Music and Mysticism, Rhythm and Form, A
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Chapter 12 327 Chapter 25 Holy Ghost Music and Mysticism, Tim Hodgkinson 191 Rhythm and Form A Blues Romance in 12 Parts 227 Chapter 13 Sigils Adam Rudolph Jerry Hunt Chapter 26 Chapter 14 A Silence that Speaks: Hyakintos and Perdeh The All-Embracing Unification of Space and Mind Jessika Kenney and Eyvind Kang 234 (With Sound Meditation in 3 Parts) 239 Chapter 15 David Chaim Smith 336 Musings on the Hermetic Lyre Chapter 27 William J. Kiesel 344 Harmonie Aphanes Chapter 16 Phaneres Kreitton In the Name of God Trey Spruance the Gracious the Merciful: Chapter 28 Recognition of the Beloved The Dread of the Knock: Yusef A. Lateef 248 A Ceremony of 254 Chapter 17 Auditory Hallucinations Notes (To Whoever is Listening) for the Dead of Night Frank London David Toop 386 Chapter 18 394 Chapter 29 The Sacred Power of Music Horn O’ Plenty Dary John Mizelle 260 Greg Wall 265 Chapter 19 Chapter 30 The Soul’s Messenger The Perspectival Lute Meredith Monk Peter Lamborn Wilson 399 Chapter 20 406 Chapter 31 Death: The Father of Creation Metaphors, Mythos and Metaphonics Tisziji Muñoz 269 z’ev 286 Chapter 21 438 About the Musicians Trash Mark Nauseef Chapter 22 The Collective Intelligence of Improvisation Pauline Oliveros 292 297 Chapter 23 Thee Splinter Test Genesis Breyer P-Orridge Chapter 24 Music-Myth Terry Riley 314 ii iii chapter 25 Riley Music and Mysticism, Rhythm and Form A Blues Romance in 12 Parts Adam Rudolph Mysticism Knowledge is freedom and the study of elements in sound is a path. Mysticism reaches beyond religion into creativity, which belongs to every human being. For the artist, mysticism is an attitude whose imperatives are the will- ingness to cultivate imagination and the courage to express what is discov- ered. For the creative musician, it also means research into the science of sound, which is the chemistry of the universe. Mystics and physicists alike know that all earthly creation is in fact star stuff, sub-atomic particles vibrating at various rates. Music speaks to us and transforms us through the medium and essence of what we ourselves are: vibration. The musical artist’s invisible alchemy is to arrange these overtones as they move through time. Throughout the ages this art has been intimately intertwined with the mys- tic’s path. Imagination Imagination suggests the existence of a divine spark in human beings. Its source, what William Blake called the Divine Imagination, is beyond ratio- nal apprehension. While it is a mystery as to whether it is received like a radio signal from the cosmos or dredged up from the murky oceanic depths of the unconscious, it appears to us through visions, dreams, inspirations, language, dialogue, fantasies, and contemplation. Creative imagination is our richest human legacy and birthright. It is a kind of beacon—a scout sent ahead that precedes us into history. In the great mystical traditions of the world, inner and outer realities are reflections of one another. Similarly, any music one can imagine in the mind’s ear already exists or has existed in its own unique interpretive design. The creative process begins with the inner ear, with the imagination. It continues with the manifestation of this inner audi- 326 327 Rudolph Music and Mysticism, Rhythm and Form tory experience in the vibrational spectrum; voice, instruments and In India, Rasa describes the emotional color of a raga. Melodic human interaction enter the picture. If we can imagine it, we can play it. shapes delineate tension and release, painting emotional timbre while orbit- In this way, ideas lead the development of technique, which is a door to ing out and then returning to the unitary sounding of Om. Many cultures the space of freedom. use visual colors to manifest music ritual. The Gnawa of Morocco play a system of seven colors in their nightlong healing and trance ceremonies. Dialogue Each “presence” or spirit is accompanied by a specific color, incense, rhythm and dance as it meets the ritual participants’ consciousness in ecsta- Any new musical language must be based on understanding existing music tic space and time. languages in their uniqueness and through their underlying universal principles. Just as the laws of physics simplify in the higher dimensions, Form so too do the elements of music unify as they transcend style and move towards essence. Even as nature is in a constant process of becoming, there is nothing in When developed musical skills exist to serve an awakened being, a nature without form. Chaos contains the source, energy, and material that great potential is created. For this potential to manifest, compassion must form is made of. Form itself is temporal, and rhythm is the world working inspire the artist to seek dialogue, a sharing of realization. When this inten- through