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Inner Rhythm Meditations
by Byron Metcalf
Visit Byron's website
or on Bandcamp
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While a lot of new age meditation music is ethereal,
percussionist Byron Metcalf’s new album utilizes the power of rhythm to create
a deeply meditative listening experience that is further enhanced by the
exquisite accompaniment of Erik Wollo on ambient guitar and keyboard, and
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Peter
Phippen on Eastern flutes. Byron uses his 20 years as a shamanic practitioner,
transpersonal guide, and educator to imbue his music with authenticity based on
his extensive knowledge of states of consciousness. Through his relaxed yet
soulful rhythms, one is drawn in and entrained to “the pulse of the cosmos.”
The album, subtitled: “Music For Expansive Awareness and Inspired Movement,”
and available on the Sounds True label, provides an hour-long voyage balancing
stretches of spacious relaxation with sections that is perfect for bodywork,
movement practices such as walking meditation and qigong, and promoting a state
of relaxed, alert creativity. Byron has had an extensive career working in the fields of
music and states of consciousness. His training includes a Ph.D. in
transpersonal psychology, a master’s degree in counseling psychology,
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and is a
certified graduate of Grof Transpersonal Training and Eupsychia Institute’s
Psycho-Spiritual Integration programs. Byron has trained, studied, and worked
with shamans, healers, and psycho-spiritual teachers from many parts of the
world. As far back as the late 1980’s he began developing a unique program
called HoloShamanic Integration™ in response to clients’ requests for a deeper
and expanded understanding of who they profoundly are, and to support their
learning to function in the practical world from that deeper place. In 2007
Byronbyron-frame-drum-full-res developed “The Shaman’s Heart Program – The Path
of Authentic Power, Purpose and Presence” and offers training and workshops
using various formats of that program. This brief overview is just a small
sample of the work he has done in this field.
Byron’s music career spans 5 decades and as a professional
drummer and has played on several gold and platinum albums (most notably Kenny Rogers’
album “The Gambler”). He has performed at top concert venues including Carnegie
Hall, The Greek Theater, The LA Forum, Universal Amphitheater, The Grand Ole
Opry, and Wembley Arena (London), as well as headliner showrooms in Las Vegas,
Reno, and Lake Tahoe. Byron also performed on The Tonight Show, The Grammy
Awards, The American Music Awards, CMA Awards, ACM Awards, Fantasy Island, Hee
Haw, Good Ole Nashville Music, and many others. Since 1997, Byron has been
producing solo CD projects and collaborating with other artists including Steve
Roach, Mark Seelig, Ron Oates, and several other musical guests. The diversity
of albums he has been involved with is quite impressive, with a number of them
receiving awards, nominations, and chart success.
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Erik Wollo
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Which brings us to his latest release, Inner Rhythm
Meditations. Here, Byron shares some personal reflections on the making of this
album: “For several years I’ve been wanting to create an album of relaxed
tempos, easy meditative rhythms and compositions – a dramatic departure from
the deep-trance oriented, concentrated sonic driving of the tribal-shamanic
music and sounds that have primarily defined my music over the past 18 years.
One challenge I encountered was how to create such an album and still retain
the power, depth, presence and trance-inducing qualities of my drumming and
production style. I began experimenting with periods of meditation (both
sitting and walking) followed by sessions in my studio. After carving out some
rough mixes of these percussion parts, it became clear to me that I wanted to
add guitars and flutes as my primary accompaniment.
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I had been wanting to work
with Erik Wøllo – an extraordinary guitar player from Norway, and fortunately
Erik was enthusiastic about contributing to this album. The parts that Erik
created took my vision of this album to a whole new level.” Byron goes on to say: “While Erik was working on his parts
in Norway, I had a serendipitous online encounter with Grammy nominated flute
player Peter Phippen. Since Peter lives in the US, we decided that he would
come to my studio in Arizona to record his parts. The sounds of bansuri and
shakuhachi flutes were ultimately what worked best for these tracks and Peter’s
performances far exceeded my hopes and creative vision. Working with such
amazing musicians helped the mixing process unfold with such incredible ease
that it was almost as if the tracks mixed themselves.”
