Ambience...

Had the opportunity to back a prayer time in yesterday's evening meeting... First real chance to demonstrate the power of ambient music as an aid to prayer and contemplation. I only had 7-8mins and had to make them count... I mixed, using Jam, the following playlist:

(1) "Danger of Hell" by Thomas Newman (From the Green Mile soundtrack)
(2) "Agnes' Theme" by George Fenton (From the "In love and war" soundtrack) and
(3) "Monastry at La Rabida" by Vangelis (From the "1492" soundtrack)

It worked well... although, the meditation went over the planned 7-8mins and the chap responsible for the PA never repeated the CD. We shouldn't be scared of silence and the couple of mins after the CD finished were electric.

My wife chose the track from "in love and war" for its simplicity and lovely orchestration. Good choice, honey!

This is something I am eager to develop in two directions:

(1) To expand my range of ambient music for use in contemplative settings
(2) To expand my collection of Gospel music for pleasure and for public consumption

Two albums that I am eager to get my grubby paws on are "76:14" by Global Communication and "King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan [Remixed By King Britt]"

76:14 has a wonderful reputation for the kind of glorious ambient soundscapes that I am eager to experience.

King Britt's remix of Sister Gertrude Morgan's one and only album interests me... I think King Britt is a fab DJ and have some of his work on the iPod...but I am also intrigued by Sister Gertrude's gospel music. The write up on the Ropeadope site is fascinating: link Thanks to Johnny Baker for highlighting Sister Gertrude.

I am excited to take this forward...