Musical Alchemy Introduction

Music has many forms, fields and functions and throughout history has been expressions of a wide range of areas and aspects. Research shows that music has been at the core of mankind's spiritual and cultural dimensions; often as the main and most important expression. In fact, the written word comes from singing, as the oral traditions vastly predates script and singing predates talking. The ancient poets and storytellers were singers and the idea of writing and reading poetry without music is a very recent occurrence.

Music was the key to the universe, the maps and the science of both the inner and the outer world. Music channelled the divine and made it present in human society. Music has the ability to invoke and evoke strong experiences, influence the mind, the soul and the world and is perhaps the most important activity of mankind, besides what needs to be done to merely stay alive.

In ancient civilisations spirituality and inner progress was something inherently linked with life in all aspects, and music was one of the key avenues of this. Music was on the one hand a communal activity, singing together and reciting religious myths and festivals but also something that certain persons used for more specific ends. Shamans, priests and bards used music for ritualistic and magical purposes often associated with esoteric initiation.

Shamans used drums for hypnotic meditations and inner astral journeys, different types of instruments and singing for invoking and evoking spirits, healing and guiding the tribe.
 

Priests used music to lead religious ceremonies, esoteric mass workings and expressing the religious prayers based on the need of the community and tribal structure.

Bards have often been associated with keeping the core of the spiritual ideas of a community going by inheritance of tradition, often in the shape of a Minnesänger. Bards sang the history and esoteric information of a specific group and kept the soul connected to the higher spheres.

All three of these examples show how music was a key aspect of the spiritual and magical health and progress of mankind. The influence of music, sound vibrations, voice and rhythm on the mind and body is all encompassing and vital.

When Christianity took over Europe church music became the sole expression of music for a while, even if the ancient folk traditions were still alive but often had to hide from the inquisitions since it was closely linked with the heathen religious and esoteric world. Christianity, at its old core a mystery religion of initiation, became a politicized monster and hunted and destroyed all other forms of spirituality and indeed music. But even in this dualistic and polarized culture music could still survive as an esoteric initiatory practice, though hidden either among outwardly Christian mystics or among secret pagan and/or magical societies.

The last 500 - 1000 years the division between the priestly/church based music and the folk/pagan tradition was first increasing, creating a total separation and almost ignorance of the folk traditions. During these times kings, queens and the nobility selected certain bards and musical scholars to positions at court, something that was often needed to be able to perform the orchestral or choir music then composed. But the scholarly music began to go its own way in the 19th century and especially during Romanticism. This cult of the genius in all areas of music, art and literature created the first rock stars, like Paganini, Mozart, Wagner and Beethoven. The individuality that this new position afforded the composers also made way for more diverse and often esoteric foundations for the music. Right after this process modern scholarly music merged with old folk music when composers like Bartok, Stravinsky, Smetana and many others picked up old folk music creating hybrids and a creative melting pot that gave birth to the musical revolutions of the 20th century.

The Birth of Rock, Metal and Electronic Music

The Blues was a natural development of African folk music being played on guitars. When the folk music of Europe met the afro-american folk music and Blues in North America rock music was born. Even though most rock is blues based, it has also picked up rhythm and tonality from European folk music roots. This hybrid that began in scholarly music was then to become the norm as cultures moves around the world and influences are more and more global. From all this came much of the music we have today. Popular music arrived in the early 20th century as short ditties and tunes that people would hear on the radio and later buy as records. Popular music is by definition something that appeals to the broad public and is meant for entertainment. Here a breach from the age old function of music as a upholder of culture and esoteric initiation appears but as we shall see also opens the possibility for a return for these aspects, uncontrolled by any patron or cultural system.

