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Contemporary Music Review

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Towards a new phenomenon of sound in the age of

aquarius
James D'Angelo
Published online: 20 Aug 2009.

To cite this article: James D'Angelo (1996) Towards a new phenomenon of sound in the age of aquarius, Contemporary Music
Review, 15:3-4, 121-128, DOI: 10.1080/07494469600640611

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Towards a New Phenomenon of Sound in the

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Age of Aquarius
James D'Angelo
In the 1960s certain composers, responding to the new, powerful vibrations of the Aquarian age,
radically broke with t~aditional 20th century compositional styles and techniques and produced
simple, incantationaland meditative music reminiscent of earlier times and different cultures. These
n e w revolutionary styles, whose effect has been to cleanse contemporary music of its ultra-rational-
ity, have included minimalism, the new sacred music and synthesized New Age music. Such music
has recently been categorized .as New Consciousness Music (NCM). The composers involved are
intuiting sound archetypes that bypass the rational mind and influence the higher centers of con-
sciousness.

The term 'New Age', or the astrological age of Aquarius, describes an expanded
shift in the consciousness of increasing numbers of people concerning their inner
purpose and direction. It involves a dissolution of materialistic thinking, out-worn
institutions, scientific reductionism and arid artistic works in favour of a rebirth
of the human spirit through the new impulses now infusing science, the arts and
even religion. Its endpoint would be a complete merging of these disciplines into
a singular, universal knowledge. Within the hierarchy of such a society will be
highly evolved individuals capable of channelling such knowledge, uplifting
human beings beyond their current three dimensional existence. However this
shift is described, it will encompass a new phenomenon of sound which has been
emerging in embryonic form since the 1960s.
Human beings are in themselves phenomena of sound, vast networks of vibra-
tional frequencies at the levels of body, mind and spirit. From the cellular level to
the level of thought and beyond, each is sounding its own unheard vibratory
patterns. All our expressions of emotions, from the deeply negative to the highest
positive, are vibratory in nature and one day will be recognized in terms of spe-
cific frequencies. If this is the case then it is very important which external sounds
are absorbed by people. For sound is a phenomenon which can make its mark on
the physical body and psyche, whether listened to or not. This suggests that some
aspects of 21st century music (if organized patterns of sound will be still called
'music') might become objective such that people will choose music according to
specific physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual needs - an advanced form
of music therapy for each level of the person. In this respect music as a dramatic
form will have disappeared, though not the essential feelings of ecstasy, catharsis
and transcendence that great music provides.
There have been strands of musical composition in the 20th century which were
and are the very disintegration of music. What marks these strands is the great
extent to which composers have worked through their rational, constructivist mind,
much like an architect. Such composers can easily explain their works in great
121
 122 JamesD'Angelo

detail. But how often do composers say that the whole process is a mystery, that
they were only a transcriber psychically transmitting the auditive vision through
some notated form or improvisation? Yet this latter process is essential to the
renewal of music as an intuited sound phenomenon. Undoubtedly the con-
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structivist composers of the 20th century have played a necessary role in clearing
a path for new music to emerge. This relates to the idea in Hindu philosophy that
life is continually in the cycle of creation, maintenance and dissolution. Even the
dissolution is good and necessary.
Within the world view of New Age visionaries is the idea that the Earth, indeed
the whole solar system, is entering a new position within the galaxy, a position
that contains higher rates of frequencies that are being absorbed by the planet and
its peoples. Such a bombardment can produce physical disturbances to the Earth
and psychological disturbances in human beings. Depending on their nature and
age, people will either be strongly awakened to their potential for greater spir-
itual developmentby these high frequency vibrations or they will hold tenaciously
to old ways of thinking and acting by resisting such vibratory influences. The
Earth first reached this region of space around the 1960s. At that time there ap-
peared four composers in the USA, LaMonte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and
Phillip Glass (all born within two years of each other), who unconsciously stimu-
lated by such vibrations radically broke with their academic training and pro-
duced an incantational, simplistic music that was the antithesis of most 20th
century composition. Another key figure is the prolific French composer Jean
Catoire (1923-) whose contemplative, minimalist music pre-dates and parallels
the aforementioned composers.1
Another manifestation of the Aquarian musical impulse has been called "New
Age'. Its composers are often self-taught musicians who freely follow their imagi-
nation to create impressionistic, otherworldly soundscapes usually through the
medium of synthesizers or a mixture of Western and non-Western acoustic instru-
ments. Their most important contribution has been the expansion of tonal colour
beyond most traditional electronic music. This music is often advertised as being
suitable for meditation, healing, inner journeys or relaxation. Sometimes the
minimalist composers are even grouped with these New Age composers in record
shops.
The third group of composers who have been sensitized to the new vibrations
are those now writing a great deal of contemplative or sacred music, the most
prominent being PKrt, Gorecki and Tavener. In the wake of so many negative world
situations and rapidly changing times, these composers have filled a vacuum for
listeners seeking new sound structures that calm troubled minds and hearts. So
strong is the desire for harmonious vibrations that an album of Gregorian chant
has become a current bestseller. To these styles should be added the music of

