"'What is this great and pleasing sound that fills my ears?' I asked. 'That,' replied my grandfather, 'is a concord of tones separated by unequal but nevertheless carefully proportioned intervals, caused by the rapid motion of the spheres themselves. The high and low tones blended together produce different harmonies...[The] outermost sphere, the star-bearer, with its swifter motion, gives forth a higher-pithed tone, whereas the lunar sphere, the lowest, has the deepest tone.'"
—Cicero, De re publica
"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere."
—Van Gogh
Greek Countryside by Rekha Vora
This is a continually updated "sound journal," a place where I keep record of meaningful auditory experiences. It was inspired by the question, "What is music?."
February 21st, 2021
Mother Blues playing piano
February 19th, 2021
🐝February 17th, 2021
🌨February 16th, 2021
🕊February 13th, 2021
🌬February 5th, 2021
🤲January 30th, 2021
🌌January 27th, 2021
🐢January 23rd, 2021
🌞January 18th, 2021
♪November 26th, 2020
"Titans," and a selection from Sister Blues.
November 24th, 2020
Harmony of the Worlds
☸November 23rd, 2020
Discovery
November 21st, 2020
The Spirit of Music
November 19th, 2020
Message to music friends, Dany, Mikey, Nathan ~ the beginning of a journey
November 18th, 2020
Sound of wind in New Mexico
November 15th, 2020
Sound a stream in New Mexico
November 10th, 2020
Dany playing the guitar over voice message.
November 8th, 2020
Mikey's lullaby, inspired by the major 7th, his characteristic interval.
November 2nd, 2020
Learning to improvise while playing a pedal; Jeffry Eckels ~ sus chord ~ "joy," "jubilation"
November 1st, 2020
Revisiting some chords
October 30th, 2020
Stephen warming up in the recording studio.
October 29th, 2020
Message to music friends from Mikey on growth and navigating difficulties
Reflecting on Mikey's chords
October 28th, 2020
More peaceful chords
October 27th, 2020
A peaceful chord.
October 25th, 2020
A wondrous time with friends. Today marks the first anniversary of this sound journal.
October 21st, 2020
Mikey's song, a peaceful sound
October 20th, 2020
"Four" ~ in the presence of Solvay ☉
October 7th, 2020
Dark was the night; cold was the ground.
October 3rd, 2020
"Ate a Vista" ~ "See you later"
October 2nd, 2020
Message to music friends
October 1st, 2020
Imitating Bireli Lagrene ~ the start of a wonderful month
September 30th, 2020
Figuring out a melody
September 29th, 2020
Mikey playing guitar
September 28th, 2020
Thanks to Mikey for helping me start the day this way.
September 26th, 2020
"When will this feeling end?"
September 25th, 2020
Blues
September 20th, 2020
A chord Mikey and Finn showed me (independently) within 24 hours of each other. It anticipates the reflectiveness of fall.
A voice message to Dany, Mikey, Nathan, and Leo about this chord
September 18th, 2020
Body and Soul
September 16th, 2020
Solvay's poem set to Stephen's music; sounds of nature
September 15th, 2020
September in the Rain
September 14th, 2020
A friend who continues to inspire
September 13th, 2020
A voice message to Dany, Mikey, Nathan, and Leo ~ Beginning of an adventure
September 12th, 2020
Ba
September 11th, 2020
"All the Things You Are"
September 10th, 2020
Figuring out a Brazilian montuno
September 9th, 2020
Figuring out "Ate A Vista"
September 5th, 2020
Sounds of wilderness
September 4th, 2020
Anticipating autumn with the cooler weather
September 3rd, 2020
Figuring out "I Loves You, Porgy"
September 1st, 2020
"The Professor is Flying" by Stephen HouptA man looked down by the stream
He wanted to know the truth
So he sat by the stream and listened
And he gave up
all desire for things to be a certain way
Opened himself
And he heard the descending universe
Heard it in all its infinite majesty
August 31st, 2020
"Are there certain instruments on which you can better express certain emotions?" -A.S.
August 30th, 2020
"Just the Way You Are"
August 29th, 2020
Sharing a vamp with my musical friends Dany, Mikey, Nathan, and Leo over a WhatsApp message.
August 28th, 2020
Patricia, "Sister Blues," playing beautiful music on the piano
August 27th, 2020
The birthday girl playing piano
Kurt ~ The Spirit of Music
August 26th, 2020
A week of friends' birthdays.
August 22nd, 2020
The sound of deep thought
August 20th, 2020
"Tenderly"
August 18th, 2020
Playing the keyboard in 5822--thanks to Solvay for catching me:)
August 16th, 2020
Playing in the midst of a thunderstorm, enjoying the last hours of this wonderful summer
August 14th, 2020
Peace, nature, and beauty (themes from Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains, which I grew up listening to).
August 13th, 2020
A song inspired by a friend (major 3rd)
August 12th, 2020
Blues
August 9th, 2020
For a friend
August 8th, 2020
Musical time with friends
August 7th, 2020
The start to a wondrous semester
August 4th, 2020
Playing on the balcony
August 1st, 2020
5822
July 29th, 2020
"Stella by Starlight" on jazz guitar
July 24th, 2020
Trying to feel a Dilla beat.
