I'm
really glad you jumped to my web site. Life
got in the way of my updating it, for
several years, so I decided to do something
about that, and revise it. I began revising
it at the beginning of last year; expecting
a late April-early May re-launch. Then, in
early April, I chose to divert my course for
something far more important;
(requiring me to dive into AI by setting up
my own AI lab in my studio to do some very
deep analysis of it). Doing that meant
sacrificing all progress on updating the
site. (Sometimes, the needs of the many
really do outweigh the needs of the few.)
This is a bit-more-than-simple placeholder;
rather than tabs, it's mainly just a broadly
ranging scroll through what my creative output
is about, so people have a clue--a chewy
clue whilst the snazzy version is
cookin'. I hope it inspires you, at least to
feel better than you felt before you got here.
: (April 24-25) : ...What I hoped to give you
was a nice set of new tracks; since
that's still pending, I decided to restore a
nice playlist of
pre-2020 tracks for you. Being a
self-contained artist, (i.e. doing all
parts myself), I wrote most of the
lyrics and melodies, did all of the
arrangements, and performed all vocals
and played, or MIDI-programmed most of
the instrumentation; (with the exception
of the all Elven/Quenya lyrics, and
those of the Russian song, as well as
the guitar on the Bossa Nova tracks, and
the background track to "Insensatez",
which is the one from the classic
performance of the song by Astrid
Gilberto, with Stan Getz on sax.)
The
Complete Playlist
See below for
song details
AoP (Pre-2020)
Demo Playlist
(Except
"Catcher Dawn", all the below demos were
produced in my home studio.
Catcher Dawn was recorded live in Don ("DJ")
Freeman's studio, L.A.; engineered by Warren
Giancatarino. If the format
isn't specified beside the song title, it's a
full-blown arrangement.
The
order of the songs in the playlist follows the
non-linear demo number sequence.)
As a spiritual teacher, my millieu
is Tolkien-based Elven
spirituality, which is formally recognized as a
sacred tradition that's equally as viable as all
the world's major religions, under the U.S. Federal Law
Protections for Religious Liberty. The opening track of
the playlist is my melodic interpretation of
Tolkien's, "Galadriel's Lament",
from the Fellowship of the Rings; the first
book (or movie) in the Lord of the Rings
trilogy. When I heard him recite it, I also
clearly heard parts of it melodically--which
were strikingly different from those
Gregorian-esque lines that Donald Swann
composed. So, I allowed the full Song to come
through; basing the cadence of my melody on
his recitation, to represent the melodious
nature of the way Elven speech is described
in his Middle-earth writings.
Scene: At the end of Fellowship of the Ring,
as the Fellowship is leaving Lothlórien, Galadriel sings from
her Swan-ship:
"Ai!
laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
"Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind,
yéni únótimë
ve rámar aldaron!
long years numberless as the wings of trees!
Yéni ve lintë
yuldar avánier
The years have passed like swift draughts
mi oromardi
lisse-miruvóreva
of the sweet mead in lofty halls beyond the
West,
Andúnë pella,
Vardo tellumar
beneath the blue vaults of Varda
nu luini
yassen tintilar i eleni
wherein the stars tremble in the song of her
voice,
ómaryo
airetári-lírinen.
holy and queenly.
Sí man i yulma
nin enquantuva?
Who now shall refill the cup for me?
An sí Tintallë
Varda Oiolossëo
For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the
Stars,
ve fanyar
máryat Elentári ortanë,
from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands
like clouds,
ar ilyë tier
undulávë lumbulë;
and all paths are drowned deep in shadow;
ar
sindanóriello caita mornië
and out of a grey country darkness
i falmalinnar
imbë met, ar hísië
lies on the foaming waves between us,
untúpa
Calaciryo míri oialë.
and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for
ever.
Sí vanwa ná,
Rómello vanwa, Valimar!
Now lost, lost to those from the East is
Valimar!
Namárië! Nai
hiruvalyë Valimar.
Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar.
Nai elyë
hiruva. Namárië!"
Maybe even thou shalt find it. Farewell!"
1.
Namárië
(A Cappella)
(Language: Quenya [Elvish])
(Keith Jarrett somewhat inspired
this piece. He taught me [and lots of other
musicians] that, if you're really know your
shizzizit, you can just walk on stage with
no clue about what you're going to do, and
entirely improv your way through a concert.)
"Catcher Dawn" was recorded on
tape. The tape was rolling, the mic was hot,
and I had zero clue about what I was going
to sing until it entered my mind. It came in
movements; and I just kept singing until it
was done.
2. Catcher Dawn
(A Cappella; Jazz Improv)
"Smile" was
Michael Jackson's favorite song. I had
just gotten out of the shower, and was
walking into my living room when I heard,
"We'll be back in a moment with more about
the death of Michael Jackson!"-- ("W -
T - F?! Did I really just hear that!?")
-- After settling my emotions about the
news, I sang it to him as a swan song, at
sunset, that evening, 09.03.2009;
recording it--for the first and last time.