Very few of the almost 600 opuses of the reclusive Jean Catoire have been publicly performed.
They are long, continuous works, none shorter than 15 minutes and m a n y lasting between 1 to
3 hours. He has also written essays on the p h e n o m e n o n of sound as it relates to the process of psy-
chicaUy transcribing music from an 'auditive vision' as he calls it. The author is in the possession of
all his works and essays and anyone interested in them should contact h i m at 14 Denmark Road,
London W13 8RG, UK.
 Towards a New Phenomenon of Sound in the Age of Aquarius 123

Frank Perry who creates extended works using Tibetan singing bowls and vari-
ous gongs; the overtone singing pieces of David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir;
Brian Lee's soundscapes using ancient Greek tunings; the sound structures devel-
oped by the American Barbara Hero based on the ancient Pythagorean Lambdoma
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table, and the crystal music created by the holistic practitioner Harry Oldfield.2
Many contemporary composers consider the writing of these kinds of music as
sheer laziness, lacking in mental vigor. Their view is: How can they write such
stuff when the mind has so much in it to be tapped? The question is: Which mind?
To composers who work with great discipline, rationality and precision to create
complex structures such music is 'mindless' and 'childish'. Alternatively it could
be described as 'childlike', for children are highly receptive to their creative inner
world without imposing any unnecessary intellectual judgments. Regardless of
style, the visionary composers will remain those who allow themselves to be used
as channels and transcribers. However, they have to possess a discrimination
that can perceive their true inner voice and not the workings of a clever brain.
Their present role is to tune into the new sound archetypes entering their con-
sciousness through the changing vibratory frequencies reaching Earth and trans-
late them into an audio or even visual form. This is the ideal in which the rational
mind does not create anything, only assists in making clear the auditive vision.
Sometimes to open the doorway to such vision some catalytic influences are nec-
essary such as the music of Eastern cultures or the Roman or Orthodox churches.
The result has been a much purified, direct music whose features include: non-
developmental and geometrical forms, lack of contrast, steady state rhythm pat-
terns or (in New Age music) lack of rhythmic definition, prolonged repetition,
sustained moods of dynamism or contemplation, drones and/or long pedal points,
singular scales/modes over long periods of time, triadic harmonies, alternative
tuning systems to equal temperament and the use of electronic instruments for
expanded range and colour of expression.
Since the 1960s these incantational and contemplative musics, emerging from
both within and outside the established order of contemporary classical music
and variously categorized as Post-Modernism, New Age, New Wave Classicism3
and New Consciousness Music,* have taken root and continue to gain larger
audiences. But why? Surely listeners could be satisfied with earlier music that
exhibits similar features. It would seem that the Aquarian age is reshaping peo-
ple's psyches so that they are gradually resonating to the new sound archetypal
patterns which still produce the qualities of ecstasy, catharsis and transcendence.
Each epoch requires new archetypes. This means that no music is immortal. It has
a limited life span within a given astrological age. We are now leaving the Piscean
age for the Aquarian which will be at its full flowering by 2030. Very gradually
the old archetypal sound patterns give way to new evolutionary patterns.

