We travelled to India to record the Gyuto Tibetan Monks in their monastery in exile in Dharamsala, on the fringe of the Himalayas. The initial impact of the monks chanting was overwhelming, this rich deep low bass rumbling the very walls of the temple, strange harmonics that tricked the mind and ear into thinking there were flutes playing and other instruments.
One of the aims of this album is to immense the listener into the world of the Gyuto Monks, as if you were sitting in their monastery listening to them chanting in their daily environment. We’ve aimed to make the soundtracks as 3D as possible in a stereo field and hopefully that will invoke pictures and scenes in the listener’s mind-mountains, rain, children playing, trains, wide fields and skies…
We wanted to combine the chanting of the Gyuto Monks with a contemporary landscape of beats, synths, Tibetan instrumentation and melodies to paint a scene of the positive, proud resilience of the exiled monks, outlining their struggle and plight with dramatic, emotional, powerful songs and then adding Soname’s melodic vocals and Teymour’s soaring flute-playing taking to another level.
Marrying the recordings of the monks chanting and talking that we made in India with the tracks was a unique experience. Most of the recordings were binaural, using the legenday Neumann “Head” Microphone, coupled with mixing techniques pioneered by Youth and Mike Brady (RIP) known as the 3D60 mixing process, we have made the tracks seem wider and given more height than the standard stereo field. They also give a holographic vibe and add a 3D dimension to some of the individual sounds –moving percussion and flutes around the listener’s field of hearing makes for a very wide sonic experience. As well as making you feel so close to the monks, as if they were sitting right next to you, breathing into your ear. Listen on headphones if you can!
We hope with these recordings that we have captured the humility and devotion to compassion towards fellow human beings that these monks exemplify.
We would like to dedicate this album to the memory of Mike Brady and his vision of 3D in stereo.
01. Legend of The Yogi 02. Bodhicitta 03. Taya Ta 04. Another World 05. Yidam 06. Lugar 07. Tara Drolma 08. Compassion Beat 09. Renewal 10. Invocation to The Buddhas And Bodhisattvas
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