3. Smile
(A Cappella; Vocalise)
"He is There"
came to me out of the blue, one evening,
as I was thinking about my Christian
greater family; i.e. the congregation of
(Bishop) Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder's "City
of Refuge UCC", in Oakland, CA. I
intuitively heard, "Read
the Word. Don't be scared. Trust the
Lord; He is there!" with that melody, and thought,
"OH--That's RICH!", (as in rich in
Presence), and just went into my studio
and recorded that on the fly, part by
part; allowing each part to solidly
resonate within my body before recording
it. Primarily, I'm singing to
Queer/LGBT... Christians.
20. He Is
There
(A Cappella ~
Soprano-Alto-Tenor-Baritone)
(Language: English)
Singing jazz vocalise/scatting
is my favorite way to sing; i.e. not
being bound to intuitive
Flow-constricting words--which probably
doesn't above show, considering my
singing in 5 languages in the playlist.
I particularly enjoy singing Bossa Nova
(BN), especially Antonio Carlos Jobim's
melodies, and soloing over his chord
changes. And I'm very grateful for the
influences of Ella Fitzgerald, Flora
Purim and Kenny Rankin in my vocalise
development; and of Elis
Regina and Gal Costa in the
development of my BN
sensitivities
and sensibilities. The
next 4 songs of Jobim's were sung
live and are unedited;
they're just a record of me having fun
at home, with the mic on and open. (For
differentiation, I perform Jazz using
my first and last names.) (The MIDI guitar tracks
were coded in Brasil; I've
forgotten by whom.)
I stumbled upon a copy of the
rhythm track of the famous version of "Insensatez"
with Stan Getz on sax. I simply sang it my
way.
:-)
When I first heard
the term, "non-binary", I thought, "Wow, this
generation is so intent on having a
self-defining, gender stereotype defying term,
they're not even aware of one that's already
stood the test of time!" To be androgyne is to
be a person who's gender balanced. As you'll
read (if you read), the term applies to all
demographics; cis, queer, and questioning. For
those questioning, this article may be a
godsend; it enables people to drop the question
and just be themselves. There is a demographic
for whom that questioning will only be lessened,
but not alleviated; the trans community.
[Tangent]
(Click the title to open the Primer--after
the page has stopped loading.)
A
Brief, (Impromptu), Somewhat
Visceral Primer on Gender Dysphoria
What's
the difference between "transgender" and
"transsexual"? THAT is one of the most
difficult questions for trans persons to
answer themselves. Look at the two words;
the difference answers the question. The former
refers to non-genital shift of your
socially-perceived gender to conform with
your inner gender self-perception. The
latter entails that too; however, it
extends to the literal structure of your
genitals as well.
Try to wrap your head around this for a
moment:
If you're
not transgender, do you remember how
your bodily self-image matched the
gender that was medically assigned to
you by virtue of your anatomical sex
at birth? Your natal body had a penis
(M), or vagina (F) [if not born
intersexed]; you grew up thinking and
feeling you're a boy [if M], or a girl
[if F], and you've been totally cool
with that forever. Generally, gender
norms in most societies aren't set in
stone; there's a lot of variance.
E.g., if you were a girl, you enjoyed
looking and behaving the way most
girls do, regardless of whether
they're "tomboys", or "girlie-girls".
If you were a boy, you could be an
hard jock-head, or a soft sensitive
type. Either way, by age 7, your
gender identity is set; it's locked.
Let's refer to that as your authentic
gender. Either way, you had no
problem when puberty hit, and your
biology took control of your dominant
sex characteristics--you were still
tomboy, girlie-girl, jock-head, or
sensitive type, as you were. You may
have been straight, or lesbian, gay,
or bisexual, however, there wasn't a
fundamental schism between your
medically-assigned gender, your
authentic gender, and your sexual
development. Getting into the nitty,
let's focus on persons born female.
Now,
imagine you're 4-6 years old and,
intellectually, your eyes see that
your body has a vagina; however, when
you close your eyes and imagine your
role in society, your self image
decidedly matches that of most boys.
You're just beginning to get a grip on
the most fundamental differences
between people at that age. You see
that your body is genitally like
girls, and for reasons you're not
going to understand, much less be able
to communicate, perhaps for another
decade, or more, your constant
self-image aligns with children who
have penises. The usually very wide
prepubescent gender variance amongst
same sex persons enables you not to be
emotionally consumed by the dichotomy
between your inner perception of your
sex, and your outer social role;
however, there's a very critical
psychological pressure cooking.
If your
genes don't hard-preset your gender
appearance, you may socially float;
you know you're a "girl", and you also
know you're He-Man, or the winner of
some kind of male competition, or part
of a winning male sports team. Then,
puberty hits and your flat chest
doesn't become a pair of strong pecs;
it becomes a pair of squishy titties.
Instead of slender hips and developing
abs, your hips spread by 10%-40% and
developing abs just ain't hap'nin'
like boys because your body's
preparing your uterus for
childbearing. [Let's not even get into
menstruation!] If you're a
female-to-male (FTM) transperson,
you're still fine with having a
vagina; but all those other factors
that decisively define social gender
are diametrically opposed to your
inner self image which you've had for
nearly [or, perhaps more than] twice
your lifespan at that time. If
you're a FTM transsexual, you have
the same kind of social role schism
regarding your gender--but, your
self body-image has a penis too--and
the biggest trip is that you also
have an imaginal*
felt sense of having a penis.