2 See Discography. Further information about the private recordings can be obtained through the
author at the same address.
3 A term coined by the author to describe his own music.
4 A term, coined by the musician and writer Daniel Perret, which first appeared as the heading for
his reviews of recorded music in 'Kindred Spirit" Magazine (Vol. 3 No. 3,1994) published in England.
 124 JamesD'Angelo

An essential question is: What is the relationship between the features of these
types of music and the b o d y / m i n d / s p i r i t nature of human beings? Our constitu-
tion is more than a physical body and brain which scientists can analyze and
dissect. We have other invisible bodies that surround us like an electro-magnetic
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field. They have been called the etheric, astral and auric bodies. Sound phenom-
ena penetrate through their bodies, reaching the central core of our system - a
series of vortices called in the Hindu tradition 'chakras'. In effect, they are our
power centres and if they are all in tune and fully vibrating we are in a state of
great harmony. It is often wondered w h y people accept and enjoy certain styles
of music and reject others. Part of the answer lies in the principle of resonance.
The composite vibrations of music enter a person, not only through the ear con-
nected to the brain, but are absorbed throughout the entire body. If the music is
resonating the majority of the frequency patterns of a person's constitution then
they are attracted to it. If it is causing a sufficient number of dissonant relation-
ships with that constitution then rejection .takes place. This is the emotior~al effect
of the absorption of sound phenomena. Even the perception of form is jointly
apprehended by our various bodies and the ear/brain connection. Therefore it is
quite possible to have a beneficial experience of music without the physical ear
taking part. Actually hearing music is a pleasurable, sensual experience but it is
not the whole picture. It is no coincidence that we use the word 'sound' in our
language to mean that all is in o r d e r - sound health, sound mind and sound think-
ing.
Why should this so-called N e w Consciousness Music be thought of as the fore-
runner of sound phenomena that will evolve into profound auditive experiences
in the 21st century? For a possible answer, let us consider some of its features:

Repetition

This is the key incantational aspect. Many non-Western cultures have used incan-
tation as a means of changing a person's state. Repetitive sound patterns can pierce
thorough the ordinary waking state and produce a catharsis that transcends the
limited ego to the higher, spiritual self. The experience is not one of trance or
hypnosis. Such patterns, unmodified or modified, should emanate from a pure
transcriber of sound archetypes. Otherwise calculated repetitive sound phenom-
ena produced by clever, imitative composers would simple wear down the lis-
tener. A criticism against prolonged repetition is that it is 'mindless'. In one sense
this is so. The rational, thinking apparatus is not involved but the music can still
effect us at other levels. In India spiritual masters have intuited m a n y so-called
'mantras' that provide clarification of the mind and therefore the spirit. The pro-
longed repetitions being channelled by the New Consciousness composers are a
kind of equivalent to such mantras. For example, Jean Catoire has written works
three hours long whose sole content is permutations of a major triad. This goes
far beyond Riley's "In C'.
 Towardsa New Phenomenonof Sound in the Age of Aquarius 125

Tuning~Temperaments 5
Few composers of NCM have thus far been interested in replacing equal tempera-
ment (ET) with alternative ones. ET was logical for the chromaticism and modu-
lations employed by 19th and 20th century composers. However, as an acoustical
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phenomenon, its effects are limited despite the fact that our ears compensate for
the difference between ET intervals and the truer, simpler ratios as found in just
intonation, for example. Why should our physical emotional mental and spir-
itual nature be limited to receiving only the complex ratios of ET intervals? What
our nature desires and resonates to is a richness of intervals whose ratios are far
less complex than ET. For example, in just intonation 35 distinct intervals are
created. 6 In his book on the ragas of North Indian music 7 Alain Danielou cata-
logues 40 divisions of the octave measured against the tonic. Each interval is
assigned a special quality of feeling. If there were a science of intervals along
similar lines composers, using electronic or yet to be invented instruments, could
have variable tunings for a 7 to 12 tone octave division according to which quali-
fies of sound were compatible with their vision. The use of such tunings, be they
ancient Greek, just intonation or intuitively created, remains a largely untapped
field.

Drone~Modes
The drone is like a microcosmic reflection of the original macrocosmic tone or
'Word" (as it is called in St John's Gospel) out of which emerged the creation of the
universe in the form of an ever expanding overtone series. It is an omnipresent
constant against which the tones of numerous modes can be appreciated. Each
harmonic interval carries its o w n psychic weight as it impinges upon our various
bodies. Even within Western music there is the great power of the dominant and
tonic pedal points. Drones can provide a centredness and grounding, essential to
our nature. Keeping to a particular mode is equally potent. The same melodic
intervals are heard over and over again and through duration these intervals can
permeate our various bodies and do their therapeutic physical and psychological
work. This is not a new idea. Plato wrote of the definite and powerful effects of
modes centuries ago.

