We are in the darkest time of a very challenging year. As we enter this winter season, we celebrate the light within and travel to inward time. Harp Escape taps into an old use of music, used as sound healing for your self care. Sufi mystic, Hazrat Inayat Khan said “The use of music for spiritual attainment and healing of the soul, which was prevalent in ancient times, is not found to the same extent now. Music has been made a pastime…”
Join me on Patreon for Harp Escape’s Meditative audio recordings, sheet music and more. Once a month, I bring you high quality Meditative Harp Music audio recordings (ranging from 25-55 minutes), a Relaxing Music Video from my harp studio and places in nature, and sheet music arrangements. All of this music is recorded intentionally for you to find a relaxing space for meditation and mindful daily ritual, for you to take a break from the demands of your life and breath deeply, while listening to the healing sounds of the harp’s vibrations.
It is Veteran’s Day and I miss my friend Crysta Casey, who was a military journalist, poet, and painter. We met in 2002 at Red Sky Poetry Theatre (Seattle’s longest running open mic series). We were quite different people – she was 25 years my senior, a military veteran, and sufferer of extreme mental health issues – yet we had a very casual and organic friendship that came together quite effortlessly. It was only after her death, did I realize she was also my mentor and artistic advisor.
After the reading that night, Crysta and I talked on the street for a long time. She smoked cigarettes as we realized we shared similar poetic influences (Anne Sexton, Sharon Olds, the Surrealists, and others). We exchanged contacts to meet up and share poems. What started as frequent cafe meet-ups to read/critique each other’s work, eventually turned into a weekly date in Crysta’s Belltown apartment with wine and food and an exchange of books and literary magazines.
Therapeutic music is an art based on the science of sound. It is typically live acoustic music, played or sung, specifically tailored for a person’s immediate needs. During this pandemic, though my work as a musician has been severely limited in-person, Harp Escape online has blossomed.
Harp Escape
I have created Harp Escape videos (on YouTube) and audio (made available to Patreon supporters) with the major goal of decreasing stress for my listeners in mind. Benefits of soothing music are many, like allowing the body to relax, unwinding tension, and anxiety relief. Music can also and aid in the healing process. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things I have found in studying music for therapeutic purposes, is that it encourages a listener’s breath to deepen and slow. This relaxation has a domino effect and does several things to benefit our body like:
Love is the end of isolation. Sometimes, when I have meditative moments of insight, I get messages of clarity, wisdom, poetry like this: Stop trying to be normal. The end of isolation is love.
This week, after the virtual school started for my 4th grader, but before the preschool has started for my almost 3 year old, I crumbled in a day of chaos, fallen under the hammering spell of a low-grade stress headache. In respite, I sat on the porch, trying to find some order in my mind, and how to create a new work/live/school schedule all under one roof. Its Quarantine 2.0!
Harp Escape is a series of videos and recordings dedicated to relaxing and calming music. What started out in 2019 as a YouTube video series, has turned into a pandemic weekly live concert series (on Facebook) and a new hour of instrumental harp every month (on Patreon).
A contemporary of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, Satie was also a part of the French Impressionist movement. He was older that the others at that time and somewhat reclusive. He was a bit of a mentor to some of the younger musicians at the time, though his use of whole tone scales was considered unusual. Whole tone scales are based upon the Pythagorean theorum, also known as The Golden Ratio. I think one of the reasons why Satie’s music is so timeless sounding is because they are based upon ancient sounds. These old intervals in the scales are striking because they sound at once soothing, unusual and yet familiar.
So much has changed in the world in just a few short weeks. As a performing artist and a Certified Clinical Musician working in hospice, 2/3rds of my work came to a screeching halt starting on February 24th. Here in Seattle, we were sort of a canary in the coal mine for rest of North America, but that still didn’t prepare me for the severity of the situation we are now in. With restrictions to large gatherings and health care organizations looking to be in solid place for the foreseeable future, I’m being honest with myself. I’m not expecting much harp related work for the rest of the year, perhaps into next year. In the meantime, in addition being with my children, I’m also looking to drum up work through digital media streams, virtual teaching, and new collaborations.