Music has probably always had a role for entertainment, but in ancient societies the entire existence had a deeper meaning and thus the need to merely ”pass the time” was probably less. There is ample evidence of music as something to gain strength from, to calm oneself, to make work less boring and to express spiritual aspects. In modern society from the 19th century onwards, music and artists could be used to make money with the arrival of fixed work times, salaries, public houses and the need for recreation. This popular music, aimed for the working masses is a poor replacement of the old bards and shamans, and the music often had the purpose, like the ale, to make someone cope with a barely livable existence. The higher classes kept the scholarly music alive in their closed circles and only much later would popular music reach all levels of society. Popular music also began the economical interests in music, where agents, labels and managers often from the carnival circuit or even organized crime would milk their artists dry. This background explains why the music business like no other has been a one-sided pyramid scheme where only rarely the musician has gotten a fair share of the income.

But with the arrival of rock music something revolutionary happened. During the 1960s the majority of the youth of the western world bought records, attended gigs and festivals and the artists had an increased freedom of expression. Bands like the Beatles had more impact, among the youth, than organized religion. Here we can see how some aspects ensured that at least parts of the old esoteric and communal cultural meaning of music was returned as beatniks and hippies engaged in the musical culture in ways reminiscent of pagan revelries or religious celebrations. This explosion of free minded culture opened the flood gates and all the genres we know today were created, especially important being Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Electronic Music, and how these begat genres who spawn genres and so forth. Bands like Tangerine Dream created hypnotic magical creations that were performed in cathedral congregations and Black Sabbath conjured dark forces in the heaviest music ever heard. In all parts of the world this process went on, Afro Beat mixed ethnic music and magic with rock and funk, in Asia and South America groups created their own brew, not least in Brazil. Even if the creators here were not necessarily aware of how they continued the ancient legacy of music as magical initiation, many who took part would be inspired accordingly. Artists like Fela Kuti actively included esoteric initiation in his musical performances. In countries where esoteric religion traditions flourished still, these aspects were especially interesting. In Europe the line between image and actual esoteric content is much harder to grasp. For esoteric practitioners searching for truly esoteric and magical music it is indeed hard to find true gems.

In the western world where the esoteric religion has been hidden by Christianity for a 1000 years we have a very peculiar cultural situation. We have a long and advanced history of philosophy and science that has taken the place of magical initiation. This monotheistic/political society later turned materialistic scientific has arrived at a superficial mass culture that is controlled by capitalistic and nefarious interests. It is almost impossible to find something real and true in this modern labyrinth of entertainment, company controlled content and sensationalist news functions. This means that many music groups have used religious and magical content as merely another superficial entertainment aspect, similar to the movie or gaming industry.

The Concert Experience

One has to realize that these ancient symbols, systems and musical ingredients are too powerful and aligned in all humans to be tamed by such a limited cultural system as the modern world offers. This has led to the situation where artists without any grounding in esoteric concepts have created elaborate musical and theatrical output that in all but its core echoes the ancient mysteries. The heavy rhythmical music, the elaborate costumes light show and smoke, the communal vibration of a mass gathering of people in their hundreds or thousands all but makes magic happen on its own. What is interesting is that both the artists and those partaking in the event are completely unaware of the energies released and nobody is directing them towards any specific goal. But if the cultural content is powerful enough something esoteric may still happen within some of the attendees. It will be in a very uncontrolled manner however and most of the energy will be lost or take unexpected turns since society has not prepared mankind for such an event.

Since the concert experience is grounded in hundreds of years of entertainment industry, that is then how we are programmed. It is just as hard to exclude the magic as it is to properly channel it. This means that all concerts may have some straits of the esoteric gathering, but almost none have all the necessary parts to make it a true magical event. If the majority of the audience are grounded in the superficial entertainment aspect, that is where the main focus will be; but the magic will still be there and touch those prepared and open for it. The concert experience then, is perhaps today the most fickle way into an esoteric musical experience.

Music as a Path to Esoteric Initiation

We have then delineated a difference between:

1. Music that is made for entertainment and/or to emphasize a specific cultural-political paradigm.

2. Music that is made to channel esoteric initiation.

Examples here being

1. Superficial ditties to make people happy and go back to work, songs to make people go to war/obey the ruling class, or buy a specific product, promote a certain materialistic life style.

