Meditational music; know any?

[evolvedbullet]

When it comes down to music that turns my brain into a thinking machine is Musical Meditation. I listen to things such as The Braveheart theme, Celtic Rain, Watermark, Piano solos in particular, and greensleeves played on guitar (Mozart). Got any related to these? I would like to know what you know, share your thoughts please.

 

[Steve]

Gregorian chants.

 

[Heisenberg]

I listen to etn.fm or di.fm when I really need to concentrate and work.

 

[Crono]

Yanni is the man. Celtic Woman are good. So is Enya.

 

[MX2]

Enigma

 

[evolvedbullet]

I have a question but you guys can choose to ignore it. When it comes down to listening to music like this and your brain is somewhat relaxed and simulated at the same time, what is making it do it? Is it a mystery within the brain or does this feeling have a name? If you do not get my question, what I am trying to say is what is making the music so relaxing and what part of your brain is it effecting?

 

[IGBT]

..broadband white noise and ocean surf cd's.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

no sound at all is best for meditation. focus on your breathing and clearing your mind

 

[evolvedbullet]

Originally posted by: GrantMeThePower
no sound at all is best for meditation. focus on your breathing and clearing your mind

I know, but when it comes down to a mood I'm in I need music. Music, in my words, is another form of reality in which I can think in (Be out of my mind mentally ). I could mediate without music but it would feel like work instead of relaxation. When I just listen and do nothing at all, the vibe from the music hits my ears and uplifts me. It truly is an odd feeling but it feelings good.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
I have a question but you guys can choose to ignore it. When it comes down to listening to music like this and your brain is somewhat relaxed and simulated at the same time, what is making it do it? Is it a mystery within the brain or does this feeling have a name? If you do not get my question, what I am trying to say is what is making the music so relaxing and what part of your brain is it affecting?

I guess it has to do with the reason that people find certain things visually appealing, such as sunsets, or certain arrangements of colors. Why do certain logical contradictions cause laughter? Why that kind of a response? A computer simply errors out when it encounters something odd. If it would encounter a kangaroo driving a fire engine while wearing a tuxedo, it'd probably just error out and wait for an explanation. A human might possibly laugh. It's just totally not normal. I guess it beats getting distressed every time something out of the ordinary happens.

I'll listen to music and not always pay attention to the words. I've recently started listening to Sarah McLachlan. Most of the songs, I can't understand the words, or else I just don't pay enough attention to memorize them. I just enjoy the sound of her voice. She seems to have excellent control over it, and uses it to good effect. Why does my mind like it? I dunno, but it does. I've been listening to "Vox" several times a day now, in addition to a few others.

Originally posted by: GrantMeThePower
no sound at all is best for meditation. focus on your breathing and clearing your mind

I prefer things to drown out sounds of my own various bodily functions. I like having music playing or the TV on while I eat. Sure I can chew with my mouth closed, but there's nothing to prevent the gross chewing noises from travelling right through my skull to get to my eardrums.

 

[Spacehead]

When i want to relax it's:

some Tangerine Dream
Steve Roach/Robert Rich - Strata
Richter Band - Richter Band
Peter Kater/R. Carlos Nakai - Natives
Djam Karet - Suspension & Displacement
Al Gromer Khan - Mahogany Nights
Yathra Sidra - A Meditation Mass

I've got a buch of other stuff too, those just came to mind.

 

[xSauronx]

i just listen to something instrumental. if theres lyrics, i focus on that instead of what i wanted to be doing

flecktones are good, and so is some jazzy stuff like the dave brubeck quartet

 

[sobriquet]

Originally posted by: evolvedbullet
I have a question but you guys can choose to ignore it. When it comes down to listening to music like this and your brain is somewhat relaxed and simulated at the same time, what is making it do it? Is it a mystery within the brain or does this feeling have a name? If you do not get my question, what I am trying to say is what is making the music so relaxing and what part of your brain is it effecting?