Like many people during this COVID quarantine, I am contemplating my life, my career, and broader still, humanity. Voices of inspiring writers, musicians, poets, philosophers, and scientists throughout history are giving me comfort. The world has seen hard times before, and troubled people look to artists during rough days for entertainment, distraction, and wisdom.
Allen Ginsberg wrote, “The weight of the world is love under the burden of solitude.”
Is our solitude a burden to us now? Or is a comfort? Or both? I have gone through waves of feeling both extremes.
Under weight of solitude and a view of the Olympic Mountains – April 2020 (Discovery Park, Seattle WA)
Side projects that I had been working on or just thinking about are actually now front and center for me, so that is interesting. Harp Escape is one of my projects that is now a main focus.
Harp Escape is an audio/video series that I started last year in response to what I found to be an ever mounting stress. As a working mother of two, as an urban dweller, as a musician commuting to gigs, teaching, and therapy sessions, I found that my city of Seattle was getting more and more congested, loud, and exhausting to drive in and be in. Scheduling was almost just as tight and restrictive. So, as an artist and sound healer, I created an online place for a get away. I wanted to create more breathing space. Harp Escape now seems more relevant than ever, as millions of people lose their jobs, feel anxiety about the virus, and waver in their general trust of each other. Within our lifetimes, we have never lived in a more uncertain age.
Harp Escape presents feel-good relaxing music ideal for quarantine time. It is a love salve. I encourage you to put on some good headphones and escape the world of troubles and take care of your inner world. Here is a Harp Escape Playlist.
Harp Escape Vol. 3 Erik Satie – First Gymnopedie
To take the Harp Escape idea yet further, in response to the pandemic and our global quarantine, I have begun a weekly virtual Harp Escape Concert Series on Facebook. You can find me live streaming @harpescape at 6:30pm Pacific Standard Time every Saturday.
My husband, Stephen Schildbach, illustrated a contemplative piece for the times using me (and some of our house plants) and as model. You can find more of Stephen’s work on Instagram at Schildbach Illustration
We as a family of four are trying the best way that we can to see through the darkness of this time. There are so many unknowns, but it is in trusting my inner knowledge that is getting me through this, and probably priming me for the uncertain future that is to come.
Contemplating Coronavirus by Stephen Schidbach
The COVID19 epidemic is helping us find out who we really are, and what we are truly made of.
I am Harpist-in-Residence at Nalanda West for the month of March. What does that mean?
Well, I have been invited to be artist-in-residence, or in this case, Harpist-in-Residence at Nalanda West, a contemplative resources center located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle (3902 Woodland Park Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103). Mostly, I have been keeping hours Monday mornings. That means, if you are coming in to use the space for meditation, I will be there making music. Being a Harpist-in-Residence means I will be hanging about the venue using my time to focus on my artistic craft.
Harp Escape is my YouTube series of instrumental harp songs played in a relaxing and slow manner. The intention behind these video recordings is to give listeners an online place where one can escape from the stresses of modern life and enter a more peaceful place through listening awareness. Here, one will be able to breath deeply and work or relax to calming background music that is at the same time artful and based in a place of technique. These are intentionally curated songs presented in a skillful and stylized manner.
In
our stressful age, meaningful music can calm the nerves and encourage
us to breath deeply. So many sounds of the modern world are actually
static noise, and have a way of draining our energy, positive work
flow, and happiness. A combination of contemplative listening and
deep breath can bring us clarity and a healthier sense of being.
During my artist residency, I’m writing and arranging new songs, and will also record new videos (to be released on my YouTube channel). Eventually, I’ll compile these songs into audio only format, so that I can release some of the songs as a collection.
Dates and times of artist residency at Nalanda West (3902 Woodland Park Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103):
I will be in residence at Nalanda West with harp music on Mondays 9, 16, 23, 30 at 9:30am-12:30pm and for open meditation Tues March 24 18 7-8pm.
I will also be playing in the concert Interconnecting for Good with Lori Goldston (cello) and Danny Godinez (guitar) March 14 at Nalanda West at 7pm. The money raised will be used for a new building roof.
Culminating
my residency time, I will perform a solo harp concert on Friday,
April 17, 2020 at 7pm at Nalanda West.
