TIBETAN SINGING BOWLS 

Volume 3

ANCIENT TIBETAN INITIATION BOWLS

(1993 & 2,001)

Duration 79’ 00”  

BEL CD 012 (CD only) £10

(post & packing extra in the UK - £2.75 First Class Recorded Delivery)

 

 

 

 

 

Volume Three in the Series "Tibetan Singing Bowls" and it is also Volume Two of Frank's "Planets Suite" featuring music inspired by the planets Vulcan, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and the Sun even though, strictly speaking, the Sun isn't a planet.   (To go straight to Reviews please click HERE)

 

Soundbites:

Track 2: AWAKENS THE FIVE TREASURES OF MOUNT KANCHENJUNGA. Click HERE for sound clip.  My music features little repetition and unfolds more like a conversation or poem . This clip is but part of a larger whole. Unfortunately, some of my sounds do not faithfully reproduce into MP3's.

Track 4: THE CHINTAMANI STONE IS FOUND. Click HERE for sound clip.  My music features little repetition and unfolds more like a conversation or poem . This clip is but part of a larger whole. This clip is but part of a larger whole. Unfortunately, some of my sounds do not faithfully reproduce into MP3's.

 

This is the fully resurrected version of Belovodye, Land of White Waters. Volume 2 that originally was to appear on the now defunct ISIS Records label. Initially, this project was to be something of a collaboration between the owner Mike Trim and myself.  Mike Trim had intimated that my music was rather difficult for people to approach and suggested making an album where each track progressively brings the new listener closer to the essence of my work. It soon became very clear that Mike Trim had nothing constructive to offer towards the project and that I was left to my own devices. As each track unfolded, one CD was rapidly filled and so the inevitability of it stretching into two CDs dawned and the vast majority of this second CD (largely featuring Tibetan Singing Bowls) was also recorded during those few days of recording.  Basically, this second CD was intended to represent the essence of my music - the final objective of this imaginary sonic journey towards the Source. Interesting and telling that Mike Trim abandoned it!

With a whole CD before me to represent an unadulterated form of my musical creativity, I was inspired to create my first Tibetan Bowls CD. However, problems with the company ISIS meant that this aspect of the project never got completed or released and I had to wait more years until 1997 before I could finally release an entire CD exclusively featuring Tibetan Singing Bowls (THE HEALING BOWLS OF TIBET) on another label.         

Only once before, in 1983, had I created a piece featuring only Tibetan instruments (NEW ATLANTIS - side two of this album titled: "Rays of Sunlight Touch the Healing Waters" - on the Celestial Harmonies label and now available as a Double CD alongside DEEP PEACE) but had always wanted to more fully explore and represent these remarkable instruments throughout an entire album dedicated to their uniquely psycho-spiritual resonances.                              

In the event five pieces were spontaneously created. Later, at home, I realised that we now had the music for the other five planets! In the intervening time I had released two Tibetan Bowl CDs and had thought, therefore, that this CD was somewhat superfluous. However, during this period I have occasionally listened to cassette sketches put together at home on my 4-track in 1993 and listening to it more recently I became convinced that it is a unique flowering and deserves to be made available alongside the existing Tibetan Bowl CDs. Acquiring modern technology has meant that I have now managed to painstakingly reconstruct it in its entirety to the delight of all those who've been patiently awaiting its release. 

Belovodye, Land of White Waters - in total comprises eleven pieces and just under 160 minutes of music recorded in 4 days. However, these never were full days as Mike Trim didn't always feel like recording and, being as the Studio was in a non-sound-proofed converted barn, the weather was a huge consideration - any wind or rain, then, forget it! (and, yes, it rained!) - and most recording was done at night when the outside farm noises, etc, were at a minimum.  The original conception for this album was: -

 

PLANETARY PEACE 

Subtitled 

Belovodye - Land of White Waters. 

Part 2: Ancient Tibetan Initiation Bowls.

Additional Musicians:

Martin Brunsden - Tibetan bells.

