Introduction
Throughout the ages, people from all cultures have struggled to understand
and express the power and beauty of music and explain the magical quality
of sound. Although a sheet of music is visible, as is the instrument on
which it is played, music itself is invisible, mysterious. There is no
satisfactory definition of it; every culture draws the borderlines of sonic
events in different places. But everyone agrees that music affects us,
moves us, inspires us, and transforms us as human beings. This book is a
testament to the power of such sound.
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Excerpted from Spirit Into Sound, (c)1999. By Mickey Hart and
Fredric Lieberman. Reprinted with permission of Grateful Dead Books,
Novato, CA. All rights reserved.
Buy the book from Amazon.com and help support GraceOnline.
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Years ago, when Fred Lieberman and I were researching what were to become
Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum, we began stumbling on
brilliant quotes, epiphanies that happen in an instant, lighting our word
with clarity and wit, We gathered and stored these quotes in our
information snake, what we called our Anaconda -- our ongoing
research project in search of the Grail -- the explanation for the
connection between music and trance.
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Music is a miracle, transforming consciousness, taking the mind and
spirit to places unknown.
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These wonderful images were full of light and wisdom, somehow speaking the
unspeakable, touching the untouchable. In this collection, which is laced
with some thoughts and recollections of our own, we try to present the
wonder of music in the words of those touched by its magic. Music is a
miracle, transforming consciousness, taking the mind and spirit to places
unknown.
Using the energy of music to shape that invisible place we call the soul
seems appropriate somehow. This dance occurs in a place outside our
everyday consciousness, yet it has access to it as well. Good and evil,
love and hate, war and peace are all fair game in this domain. All the
emotions are courted and nothing is too weird for the muse. When I think
of "spirit into sound," I realize this is what music is all about. How do
we turn spirit, which is a feeling, into a reality and energy that we can
harness and use? Transmutation. Take ideas and the feelings that we have,
and turn them into sound. This is the great work, this is the
philosopher's stone, this is the alchemy of life. Music is the gold of the
sound-shaper.
The Anaconda has once more shed its skin, revealing gleaming treasures that
give new meaning to the world around us: these we dedicate to musicians and
music lovers everywhere.
This book is not a museum of old ideas, but rather a living, interactive
guide to the future. The power of music is still young, its energy only
party realized. We're continuing to learn to use this gift, to penetrate
its mystery, and ultimately to share this knowledge with everyone.
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Music and Musicians
Movers and Shakers
The first time I thought of myself as a musician was when I bought a pair
of mother-of-pearl bongos at a pawnshop. With these, I gave my first
public performance at Atlantic Beach in Long Island. I was about thirteen.
The older kids were building fires and having a party. I sat down, crossed
my legs, put the bongos in the sand, and started playing a rhythm,
improvising freely as the mood demanded. People gathered around, clapped
their hands, and started singing and dancing. It was an instant party,
with lots of good-looking girls. For a shy, introverted, skinny kid, this
was a major event. I had become Charles Atlas and Errol Flynn, all rolled
into one, a fantasy world come true.
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I knew right then that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. It
was the call of the wild. It was sexy, it was fun, and it had nothing to
do with my parents.
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I knew right then that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. It was
the call of the wild. It was sexy, it was fun, and it had nothing to do
with my parents. Even thought I'd been studying military drumming with my
mom (a world champion drummer), this was a new world, seductive and
irresistible. It was making music in the moment, in the now, feeling not
thinking, and provided a foretaste of how I would spend much of my musical
life.
Many people have dedicated their lives totally to their own musical quest,
often enduring shame, ridicule, and financial hardship to maintain
self-respect. Why are they so passionate about an invisible vibration? It
must stir the soul -- maybe it's even a gift from the gods. But it's not
free. Someone had to learn the craft, someone passed it on.
To the outside world some of us are merely recognizable within the frenzied
celebrity culture of our time. If you are not careful, being a rock star
in today's world can kill you. Most everyone lucky enough to fall into
this crazy trip knows that by now. That is the dark side you have to dance
with. But being a rock star also means that you have lucked out as an
artist in this materialistic time and place. It means you can live out the
full life of your imagination, if you so wish, and if you survive.
Connecting is the key. The ability to find happiness in your performance,
your experience, however brief, on that stage. You practice endless hours,
in and out of the dream state, for those few fleeting moments. How you
feel after the performance is what you really take home with you.
This is a risky business. It seems as though what you imagine cannot
really be accomplished fully on this earth. Only sometimes, in a moment,
does it all come together. It is in a blinding flash of the light and
sound, a cacophony, that a profusion of images colliding into this
marvelous creation becomes your life's work. So rare, so rare -- it is no
wonder that we are all crazy for this moment. It is like the perfect crime
or a miracle, everything coming together in an instant: the marvelous, the
miraculous, the magic finally at hand. Who could expect this on a daily
basis except the most mad, the artist, the musician.
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When performed correctly, music is a never-ending circle of power.
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When performed correctly, music is a never-ending circle of power. The
energy achieved in the musical experience is transmuted and passed on in
everyday life. Where it can lead you has no limit, no border, as these
witnesses so clearly report.
Related Links
Channeling the Muse: The Spirituality of Creative Work
Rachel Bagby, Marge Piercy, and several other artists, writers, and
musicians tell us how they experience the connection between creativity and
spirituality. Multimedia Feature.
Bringing Our Voices to Life
In this excerpt from her book Divine Daughters, Rachel Bagby tells how the
power of music renews her spirit. Excerpt.
Soulful Sounds
How did Duke Ellington come to compose a Concert of Sacred Music
commemorating the completion of Grace Cathedral? This excerpt from Duke
Ellington: A Spiritual Biography tells the story. Forum.
The Creative Spirit in Music
The musical director of the San Francisco Opera discusses his own spiritual
connection with music, and how music can lead to enlightenment for us all.
Forum.
