Name: Yogi
Topic: Trance music
Sent: 07.34 - 3/31 2001

Steve's list of music for breathwork is tried and true.
Many different things can be used as people go into a trance response to different things.

For altered states exploration I like music with no vocals, and long meandering soundscapes. I used one tape a lot with the light and sound machines, it was by a group called Hidden Memories, the CD was called Earth Island, and it worked really well. There was a track on it called "Places In Between" that I liked a lot. It has synthesizers, didgeridoos, guitars and really great tribal drumms and Brazilian percussion.
There is some voices mixed in chanting shamanic prayers every now and then. I found it really good for theta brainwave states.

The slow introductions to Indian ragas are great too. These intros can last 15-30 minutes and will take you deep also.

I also used certain of the NASA space tapes, although this won't be everyone's cup of tea.

-Yogi

Name: Steve Mensing
Topic: Yogi: NASA Space music
Sent: 08.11 - 3/31 2001
Yogi:

If we're talking about the same NASA sounds, they're great for breathwork exploration. They were the sounds Voyager sent back as it traveled through the solar system. It creates long meandering electronic rifts with bassey and changing sound patterns. An entire 5 volume set can be had from Laserlight a budget disc company in L.A. I think they call it Space Symphoney or something like that. Towers carry them. Sometimes they're in the nature sound section or in the Electronica Space Music section. They work like machine sounds.
I bet we're talking about the same thing. Actually several companies have put out these Nasa space sounds which are in the public domain.

The tail ends of Ali Akbar Khan Sarod music where he's flying down the road with his tabla player can be strongly evocative and bring up all sorts of "stuff".

Drumming is great. Real Voodoo trance drumming works great. I'll be back in a bit with some interesting drumming titles.

Take care, Steve

Name: Steve Mensing
Topic: Trance Music
Sent: 08.34 - 3/31 2001
Yogi:

The exact title of those space sounds I was talking about on LaserLight was "Symphonies of the Planets" Vol.1-5. Those were the Voyager recordings.

Some great trance drumming can be found on:

"Guem" Musiques De Trance on Chante Du Monde recordings.

Mickey Heart's "Planet Drum" has some good stuff on it.

"Drums of Death" (Maybe the Barbarian Course can use this baby) on Avan.

"The Big Bang" has a lot of fine world percussion on it. It's a three volume set.

There was a recording company called Muszart who put out some great stuff about 8 years back. Prem Das, Big Black, Maruga and some other percussionists worked with them. They used a water drum called a Quantum Drum. They put out some really trancey discs. Among them was Journey of Drums. I wish I had there stuff on CD. It was really first rate. They were from the Pacific Northwest. Either Washington or Oregon. They had it down right.

Lyrichord Discs has some fine Hatian trance drumming on their Voodoo discs.

Take care, Steve

Name: Steve Mensing
Topic: Trance Music Continued
Sent: 09.09 - 3/31 2001
Here's some exact titles from my old tape box. Some of these I wish I had on CD. Some are likely out of print. You might want to check a Muse machine for availability.

Drum items:

"Master Drummers of Dagbon" Vol. 1 & 2 Rounder
"Voodoo Trance Music/Ritual Drums of Haiti" Lyrichord Rec.(Still in print)

These contain some really outstanding drumming, but are likely out of print. I'd like to have cd's of these. Musart in Cupertino, CA produced them.

"Ecstacy: Journey of Drums and Horn"
"Sonado Tambores (Dreaming Drums)"
"Sangoma Drums"
"Maruga"
"Journey of the Drums"

All of the above were done with Prem Das, Muruga, Shakti et al with a Nada Drum among other percussion instruments.

Michel Uyttebroek did "Drums of Passion" and "Distant Drums Approach" Both have some excellent trance riffs.

Spirit Drummers did "Magic"

Take Care, Steve