Christine Perry - Tibetan bells

Rose Perry - Tibetan bells

Gabriel Perry - Tibetan bells

 

Belovodye (bEll-oh-vod-yer) means Land of White Waters. This is the Russian Legend of Shambhala. The five tracks are as five planets orbiting a central Sun. Ancient sacred Singing Bowls weave a magnificent journey to this Sacred Spiritual Centre - Shambhala. The sound of each Singing Bowl carries within itself the Sacred Sound of OM whilst it is also believed that these instruments carry the Teaching from Shambhala. Frank began incorporating sacred Tibetan ritual instruments into his music in 1973 and, so, with his many years of experience and unique sensitivity towards the spiritual energies contained within his premier collection guarantees a profoundly spiritual sonic experience. 

 

Photo by Esther James taken at the time of the original recordings in 1993.

Photo by Oliver Nares taken at the time of recording @ Musicalfresco 1997

 

                                                                            Total Time       79:00

 

VULCAN is for Gongs, South American Indian Rainsticks, Maya Balls, a string of Indian crotal bells and only one single Tibetan Singing Bowl  (Aldebaran Bowl) played four different ways: - Struck with a leather mallet, Stroked with a leather wand - in order to produce the fundamental tone, Stroked with a wooden wand - to produce a Harmonic, and Bowed with Water inside. This ensures that the blending of all these several sounds is perfectly harmonious - the harmony being contained within the One Sound.  

Vulcan is a planet said to lie between Mercury and the Sun. The Tibetan D.K. through Alice Bailey stated that it was the Esoteric Ruler of Taurus - Aldebaran is a Fixed Star in the Constellation of Taurus the bull. Vulcan was first spotted late in the 19th century. A powerful and haunting piece. The somewhat intense middle section is offset with the Rainsticks, Rain Gong and Bells. 

SUN is the longest track on the entire CD.  This track features an entire range of many different Singing Bowls and also Frank's powerful overtone singing. An improvised repeated sequence played on deep bowls is overlaid with another improvisation (recorded as a 'blind' over-dub) played on a larger selection of bowls and the overtone singing and, finally, numerous water bowls, as well as bowls ululated and simultaneously played as water bowls, were recorded and intended to be added in some future final mix - which (until now) only happened at home on my 4-track cassette recorder. 

The Sun is the Centre of it all! The Sun is the Source of Light and reflects on this physical level of Life that Divine Light of the Supreme Being. The Sun is said to rule the Heart and the royal and kingly Sign of Leo. Within the spiritual heart of each one of us lies the Divine Child awaiting the Awakening Rays from the Spiritual Sun to bring it forth. Very powerful and deeply filling!  

        Track 2: AWAKENS THE FIVE TREASURES OF MOUNT KANCHENJUNGA. Click HERE for sound clip.  My music features little repetition and unfolds more like a conversation or poem . This clip is but part of a larger whole. Unfortunately, some of my sounds do not faithfully reproduce into MP3's.

 

URANUS features a range of explorations into the harmonics of a specially selected range of these amazing bowls - what we hear in the Silence! As well as ululation, some other special playing techniques are also used in this piece. Numerous innovative playing techniques had unfolded by the time I was recording but, although the overall ideas for this section were clear, there were questions regarding the final form that this track would take. Taking those ideas, I have now completely re-recorded this track whilst the final form suggested itself to me just prior to recording.  

Uranus is linked to Intuition and also known as The Awakener - it awakens us to Truth. It is also associated with the unexpected and the unusual. In esoteric astrology it is also referred to as the octave of the Sun and, therefore, by definition, connected with the Spiritual Sun. It is also linked to the Ray of Magic and to the Third Eye Centre.  Uranus is related to the Path of the Occultist.

NEPTUNE is another long track on the CD and is for Singing Bowls, Tibetan Bells, Planicerv and Nectarine. Bowed Singing Bowls play the OM MANI PEME HUM repeated twice upon three bowls - above a drone played on the Aldebaran Bowl. Amongst the sounds featured in this piece are several Water Bowls and two Heart Chakra Bowls. A basic track, played on several stroked bowls, was intuitively put together using Frank's 'blind over-dub' technique (whereby each sound is produced whilst not hearing what had been played before) and, over and above this, an improvisation (again using 'blind over-dubbing') played on the Nectarine and the un-tuned Planicerv. The Planicerv plays the 'music of the spheres' taken from the chart of the last Uranus/Neptune Conjunction '93) and the Seventh Harmonic of this chart - for more on my use of astro - numerology in my work click here and read the Appendix.                        