In both cases, something's gotta
change. It's
the inverse for male-to-female (MTF)
transgender and transsexual persons.
Let's go one small step, for this
conversation; huge leap for your
understanding. Men, try to imagine
feeling as though your body has a
vagina, even though it's obvious to
you that you have a penis; perhaps a
cervix-long one--based on your
heterosexual experience. Every time
you stand up peeing, your brain is
having a challenge because it's
experiencing somewhat of a
psycho-emotional schism; because it
expects you to be sitting, or at
least squatting as you're doing so.
You wipe the tip when you're done,
and your brain thinks you should be
spending a bit more time, and paying
a lot more attention to the whole
wiping process. Feeling the tension
of the schism as brain and gut
tension, you know you're going to
feel the same way even if you ARE
sitting with your body as it is; so
you pee the path of least
resistance, not even adding head
gaming yourself by sitting down, (if
sitting's not what you're normally
do anyway). That brain-gut tension
extends to when you're wearing
practically any pair of pants; your
brain not expecting to need to
adjust your 'nads to accommodate the
garment. For
the most part, when you're not
asleep, your central nervous
system is on constant alert as a
consequence of the schism; to a
greater, or lesser degree
depending on a myriad of factors.
At age 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...
15, 16... 22, 23... 30...
57...--you've gotta accept carrying
and living with that tension 60/60/24/7/365.25; or something's
gotta change.)
(Very mildly put), that's extremely
hard to bear at any time;
exponentially more so ALL of the time! That's Gender
Dysphoria (GD).
The
emotional
felt
sense
of
GD is akin to wearing a wet blanket
and wet quilt and wet duvet and
sopping wet heavy boots, along with a
sopping wet wool hat
everywhere, always; incessantly.
Consequently, GD is a
direct cause of chronic
self-abnegation, PTSD, Major
Depressive Disorder, and enduring and
anxiety; which begins before
elementary school, even if the person
experiencing it lives in a totally
accepting natal family--a caustic
Shadow cocktail which too frequently
leads to substance abuse, in an effort
to self-medicate away the gravity of
GD. Too many times, it leads to
suicide. So, clinically, when someone
lives with GD, some kind of physical
change definitely needs to happen;
whether with one’s gender and
secondary sex characteristics, or
one’s gender and both primary and
secondary sex characteristics. Transgender
refers to outwardly changing
one's social gender presentation to
match one's authentic gender
self-perception—which is
brain-determined rather than
choice-determined.* That's usually
done by changing one's hair style,
clothing style, (which may also
entail wearing clothing that
modifying genital appearance, e.g.
wearing extra support tights to
disallow the penis from bulging, or
wearing pants with very loose
crotches--for either gender), often
also speech pitch and/or patterns,
and perhaps wearing enough makeup to
enhance one's gender-neutral
features, tilting their appearance
toward norms consistent with their
authentic gender. It doesn't usually
entail surgically changing one's
genitals. Transsexual
entails outwardly changing ones gender
presentation and sex organs to match
one's psycho-emotional, authentic
gender and sexual
self-perceptions—which are also
brain-determined rather than
choice-determined.* However,
being transsexual also
entails changing one's sex
characteristics too; perhaps not
necessarily one's genitalia.
Generally, that change always begins
lightly; via hormonal therapy,
male-to-female (MTF) taking
estrogen to enable
development of female breasts, wider
hips, and much less dense muscles, or
female-to-male (FTM) taking
testosterone to enable development of
facial hair, naturally lower voices,
more slender hips, and much denser
muscles.
In most
transgender cases, that's enough;
which solidly qualifies such persons
as transgender --even with only the
secondary sex characteristics so
modified. However, when it comes to
GD, even after decades of hormonal
therapy, and changing one's gender
appearance and social [even
professional] gender role, that
gravity continues to be ceaseless. For
us, ultimately, changing one's primary
sex characteristics via Sex
Reassignment Surgery, or Gender
Affirming Surgery (SRS/GAS, ergo
having vaginoplasty [changing penis to
vagina], or phalloplasty [construction
of a penis and permanent closure of
the vagina]) is the only certainly
alleviating resolution. Medically,
only the latter transition
definitively qualifies someone as
transsexual;
(nevertheless,
since [according to Duck.ai] "the
average cost of sex reassignment
surgery SRS/GAS in the United States
typically ranges from $20,000 to
$300,000, depending on the specific
procedures involved", most
transsexuals are unable to have that
benefit, which doesn't effectively
disqualify them from being
transsexual, if they've
psychologically have been clinically
assessed to decidedly match that
profile).
ALL
TRANSSEXUALS ARE TRANSGENDER; but,
MOST TRANSGENDER PERSONS AREN'T
TRANSSEXUAL. That fact makes it extra
challenging for transsexuals because
it can take a long time to be certain
that one's experience of GD does, in
fact, encompass a bodily change of
sexual appearance as well, rather than
just an apparent change of gender.