Steady State Pulse and Rhythm

These elements can directly affect the many different rhythm cycles within the
human b o d ~ most especially the heartrate, breathing cycle and brain waves. This
is effected b y a process known as 'entrainment'. It is the ability of more powerful
rhythmic vibrations to change less powerful vibrations and cause them to

s Temperamentsare separate from microtona~tywhich is simply the raising and lowering of pitch
by less than an ET half-step (minor second).
6 A prime example of this division is found in Terry Riley's extended piano work TheHarp of New
Albion. See discography.
7 See Further Reading list, pp 40-42.
 126 JamesD'Angelo

synchronize their rhythms with the former. It has now been proven that this en-
trainment through sound phenomena can affect our consciousness. This is very
effective when the frequencies are lowered from beta waves (our usual conscious-
ness) to the slower rates of 'theta' and 'delta'. These are deep, meditative states
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of consciousness which help to purify our nature. This occurs in many works of
Jean Catoire which have an unending flow of minims and semi-breves at a MM
of minim=35.

Major~MinorTriadicHarmony
The structure of all music can ultimately be traced back to the overtone series and
its mirror undertone series. It is the great principle of the many contained within
the one. This series is not only the basis of musical tones; it is also to be seen in
the structure of plants, crystals and the periodic table of chemical elements? As
the materials of music are increasingly reduced in the future, the major and minor
triad, as the fundamental progeny of the series and its mirror image, will become
the primal harmonic forces in NCM. This phenomenon has been an important
part of the NCM of Philip Glass. Beyond this a single tone would evolve, so richly
and profoundly produced that it could be experienced as a melody.9

Form
How form affects our consciousness is a subtle, mysterious process. One aspect
of form that is gradually disappearing in NCM is contrast of thematic material,
dynamics and tempo. Future composers will no longer intuit any need for con-
trast because their music will have moved beyond the level of drama and enter-
tainment to the level of pure contemplation. Performers will have to be utterly in
empathy with such music so that they can subtly communicate the sound values,
without the usual external expressions. Internally they will be completely at one
with the music's intent. More than likely musical form will take the shape of
permutations of very basic thematic materials, a kind of sacred musical geometry
or hologram whereby each section will always be a reflection of the whole. It
would enable listeners to experience the one unity at all times while absorbing
simultaneously its many permutations.
These features of much of the NCM and their suggested effects are not formu-
lae for writing a kind of therapeutic, consciousness-expanding music that will
eventually replace our present-day medicine and psychology although undoubt-
edly the scientific application of sound for curative and preventative purposes
will continue to develop.1~A science of tones will one day be established that

8 This is the central theme of Hans Kayser's research and delineated in his book Akroas/s. See
Further Reading.
9 A concept first put forward by Rudolf Steiner in his lectures published collectively as The Inner
Nature of Music and the Experience of Tone. It is also taken up in H E Lauer's essay published as part
of the book, Cosmic Music. See Further Reading.
1D Pioneers already working in this field include the Englishmen Dr Peter Guy Manners (cymatics)
and Harry Oldlfield (electro-crystal therapy) and the Frenchman Fabien Maman (bioenergetics).
 Towards a New Phenomenon of Sound in the Age of Aquarius 127

