Sound Environments 1: Caves

by Stuart Chalmers

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INCLUDES 15 DIGITAL PHOTOS OF MY JOURNEYS INSIDE EACH CAVE. SEE SOME OF THE IMAGES BELOW.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Suikinkutsu 水琴窟: Winter Solstice, Brilliant Channels, Aki No Kaze, The Extenuating Circumstance and All That It Implies, The Heart of Nature, 3rd, Suikinkutsu 水琴窟, Live at Cave 12, and 66 more. , and , .

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1.	A Place of Forgotten Dreams 04:28	buy track
2.	Water Resonance 05:10	buy track
3.	Mouth of Darkness 04:24	buy track
4.	Water Echoes 1 01:45	buy track
5.	Prehistoric Rites 04:37	buy track
6.	Passageway Between Worlds 03:37	buy track
7.	Subterranean Sanctuary 05:13	buy track
8.	Water Echoes 2 01:53	buy track
9.	Chamber of the Imaginary 04:49	buy track
10.	Ancestors Tomb 04:08	buy track
11.	Water Echoes 3 01:51	buy track
12.	Exit/Entrance 04:30	buy track

about

Caves have a special place within the human psyche. They can instil
wonder, excitement, contemplation or fear. Caves can be places of birth or burial, shelter or danger, exploration or myths/folklore. To venture into a cave is to pass from the everyday outside world into the mysterious inner earth.
There is a long human connection with caves streching back to Paleolithic times.
The first interactions with caves would have been when our ancestors ventured into these deep chambers to leave paintings, foot/hand prints and carvings. In caves such as Altamira and Chauvet there are hundreds of paintings of animals and signs as well as half human/animal figures. Opinions differ on the meanings of these, ranging from sacred/shamanistic rituals to burial rites. Were they used for important social/religous gatherings or as a place where shamans could contact spirits?
Another significant use of caves was for spiritual practice. Holy men, sages and hermits used them for contemplation, meditation and retreat. Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma was thought to have spent 9 years in deep meditation in a mountain cave. A recent example of this is of Tenzin Palmo a Tibetan Buddhist nun who lived in a cave in India for 12 years. Temples and shrines have also been made inside caves. Armanath 3,888m above sea level in the Indian Himalayas has been visited by Hindus since the 3rd century CE.
Caves have inspired much art and literature. Kubla Khan the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge makes references to 'caverns measureless to man' 'mighty fountains' and 'caves of ice'.These are seen as places of infinite natural beauty, dark subterranean worlds representing creativity
and the span of life and death. The poem could also be seen as a celebration of the imagination and how we can connect to the earth/universe through inspiration.

credits

released September 22, 2018

Recorded in the dark chambers, deep underneath the Yorkshire Dales, this release has been inspired by cave art and recordings made around the world. It is an attempt at connecting with our ancestors, to experience the wonder/awe they must have felt within these extraordinary places.
The music is my response to these spaces, creating a soundtrack to the stories and memories hidden within these subterranean worlds.

Stuart Chalmers :
Improvised, recorded and edited/processed: Spring-Summer 2018. Swarmandal, gongs, singing bowls, cassette tape, hose pipe, voice.

These recordings were made inside the following caves: Scoska, Yordas, Attermire, Yew Cogar and Dowkabottom.

Scoska cave is a long narrow cave hidden high up on a hillside. Human bones including a skull have been found here. Research has dated it to the bronze age.
Attermire cave is a difficult cave to reach high up on a steep ledge. Human remains as well as coins, jewellery and a celtic chariot have been discovered inside.
Dowkabottom cave is a remote cave reached after a 30 foot descent. It has a large end chamber with lots of stalagmites. Animals remains, Roman coins, Celtic brooches have been found. There was also a tiny grave with the skeleton of a young child.
Yordas cave is an old victorian show cave, 50 metres wide with a large waterfall at one end. Human remains have been found inside, and there have been several deaths over the years.
Yew Cogar is a small narrow cave that is prone to flooding. To reach deep inside requires crawling through tight tunnels just wider than your waist.

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Stuart Chalmers England, UK

EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENT, THE IMAGINATION AND A SENSE OF SELF.

DISCOVERING ALTERED PERCEPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVE VIEWS OF REALITY.

www.youtube.com/channel/UC4JxrJI3VQcJnYB38Tp525A ... more

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