AND, it's not something to try to sort
out alone. For anyone to be totally
certain usually requires a person to
undergo (a) a year, or more of
clinical therapy to determine whether
one is decidedly living with Gender
Dysphoria (GD), and (b) to what extent
that may be operative.
In my effort
to make sense of my GD experience, I was
led to Dr. Harry Benjamin's "The
Transsexual Phenomenon", one of
the first formal scientific
studies of transsexualism, (https://transreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-04-07_5ca961529c262_HarryBenjamin-TheTranssexualPhenomenon1copy.pdf),
when I was 21. I experience a long series
of totally resonant "Aha!" moments--and,
there was something else happening within
me that felt beyond that certainty; a
button on which I couldn't put my finger.
Several years later, I found Dr. June
Singer's book, "Androgyny: The
Opposites Within"; a
strictly empirical scientific study of
androgyny, (Anchor/DoubleDay
paperback (1976/1977) — ISBN-10:
038511026X / ISBN-13: 9780385110266);
finding it not only put my finger on that
button, it mashed it to the max!
Certainly, being born with a "M" as my
designated sex, I actually inwardly saw my
body as "F" since I was 4; however, I
wasn't uncomfortable with my masculinity,
and stereotypical femininity (i.e. the
American version) seemed too
self-limiting. I had spent a lot of my
time during the previous decade finding
ways to balance gender within, with very
remarkable success, and Dr. Singer's book
helped me to understand that part of my
Journey as a very natural human experience
that very few people allowed themselves to
experience. I don't recall her ever
mentioning "transgender", or "transsexual"
in that book; (could've, and it's been too
long for my recall to be accurate).
Finally, I understood I'm an androgyne; it
took a lot longer to clinically confirm my
GD, and my transsexuality.
[Continuing
from the Primer] A few years later, I
wrote "On Being Androgyne"; as an
illumination, rather than an autobiographical
piece. The year before she died, my mother
read it. When she finished, she looked at me
and said, "Now, I finally
understand you!" I'm grateful my showing
it to her enabled her to do so! May it also
help other parents to understand the true
Nature of their androgyne kids.
If you're
an androgyne, and your parents feel
confused and/or judgementally ashamed of
you,
then enable
them to read it also--perhaps it will help
them to finally understand you too.
(By
the way, dispelling the stereotyping of
MTFs as gay men who change sex to be with
men as women, I know many MTFs, and almost
all of them lived as straight men before
transition, and only as lesbian women
afterward.
Jus' sayin.').
The Science
of Transgenderism
"It's very rare that the natural world
gives us totally clear-cut dichotomies...
The way people have traditionally thought
about trans individuals is 'This is someone
who for some reason thinks they're different
sex than what they actually are'. What the
neurobiology suggests instead is 'This is
someone who has had the incredibly crappy
luck of being handed a body that happens to
be a different sex than who they actually
are'.
You may download an excerpt of the
GD primer portion of this page as a
.pdf file. (The ,pdf
includes references to the above studies
by Drs. Benjamin and Singer,
as well as to On Being Androgyne.)
.
I
recorded songs tracks 9-15 in the
playlist with my virtual band; TransAction.
To differentiate between my Jazz and
my Pop, I produce and perform my brand
of Pop using only my middle name;
Alyras..
.
"Something About You"
is a straight up lesbian come-on song.
For me, the joy of the song is how it
came to be. I was working as a techie in
what was San Francisco's premiere data
center, one night, and the groove came
to me as I walking down one of its
2-block long hallways; at that tempo.
The groove just slid into my mind, "(1)
Doo-Doont (2),
Doo-(3)Doont;
(4)Doo Doon-". I sang the
groove into my phone, and coded the MIDI
tracks and fleshed out the song after I
returned home. When I hear it, I always
feel that initial--"Oooooohhhh!"
that I felt and thought when the groove
just locked-step with
mine. (Are you
feelin' me?)
9. Somethin’
About You(Language:
English)
8. The
Girl I Can’t Get To
(Voice/Piano -- both
self-performed)
(Language:
English)
"Hey, Cool!"--Waaay back, my
son, Aryeh-Or [Aryeh-Or.com]
told me I had no clue about how to
write a good Hip-Hop song. To date,
I've been songwriting longer than he's
lived. I didn't argue; I just wrote
and produced that, and let him hear it
a few days later. He promptly
apologized. [Check
him out. :-D As a thespian,
author, and musician, he's
definitely got tasty juice! ]
The
inspiration for the song was a
video clips of a shooting was
between two rival gangs in
Chicago; filmed from an high-rise
window. I'm speaking to black
Millenials and Gen Zs.
10. Hey,
Cool!(Language:
English)
11. Give Me
Your Time(Language:
English)
Back in the
day, [thanks to the help of
Richard (Dick) Rudolph, Don
Freeman and Warren Giancatarino],
John McLain wanted to sign Lenny
Kravitz and me to A&M (as the
"Black Lennon and McCartney");
while Jheryl Busby [head of Black
Music] at MCA was offering me a
solo deal with Universal. My
manager, Brian Avnet, advised me
to take the MCA deal. Thing was,
MCA was buying Motown, and as soon
as that deal was sealed, they
began dropping artists who were
more aligned with my music, (e.g
Joe Sample, Stephanie Mills,
Gladys Knight...), in favor of the
teen market, e.g. Shanice, New
Edition/Bell, Biv Devoe, etc.