Certain modes, intervals and tempos are favored when playing therapeutic music. Because the harp is one of the most resonant instruments, it makes itself an easy candidate in therapeutic settings. It is mostly made of vibration.
Often, I work with the songs of Hildegard von Bingen who, during Medieval times, frequently wrote modal music. A rare woman composer of the age, her songs are often in Dorian and Phrygian modes – starting the tonic of the musical scale on D or E, instead of C that we are typically used to. This can sound a bit ancient to our modern ears. Each mode is different from the next, depending upon where the half-steps and whole steps are. Combining modal scales with balanced intervals of 3rd, 4th and 5ths can be familiarizing, resonant in our bodies, and harmonious feeling.
Therapeutic musicians want to be
mindful of the particular ailments of the patient we are playing for.
Not everyone needs the same thing, and that person’s needs can also
change in a short amount of time.
Playing for the Orca whales on top of the world – looking down on the San Juan Islands, WA
Recently, I played for a man suffering from cancer, who was originally from Peru. South American culture is rich in upbeat rhythms. When I arrived playing my small Irish harp (nothing like the Peruvian harp), playing airs and American folk songs, he wanted something much more peppy with quick chord changes. It is atypical for me to play music at a quick tempo at the bedside, yet that is what this client wanted. When I switched styles, he visibly cheered up. It is imperative to look at the patient and harmonize with what they need to hear. If their facial expressions show a displeasure, you would want to change what you are playing, maybe even stop. The quick-paced songs that this client wanted were reminiscent of his youth. That is what made him happy, and that is partially what therapy music is about. Its like a concert for one person with a positive intention.
In contrast, I played for a 95 year old woman who became very emotional when she heard the harp. Her shoulders slumped and she appeared melancholy. She had dementia. When I saw she was crying, I switched to a popular soothing musical choice for harpists – traditional Celtic tunes. She didn’t stop crying. Then, I knew she was experiencing feelings deep inside that couldn’t be expressed otherwise. With her more progressed dementia, she spoke in “word salad”, a sort of unintelligible garble. It must be frustrating and scary to not be able to communicate. Music was helping those repressed feelings be released. When her daughter asked her if she’d like me to stop playing, she said no. Her tears were a relief.
Traditional Celtic music is often very relaxing for a general population.
Having a positive intention behind the
music is a good idea as a musician. Like any caregiver, it is wise to
arrive with no agenda other than to care for the individual in the
moment. If I am lucky, I may even improve their day!
Harp Escape is an online place to relax. I began my monthly video series, Harp Escape, this Spring. Each video includes tunes intended to relax the listener, and bring a breath of calm into their environment. Because of the chronic stress, relentless noise and dousing of bad news our modern world exposes us to, life can be downright hopeless feeling some days. Therefore, it is essential for us to take breaks throughout the day and, as I like to say, floss your ears.
Happy Apple – The Daphnes Harp Escape vol. 1
It is vital for our individual health to stay balanced, so that our communities and Earth can be healthy too. When we feel stress all the time, that stress becomes a homeostasis, or the state of normal being. Without any stress reducers, our bodies take on a “fight or flight” state, and we may never get out of that feeling of constant stress and overwhelm. Music is the oldest form of human communication, and sound is also one of the most basic forms of healing. It is with these sentiments that I bring you Harp Escape.
The original Happy Apple
Volume 1 of Harp Escape is a song called Happy Apple. Originally, the inspiration for the piece came from a childhood toy of mine that my mother sent to me when I had my own child. The Fisher Price Happy Apple was a very popular chiming wobbly toddler thing of the 1970’s. Its sound was still pleasing to me decades later, so I wrote a song about it. In vol. 1 of Harp Escape, I slow the composition down and change it to an instrumental version. You can listen to The Daphnes recording of Happy Apple on our album Braids of Kabuya.
As a Certified Clinical Musician, I have studied how certain intervals, musical modes, and tempos can have a particularly soothing effect. I merge this ancient healing knowledge with my skills as a life-long musician and harpist of 25 years. As a songwriter and improviser, I bring relaxing arrangements of a variety of songs and styles for the intent of healing with Harp Escape. If you have any song requests, let me know!