correlates frequencies with every level of each particular human being. Corre-
spondingly it will be realized that the pitching of tones must be quite precise so
that tuning is founded upon C being I vps and A as lower than its current 440
plus. More than likely a more potent frequency stimulation can be achieved to
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retune and resonate all our frequencies through specialized instruments made of
crystals, sparking off unique sets of harmonics. These would be an altogether
advanced form of our present-day electronic synthesizers. Coloured lighting would
then be integrated with such crystal instruments or other sound media in some
kind of correspondence. All such ideas could be taken into account by the com-
posers/transcribers of the future. Nonetheless their music will still be received as
apurely psychic phenomenon. The present day NCM composers, although it seems
their music is a deliberate, calculated reaction to complex music, are simply the
first to glimpse and transcribe new zones of sound archetypes as the solar system
moves ever deeper into the Aquarian epoch. Once we have fully entered into the
21st century they will be superseded by a more highly attuned generation - a
unique caste of individuals capable of perceiving through a psychic auditive
vision ever more refined, primordial sound archetypes.
And what might be the final stage? One answer has been given by Jean Catoire. 11
qf a unique, unvarying complex sound were allowed to develop indefinitely in
the static multiple of its possibilities, human beings would finally realize this
continuous sound in their innermost being while going about their daily lives.
The very fact of not listening to these sound structures but only absorbing them,
that is narrowing the mental perception to the utmost, would enable the psyche
to be opened more widely. Put into such a receptive state by the phenomenon of
sound they would eventually come into a silence of inner unity and return to the
beginning from which this sound came.' Is this the end point of what we now call
"music'? If so, then we will have come to the ultimate sacred music or phenom-
enon of sound that unites the listeners with the one creative Absolute. This has
always been the ultimate objective of humanity, to experience the "Word', that
fundamental tone of tones sounded out of still silence at the beginning of time.

FURTHER READING
Beaulieu, John (1987) Music and Sound in the Healing Arts. New York: Station Hill Press
Berendt, Joachim-Ernst (1987) Nada Brahma The World Is Sound: Music and the Landscape of Con-
scioi~sness. English edition. London and the Hague: East-West Publications.
Berendt,Joachim-Ernst(1988)TheThird Ear: On Listening to the World. Englishedition.Shaftesbury
(England): Element Books
Catoire, Jean (1968) 'The Phenomenon of Sount'. Unpublished manuscript.
Danielou, Alain (1980) TheRagas of Northern Indian 1VFusic.New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal
Publishers.
Godwin, Joscelyn (1989)Editor. Cosmic Music: Musical Keys to the Interpretation of Realty. Essays
by Marius Schneider, Rudolf Haase and Hans Erhard Lauer. Rochester,Vermont:Inner Tra-
ditions International
Hero, Barbara (1992) Lambdoma Unveiled (The Theory of Relationships). North Berwick, Maine:
Strawberry Hill Farm Studios Press
Kayser,Hans (1970)Akroasis: The Theory of World Harmonics. English edition. Boston:Plowshare
Press

1~ Excerptfrom an unpublishedessay entitled 'ContemporaryProblemsof Sound' written in 1968.

 128 JamesD'Angelo

Mertens, Wire (1983) American Minimal Music. English edition. White Plains, New York: Pro/
Am Music Resources
Schaefer, John (1987) New Sounds. New York: Harper & Row
Steiner, Rudolf (1983) The Inner Nature of Music and the Experience of Tone. Hudson, New York:
Anthroposophic Press
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DISCOGRAPHY
Glass, Philip (1983) Koyaanisquatsi. Antilles Records ASTA 1 (LP)
Glass, Philip (1989) Solo Piano. CBS Records FMT 45576 (Cassette)
Gorecki, Henryk (1976) Symphony No. 3, Opus 36. Electra Nonesuch 7559-79282-4 (Cassette)
Hero Barbara (1988) Grand Gallery Galaxy Sounds and Universal Law Harmonies. Privately pro-
duced on cassette
Hykes, David and the Harmonic Choir (1983) Hearing Solar Wings. Ocora 558 607(LP)
Iasos (1983) Elixir: Celestial Symphonic Music for Synthesizers. Sound R 7000 (San Rafael, CA).
Lee, Brian (1993) The Painted Book (music for synthesizer using ancient Greek Tunings). Pri-
vately produced on cassette by the composer
Oldfield, Harry (1992) Crystal Music. Durtro 003 (CD)
Part, Arvo (1984) Tabula Rasa (plus three other works). ECM Records 1275 (LP)
Perr~ Frank (1988) New Atlantis. Celestial Harmonies CEL-011 (cassette)
Reich, Steve (1978) Music for 18 Musicians. ECM Records 1-1129 (LP)
Riley, Terry (1986) The Harp of New Albion. Celestial Harmonies CEL-081/19 (LP)
Tavener, John (1992) The Protecting Veil. V'~r~m Classics 0777 7595024 3 (cassette)
Young, LaMonte (1987) The Well-Tuned Piano. Gramavision 18-8701--4 (5 cassettes)