Lookin' for Adventure?

I have the absolute joy of living in one of the nicest, most progressive, chilled out towns anywhere: Ashland, Oregon.

We are up in the mountains about 1/2 hour from the California border and life here is safe, peaceful, affordable, the city has an ordinance against billboards and large scale chain businesses, plus it has one of the nicest city parks I've ever come across.

One of the reasons we moved here was the local Waldorf school that our now 13 year old son attends. It's very low cost for a private school, has the most amazing teachers and a philosophy about childhood development that we resonate with.

One of the many perks at the Waldorf school is our son's teacher Kelly Shelstad and her husband Tom who are very gifted childhood educators. Since our son joined Kelly's class we've seen him truly blossom into a happy, healthy, content, funny, relaxed individual. One of the key things Kelly and Tom do is take the entire class on multi-day hiking trips. The first time they went on one it quite simply transformed the emotional and social dynamics of the entire class within a period of 3-4 days. They came back more themselves than I'd ever seen them, and the long term effects of Kelly and Tom's presence in our child's life has been truly a blessing.

Tom has an amazing company called 'Inner Guide Expeditions' through which he shares his passion for the wilderness and love for humanity in two ways: transformational wilderness trips for teens in the Pacific Northwest and customized family expeditions all over the globe. Through personalized attention, heartfelt connection, individualized feedback, and outdoor adventure they create a foundation for awareness and transformation to flourish. They hike, play, share, reflect, and explore their way through some of the most beautiful wilderness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

"Something astounding happens when electronics are forgotten and an “analog” rhythm of life emerges center stage - wilderness becomes adventure, challenge becomes insight, campfires become council, strangers become family." Tom Shelstad

In 2013, Inner Guide is providing custom family expeditions in Washington, Oregon, and a 105-mile circumnavigation of Mont Blanc through France, Switzerland, and Italy. The trips are custom crafted to meet the unique needs of each family from the design of the expedition, to the level of facilitation and location. These rare experiences, as a family in a wilderness setting, guided by skilled facilitators, with opportunity to connect deeply away from the day to day, are exquisite opportunities to turn towards the people that matter most in your life.

If this resonates with you it's because it's really frickin' cool and you should definitely consider going to their website and booking a trip.

You can do so at: www.innerguideexpeditions.com or call them at (541) 261-4959

--

Alex King-Harris

Yogi Tunes CEO/Co-Founder

Qawwali Music Explained: An Interview w/ Tahir Qawwal of Fanna-Fi-Allah

If any of you have ever had the absolute pleasure of sitting in on a late night jam session with Fanna Fi Allah, then you'll know what I'm talking about when I say the air fills with a palpable sense of mysticism, devotion and a serious connection to the groove.  While I am myself a well trained musician, i've often wondered about the under lying structure present that is capable of bringing to life such an amazingly intricate and yet delicately simple form of devotional music.

To learn more, I sent my friend and band leader Tahir Qawwal some questions and was really inspired by the responses... read on for the interview!

You can listen to their latest release here:
http://yogitunes.myshopify.com/products/ya-mustafa-nur-ul-khuda

And all of their releases here:
http://yogitunes.myshopify.com/collections/record-labels-tabaruq

Can you briefly talk about the roots of Qawwali singing?
Musically speaking qawwali singing comes principally from the classical raaga tradition of the Indian subcontinent. All qawwalies are composed inside of a raaga framework which span both classical & semi-classical raaga's. Since qawwali singing is done in the high register, the texture of this singing is most closely related to folk & bhajan. Most of the vocal ornamentation in qawwali singing is contained in the Indian classical system, while a few special techniques come more specifically from Persian singing.

What are the general themes you are singing about?  Love?  Spirituality?  Devotion?
Well qawwali covers a very vast subject mater, spanning over a thousand years of culture & sufi poets. Generally speaking the principal subject matter is ' Ishq ' divine love, the passionate & emotional relationship with Allah. The typical subject matter for expressing this sacred devotion within qawwali text is offered to the name of Allah directly, towards the beloved prophet Muhammad ( pbah ) & his family, sufi saints of the Indian subcontinent & simply to the beloved, called by many names like: Sajna, Mehraman, Dholena... The qawwali texts are in languages such as: Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, Seraiki & Purbi.