(Brian and I didn't see that
coming). The month I signed,
Brian
went on a long hiatus, (for
fam reasons);
Dick
had already bailed to produce
Timothy B. Schmidt's solo
album;
Jheryl
left to lead Motown;
my
A&R person bailed to
another company; and
my
publishing lead also jumped to
another publisher.
Everyone I needed to just get
my feet squarely on the major label
ground were gone--and the first
thing I heard from the woman who'd
been given my case, the second I sat
down after going to her office to
meet her, was, "I don't like your
music!"
[ In-my-face
verbal abuse, from the
jump--WTF was I supposed
to do with that?!?]
I'd signed
the deal during an intense Mercury
Retrograde (Merc Rx) cycle; which
is how I learned about Merc Rx the
hard way! The MCA axe hit lots of
artists very hard. My
understanding is that Stephanie
put L.A. totally behind her and
went back to performing on
Broadway;--(Before moving to L.A.,
I used to sing through most of her
"Sweet Sensation" album to warm up
for gigs--if I could nail HER
chops, I could totally rule on
stage! lol). Joe suffered a major
psych dive, (what we used to call
a nervous breakdown) because of
it; Gladys went back to Gospel
music, starting a choir in Vegas.
After a year of zero traction,
increased debt, a 1 year old
[Aryeh-Or] and a sibling newly on
the way, I convinced the label to
pay out my contract and went back
to freelance.
Jump many
years ahead. Lenny's crushing it
:-D; and I'm raising my kids on a
bookstore salary. [One of the best
parts of that experience was my
personally being able to assist
Lisa Bonet when she came there to
find books to help her to bring
Zoe into the world in the
healthiest, most balanced way. I
simply led her to the great,
spot-on books I'd discovered [and
personally used very well to raise
my kids, (up to age 5)], and some
to which I'd been introduced
there--and, apparently, those
conversations bore great fruit!]
This song, "Heavenly Virtue"
is what came out when, (20ish
years thereafter), its Lenny-like
groove wafted into my mind. As
soon as I was feelin' it, I
thought, "This is the kinda groove
Lenny likes rockin'!"; so,
somewhat as a nod to him, I turned
it into a full song; maintaining
the groove the way I think he
probably would, and evolving it
the way I would.
The groove of the song emulates
what I've heard of Lenny's music;
the melody's all me. (Maybe John
was onto something?)
12. Heavenly
Virtue(Language:
English)
I'd become
bored with the Verse-Chorus-[same
melody]Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus (out)
song structure. I mean rreeaally bored. So,
being a composer first, songwriter second,
(I'd written several orchestral works before
turning to songwriting), I stepped back to
see a bigger picture; initially, exploring
songwriting in other languages. Then, I
stepped back a few hundred years, and
considered what's stood the test of time in
Western music prior to the greater
popularity of songwriting. The ternary
structure, most evident in the sonata and
symphony forms, ruled before then. That
format is simple: A [introduction of melodic
theme]--B [contrasting theme, usually
slower]--A [effective repeat of the original
theme]. I decided to develop an hybrid
approach. The following 3 songs are part of the initial shift.
(Then, I decided to follow my spiritual
heart into exploring songwriting in the
Elven language, Quenya; i.e. the one in
J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", and
"Silmarillion". That's what I'm doing now.)
Representing it, I think (Portuguese) "Angie"
is the best example of that foray's adhering
to the ternary form. (Quenya) "I Calyala
Latië" [#6 in the playlist] is an
variation of the form; more consistent with
my EDM heart space.)
I met (the Russian) poet,
visual artist, etc., Nadia Mogilev, when
we were living in San Francisco. We
decided to explore songwriting together,
starting with some of her poems. When
she explained the significance of "Dve
Rozi" (Two Roses)--i.e. in
Russia, when you're in a romantic
relationship and wanna end it, 2 roses
in a vase is the unspoken message--I
felt the depth of those currents; hence,
the song.
13. Dve Rozi(Language:
Russian)
I had a crush on a French woman
I'd hung out with in L.A., who returned to
Paris. Hence, the title, which is "You in
Paris and Me in L.A." in English
14. Toi à
Paris et Moi à L.A.(Language:
French)
I wrote "Angie"
somewhat academically; (although
it was sparked by an actual,
beautiful woman named Angie, whose
voice was as soothing as
gently-swift water flowing over a
pebbled riverbed, and whose laughter
was like lyrical birdsong--a
short-time close friend who moved to
Brasil, and got lost in the
bifurcation of the waves of our
lives.) I wanted to write a
song in Portuguese, I don't speak
enough of it to save my life; however,
I had a couple great Pt. grammar books
and dictionaries, and, (thinking
of her), "Angie, esta
cancao e de voce" (Angie, this song is for
you!) was a phrase with a grip.