2. Music expressing the initiatory experience, music that gains access into spiritual energies and aim to lead to individual esoteric progress, music that goes beyond the limited system of thoughts, intellectualization, materialism, superficial theatrical aspects, music that is created by individuals initiated and experienced in a certain esoteric tradition.

Music created in the second level here is esoteric both in its creation and in its output. It is music created by an initiated magician, who has mastered the art of musical alchemy and is thus able to use the music as an alchemical tool to evolve him/herself and to inspire and spread this process to others. It is not enough to have the symbols, outer theatrical aspects or even the intention of making musical alchemy, one must reach certain levels of initiation to actually succeed. Here one may draw a further delineation between music that has some magical or esoteric aspects but are not made by properly initiated composers, not made to help others with initiation, not consciously made to be alchemical in nature or made in a more religious, mass-consciousness setting as different to music that constitutes musical alchemy in all its parts.

Musical Alchemy is not bound to any specific magical, religious or mythological system; any person who wants to create musical alchemy can do so within any system. It takes a lot of work and preparation, but since inspiration is a huge part of both initiatory work and musical creation, this generally is not a hindrance.

Musical Alchemy is based on but not restrained within the classical western systems of alchemy, even if these stages of development are relevant examples of the stages of initiation. The term Alchemy here is used to emphasize the initiatory esoteric progression that is the core in the musical work. To imply Musical Alchemy the artists needs to unite magic and music in a fully formed creation where certain states of mind, ceremonies, meditations, channeling of entities, energies and spheres of existence flow into the musical work in a manner that evolves both the artist and the creation. The inspiration, the composition, lyrics, the performance, the recording, the production are all equally important stages and all imbued with alchemical evolution.

All these stages have to be done from specific states of mind and soul, only then can they truly reflect the esoteric aspects.

Successfully expressing magical initiation in music generally takes two forms:

1. The pure channelled expression of the magical process.

The capture of a pure magical experience, the performance is a direct magical act and the result is completely based on the esoteric. The esoteric content is in the open but in its raw form is often personal and the process has not been adapted in any way.

2. The digested and artistically formed expression of the magical process.

Taking the experience and process and digesting it and transforming it during longer periods of time and reflection. This leads to artistically formed expressions that have taken longer time to form and thus are even more personal. The initiatory content may be harder to decipher and may be clothed in more mundane language.

Magical Music Composition

The creation of esoteric music can have its focus either on the effect the creation has on the creator or on the audience. In some instances the focus can be on both. In those instances the creation process is fully immersed magical process, and the sound will have a direct magical effect on the listener. But generally the focus is on one of these, since it may be harder to direct the sound if the creator is immersed in magical process while creating. To have any magical effect the music needs to be made with a magical and alchemical point of view, and based on real experiences and real initiation.

Magical Music Performance

The actual playing or singing is where much of the esoteric input is focused and the state of mind of the performer is key to what is conveyed. Often more superficial interpretations of esoteric music leans heavily on classic ceremonies with all the trimmings, robes and seemingly mystical artifacts. These can be helpful and powerful if used in proper initiatory work, but do not add anything on their own. More important is what the performer brings to the table in magical experience, initiatory level and consciousness enhancement. Just wanting to or aiming for an esoteric influence in the music is not enough to reach musical alchemy, it may add mystical strata to the music, but it will be without direction and disjointed. The performer must have reached a certain level of magical initiation to be able to channel the energy and states of mind necessary. Many people have expressed how the spiritual master singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan healed them, just by them listening to his voice, live or from records. That is an example of a performer who was both an esoteric and a musical master. Sometimes the performer may be stronger on one aspect, an experienced initiated who is a less accomplished musician/singer or a very accomplished musician/singer who is not yet a spiritual master. One strong aspect may balance the whole and results may be reached, but they must both be there to a certain extent.

