“The Romantic movement was built upon the idea of nature as the salvation of the mortal soul and the mortal imagination, with poets penning odes to high peaks just as industrialization was beginning to choke its way through Europe. Wordsworth wrote of a fusing of ‘the round ocean and living air, / And the blue sky and in the mind of Man.’ Beethoven would literally hug a linden tree in his backyard. He dedicated symphonies to landscapes and wrote, ‘The woods, the trees and the rocks give man the resonance he needs.’ Both men were speaking of a melding of inner and outer systems. It sounds a bit woolly, but they were auguring the explorations of twenty-first-century neuroscience, of human brain cells that sense environmental cues. Our nervous systems are built to resonate with set points derived from the neutral world. Science is now bearing out what the Romantics knew to be true.” 

The above excerpt is from “The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative,” by Florence Williams. It’s a fantastic book that makes a compelling argument for the importance of not losing touch with nature. I find the weekly time spent visiting my neighborhood outdoor spaces to be an invaluable experience for my state of mind.

With or without headphones, there is an abundance of music to be heard. This past summer and early fall, the birds have been the stars of the show. Sometimes I play music at a low volume in my headphones, trying to strike the right balance. Gentle music that won’t drown out the wind in the trees. Lately an artist named Suzanne Ciani has shined bright in this role. But more on her next week. For now, I’m going to include some North American birdsong below. 🐦

For many, Monday signals a return to the work week grind. It can come with its fair share of emotions. A push and pull of yearning for the freedom and revitalization often associated with the weekend, coupled with the drive and determination to access a productive and optimized flow state. A work week that leaves you getting ahead in what you seek to achieve, without sacrificing your well being or humanity. 

The right music can help prevent a workspace from becoming draining, boring, stale, or devoid of human spirit. Recently, I was introduced to a phenomenal album by my dear friend Tim Berrigan. It's called "playing piano for dad" by h hunt, and I find it to be a highly replayable piece of music that suits the workspace exquisitely. Mellow, warm, and intimate, it can speak to your soul without bombastically interrupting your focus on other tasks. Read on for a bit more about the album, and if you need something new for your headphones, I encourage you to seek this one out. I put a link to the music in the comments section. 

"Recorded in one comfortably-seated take at Studio Ferber, Paris, France in 2015 - h hunt’s ‘playing piano for dad’ was initially conceived as a Christmas gift to the composer’s father. Intimately recorded, it is a heartbreakingly gorgeous & sincere work of eleven vignettes which capture even the most nuanced sounds of the recording session - the composer’s breath, the shifting sounds of the piano pedals, the ambient noise and conversation within the studio. With minimalist tendencies, h hunt’s compositions are earnest and heartfelt."

Harmony Integrative Therapy has an extended family. Key people who have inspired us and help make the world a better place. For our first spotlight on the community, we're sending a special shout out to Austin Morford of Morfbeats.

Austin is a skilled designer, builder, and engraver of innovative instruments for Morfbeats alongside his brother Adam. It's not often you come across a family who is creating new instruments, building them from scratch, and inspiring unparalleled levels of creativity in the music realm. In this video you can hear Austin creating a hypnotic rhythm with Morfbeats' High Octave Gamelan Strips and Low Mid Octave Block Bells. It's a thing of beauty to witness.

Aside from the credentials mentioned above, Austin is a composer, ultra talented musician, and all around great person. His designs are a dream come true for the music therapy world: beautiful sounding, hand crafted instruments that can be arranged in a plethora of adaptive, accessible set ups. For example, his Chromatic Gamelan Strips can be arranged in the same shape of a piano octave, or you can reduce the number of pieces at your heart's desire. Try out just having two tones to bounce off of. Need a specific scale? Eliminate a few strips and you have the notes of the pentatonic scale. Or, throw the constraints of music theory and tonal harmony out the window completely, make a custom arrangement, cease to analyze, and just follow the muse. It's endless fun.

Here at Harmony Integrative, we feature a full Chromatic Gamelan Strip set in our library for utilization during music therapy sessions. Thank you Austin for doing all that you do, and for helping us provide the highest quality therapeutic services possible.

https://www.morfbeats.com/

Harp is an immensely gorgeous instrument. I wrote earlier this week about that special feeling when you find a new musical experience that is especially moving. Lately for me,  “Endless Tide” by Japanese harpist and composer Tomoyuki Asakawa is something special. 

I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this phenomenon, but in recent years many long lost, overlooked, and underappreciated works are being discovered and exalted by way of the “YouTube algorithm.” Long out of print musical treasures from continents thousands of miles away are being beamed into the homes and workplaces of those seeking glorious sounds. In many cases, they are obscure and unavailable on major streaming platforms like Spotify. 

“Endless Tide” has become a treasured work here at Harmony Integrative. If you need to unwind and disconnect from the pressures of the world, put this on, close your eyes, and let it transport you to a special universe. A lot of us are stuck behind computers for several hours a day during the work week. If you seek to stay focused and productive within your technological framework without losing your sense of the higher self, play this through headphones at low volumes to help steep your daily grind in a more transcendent atmosphere. 

Lately I’m thinking a lot about the mixture of music and nature. Here, the harp swirls and creates a meditative experience, eventually melting away and seamlessly blending into ocean waves lapping at the shoreline. It can be blissful. 

If you decide to listen, I hope you enjoy it.