So, I fleshed out the lyrics around
that concept; then, I stumbled upon an
old, i.e. 1950's b/w musical from
Lisboa/Lisbon, heard and felt their
accent with an odd sense of returning
home--although I've never been to the
EU. My accent is Continental, rather
than Brasilian; as you'll hear in
this, and in the way I sing Jobim's "Insensatez".
15. Angie(Language:
Portuguese)
People have been using AI to create
music sung in Quenya, the Elven language
introduced by J.R.R. Tolkien, mine is
completely original, and I'm singing it.
(In fact, I've never used AI
to create music; aside from being
totally authentic, the intuitive
process is to delicious for me to do
that.) The Quenya (Elvish) lyrics
were all written by New Zealand's late,
renowned Quenya translator, Rodger
Francis Ashton-Smith. We were discussing
exploring songwriting together, and I suggested he translate the
entire Tao Te Ching, so we could use
that body of work as lyric source; i.e.
one song for each of its chapters. The
next 2 songs, "Oiolumellë Er", and
"I Calyala Latië" are from
that expansion. We call our
collaboration, "Ilúvamil"
(Mother of All); respecting that it was
She would enabled us to meet.
5. Oiolumellë
Er
(Language:
Quenya)
Project: Ilúvamil
6. I Calyala
Latië
(Language:
Quenya)
Project: Ilúvamil
I composed the "Lótessë
Medicine Song" after
completing my sound healing training,
with Silvia Nakkach @ California
Institute of Integral Studies. For
Tolkien geeks, Lótessë is the month of
May, during which people who walk the
Elven Spiritual Path annually explore
personal relationship with the Valië,
Nessa.
7. Lótessë
Medicine Song – Opus 1 :: (Honoring the
Valië,
Nessa) :: Flutes & Chakapa
IMHO,
The Way of
the Elven Spiritual
Path : Book II:
Initiation
is both an excellently
exceptional, full reveal of
the Tolkien-based** Elven
Spiritual Path, for all who
are deeply drawn to it; and a
premature expression of it as
well. Frankly, it was a rush
job; written in 2 months. In
early June 2022, several
astrologers were saying an
astrological window (so to
speak) was going to open that
August, and all new spiritual
understandings, processes,
and/or belief systems that
were codified and formally
published during that window
would successfully take root,
and flourish as the Aquarian
Age now unfolds. The Silver
Elves have been writing about
their sphere of Elven
spirituality for decades;
certainly, the world deserved
to know at least a (by
comparison) tad about the
(Tolkien-based) Elven
Spiritual Path; and the Path
deserves that flourishing too.
Only 3 people were qualified
to write the book, one other
two had obligations preventing
them doing so, that they
couldn't just park for 2+
months to git 'er done. So, I
got 'er done; (First Edition
first draft, at least,
including a few
typos--nonetheless, got 'er done, with
all fundamental parts
and particulars;
on the last day of that
window--publishing it
with Amazon and ssssliding
through the gate before
it closed.) I'll probably
release the Second Edition in
2027--along with the beginning
of a series of new books also
written to enable people to
have a lived experience of
Elven spirituality, and of
Elven timbre of Life.
The
Elven Spiritual Path is
fringe, yes; however it's not
cultish, freaky, or weird.
Like the world's major
religions, it's fundamentally
rooted and anchored in the
individual's personal
Relationship with the Divine
Feminine (DF); with a
particular added flavor.
(Interestingly, like Tolkien,
I was led to this Path via the
Relationship I began with the
DF in Christianity, albeit the
American "Metho'-Bapti'-Evangeli-Pentacostalic",
rather than the Catholic
version.)
The Legendarium reveals an
innate, spiritual
sibling-Nature humans have
with Elves. Given a conscious,
intentional, genuine
actualization of that Nature,
humans may integrate it into
their microcosms and lives,
being increasingly able to
express Elf-like personal
energy wherever we go--e.g.
generally unf***able peace,
balance, grace, holistic
harmony with all of Nature and
with all other spiritual paths
arising from and expressing
Love. The book teaches people
how to do that,
individually, on their own;
with genuine Relationship and
effect, and without
affectation, or trappings of
any kind that they can't have
with them in the middle of a
lake, wearing only their
birthday suits.
Alternate
Purchasing Option
The
501(c)(3) charitable trust, ElvenSpirit,
parents and hosts content for
the organization also named,
"Elven Spiritual Path", (which
is also such a charitable
trust). You may receive an
indie-published PDF of the
book as a Thank you! gift when
you help to advance that Path
by donating $10 to the trust
for that purpose. Click on
either below-related image to
jump to the Elven
Spiritual Pathhome page,
where you'll find the access
link.
I
began creating cognitive enhancement
media in 1987, when I translated the
Mayan Sacred Calendar ("Cholq'ij", or
"Tzolk'in") into sound. In the early
2000's I expanded the audio to include
video; the colors being the tones
elevated into the light spectrum. (I
call that form of software
"sonochromatic", sound+light.) In
2018, as I was going to release a
seriously badass expression of it, not
one, but all 3 of my laptops suddenly
went to ultra-crawl, i.e. while they'd
been exporting builds within an hour,
suddenly they were taking 3 days to do
so. It was a totally commercial
project; for 2 MacBook Pros and a then
brand new PC to be doing the same
thing, apparently Hunab Ku (Source)
wasn't havin' it--things dragged to
the point where I completely missed my
launch date, which led to great loss
on my part.
