan
bowls, bowed glass, bowed gobichand, tubelo, mirambula, jaw harps,
ocarinas, kalimba, pouli sticks, mbira, whistle, panpipes, marxophone,
autoharp, vocals
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