Can you describe how the structure of the music works? (how it's composed and performed)
The musical structure of qawwali is quite unique, yet much of it's arrangement has certainly evolved out of older Indian musical genres. The main body of the song is comprised of a central sufi poetic text which is divided into two melodies, the astai ( lower melody ) & the antra ( upper melody ). In addition to this principal text we have firstly the ' saazina ' ( instrumental intro ), ' alap ' ( wordless vocal intro ) & ' Dora ' ( poetic invocation for the song ). Once the main text begins there can be many improvised solos sung spontaniouslly by the front line vocalists, these improvised bits known as ' amad ' are passionate offerings sung to embellish the raaga even deeper. As well, our qawwali repatoir is completely traditional, the melodies being composed by our maters & their for fathers. Being the group leader, it is also traditional for me to add relevant poetic material to the song as spontaneous solo or call/response sections.

I've seen it performed many times, and it seems like everyone gets a chance to solo but how is the solo order determined, and how does the ensemble know when the solo is over and it's time to sing the chorus?
When it comes to ' amad ' solo parts, it is the duty of the advanced vocalists in the front line. There is certainly no order as impulsive passion is the way. There is though, a communal respect given first to the advanced singers. When it comes to how to start or finish, this is all empathic, as long as a solo is aesthetically within the feel of the track it all lines up naturally.
On behalf of the whole ensemble, how did most of you get involved? Was it different for everyone?
Well, my beginnings in the qawwali field evolved directly out of studies in Indian classical music & my journey into sufism. When Fanna-Fi-Allah was created by Aminah Chishty & I back in 2001 we tried our best to build the group from skilled vocalists who were passionate about this musical genre. Qawwali is an extremely difficult & sophisticated form of music. Because of the perpetual musical training involved in our ensemble, it is treated as a very long term commitment for anyone to join the mob. Yes, it was truly different for each of our beloved members.

It seems like you guys are family and all share a common bond within the music… can you talk about that?
We certainly do ! Sharing devotional music has been a profound way to experience friendship. Keeping the peace within our crew hasn't always been easy, but now that were all well out of our twenties inshallah generosity & maturity will guide our way forward.

Are there particular challenges you face in touring with such a large group?
The most confronting challenge of touring as a large ensemble is simply the cost. After our first decade of touring professionally we all decided that it was time that we would only except gigs that were fairly paid, this has created some limitations for venues & festivals with small performer budgets. On top of this we typically accept one or two benefit concerts each year as well as perform in India & Pakistan without any concern for compensation.

Do you ever perform in smaller numbers? (duo or trio, etc.)
Traditional qawwali as passed down from our maters can only be accomplished with a group. There are specific rolls that must be fulfilled for an offering that is truly qawwali. Singing the sufi texts in a classical ( duo or trio ) is beautiful genre called Kafi. My other musical ensemble named Sufi Soul Sangeet is designed for this more subtle & soft traditional art.

Do you have any tips for people interested in singing Qawaali who might not have access to an ensemble to practice with?
First off, the guidance of a qawwali ustad ( teacher ) is completely necessary since the form is much too advanced to imitate. Most of the practice involved is purely classical training which is done alone. But when your ready for an ensemble give a call !

Is having a female tabla player unusual?
Yes, female tabla players in Pakistan seem to be presently almost non existent. Thanks to her heart felt dedication to the path & her initiation under qawwali great Dildar Hussain Khan, Aminah is proving herself exceptionally well in this field.
Can you talk about how, as a non-indiginous ensemble, you've been received by traditional audiences and/or venues?
Honestly when performing in Pakistan, since the traditional setting of qawwali is completely sufi in nature there is only kindness when we offer our sound. The virtues of hospitality & warmth come much more easily than cultural discrimination. That being said, we are very young in this path when sitting at the feet of our teachers & their many generations of qawwali history. Qawwali music is much more of a spiritual experience than a cultural display. As I've explained above there are many languages in qawwali, therefor even local Pakistani qawwal's have to study hard if they are to thrive.

 

A 3 day, free, groundbreaking web conference on going beyond addiction, created by our good friend Tommy Rosen (LA based yoga instructor.) 

As someone who has and continues to personally struggle with addiction, I am humbled by how it has impacted my life.  My soul yearns for transformation, but my body sits often alone, isolated...

This program is truly a blessing - awesome offering from Tommy and a ton of great international speakers.

