Ritual Breathing by Tibetan Red

This work is dedicated to Éliane Radigue


The score for the three pieces in this work read along the lines of what, by now, seem to construct a pole of attraction around the ideas I am seeking to convey. I am imbued by several constant concepts around sound aspects that conform a major compelling force like, massed sounds and its possibilities, aiming to impress our psychic nature as to our fragility towards the presence of unbounded forces at work around us. The fact that most of the times these forces are imbedded in ethnic music sounds and instruments, only add age and consciousness of their presence amongst us. Ritual sound forms as vehicles of alignment and its potential for transformation, i.e. mantras, repetitive sounds, rhythms and drones in their context as psychology of the continuum. And narrative, as much as I would like to avoid "story lines" for the sake of higher abstraction, I am bound by the generative images within the piece itself.

For these explorations the point of attraction was to use instruments that involve some forms of ritual breathing. The Air element composes the central figure that seeks expression along the three sound developments.

In The Deity's Descent [apparently retitled Ritual Breathing (note by TK)] a breathing wall draws and moves a sound line divided in three parts: the evocation of the Deity, the response of the Deity and the welcome of the Deity.

breathing: furnace, shakuhachis, dungchens and gyalings.

In Reading the Lhas the evocation of air fields of lha entities is taken by the shenai's "chant" for longing and lamentation.

breathing: shenais, industrial blow torch, didgeridoos, and shakuhachis.

In the third piece Gompa is high altitude air circulation space which embodies isolation, absence of desire and inner silence.

~ Tibetan Red


"Ritual Breathing" was previously released as CD by Antahkarana Records in 2007.

Nostalgie de la Boue is a free download / "name your price (no minimum)" net-label run by Tristan Koreya, dedicated to well-established as well as lesser known and younger artists in post-industrial, experimental and unconventional music.