So,
recovering, I decided to develop
derivatives using an entirely
different fundamental structure; same
principles, different Model. The new
Model I chose was DNA. I'd come across
research showing how the 64 hexagrams
of the I Ching and the 64 codons of
DNA have direct 1:1
correspondence--which means they are
effectively 64 music chords;
specifically, quadrichords (4 tones
each). That made it mathematically
easy for me to convert the Tzolk'in's
code to conform to the new Model's.
Harmonic Tzolk'in/Cholq'ij
SonusLumine
has 2 divisions, "BrainNeo",
(which provides "Rebound!"), and "Synaptogenesys";
the latter being more advanced
than the former insofar as it
integrates portions of both
Models. A few days ago, having
rejoined the Tzolk'in Work, mainly
to analyze it using AI, I released
a new prototype called, "Harmonic
Tzolk'in/Cholq'ij" on
YouTube
SonusLumine's
products are all dynamic, whole
brain synchronization and
cognitive enhancement modules
designed to radically advance
neuroplasticity; particularly for
persons who are experiencing
post-traumatic brain recovery,
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and
other neurological conditions
which are ameliorated by doing
things that involve any form of
pattern recognition-based therapy.
Synaptogenesys
is a paid subscription service. Rebound!
is free; as is Harmonic
Tzolk'in/Cholq'ij.
More About The Harmonic
Tzolk'in/Cholq'ij
Click the icon
to watch on Youtube.
This Work was initially
inspired in 1986 by Dr. Jose
Arguelles' book, "Earth
Ascending", and
amplified in 1987 (prior to the
"Harmonic
Convergence")
by his, "The Mayan
Factor: Path Beyond
Technology". The
first viable sonic
translation of the Model was
completed in 1987 and
released shortly before the
Convergence event. Since
then, I've intermittently
continued progressing the
Work; this prototype is the
most recent, and the
consummate best purely
vibration-exclusive
expression of the Model to
date.
"Overview of The
Mayan Factor:
The Mayan Factor is a
significant work authored by
José Argüelles, published in
1987. The book explores the
Mayan calendar and its
broader implications for
human transformation and
cosmic consciousness. It
introduces several key
concepts:
Key
Concepts
Concept Description
Human
Transformation
The book suggests a
significant moment of
transformation is
approaching.
Galactic
Synchronization
Argüelles describes a
"Galactic Synchronization
Beam" that can awaken
consciousness.
New Cosmic
Consciousness
It serves as a guide to
understanding a new
perspective on time and
existence. This book has
been influential in the
New Age movement,
encouraging readers to
explore their connection
to the universe and the
cyclical nature of
time.
Core claim: The
Maya encoded a "harmonic"
cosmic time system;
understanding it can shift
human consciousness from
linear, mechanistic time to
cyclical,
galactic-synchronized time.
Calendar focus: Argüelles centers
on the Tzolk'in (260-day
sacred count) and the Long
Count, proposing a
galactic synchronization
culminating in a
transformative era (he
linked this to 2012 as a
symbolic transition).
Themes: Spiritual/psychic
evolution, syncretism of
Mesoamerican cosmology
with New Age ideas,
planetary healing, and the
concept of "galactic
timing."
Influence: Popularized
Neopagan/New Age interest
in the Maya and 2012,
inspired festivals,
artists, and alternative
archaeology circles.
Criticisms and cautions: Scholars
of Mesoamerican history
and archaeology generally
reject Argüelles’s claims
as speculative,
anachronistic, and not
supported by primary Maya
texts or inscriptions; his
work mixes modern
mysticism with selective
readings of Maya calendar
data."
-- Info courtesy of
Duck.ai
______________________________________________
The underlying
hypothesis driving this
Work:
Words and symbols may be
interpreted in an
unlimited number of ways;
scientifically, they are
immeasurable. Sound and
light waves transcend all
such interpretations; and
they are measurable.
Translating the Model's 13
fundamental cycles as
frequencies, (with the
help of the late Dr.
Barbara Hero), then
synchronously sequencing
the Model's primary
Patterns and Its
sub-Patterns enables
robust empirical analysis
of the book's core claim.
Furthermore, it enables
such analysis of the
physiological,
psychological, and psychic
effects of using the
Model's synchronized
sonochromatic expressions;
as well as the potential
for such expressions to
enable the user to
establish a direct,
communicative,
synaptic/neural link with
Source/Consciousness
throughout her/his/their
central nervous system.
To test my hypothesis,
I've developed a set of 6
progressively intensive,
extended sonochromatic
expressions of the Model.
Having done the Work,
(once I acquire the
compute to do so, e.g. a
robust laptop with mega
RAM, and a competitive
GPU), I'll use open source
LLMs to run a bevy of
simulations designed to
determine the scopes of
those effects. For the
time being, this
proof-of-concept prototype
(embodying 3 of those 6
extended expressions) is
freely provided for public
use. It is neither CC0,
nor in the public domain.
