Learn How You Can Contribute to Our Woodwind Instructor’s New Project by clicking Here.

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Adventurous and contemplative, rustic yet refined, this music is a simple and deep exploration of sound and stillness. Four of the songs are Buddhist hymns based on nature, breath and awareness which come from the shakuhachi bamboo flute tradition. The other three songs are new compositions written specifically for Taimu, a wide-bore, bass variant of the shakuhachi flute. All are performed on the Taimu and work well together as a meditative sound and nature experience.

Nothing quite like this album has ever been made before. Attempting to transmit the essence of a cave-tunnel deep inside of the earth through the resonant sound of ancient Buddhist songs on bass bamboo flutes, well, it’s kind of experimental. The actual recordings were quite successful, and yet, reverently and effectively transferring this experience from this dark, moist environment to listeners requires attention to post-production and packaging.

Short Summary

This project has been in the making for over two years. The sect of shakuhachi in which I am licensed as a master, “dokyoku,” emphasizes virtuosic performance skill alongside absolute awareness of the moment, which could be said to be the essence of Zen. The shakuhachi has rare qualities for bringing players and listeners together into this feeling of alive awareness. It was important to me to use these big flutes (Taimu) that I have composed for and become so enthusiastic about to create an album that was more contemplative. It also transmits the “nature essence” that is inherent to playing an instrument completely crafted from a natural material.

When I discovered this cave and experienced the resonance there and how the flute inside the cave was an analog to the air inside the flute—selecting the appropriate songs and getting back there with more flutes and recording equipment became the priority. My hope is that listening to this album will transmit in some way the essence of the flutes, the cave, the songs, the state of consciousness and the awareness of breath that were all required to bring these recordings into being. All of these factors are elements to an experience that, hopefully, is felt as beneficial in some way, but is also just beyond the scope of what we can say in words.

I have been creating unique woodwind music for almost 20 years. Writing over 60 compositions and arrangements for the world’s only composing bass clarinet quartet, Edmund Welles, has been at the core of my efforts. As a teacher and conscious breathing evangelist, I have also created instructional materials and made these musical creations available to students and enthusiasts of all levels all over the world.
What We Need & What You Get

The funding for this is “flexible” meaning we will get any funds contributed, and they will be allocated as described below: also, you can contribute a small amount, you do not have to choose one of the “Perks.”

Much of the work needed to complete this album is being completed in close collaboration with good friends and regular colleagues/collaborators and so the fees involved are quite small. Still, they do add up. Here is where the money will go:

$250 audio mastering
$500 photography, graphic design and layout
$400 disc production (100, 6-panel digipaks)
$124 online outlet fees and download cards (CD Baby, bandcamp)
$300 shakuhachi notation production to be included on discs
$350 album marketing and promotion
$350 album distribution deal shopping
TOTAL: $2274

Any additional funds will allow us to increase the initial disc printing, widen the scope of the marketing and distribution to reach more people, and to rent an acoustically appropriate venue and promote a release show. Getting this music to more people who would really enjoy it is the over-arching goal here: the record label Sounds True is my ideal distributor for this album, and they only accept mastered, completed projects for consideration.

Perks! Gifts! Previews! Elitist Hermit machismo!
Contributing to this project is a rare opportunity. It is amazing that we have this method of funding fringe and experimental projects these days. We hope to build a lasting community of supporters for projects like this, and are looking forward to delivering the perks for Mountain Hermit’s Secret Wisdom. We’ve got:

immediate download of the final recordings (it’s already on bandcamp)
autographed CDs
personalized, handwritten secret wisdom
hand-selected teas from the mountains of China
“Executive Producer” credit on the CD and websites
full-color prints of Taimu flute photos from the album art
live, in-person performance of the album in your home

The Impact

This is at least the dozenth (depending how you calculate it) album I have released as a leader, and I am surprisingly excited that, for once, this fits neatly into an established “genre.” Well, the meditation/nature/Japanese traditional music genre feels like a pre-existing category to me, even if it still bends some boundaries.

As I said, I am a “conscious breathing evangelist,” but I am also an Awareness Evangelist. This means that I have ascertained that most of us need to expand our awareness and reconnect to the source of Being. Breath can be a link to doing this: I have seen it happen in myself and with students. Bringing awareness to breath through music such as this is my priority. The existence of the Zen Buddhist shakuhachi flute is a blessing on this planet, and there is already a substantial shakuhachi tradition. But all traditions require nourishment and evolution. This is my hope for this project as well as planned future installments to the “Mountain Hermit’s Wisdom” series.


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