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And in Peter Phippen’s
words: “I do not hesitate to say that this is the finest recording I have ever
played on.” In addition to being known worldwide for his exceptional flute playing, Peter has previously been
mentioned here on Music and Media Focus for his work as a co-producer, bassist,
and percussionist on an album by Ann Licater entitled Invitation From Within.
The album’s opening track finds us in the “Garden Of The
Peaceful Warrior,” where Eric’s serene synthesizer soundscape provides a dreamy
ambiance for the grounding energy of Byron’s drumming and Peter’s haunting
flute sounds that drift over them. There is a real sense of the meeting place
of earth and sky as these elements combine. While the percussion creates a
feeling of motion, it is quite laid back and meditative, entraining the
listener in the song’s easy flow. This feeling carries over into the next
track, “As Clouds Dance.”
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Peter Phippen
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While Erik is referred to above as a guitar player,
his role is actually more extensive and includes electric guitar, guitar
synthesizers, E-bow guitars, electric bass, and keyboards. Often times, his
guitar work is not what you would expect, or even recognize as “guitar,” but is
quite ambient and textural.
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One thing I really liked was the skillful way that Byron
integrated a variety of drums into his rhythmic grooves in the songs. These
instruments include frame drums, bass drums, talking drum, udu, and clay pot,
that produce an exhilarating and exotic mix of percussive patterns and timbres.
The pace picks up a bit on track 3, “Patterns Of Awareness,” as Byron’s
drumming increases in tempo and presence, while the song retains a spacious
quality from the flute and synthesizer background. While there are only 6 songs
on the album, they are quite lengthy, ranging from 9 to 15 minutes, which is
just right for enabling the listener to lose themselves… or find themselves, as
the case may be, in its unfolding. Track 4, “A Perfect Place,” features Erik on
the E-bow guitar. For those who may not be familiar, an E-bow is a hand-held
electronic device that when placed over electric guitar strings creates sustain,
similar to using a bow on a violin or cello. It can be quite an ethereal sound,
especially when enhanced with effects like reverb and echo.
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On “The Awakened Heart,” an enchanting combination is the
exquisite interplay of a gently percolating electronic sequence and Byron’s
earthy drumming over a spacious sonic tapestry, blended with Erik’s repeating
arpeggiated guitar notes, and the most peaceful flute passages imaginable. The
interestingly titled “Presence Of Longing” brings the album to a tranquil
conclusion in this extended 15-minute piece that is the most meditative track
on the album. Here, Byron’s drumming is totally shamanic, providing a simple
heartbeat, rather than a more intricate pattern as heard throughout the album,
while celestial synthesizers and airy flute drift cloud-like in this expansive
dreamscape. I mentioned earlier about Byron’s work with altered states and this
piece certainly leaves the listener in one.
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A central theme that is present in both Byron’s
psycho-spiritual work and his music is the role of
byron-w-frame-drum-2-edit-copy“intention.” That is something which was strongly
felt as I listened to his percussion work… a clear intention behind it that
goes beyond merely keeping the beat, and is consciously focused on creating a
state of being in the listener. Byron Metcalf’s drumming speaks in a language
that is understood by the body and the soul, creating an inner resonance which
is visceral.
And the masterful blend of creative elements that Erik Wollo and
Peter Phippen bring to the mix result in a level of sonic alchemy that I found
to be truly transcendental. Inner Rhythm Meditations is musical magic that is
simultaneously relaxing and uplifting. To conclude this feature article, I’ll
leave the final words to Byron: “The overriding vision for my music is to serve
as a means of transformational support for people who are on the path – those
who are looking within for guidance, support and direction for living their
lives from a place of authenticity and harmony with the Earth and all sentient
beings.”
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Article by Michael Diamond of Music and Media Focus
and reprinted on Ambient Visions with permission.
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Michael is a San Francisco Bay area music producer, recording artist, and journalist with over 30 years’ experience writing articles
and media reviews for nationally published magazines and more recently
world-wide on the internet. He has been the music editor for the Los
Angeles-based Awareness Magazine for the past 7 years as well as a free-lance
journalist/ publicist, and editor of Music and Media Focus.
As a music industry professional, Michael currently belongs
to The Recording Academy and he is a voting member of The GRAMMY’S.
Visit Michael's site Music and Media Focus
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