--

Alex King-Harris

CEO, Yogi Tunes, LLC

SEE BELOW FOR LIST:

RECOVERY 2.0: BEYOND ADDICTION CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 17

12 PT / 3 ET – Sat Dharam Kaur– Beyond Addiction: The Yogic Path to Recovery
1 PT / 4 ET – Elisa Hallerman – Maintaining Sobriety, Achieving Balance and Healing Families
2 PT / 5 ET – Rolf Gates – Meditations from the Mat – Along the Road to Recovery
3 PT / 6 ET – Dr. Marc Lewis - The Addicted Brain: Insights From a Neuroscientist and Former Drug
Addict
4 PT / 7 ET – Beverly Berg, PhD - Recovering Couples: From Dysfunction to True Love
5 PT / 8 ET – Nick Ortner - Emotional Freedom Technique and Overcoming Addiction
6PT / 9 ET – Noah Levine – Take Refuge: The Buddhist Path of Recovery

Monday, March 18

12 PT / 3 ET – Bruce Alexander – The Globalization of Addiction
1 PT / 4 ET – Chelsea Roff – Starving for Love: Recovering from Eating Disorders
2 PT / 5 ET – Sukhdev Jackson - Women in Recovery: The Graceful Path of Recovery
3 PT / 6 ET – Anna David – Sex and Relationships in Recovery
4 PT / 7 ET –Guru Prem- Finding the True Path of Recovery: Moving from the Head to the Heart
5 PT / 8 ET – Dr. Dan Frigo – Hazelden Turns 64: Best Practices of In-Patient Treatment for
Addiction
6 PT /9 ET – Christopher Kennedy Lawford – Recover to Live: Kick any Habit, Manage any Addiction

Tuesday, March 19

12 PT / 3 ET – Rainbeau Mars - Food, Drugs and Fear: A Survivor's Tale of Recovery and Triumph
1 PT / 4 ET – Guru Charan - Meditation and Transformation of the Addictive Mind
2 PT / 5 ET – Mastin Kipp - The Daily Love and Recovery
3 PT / 6 ET – Durga Leela - Ayurveda: The Ancient Science of Living and Recovery
4 PT / 7 ET – Trudy Goodman - Insight: Vipassana on the Path of Recovery
5 PT / 8 ET – Akahdahmah Jackson - Spiritual Healing: Living in Connection With a Higher
Power
6PT / 9ET – Dr. Gabor Maté – Understanding the Roots of Addiction

Wednesday, March 20

12 PT / 3 ET – David Wolfe – Profound Recovery Through the Food You Eat
2 PT / 5 ET – Guru Singh - A Master Yogi's Eye View of Addiction and Recovery
3 PT / 6 ET – Ashley Turner – Addiction, The Body and The Chakras
4 PT / 7 ET - Arnie Wexler - The Last Bet: A Life Beyond Gambling Addiction
5 PT / 8 ET – Dr. Howard Samuels – The Landscape of Drug and Alcohol Treatment Today

Thursday, March 21

12 PT / 3 ET – Jennifer McLean - The Sacred Chamber - Connecting with Your Highest Self
1 PT / 4 ET – Gabrielle Bernstein – May Cause Miracles
2 PT / 5 ET – Ron Tannenbaum and Kenny Pomerance – InTheRooms.com: A Look at The World of Online Recovery
3 PT / 6 ET – Nikki Myers – Yoga and 12 Step Recovery
4 PT / 7 ET – Kia Miller – Yoga and Your Relationship With Food
5 PT / 8 ET – Jamie Huysman – Caregiver Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

Mix Your Own Playlists Like the Pros!

Ever had the feeling when listening to your yoga music, or preparing a yoga playlist for class, that you wanted to be a DJ but weren't sure how to do it?  Maybe you love making playlists and wish you had a bit more freedom to end songs early, combine two songs for a long period of time and in doing so create a seamless flow?

Thankfully software engineers have been busily creating a variety of easy DJ tools for beginners that integrate with iTunes.

For mac users, there's DJay - a very affordable, easy to learn, flexible DJ platform that allows you to do all kinds of fun things. http://www.algoriddim.com/djay-mac

For PC and Mac users there's also Mixx: http://www.djmixersoft.com/

If you google 'easy dj software' you'll get a host of links come back at you, many with free trial offers so you can check them out.  In general, go with software that looks elegant, and simple. There's no need as a beginner to have a piece of software that looks like the cockpit of a 747.  2 decks, a crossfader, some EQ on each deck and a big red record button will have you mixing like a pro in no time.

Tools like this focus on ease of use and integration with iTunes, so that you can quickly access your downloaded music and instantly begin enjoying being "in the mix".

The free teacher resources we've been offering come in really handy once you begin your career as a yoga DJ.  Long nature recordings and ambient drones can be layered onto existing songs, used as intros, outros, bridges between songs, and overall are excellent tools for getting the most out of your playlists.

The Origins of Dub Kirtan All Stars

Greetings Beat Seekers and Sub-aholics,

I have something a bit different for you, something I think is a little bit special. After 2 years of honing the live band and building a catalogue of music to perform, the ‘World Music’ meets ‘Electronic beats and Bass’ project that I’ve been nurturing with me ol‘ mate David Starfire is now ready to see the light of day. It’s called the Dub Kirtan All Stars.