Foggy Dew – trad. Irish Harp Escape vol. 2
As a harpist, it is impossible to avoid playing Irish tunes! A harp is the national symbol of Ireland, after all. Vol. 2 of Harp Escape is Foggy Dew, the song of choice to teach my students this March for St. Patrick’s Day. Many of these old ballads can be short. So, I expanded Foggy Dew and wrote an additional melody in the relative major key of G. Interested in an arrangement? Just send me a message.
Time is on my side, and yet it is my greatest challenge!
I am always on the lookout for how creative mothers make their way through the world – I don’t have any other day job; my work is based on writing and music and I have two young children.
There is a real need for artist mothers to share in their creative process in my opinion – for encouragement, creative tips, support, and just sharing how its done in a practical sense. The world doesn’t always make it easy for artist moms to continue on their journey once they’ve had a baby. The path suddenly gets very bumpy. The road bottoms out. You don’t know how to go on. I would read Dr. Seuss’s “Oh the Places You Go” to my daughter and think – Oh, this is real. This is exactly what I’m experiencing.
When I had my daughter 8 years ago, I was really searching for some creative support written by and for someone like me. I didn’t find anything of the sort. Now I know of at least three podcasts: Rachel Zucker’s Commonplace;The Longest Shortest Time by Hilary Frank; and musician Laura Veirs’ Midnight Lightning. I still haven’t found any written material that deeply addresses how new mothers adjust their creative process and how to support it, which is not to say that it doesn’t exist. I just know I’d still like to read a book like that. However, when you are multi-tasking making dinner, a hands-free podcast is just the ticket! (and these three mentioned are great).
I used to have a more elaborate system of writing poetry and prose. I would handwrite in my journal, then transfer to a more refined notebook, then type it up, print it out, and workshop the writing. Since having children, I don’t have time to do practically any of that!
With a baby, I always feel like there’s a ticking timer at nap time. I try to squeeze in moments to write or practice, but I never know how long it will be. How long will my creative freedom last? If I start to record, will I be interrupted with a cry? Certainly, when kiddos are school-aged, time opens up. With more than one child, time must be blocked out with more commitment.
I create lists of how to prioritize. There is the weekly one and the daily list. For example today is – #1 practice music for gig tonight; #2 transcribe a piece for Sunday’s Mothers’ Day duet with pianist Josh Rawlings (that I can use for Harp Escape as well); #3 blast out my album to one agency; #4 write something. If I can do that much – that would be AMAZING! I always aim high. Sometimes only one thing gets accomplished, and if someone has a fever or a field trip, forget about it. I have to be real about the current daily situation of food, laundry, school lunch, diapers, etc. that I have.
When I had my first kiddo, I blended my writing and music together, sort of by accident. Once I stopped gigging late night shows, I began songwriting. The poetry morphed into lyrics instead. I had to become selective about what I said yes to. Would I take a club gig at 10pm? No way, not unless it paid well (ha ha ha). Eventually, people stopped asking me, but that’s ok. Because I changed.
I won’t lie. Sometimes I find myself lamenting over the artists who have more freedom than me. It takes so much time to polish a craft and I never feel like I have enough anymore. I don’t have a creative stuckness; I have a restriction. This is interesting though, because motherhood is also the blessing that allowed me to open up into a new form! When I stopped saying yes to all of the club gigs, I put my energy into songwriting. I started singing in public. I wrote enough songs to record an album. I formed a band (The Daphnes) and now I can be leader and call the shots to what fits my lifestyle. I probably wouldn’t have organized it all this way if it had not been for motherhood “restricting” me. Plus, it always seems like half of my songs are inspired in someway by the process of being mom. So – its a two-sided coin. A yin-yang.
I feel like its now or never these days, pretty much all the time. Its sort of Zen, but its also sort of desperate. I am very of the moment. After the baby boy fell asleep today, I checked my email and immediately blasted out a response which has turned into this blog post. It always feels so good to re-purpose something.
Being a musician mama means that I sometimes practice for 5 minutes with a squirming toddler in my lap, I cram in my own practice time between students, or I have to accept that I might be winging it at the gig a little more.
Its maddening! Its terrifying! Its exciting! Its the gift of a lifetime.
