Customer Reviews

Spectrum Suite

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first few times my wife put on Steven Halpern's "Spectrum Suite" I didn't consciously pay attention to it, but I noticed that I felt better after listening to it. And, as a wonderful side effect, it seems to calm my children when they hear it. They seem to fight less and play cooperatively while it is on. Last week my two oldest children sat for about two hours and played a card game in front of the CD player while "Spectrum Suite" was playing repeatedly. I have never seen them sit in one place for two hours before, much less play a game quietly. It would be interesting to see some research done with this music, as has been done with some pieces of Mozart music. Definitely one to add to your CD collection.

After being named the most important New Age recording of all time by New Age Voice Magazine, Steven Halpern decided that this classic recording was ready for an update. The new version of Spectrum Suite, now called Chakra Suite, features additional music, new artwork and was totally re-mastered. A classic made even better by perhaps the finest artist in this genre!

Have enjoyed this selection for many years. First on tape and now even better on CD. The "music" is ideal as background for meditation and for yoga practice. It's ability to clear the "noise" from an active mind and allow for a sense of peace to surround you makes this album my favorite choice when in need of quiet time.

A lot of people have trouble meditating these days. Our lives get so hectic. What I love about "Spectrum Suite" is that just listening to it is as good as a deep meditation. On a subconscious level we take in the notes representing the various colors (the full "spectrum" in "Spectrum Suite.") So without realizing it, we are very nicely balancing our energy. And all the while, it just sounds like pretty music playing in the background!

This music has a magickal, soul-touching quality to it. It is so pleasing to the ear, that you will want to hear it again and again. It is the best musical buy I have made in a long, long time.

Since hearing and working with Halpern's "Perfect Massage" recording, I have been a fan and have not been disappointed. Spectrum Suite though seemingly simple is amazing. I use it with clients for breath work, chakra balancing, and massage. The knots and blocks vanish much quicker with this and consciously working on the particular chakra. The recording helps the client be open to the work, helps through the process, and then brings it all together. As a practitioner I know what this music is. Even those who don't quite understand yet can feel it soothing a little or notice that babies are soothed. (Remember babies are closer to us adults to spirit - go to a powwow and watch the little ones dance and it is clear:) What is nicest is that not only my clients who choose this for their session but I too feel peaceful and balanced inside during and when the session ends. Chakra balancing has been known for centuries. So simple, there is really no need for complex composure to please one's mind when the purpose is balancing and healing the spirit. What a treasure, especially when paired with other tools to go with it(and this is how I view the music - as a tool. Simply through meditating to balance onself this music is a wonderful tool and assistance. Thank you Steve Halpern!

I've used Spectrum Suite as background music to change the energy in a classroom from utter chaos to calm within minutes. (Thank you, Steve Halpern!) My own son loved this CD for naps, bedtime, and whenever he'd have a headache or tummy ache. Once during an afternoon of running in overdrive, I warned my son and his friend that unless they calmed down I'd play Spectrum Suite. My son cried out, "Oh no, not Spectrum Suite!" (Lord have mercy--they left me no choice!) After the first few tracks, they were out like a light.

Besides acting as chloroform for kids, Spectrum Suite may be effectively employed as an aid for healing and as a surefire aid for meditation (especially if a person is dealing with too much nervous energy to calm down enough to meditate). I recommend you give it a try, but withhold quick judgment; don't listen to it as western music--just listen to the sounds. Within minutes you'll feel the worries of the world wash away.

In music therapy the therapist chooses music or sounds that are most like the energy of the patient or client, and then gradually changes the music to suit particular needs. If a person is frenetic but wants or needs to calm down, he doesn't start with restful music. If you think of chakras on a spectrum from outer/most physical/lowest frequency to that of inner/most meditative/higher frequency, the sounds on this CD help take us from the outer to the inner.

If you're interested in sound and/or the science behind Spectrum Suite, read "Sound Health: The Music and Sounds That Make Us Whole" by Steve Halpern and Louis Savary. You'll never think of sound, music, or vibration in quite the same way.

I first heard this as the background music at a little island restaurant, and I realized how pleasantly relaxing it was for me. I asked the staff about it and was told about this tape (keep in mind how long ago this was -- sometime in the mid-1980s). I went out and bought it the next day. When I could afford my first CD player a couple of years later, I made sure I bought it. Now I also have it converted to play on an MP3 player.

I've listened to other collections by Halpern but none of them can beat this one, IMO. Probably the fact that this was the first album of his I heard has a bearing on that, as his sound is -- and I find this a plus -- consistent.

If you're looking for a complex multi-faceted musical experience to delve deeply into and analyze and dissect, you won't find it here. If you're looking for songs you can hum to yourself later, you won't find them here either. If, on the other hand, you want music that can be background or foreground but will calm things either way, give it a chance. The music (and it's all instrumental, no vocals at all, nor any obvious percussion) is clean and clear and uncluttered, but smooth and peaceful and simple, although Halpern is expert at overlapping complementary chords from different instruments to create beautiful harmonies. You don't have to think about the music or even actively listen to it -- just let it play, and experience it however your situation dictates.

This music has helped me relax during times of stress, emotional personal situations, pressure at work, and times when I can't turn my head off enough to go to sleep at night. Although it's not hypnosis, I've even used this album on headphones to help me relax down deep during dental procedures!

This recording has a lot to answer for, having spawned literally a thousand similar relaxation records. I bought it enthusiastically in the mid-seventies. How has it aged? Not very well, I`m afraid, the passing years revealing all too well its lack of musical substance. I will not deny that it may relax children and musically uneducated adults. But I cannot stomach his pretense that this Western diatonic scale rambling is being linked to the actual activity of the chakra system. This is the stuff confusion is made of, and Halpern would deserve more than two stars if he simply stuck with his ability to compose harmless relaxation pieces, not calling it music with actual ability to heal.

This recording has a lot to answer for, having spawned literally a thousand similar relaxation records. I bought it enthusiastically in the mid-seventies. How has it aged? Not very well, I`m afraid, the passing years revealing all too well its lack of musical substance. I will not deny that it may relax children and musically uneducated adults. But I cannot stomach his pretense that this Western diatonic scale rambling is being linked to the actual activity of the chakra system. This is the stuff confusion is made of, and Halpern would deserve more than two stars if he simply stuck with his ability to compose harmless relaxation pieces, not calling it music with actual ability to heal.