Certainly, simply
watching, or listening to
it generates profound,
fundamental cognitive
enhancement;
theoretically, in direct
alignment and
communication with the
Flow of
Source/Consciousness. What Next?
What I've done with the
Tzolk'in is astonishing;
in principal. However, is
it just so much art, or
are there genuine,
empirically significant
effects generated by it
within the central nervous
system that support my
claims of this Work's
cognitive enhancement
efficacy? Is it possible
that there is a measurable
Consciousness enhancement
experience from using it;
or is that just more New
Age, spiritual wannabe
woo-woo? The answers to
those and other critical
questions need to be found
by rigorously analyzing
the software via running a
bevy of pertinent AI
simulations for that
purpose. For the next
several months, my
attention is on advancing
a peer-to-peer-level
analysis and report of the
Harmonic
Tzolk'in/Cholq'ij;
specifically on distilling
the research protocol for
it from scores of chat
conversations with
Mistral, Duck.ai, ChatGPT
about it, and securing
funding for the compute
required to run it using 5
open source GGUF models.
(The LLMs are free; the
entire costs are in the
Cloud-free compute, plus
power. Offline, standalone
compute rough estimates
are between $15K-$20K;
$1.2K to accommodate 6
months [$200/mo] of
additional power costs for
the duration of the
testing and reporting.)
Click on the product icon
to open it in a new
window.
(Actual Sequence playing time is 34+ minutes.)
When used as instructed, the densely synchronized
synapses they all
provide has the
capacity to help
users to rewire
their brains with
perfect Logic. Currently, the
most effective use of
all SonusLumine
products and services
is to offset brain
rot.
One brief comment about
addiction to social media,
(and, soon, AI):
Several
weeks ago, at the University of
Minnesota, I passed a group of Gen
Z young women. Soon after I
passed, one of them began
exuberantly telling the others
that she was simply going to use
ChatGPT to do a critical
assignment that was imminently
due. "I'm just going to go to
ChatGPT and have it whipped out in
few minutes". I thought of
backstepping and advising them not
to go there, not to do that;
however, I also felt that it
wasn't my role, and went my own
way. Later, I wondered what
percentage of people under 30 are
addicted to social media.
Me:Worldwide, are most people
under age thirty in
developed countries addicted
to social media?
Duck.ai:Yes, a significant
number of people under
age thirty in developed
countries are addicted
to social media, with
approximately 40% of
young adults aged 18 to
22 reporting signs of
addiction. This
trend is particularly
pronounced among
teenagers and young
adults, indicating a
high vulnerability to
social media
dependency.
.
Frivolent
use of social media has
unleashed rampant brain rot, in
youth and adults. Frivolent
use of AI is causing brain rot
to skyrocket. Restoring Natural
Intellience (NI) is becoming a
global concern.
If
you're young, and feeling
pressure to compete with your
peers who are cranking out
assignments using AI, (whether
academic, or professional), do
not take their easy route;
you'll lose exponentially more
than you'll gain by doing so.
Heed my counsel; make
increasing your NI more of a
priority than increasing your
use of AI, and watch where
you're at in life in 20
years--while you're still
young--compared to your peers
who are not heeding it. I assure
you, when you get to 2046,
you'll be far better at living
your best life by doing so than
everyone who's thought they
could fast track themselves by
not doing so. The U.S. Navy
Seals have a fundamental working
principle: "Slow is
smooth, and smooth is fast".
Applying it to how you use AI,
in contrast to your peers who
don't, will save your quality of
life from being in the pits one
short generation down the pike.
This isn't confined
to human
intelligence--THIS ALSO
APPLIES TO AI!
A few
days ago, I was listening to a Tristan Harris
interview discussing AI,
wherein he said that AIs trained
on brain rotting content also
acquired irreversible brain rot
themselves. Doing my own due
diligence to find confirming info
and data, I didn't need to look
far; I think I used "AI brain rot"
as a search term, and immediately
found a study done by
scientists at Texas A&M
University, University of Texas
at Austin, and Purdue University,
an article from Futurism
expounding on it (which I printed as a PDF,
because it has several follow-up
links to some very interesting
supporting pieces that might not
be there when you directly access
it). Now, I ask you, if brain rot
is an across the board phenomenon,
whether it's with NI, or AI,
wouldn't it be wise to at least
learn how to use AI in ways that
don't advance it? Wouldn't it be
wise to also learn how to use
social media, (and, in fact, the
entire social Internet), in ways
that help to prevent you from
acquiring it? Yes. And Yes.
Whether
it's social media, or AI,whatever
age you may be, don't give up
your brain power. Own your
brain; own your mind; own your
life. Lose your brain; lose
ownership of your mind; lose
ownership of your life.
Registration
(without financial info) is
required for use.
Use Rebound!
[forever] to rebound from
social media oversaturation,
and to super-rapidly build
yourself a more dynamically
resilient brain. Start
reclaiming your brain today from
brain rot today!