The piece is in two halves with the first comprising Tibetan Singing Bowls and the latter half (stroked) Tibetan Hand Bells (Drilbu). Beneath the Hand bells is played a giant melody played from a set of 18 Tibetan Yang Bowls. This melody is taken from a painting of Mount Kanchenjunga by Nicholas Roerich. The various 'peaks' of the mountain provide the several notes of the melody whilst their relative height and distance provides guidelines for their musical pitch and the timing of the notes respectively. Basically, the slow melody is in waltz time and played but once.               

Neptune is the most mystical of all the planets. It is connected with the Higher Psychic faculties and rules over the base of the brain centre. By this rulership, it is also associated with the mysteries of the inaudible sound of the Nada Yogis. The nature of this planet is to dissolve and, therefore, it is most nebulous.  Neptune is associated with the Path of the Mystic.

This piece resembles Track 2 of Deep Peace' - which was subtitled "The Neptunian Music of Thought". Very dreamy and yet full of intriguing details for the attentive listener.  The first and last sound is the drone upon the Aldebaran Bowl. The music is in layers that also interact with one another. The basic track was played intuitively whilst the Planicerv are worked out - and yet interestingly, they fit perfectly with the irrational patterns.   These several layers of interdependent musical activity can be seen to represent the foreground, middle ground and far distance in a painting of mountains.  

We can imagine glimpsing a golden peak through the floating mists as well as picturing the constellations of stars forming the outline of a mountain peak floating in space.

            Track 4: THE CHINTAMANI STONE IS FOUND. Click HERE for sound clip.  My music features little repetition and unfolds more like a conversation or poem . This clip is but part of a larger whole.

PLUTO this features Frank as a one-man overtone choir! These two pieces were originally recorded in the very early 1990s as part of a total piece for the Jade Isle label. This was a special release called Discovering Atlantis comprising a spoken visualisation, special candle holder and specially selected aromas for a multi-sensorial experience released on the Jade Isle label set up by the late Tony Duhig. This is followed by swung gongs overlaid with swung Drilbu (Tibetan hand bells) all played separately by Frank with no reference to one another. 

Pluto carries the energy of regeneration and renewal. Here we see an immediate association with that most spiritual of experiences: the 'Second Birth'-  the age-old process of Initiation. Invariably, this means initiation into a community even if this experience is between the individual and an invisible spiritual community of initiated beings, rather than amongst fellow members of a human community constituting a kind of 'spiritual family'. A short end-piece opening us up towards a Greater Whole.

 

Each piece is a journey in itself - deep inner journeys wherein these sacred sounds transport us into other realms far away from the cares of this materialistic society where we can be inspired with the energies from this ancient City of Light - Belovodye / Shambhala.  Reproduced below is the painting by Nicholas Roerich that was used on the original CD release.

 

SONG OF SHAMBHALA by Nicholas Roerich. 
By kind permission of the Roerich Museum New York

 

 

REVIEWS

 

"Paradoxically, his music is something very ancient, yet never heard before, a glimpse of what music might become in a future spiritual culture. 
"However, all is pervaded by a tremendous silence, which in some of his work can lead the listener into cosmic and angelic dimensions of creation. The title suggests a kind of Shambhala, a Deity of Light, and the six tracks are stages of a voyage to this place, both a physical location and a state of Being...... all suggested and created by a staggering array of tone-colours. These landscapes blossom vividly in the imagination; valleys, canyons, caves and high mountains; all connected by this winding road as a luminous thread.
"The last track brings luminous revelation and we see, at last, the City of Light. Deep gongs create tall columns of golden vibration, a majestic resonating sound pervades all, and we feel the presence of Great Beings. Light and sound descend into form, form continually ascends the ladder of vibration, spirit and sound are irrevocably fused."