This is a complex issue, but I think a great deal of it comes down to what you're listening to and how you're listening to it. Musicologists have largely boiled listening practices down into two camps, sensual listening and structural listening. Listening sensually (not sensuously, though that happens too) involves responding to immediate sensory input. Just as the sense of sight can have an influence on the rest of your body, hearing can induce bodily sensations, good and bad (for example, music with a prominent and highly regular rhythm has been shown to stimulate the part of the brain responsible for movement). If you are listening to a particularly "beautiful" (however you might define that) piece of music, there's no question that it will have an effect on your total field of perception.

Structural listening adds a layer on top of this with the interpretation of musical information into compositional structures. While not as immediately gratifying as sensual listening (which has earned it praise from Schoenberg, Adorno, and others), structural listening can induce pleasure quite straightforwardly through the psychological phenomenon of flow. In a flow state, one's abilities are evenly matched with incoming stimuli. The result is a seeming transparency of self, where one simply responds "without thinking." This sensation, whether it comes from listening to music, playing music, or any other activity, is highly pleasurable.

I suppose the short answer is that it depends greatly on the person doing the listening. Obviously some sounds will be consistently perceived by certain groups of people, but perception is a highly individualized thing.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Craig Armstrong and George Winston

 

[Hyperlite]

Enya and Loreena McKennitt

 

[irishScott]

I've found Cusco to be nice:
Check out the samples
http://www.amazon.com/Apurimac-III-Nature-Spirit-Pride/dp/B000003YXL

 

[lizardth]

Life Blood by Joanne Shenandoah
Traditional Iroquois chants and melodies put to music.

 

[enwar3]

Honest question: where do you find the gregorian chants? Cuz I like those...

 

[pennylane]

Listen to ambient music. Ambient music is supposed to be music that can reward attention (so it's not muzak, or new age fluff), but isn't strict enough to demand it. A lot of it is slow moving, repeated passages, with subtle changes in texture and mood. I like it because I can relax to it, but when I listen, my mind doesn't float away completely. I can pay attention when I feel like but I'm otherwise free to think of other things. I sometimes listen to it while I study.

I find that listening to it before I go to sleep (and as I'm going to sleep) helps me clear my head. My mind doesn't randomly jump from idea to idea because I'm paying attention to the music, but the music isn't completely engaging either. It's not something I'd listen to in the middle of the day, while driving, or something like that. But it's appropriate for other times.

Start with Brian Eno. Get albums like:
Another Green World
Before and After Science (the second half)
Ambient 1: Music For Airports (especially this one)
Ambient 2: The Plateau of Mirror
Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks
Thursday Afternoon
The Shutov Assembly
Neroli: Thinking Music Part IV
03007: Bell Studies for the Clock of the Long Now

Also look at Harold Budd:
The Pearl
Lovely Thunder
As Long As I Can Hold My Breath/Avalon Sutra

I also like to listen to (off the top of my head):
Patrick Cassidy & Lisa Gerrard - Immortal Memory
Gaudeamus - Sacred Feast

 

[TechBoyJK]

check out the meditation cd's by kelly howell

they rule and will trance you out. nothing but frequencies. no music.

 

[CellarDoor]

I'll pretty much just echo some of the other things already said.

Brian Eno was the first thing that came to mind. I would also recommend Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works Vol. II." Loreena Mckennitt is amazing as well.

 

[Kadarin]

Amethystium

Also, some smooth jazz, particularly guitar such as that by Marc Antoine or Peter White.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: AnandTech Moderator
In the mod lounge, we have Neil Diamond piped in 24/7. And not just his songs, but Neil rants, Deep Thoughts by Neil, Neil holding forth on all things Neil, and eight hour long real time recordings of Neil snoring and occassionally screaming out startling obscenities while asleep. We think it sets a tone, and it all seems to have a much needed calming effect on the Violently Insane Mod.