Harmonic Meetings

David Hykes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 3, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Celestial Harmonies
• ASIN: B0000007ZF
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,009 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Otherworldly Tones, July 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Harmonic Meetings (Audio CD)

David Hykes has mastered Overtone singing and showcases it here with the members of the Harmonic Choir (a group assembled by Hykes). This Double CD has been a wonderful source of otherworldly transport for us and after the initial curiosity of the Harmonic Chant we found ourselves returning over and over again to these CDs.

"The text consists of a few sacred words from the Abrahamic religions with most sections involving vocalizing on vowel sounds. In this abbey, two voices sound like ten. When the harmonics focus, it sounds like ten voices more. The overall effect is one of startling majesty. It is earthy and other-wordly at the same time... I can't help but think how the world would change if five minutes of this were played on Top Forty radio several times a day." -Andrew Fischer, 1/1

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful & sublime, November 25, 2000

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harmonic Meetings (Audio CD)

One of the most extraordinary recordings I've ever heard, this is chanting with overtones, like one can hear sung by Tibetan monks. Recorded in 1986 at the abbey of Le Thoronet, France, the first two selections use the accompaniment of tambura, and the final piece on each CD includes a drum, otherwise these pieces are for 1, 2, or 3 voices, and the enormity of the sound will amaze you.

This sound achieved by David Hykes is unearthly. Peaceful, moving, magical. Great to meditate to. Perhaps one could describe it as a hybrid between Gregorian chant and Middle Eastern Sufi music, but in reality, this is an entirely new musical animal, one of a kind and almost impossible to duplicate.

"Foregather in the Name" is a 15 minute piece for three voices and drum that's spectacular, as is the short solo by Timothy Hill, "Eleison Closing". This two CD set is the original one tape cassette (which had approximately 40 minutes on each side) and it does have the annoying flap that lifts from the center holding both CDs, but in this case, the flap is worth lifting. This is music that might levitate your soul to a place of great joy.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Intent, March 4, 2006

By 

Lujan Matus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harmonic Meetings (Audio CD)

To this very day I find it difficult to explain what this music does in terms of shifting my consciousness. David Hykes' resonant chanting shifts one's cognitive system into virtual silence that allows one's awareness to move smoothly and progressively toward the sublime indescribable states that correspond to the purest intent.