I’m a sound bath enthusiast, and I’ve been one for almost 15 years now.
Like many people, I've had a powerful experience with these sweet, droning instruments, and I often seek a ‘sound bath’, a ‘sound healing’, or a ‘sound meditation', to put me in a more restful state.
Lately, however, I’ve been going to a lot of beautiful events called “sound baths” that have not brought me the satisfaction I seek.
It points to a crux in the sound bath community. I imagine that sound bath practitioners often fall into two camps—
“The special sounds I play are going to heal people”
“I’m going to create an environment where people can relax their nervous systems and heal themselves”
I have nothing against the former, I just crave the latter. The thing that really makes a sound bath special, in my opinion, is its ability to bring you into a deep introspective state. To make an hour long meditation easier and more accessible, and to help you commune with your heart.
To be clear, I celebrate hypnotic, meditative performances and I would go to them.
I only resent that ethereal performances are marketed as “sound baths”, and I cannot tell the difference until I’m already attending.
A sound bath is almost an act of sonic service, a time to hold space for others to go on their internal journey. It’s not a time to be seen, or to convey a message (even though there are plenty of times for these important artistic expressions).
There is something precious that we’ve discovered in these deep, droning instruments, and their ability to bring people further into relaxation. I want to protect this as a practice, and make it easy for people to find, particularly when they are in a pained state.
Often I’ll see practitioners use instruments that are high in pitch and variance, such as the violin or human voice, and they will play that the entire hour. These are incredibly talented musicians that often are reaching virtuoso levels….
I find myself wondering, “how can I be frustrated by something so beautiful?”
But after such an experience, I find that I don’t walk away with more insight, a deeper sense of presence or a fresh perspective on things. I was seeking a safe space to go inwards, perhaps to feel some emotions that were too challenging on my own—and instead, I listened to a violin for an hour.
After the performance I can say, “that was such a beautiful violin”, but it feels like something is missing.
That’s not to say that a violin doesn’t belong in a sound bath. Played at the right moment, it can crack through the heart and remind us of the longing that is at the core of each person.
But if you want to bring people in deeper, here are some things we suggest to our sound bath students—
Any melodic instrument can belong in a sound bath, in moderation.
At “The Sound Healing Symphony”, we have 7 musicians on stage (and another 3 around the room). We have harp, vibraphone, vocals, Native American flute, didgeridoo— and most of the instruments do not play, for most of the time. One of our core musicians sits on stage silently for almost the entire performance, until she pulls out the Peruvian Whistles, plays for three minutes, and sets them down. It’s a courageous display of restraint and humility— she knows the power of her instruments, and that it is enough.
We recommend focusing a sound bath on mostly deep drones, such as singing bowls or gongs, with more melodic instruments layering in on occasion. A long drone section puts people in a hypnotic state, a deeper, more relaxed state.
Mix instruments such as vocals more into the background, beneath deep drones.
If you’re working with a mixer, simply lower the volume of your melodic instruments until they “sit” well in the mix. If you’re not working with a mixer, explore softer singing. This can lead to ethereal experiences, such as someone being unclear if you were singing, or they imagined it : ). When the vocals are mixed well with the background drones of crystal bowls, they can land softer and encourage more introspection.
Add reverb and delay to your instruments.
You can add reverb and delay with a microphone, mic stand, mic cable and this $300 amp with built in reverb and delay. Reverb and delay will also soften the sounds, and make them more conducive to a meditative state.
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My name is Simona, and I work with Guy Douglas to create Sound Meditation Presents. We create the largest sound baths in the country, notably ‘The Sound Healing Symphony’, and we’re devoted to the peaceful gathering. We also teach sound baths, to spread this practice as far as possible.
We teach a practical sound bath training course. It’s a virtual course you can take from anywhere, and we also have an optional hands-on part II, that’s not required for certification. Enrollment for our next session ends in just a few days. It’s only $349 (and will likely save you more than this in instrument mistakes).
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