Before you read this please keep in mind that it is all based on simple suggestion, I do not mean to dictate how people ought to listen to my music but at the same time I am confident in this process as it is what I use most of the time.
I make music with a very strict intention to act as a tool or catalyst for intense meditation and introspection. I can say this with certainty since my main drive to create this music has been for my own personal use, and through using it I have experienced such things which I have replicated hundreds of times. Over time many others who have listened under a proper setting have also reported experiencing various effects. Effects akin to those of brainwave meditation, sensory deprivation, psychedelia, and meditation. Examples of such felt effects are sensations of inward travelling and body separation, inner eye hallucinations, and illuminations of thought, to name a few. These are a few suggestions on how to listen to the music to achieve such effects, these suggestions are also exactly how I, myself listen to the music:
1. Listen at night, before going to sleep. Make sure you are not too tired though because it will be very easy for you to simply fall asleep.
2. Be in total darkness, pitch black.
3. Lay in your bed, on your back and make yourself as comfortable as possible. Lay for a minute or two until you've settled into your bed before you start the track.
4. Make sure there will be no interruptions that will take you away from the track before it ends, the whole thing must be listened to in one sitting without interruption. This incredibly important, you cannot stop and pick back up, it has to be a continuous effort from start to finish.
5. Only use decent headphones/good headphones. Do not use earbuds by any means, you will just be wasting your time. Sennheiser is my personal brand of choice, you can easily get a great pair of headphones from them for less than $50.
6. While listening try your best to keep your eyes closed and body still as much as possible. It's very difficult to avoid fidgeting for 20 minutes or so, but less is always better. You are trying to explore your mind and imagination through sound, being reminded of your body will only take you out of such concentration.
7. Keep your mind on the sound and simply ride it out. Letting your mind wander is perfectly fine, but avoid getting hung up on anything specific for too long. Just try and let go. Before starting the track contemplate what sound is, what the experience of sound is. Enjoy sound simply for what it is rather than adding specific judgement.
8. If you can, stare at the back of your eyelids while you listen and focus on the colors. This is where the inner eye hallucinations can usually come from, don't stress it too much though, keep most of your attention on the sound.
9. Most songs I've made which are applicable to what is being talked about here are shorter than a television show... usually 18-25 minutes. Keep this in mind before listening. Understand how long the track is exactly so that you know ahead of time. I say this so that you won't start to think about when it will be over while the song is in progress. I promise you, it will end eventually. They are as long as I feel they need to be, and as short as possible.
Although I find the idea of meditation through music to be a very serious matter, don't treat the experience as such. This isn't like religious meditation where you have to be extremely disciplined and devoted and serious... only a little bit. Have patience, listen to these suggestions and commit yourself to the music and I whole-heartedly believe that you will get something out of it.
Just a couple extra side notes:
- These suggestions are sort of a beginners guide, after following them (if you so choose, which is entirely up to you) feel free to move on and experiment with what else the music can do for you. I've found that there are plenty of applications, such as putting a repeating set of albums on quietly while sleeping.
- I do not mean to say by anything written here that my music is the only way, it is simply all that I know with relation to my own personal thoughts on meditation through music.
- Questions, comments, critiques, conversations, et cetera can be sent to me at: dmmekler17@gmail.com I'd love to hear from anyone that has been kind enough to take the time to listen to my music.
-David