Grab a free download of our new EP here

The project came about from both David and my long-standing love of Middle Eastern and South Asian music in all its many forms. I still maintain the finger blurring speed rhythms of the middle East’s darbuka players are the original Jungle/Drum n Bass beats J When I first moved to London Dance music (EDM) was going off and there was a slew of bands and producers that were mixing up Electronic beats and Asian instruments, many of them 2nd generation Asian kids who felt as much part of modern British Dance music culture as they did their Asian roots. Bands like Asian Dub Foundation, Fun-Da-Mental, Loop Guru, TransGlobal Underground (which is where we first saw the phenomenal Natacha Atlas who features on David Starfire’s new album) and Talvin Singh (who went on to collaborate with Bjork)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4-4zzHsVcQ

and many others… were all cranking out often political Asian fusion beats that verged on punk in it’s intensity, and directly confronted the idea that to be British meant to be any one skin color, religion or anything else. It was political by the very fact that it was happening in a slow-to-change British establishment surrounded by the children of the colonial empire who were growing up in Mother England unafraid to claim the rights they should have as British citizens regardless if whether they looked or sounded like the royal family or not.

I would go and see these bands play and producers DJ (Talvin’s legendary ‘Anokha’ night at the Blue Note in Hoxton Square was one of the best examples of London’s melting pot futurism even to this day) and at the same time I’d visit the Southbank Center and see the finest traditional Asian musicians play purist classical music, blown away by the intensity of them both. By some unfathomable chance I even had one of the brothers from the esteemed Qa’wali dynasty of Salamat Ali Khan (RIP) in the studio in London after a meeting via a mutual acquaintance at a concert they did in London. Even tho Massive Attack had just remixed Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, I have to admit I hardly knew who he was at the time, but the sound that came out of his mouth when we pushed the record button floored me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rqKylpnSaw

But as time went by I ended up firmly ensconced in London’s Electronic world and other than the odd concert down at the Southbank Art and Music festivals, I fell out of that scene as I grew in different directions musically and had little time for anything else. But in an odd twist of fate the music re-entered my digital bubble thru a side door - via my practice of Yoga. I took up Yoga to help me manage the touring DJ lifestyle which = long hours, little sleep, perpetual jetlag and adrenal rush after adrenal rush (of many different sorts), all in between being cooped up on planes sitting down for abnormally long periods of time. The physical practice Yoga worked a treat as a DJ lifestyle mitigation tool, but unbeknownst to me I had ended up practicing in a traditional Indian lineage, Satyananda yoga, and with it came the traditional call and response chanting called Kirtan….. Full circle. I have to admit I wasn’t into it at first, and at my South London yoga center kirtan was mostly held on the weekends when I was away DJing so, it was a slow start for me. I had become so accustomed to electronic music that when I did hear Kirtan chanting backed by minimal acoustic music, I would hear Bass drops, smokin’ beats and trippy synths buzzing in and around these circular mantras that repeated endlessly like a looped up vocal sample in a rave. But over time as I studied a little more of the Yoga philosophy and got to understand why they chanted the names of the Absolute, the Divine, over and over again, I started to catch a vibe. It was a way of getting beyond the ego, of losing your shit just like losing yourself in an amazing electro, dubstep or Classical tune. And when one of my Yoga teachers asked me to start a Kirtan project, his request brought me to revisit my love of Asian music and it was from here that the seeds for the Dub Kirtan All Stars project were sown. Soon after David (who is a seasoned East/West fusion Electronic producer) and I set a date for a ‘friends and family’ gig in Los Angeles and started feverishly making beats and jamming with our mates who do actually sing and play this stuff.

You see, neither David or I can play eastern Instruments, or sing like those masters I used to see at the festivals in London, but we can control swarms of musical robots via our music software and it was from this foundation that we built up the DKAS, a group of people who are steeped in both their traditional modalities and in the 21st Century digital world.

https://vimeo.com/24537224

The ‘Subsonic Devotion’ EP is the first fruits of this project. It’s sweet and sexy, and heavy and driving by turns, and features the voices of the incredibly talented Chaytanya and Arjun Baba. Both singers are steeped in the traditional modes of their art but have been to their fair share of raves too, so we’re stoked to have them grace the DKAS project. I hope this will offer some fresh vibes to fans of both the traditional Asian music and fans of future Beats and Bass Music.

Again, if this is something that interestes you, grab a free download of our new EP here.

Music & Silence

Music & Silence

Is there really a conversation to be had regarding the value of music as opposed to silence?  I'd rather think of them as mutually supportive, and in fact deeply connected.  Music is simply an elegant way of marking space within infinite silence through the passage of time.

