I am a Researcher into Microtonal Music and Healing

Microtones and their connection with healing powers.
Posted on Dec 14th, 2006 by peace_seeking_spirit


Jagannathan Ramamoorthy, Violinist, Indian classical music, LA.


Research paper on “The Healing aspects of Microtones of musical, astrological and psychical vibrations” connected through the universal principle of Spiral of fifths.
Presentation at CSUN, class of Prof RiC Alviso–and students attended were Sixty five.


I have been researching into these aspects of “Healing Power” generated by the microtones in the realms of consciousness. What I have come to understand over two decades of my work entails a deeper understanding of wave-frequency theories and their adaptability into the systems of musical traditions, breathing patterns, meditative techniques, astrological calculations and the charkas system of esoteric knowledge of the east.


When I first stumbled upon this, I considered everything with extreme skepticism and used my logical as well as the creative side of intelligence to apply in my research work. The fascinating art of understanding microtones led me to a zone, quite unknown to many practicing musicians - “Healing Powers” generated by the musical intonation, gestalt and psycho-analysis of each vibrational-frequency of a Tone or Microtone.


For example: - ” A Whirring sound/ noise of a refrigerator can be inadvertently absorbed by a pregnant mother to the extent that the fetus inside her womb is actively absorbing minute vibrations as well. Whilst this is going on for a long period of say eight or nine months, the mother is quite unaware of the affinity the child is slowly developing with the Microtones generated by many such electrical and electronic gadgets around it and hence it absorbs, reacts and rebels against some microtones. Once the pregnancy arrives to the stage of near delivery date, the child is more and more acclimatized with such minute sound vibrations as well. If the mother happens to leave that area, to be with her parents or at a quieter place than her own, then the child feels the internalized rebellion within the womb, as it misses being around these sound vibrations.”


On another level of understanding, it has already been proven by many other researchers that cows give more milk while listening to particular kind of music or they fall ill listening to some types of music. Plants grow better in a certain area where they constantly absorb musical microtones and they wither off faster in other areas.


My mentor at school, Susan Allen told me a funny story about her dog not liking her classical-conservatory style of Harp music, yet it liking the heavy metal music which her husband Jeff used to play for the dog. I have discussed these things with her in detail as well.


As far as the zodiacal vibrations are concerned, each zodiacal sign has a sub division of either 9 sections or 150 sections. The sub division of 9 gives us the star constellation and their names and how these are beautifully classified and in nomenclature. These vibrations generate, control and help evolve in the human consciousness, through a unique system which scientists have called the “Genome project” each Degree of the zodiac affects 5 sects of human creation and it deals with precision as far as gender is considered. The sub division of 150 for each sign is called Naadi-Amsa that corresponds to the Genome theory and has a very specific connection to musical microtones and the principle of Spiral of Fifths.


I have made an attempt to bring these together through a musical experience, by means of understanding “Shrutis” or the smallest intervals between notes. The North Indian musical system tells us of the fact that if we have a musical octave, then it would automatically have a Pitch to have a comparative element for the rest of the octave. This pitch or the Tonic has 4 microtonal intervals, as compared to the second and sixth degrees of the scale having 3 each and third and seventh having 2 each and the perfect fourth and fifth have 4 microtones each. Thus we come to a total of 22 Microtones within an octave. Ironically, these 22 microtones are compared to 22 sensory perceptions of human consciousness as well.


The connection I have made between musical, astrological and psychical vibrations (namely Chakras) is particularly in alliance with the spiral of fifths. For example: - Microtonal value of the first degree of zodiacal sign of Aries will have congruent properties with that of Leo (5th) and Sagitarius (9th)


So suppose you begin from C to C (on a musical octave or octaves.)

C, C#, D, bE, E, F, #F, G, #G, A, bB, B, C (An interesting thing to try here, would be to make tuning forks with these specific tonal values and try to make them vibrate near our being to see how it possibly can change our consciousness and state of our mind, body and soul.)

Now does the note that starts with the higher octave also have the same intervals? We have a new octave that starts from a point that is harmonically equivalent to #C but we “Presume” it to be C there is something called decibel difference in physics. It is often called the comma difference. : See, the first note C, think that it a cluster of many vibrations or frequencies but has one pitch. Frequencies and pitch are not the same. Frequencies mean definite oscillations, like at 16 oscillations, we hear clearly through touch only. There is no such thing as “with no pitch or no sound at all.”

Pure tone is the tantalizing combo of both the definable and un-definable… just as soul. So coming back to C, it emanates natural harmonic which is a perfect fifth indigenously which is a G. called “Swayambhuva” meaning Self generating. G. (Perfect fifth of C)

That perfect fifth G note gives birth to Another Fifth, which is? D on the next octave but… mind you this is how the circle of fifth was erringly called a Circle and then later changed to a ‘Spiral of Fifths” higher than the second. Then A gives birth to E on yet another higher range or register of notes then E gives birth to B, B to F sharp… F sharp cannot give birth to C, so it gives birth to C sharp. Hence the next loop in the spiral would begin from #C.

This is called the comma difference, so we move the scale by that comma to make it appear a new scale synchronous to the first one. This is called C scale the western classical music system tampered with this to create a piano made it diatonic. All music isn't Diatonic nor chromatic it is perfectly Micro-tonal: So the spiral would go like this C, G, D, A, E, B, #F, #C, #G, bE, bB, F, C, G and so on…

This is only a gist of my work and is more elaborately explained in my website as well.
JR


” There is no single view, however scientific, philosophical, religious, spiritual, metaphysical, physical, empirical, logical or any other way to perceive, which can hold the Entire Cosmos in One Glimpse”
Love n Light
JAGAN RAMAMOORTHY
LA, CA
VIOLINIST