I woke up this morning thinking about the vibration of sound. Literally. Eyes opened. Vibration of sound.
I went spontaneously into meditation around the vibration of sound, specifically music.
The memories of laying on the living room floor during our Sunday family listening sessions, the vibrations from the speakers flowing into my ears, and my body through the floor.
I can’t remember the first time our family went to an orchestral concert (I was so lucky we did this!), but suddenly I was transported to the dusty balcony of Northrop Auditorium, sitting on a scritchy burgundy velvet seat, sensing the pre-concert excitement. I don’t remember it then, but this morning I had the distinct memory of feeling the vibrations of the music on my body. I lay there in my bed this morning for a few minutes, reliving that kidhood memory from so long ago.
And later, as an oboe player, from 6th grade to early adulthood. Sitting in a band or orchestra. The vibration of the reed, the pulsation of the sounds around me, becoming one with the flow of music.
Once watching a beloved person share their music on stage, I could see the pulsing vibrations of the music expand over the audience.
How many times music was my solace, my companion, my healer. I hadn’t really thought of it until today how much a component the vibration has been in all this.
In Sanskrit, the word spanda has definitions of vibration, movement, puslation, the Universal Pulsation (and more. I’m learning Sanskrit is interesting in this way). Everything around us is in vibration, appearing as objects, light, sound, subtle energy sensations. A continual dance of expansion and contraction.
The Sanskrit word tantra, contains definitions of “the wire or string of a lute”, and also “strings of the heart” (thank you Lorin Roche, PhD for introducing me to Sanskrit!).
Maybe this is why I enjoy so much incorporating the Reverie harp and monochord in my current musical explorations and offerings. Sometimes I like to lay on the floor, with the Reverie harp on my belly, languidly plucking the strings, and being carried away on the vibrations, much like that little girl, laying on the floor, enraptured by the vibration of sound.
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