time. Sound is the soul of form and brings it to life from the inside tion allows communication between humans to occur, a cycle of enlight- out. Rhythm is the element of stability that not only gives life to music but enment is created. In the Middle East this is called “Tarab”. The musician also holds it together. It is implicit in every musical gesture. becomes a creative conduit, the musical instrument a voice and tool, and Sonata-allegro, kriti, muwashshah, frevo, jo-hya-kyu, gending, and the listener an active partner in the creation of the transcendent state. In blues are but a few examples of the many traditional music forms found improvisational music, this circle expands to include interplay between worldwide. For the improviser, phrasing in form is the greatest challenge. In musicians as dialogue. It is the mirror that reflects both group and individ- order to navigate through form one must be able to generate phrasing and ual states at the moment of creation, bringing us together in our most in order to phrase one must have a grasp of rhythm. The great improvisers human being. With the arrival of the divine spark, improvisational music have all been masters of rhythm. becomes a textless ecstatic dialogue vibrating open the door to the lumi- nous moment. Rhythm There are as many rhythms in the world as there are stars in the sky. Color and Motion Every culture has dozens, if not thousands of rhythms. To these pulse Through music, the essential unison—vibration—manifests as a duality: beats and patterns, each person and musician brings his or her own sense color and motion i.e. timbre and rhythm. The dialogue between color and of timing, breath and imagination. To be human is to embody this rhyth- motion is superimposed through the complex of space and time. All color mic infinity. in music is based on the overtones—earth moving to air and beyond. Human rhythm has, as both its source and manifestation, three Attack, pitch, intonation, decay, texture and noise make for the quality of aspects: language, dance and mathematics. Spoken language informs vocal color in sound. Because of their especially complex overtone content, and instrumental performance in a myriad of ways. The Yoruba language, drums are the musical instrument most commonly used worldwide to which is tonal, can be spoken on the Iya drum. When North and South induce trance. In some cultures string or gut is stretched across the drum Indian music uses vocalized syllables to teach the drum language each spo- skin to further complexify overtone content, adding shadow sounds of ken syllable corresponds to a particular drum stroke. buzzing voices. At the same time, creative and cultural movements of humans are 328 329 Rudolph Music and Mysticism, Rhythm and Form determinants of rhythmic phraseology. In many parts of the world drum The Dogon people of Mali call the even (2) element “Tolo” and language is a sonic manifestation of dance gesture. Call and response ascribe to it female or yin energy. “Nya” is the odd (3), male or yang ener- harkens to a practice before history, where music, dance and storytelling gy. They say: “Every rhythm has the two parts, often with complex inter- were one. play that suggest both a dialogue and union of male and female principles.” Numerologically, 2 (even) and 3 (odd) are the fundamental build- ing blocks from which all existing rhythms are created; from the heartbeat Timbre and Tone to the most abstract. “Cyclic Verticalism” is a creative approach to devel- If that fundamental polymetric verticality of 3 against 2 was moving fast oping phrasing and form through the combination and expansion of cycles enough it would sound as the interval of the perfect 5th, the second over- and polyrhythms. Cycles of various lengths are built by using the additive tone. The overtones, or harmonic series is the acoustic material that gener- concept of combining rhythm cells of 2’s and 3’s. (Figure 1.) ates pitch, melody, harmony and what Edgar Varese termed “sound mass”. 20th century European music uses twelve tones and six intervals to gener- For example, 2 plus 3 yields a 5 beat cycle: ate melodic and harmonic materials. Joseph Schillinger, Yusef Lateef, 12123 Counted division Olivier Messiaen, and Nicolas Slominksy, to name but a few, published xx Accented pulses studies of creative permutations of these. In India it is twenty-two Srutis 12345 Total pulses that describe the microtones between octaves. Pentatonic scales, made of the first five tones of the limitless spiral of 5ths, are found worldwide, espe- cially among people who live close to nature. 3 plus 2 plus 2 yields a 7 beat cycle: 1231212 Counted division Circularity xxxAccented pulses Non-linear thought informs the creative mind. Circular imagery is central 1234567 Total pulses to many mystical traditions, the Mandala being a well-known example.