Andreas Bettray - Caduceus

 

 

"Frank creates a totally absorbing universe of sound that extends far beyond the idea of the percussive and plugs your imagination directly into his. If ordinary music is like painting, then this is sculpture. Frank's music is created in part from an immense number of gongs, whose sonic richness does for me what Keanu Reeves does for young women, Tibetan bowls whose clarity creates a sound you seem to be able to walk right into, and other vibrational exotica. This record shares that unique property of truly great art of communicating both on a very direct emotional level but of reserving an esoteric depth, for those who care to apply their minds as well as their senses." 

Max Steer - Catalyst

 

"Belovodye 2 is an unparalleled triumph, a true masterpiece from all perspectives;  as experimental music, as performance artistry of the highest calibre, and as the sustained utterance of a truly exalted spiritual ‘note’. I would never use the word masterpiece lightly, but this is one indeed. Within the 79 minutes there are five tracks evoking Vulcan, the Sun -a glorious 34-minute sunbath for the ears - Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, subtitled Singing the Praises of the Blessed One Within All. As the equivalent of 150th Psalm in pure sound it had that sense of uplifted wonder and heart-release that characterises true worship in the spirit. Particular praise must be given to Oliver Nares’s wonderful and sensitive recording of the instruments."

Maxwell Steer - Music & the Psyche 2001

 

"Frank Perry has long been recognised as a master of his extraordinary sacred percussion – the Tibetan singing bowls above all, gongs, Maya balls, rainsticks, Tibetan bells and other assorted instruments.  Add to this his exquisite overtone singing and you have a magical, otherworldly soundscape like no other in which you could bathe indefinitely.

It is both a musically rich tapestry which you can perceive as an archetypal structure Perry intuits at a psychic level.  At the same time the sounds are a therapeutic vibrational medicine that clearly cleanses mind, body and soul.  The vibrations can do their work whether or not you decide to actually listen to them as you would ordinary music. For it has to be accepted that musical sounds operate on our physical and energy bodies through sympathetic or forced resonance if even we are deaf.

Since 1968 Perry’s aim has been to dedicate himself to finding and using sounds that have definite healing properties – primarily the singing bowls.  He has amassed a very large collection of them through listening to more than 4000 bowls over a 20-year period.

As Perry states:  “In certain schools of Tibetan Yoga particular religious objects are charged with psycho-spiritual powers and the most sacred singing bowls are likewise charged.  Some of these are intended to assist us along our spiritual path of unfoldment such as special chakra bowls.”

"The Initiation Bowls music composed in 1993   consists of 5 tracks (roughly 78’ total), the longest being ‘Awakens the Five Treasures of Mount Kanchenjunga’ at almost 34 minutes. On this track and ‘Singing the Praises of the Blessed One Within All’ Perry includes his remarkable overtoning.  It has a unique quality like no other that I have heard. It is as if he makes contact with some Tibetan master of the ancient past and channels the master’s voice in a totally natural way.  As though it is not a learned technique.  In each of the tracks we go through an initiation.  As Perry explains: ‘It is those initiations which the spiritual life of each and every one is guaranteed to pass through during many lifetimes’   What is striking is that, although he uses essentially the same instruments for each piece, each track nonetheless has its own particular structure. While the titles might have no significance to the perceiver, I am sure they are quite inspirational as a stimulant to unfold these structures." 

James D'Angelo - Caduceus  

And to read Frank's articles on the Singing Bowls of Tibet click HERE

 

 

TO ORDER (please make all cheques payable to FRANK PERRY): -

Frank Perry,

3 Drake Close,

Ringwood,

Hants, BH24  1UG

United Kingdom.

Telephone: 01425-470168

 

 

© Copyright by Frank Perry 1993. All rights reserved.  Revised 2001. 

© Frank Perry, 1993. All of these articles are copyright. They may individually be copied and shared with others in a spirit of knowledge-sharing and fair play, but they may not be sold, printed or reproduced in quantity or changed in form without the permission of the copyright holder. None of this material may be reproduced in workshops or lectures of any kind unless quotes are credited or properly attributed.  

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