July 9th, 2020
I am learning how to play jazz guitar. Tim Hicks--thanks:)
July 4th, 2020
Fourth of July
July 3rd, 2020
This was from earlier this month, when Solvay and I went to Stephen's and played music in the beautiful backyard (at a distance).
June 30th, 2020
Some deep-sounding chords
June 27th, 2020
"Stormy Monday"
June 26th, 2020
"Wicked Game"
June 25th, 2020
"Knocking on Heaven's Door"
June 24th, 2020
"Thrill is Gone"
June 23rd, 2020
"Hey Joe"
June 22nd, 2020
Blues, recorded entirely on GarageBand on an iPhone (no loops were used)
June 14th, 2020
After a conversation with a dear friend.
June 12th, 2020
Dany's groove
May 29th, 2020
Reggae on guitar (open tuning)
May 22nd, 2020
Copying something Alain Perez plays on piano.
May 21st, 2020
Equipoise
May 16th, 2020
Figuring out "Amelia," by Joni Mitchell
May 14th, 2020
Happy birthday to a friend.
May 13th, 2020
Playing "Amazing Grace" on the guitar. I've been trying to copy the way Stephen plays guitar.
May 2nd, 2020
Playing "Wicked Game" on the front porch at sunset.
April 25th, 2020
Noodling on the acoustic guitar
April 10th, 2020
"Shiny Stockings" in the rain.
April 4th, 2020
Another rainy day in Dallas.
March 30th, 2020
The sound of rain, heard from my parents' front porch.
March 20th, 2020
"Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars." The streets of Dallas have been very quiet.
March 17th, 2020
Playing "Hard Times" at Parker's apartment.
March 16th, 2020
Enjoying time with Parker's friends Ella, Havi, and Henry.
March 14th, 2020
Listening to the 2:00 p.m. bells at Loyola after meeting Emma.
March 7th, 2020
Playing "It Could Happen To You" with Camden Hunt.
March 3rd, 2020
One of my professors comparing the time evolution of the quantum mechanical density of states to populations of bunnies.
February 24th, 2020
Trying to express my feelings after having a conversation with a dear friend.
February 23rd, 2020
Shali and Dil performing.
February 21st, 2020
Playing Vangelis's "Ask the Mountains" from his 1995 album Voices.
February 20th, 2020
Sitting in with the Alex Rivera Quartet at the Wine Therapist, playing "September in the Rain." I'm playing the piccolo bass.
February 14th, 2020
Playing Victor Wooten's "The Lesson."
February 4th, 2020
Birthday greetings from Ba.
February 3rd, 2020
Meditating on Vangelis's theme "Heaven and Hell."
February 2nd, 2020
My transcription of Jaco Pastorius's "Forgotten Love," played in MIDI.
February 1st, 2020
Andre Swartz playing with Addis.
January 31st, 2020
Playing "Donna Lee" using MIDI technology.
January 29th, 2020
Piccolo bass guitar, which I'll be playing this Saturday at Shebelle.
January 26th, 2020
Playing "America the Beautiful" with Camden Hunt
January 25th, 2020
Playing "Driftin'" with Camden Hunt
January 24th, 2020
Playing "Almost Home" from Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains, a CD I grew up listening to.
January 23rd, 2020
Playing "Wave" with Todd Mosby at his "Advanced Jazz Improvisation" masterclass at the Eisemann Center.
January 17th, 2020
"Song of the Seas," a theme by Vangelis, played using MIDI technology. This is for my family in India.
January 4th, 2020
Playing "Shakey Ground" with Strictly Tablue.
December 31st, 2019
Playing old-time music at Joe Izen's New Year's Eve party.
December 27th, 2019
Friends playing chess.
December 23rd, 2019
Playing "Stormy Monday" with Strictly Tablue.
December 20th, 2019
Playing "Christmas Time is Here" with Mark Scott and Andre Swartz.
December 6th, 2019
Playing "On the Sunny Side of the Street" with Khai Nguyen and Kevin West.
November 25th, 2019
Sounds of a beach near Mumbai.
November 12th, 2019
Playing a waltz with the Squirrelheads.
November 10th, 2019
"Everything's Good"
November 6th, 2019
The UTD warning siren, somewhere between an Ab and A.
November 2nd, 2019
Playing "Searching" with Stephen at the 2019 Global Village Market.
November 1st, 2019
"Stella by Starlight" played using MIDI technology.
October 31th, 2019
"In a Sentimental Mood" played using MIDI technology.
October 29th, 2019
Manjira (a pair of small crash cymbals) which has been passed down in my mom's family for generations.
October 27th, 2019
The Dallas Opera tuning.
October 26th, 2019
Squeaking door at the DMA.
Fountain outside the Dallas Museum of Art.
October 25th, 2019
Camden Hunt whistling "Doxy." I'm playing piano.