The real question is does the right music played at the appropriate volume help you go deeper into your asana?  Deeper into yourself? 

If the answer is yes, then you've come to the right place! With our help you can enjoy listening an incredible array of inspiring music while you practice yoga.

If the answer is no, then consider practicing without music, or listen more carefully to what might not be working.  Is the music fighting for your attention as you try to listen to your teacher?  Perhaps the music is too busy, too loud, or not the right intensity level for the pose you're in.  Bad acoustics in the room?  Very common in bright, hard wood floor studios which are acoustically speaking not ideal.  If so, just like in asana, adjust, breathe and approach your edge again until you find the balance between tension and release, rhythm and silence.

I've personally found that music helps me better enjoy the silence left after a deep embodiment practice.  It's as if the symphony of my own inner voices come to a close as the music ends and we both participate in a mutual silence that is truly golden.

I'm going to take a wild guess and state that there is most likely nothing in any yogic text that speaks against practicing to music.  Therefore it's truly up to the individual to decide for themselves what works best, which is huge part of yoga to me.

Also sometimes people have an initial experience that turns them off, closing them down to future opportunities.  Not everyone has learned the skill of playing supportive music for yoga, so if you're referring to a time when someone bounced a booty hip hop track during savasana, then yeah that might not be the best argument for music vs. silence.

If you have however, experienced a beautiful flute melody or tabla rhythm during a cool down series that transports you deep into a state of pure samadhi then you're pretty much a yoga music junkie (like us) and we're here to support your fix.

In my personal practice I often spend time in silence… but when I practice with others I love how the right music connects us and brings us closer together.  A commonality we all share without having to activate our thoughts and casual conversation in order to be present with one another.

---

Alex King-Harris (aka Rara Avis)

Yogi Tunes CEO/Co-Founder

iTunes Pt. 3: Where did my songs go, and who's this 'Unknown Artist'?

iTunes can at times be unforgiving.  The reason is that iTunes isn't exactly masterful at handling songs coming to it from different places.  If all you ever did was download music from the iTunes store you probably wouldn't notice any issues.  But in reality, we get songs from everywhere these days.  Shared from friends, purchased at cool sites like Yogi Tunes!, imported from CD's, from other people's iPods (used to be easier), etc.  The end result is having a library that in industry terms is 'fragmented'.  

The experience many of us have with a fragmented library is clicking play on a song and an exclamation mark comes up (!), along with an error saying iTunes can't locate the song.  The other thing that happens is you have a ton of songs on your computer that live in the 'Unknown Artist/Unknown Album' folder... a  digital dumping ground for anything iTunes doesn't know what to call because it's missing the all important 'meta data' or name of the artist and album from which the song comes.

To help with prevent these issues, there are several important tools to be aware of.  The first tool is in the iTunes preferences panel.  Please refer to 'Working with iTunes Part 2' if you don't know how to find your iTunes preferences.  When you get into the iTunes preferences, click on the Advanced tab and look at the options 'Keep iTunes Media Folder organized', and 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library'.

These two options are often responsible for helping to create a lot of mess on your computer.  Let's say you just downloaded music from a friend's thumb drive (heaven's no, that's illegal!).  You probably did this by copying the music on to your desktop, then adding the songs to iTunes by dragging and dropping them into the iTunes library.  If these two settings are turned on, iTunes will first create duplicate copies of the songs, and any song that doesn't have an artist name or title, will be copied into the Unknown Artist, Unknown Album folder in your iTunes Music Folder.

This can create a mess because not only do you now have two copies of each new song you just got from your homie, but one of them is no longer identifiable because it's in an anonymous folder.

Yet these two options do elp if you're aware of how they can work for you.  Let's say you've just purchased music from Yogi Tunes and downloaded your new tunes into your downloads folder.  When the download is complete and you unzip your purchase, drag and drop into iTunes.  If both of these options are turned onhed iTunes will make a copy of the files and placed them neatly in folders by Artist and Album name.  All of our downloaded music has the correct information stored in the songs, so that iTunes knows where to put it in it's own file system.  As a final step you can then DELETE the original files in your downloads area!  

For those of you who have messy iTunes libraries, and tons of duplicate songs by Unknown Artists, there are several third party tools available for cleaning up your library.  Song Seargant, and Tune Up are two that I've had recommend to me, although I've never tried to use either they both get good reviews from users.  They remove duplicates and track down artwork and song information for music on your computer that is missing these critical items.  Of course no fix it software is perfect, so there may be some left over fragmentation, but after reading this article and spending a bit of time cleaning up your computer you should be far better off than you were before!