Magical Music Production

Musical Alchemy is about using the musical work in itself to make the process the goal and to acknowledge the inner dimension that music offers. Music has in many cases been hijacked by commercial interests and its creation and performance too often is valued only by its commercial value. This erroneous situation is all over our modern society, but in music it is upheld by the corporations that sell music, sell artists and sell lifestyles. Superficial talent-shows convince people that they and their music is only valuable as a commodity and only if they fit in pre-shaped molds. Even artists in more alternative areas may become increasingly focused on commercial aspects due to the pyramid like economical structure of the music business.

Music, however, is an area of hope. Music in all genres is now easier than ever to record, produce and distribute due to the computer revolution. The ability to record and produce ones own music makes it possible for anyone to be creative and also to reach out to an audience, even if it may be limited.

The first aim in recording music was to make it sound true to the source. The technical development reached this stage somewhere in the 1960s, when the best studios could record and produce material to match the source in quality. During the 70s and 80s this technology was made cheaper and more accessible leading to more possibilities for less populistic artists to reach a sound that reflected the source. During the 90s the computer revolution made this quality available to everyone through digital hard disk recording and in the last 20 years also other equipment has become less expensive and more accessible so that anyone can record and produce music with great sound.

The digital and software revolution has also led to a situation where musicians do not longer actually need to be able to sing or play, since the computer based studio includes all kinds of programs and plugins that can make any input sound ”perfect” by way of digital manipulation. This has led to a situation where music is expected to sound ”perfect” to be digestible to the modern ear. To reach this perfection in the past, the musicians and engineers needed to be extremely good and the human touch was still intact, but these days anyone can reach a cold, frigid and tame ”perfection” by fixing everything digitally. This has led to music being more a digital than human product. Considering that music is a carrier of soul, energy and intent this has removed much of that and made music uninteresting and stale.

This digital process of presets and ability to mimic other productions has also led to a situation where all productions sound the same. In the past even great studios and producers had every record getting a unique sound, since the uniqueness of the musician’s input was heard and the effort put in.

This barren land of soulless production has sadly been combined with a dumbing down of lyrics and musical content leading to a contemporary popular music that all sounds the same and contain absolutely no cultural value at all. In comparison even the billboard hits of the 80s and 90s appear wonders of musical creativity and lyrical depth. All this is probably why music these days are loosing fans and appear less relevant. It most likely has nothing to do with the actual sonic quality, as Neil Young thinks.

Alchemical Musical Production

From an Alchemical perspective the key is to allow the energy, soul, personality and magic of the performers to shine through. It does not matter if the recording is analog or digital per se, since one can indeed use modern technology without being limited and controlled by it. In our current materialistic culture many believe that using only old vintage gear will make the soul and magic appear, this is obviously not the case however. You cannot buy energy, soul and magic.

The most important thing when creating magic in the studio is to know that what is felt in the studio is what is felt in the recording. What is going on while recording, is what will come through. Intent, will, emotions and dedication is something that is carried right through the speakers to the listener.

This is mainly accomplished by recording live as much as possible, using first takes, avoiding punch ins and digital tampering with rhythm, voice or instrument takes. Effects are of course necessary as in all production, but one should try to make it happen in the room, instead of in the computer.

It is also important to understand that ”perfection” is boring. Especially these days when ”perfection” signals overproduction and digital tampering, it is important to allow personal touches or spontaneous anomalies to stay; aka ”mistakes”. One has to be brave enough to show that there is a human playing and singing.

The creation and production of music from an Alchemical perspective is all about the process. Commercial productions thinks that it is all about the result, but sadly forgets about the process and thus reaches nowhere. Allowing the process to shine through, the result will be vibrant, powerful and alive.

In metal and rock music the commercial interests have also been increasingly aligned with modern slick productions. Even the most extreme genres now sound completely harmless. Modern Death and Black Metal often sound so over-produced and slick, with computer fixed drums and over eq’d and over-limited sound that it would not sound out of place in an elevator.

By removing the commercial interest and the desire to fit in, music can be both initiatory and musically vibrant. Ironically, these very aspects may then cause a rebirth of music and thus become commercial, which is not necessarily a bad thing in itself as long as one does not allow commercial interests to control the process.