Create Your Own Soundscape
with Recorded Music

Since the beginning of time, humans have used music and sound to worship, celebrate, and heal. The modern Western world has largely ignored or lost the healing aspect of music, but we can reclaim it in our daily lives if we learn truly and actively to listen, and if we approach our listening with care and intention. Here are some suggestions for choosing recorded music to create, enhance, or prolong moods, emotions, levels of awareness, and states of being.

Music for Emotions and Moods

Music for Relaxation

• long, slow phrases, limited range of melody and loudness

• Gregorian Chant, Gregorian Sampler, Solesmes (Paraclete Press)

• (Note: true Gregorian chant uses no harmonizing or accompaniment)

• Seascapes / Pianoscapes - Michael Jones (solo piano) (Narada)

• Going Home Again / Velvet Dreams - Daniel Kobialka (Li-Sem)

• Rosa Mystica - Therese Schroeder-Sheker (Celestial Harmonies)

• North Indian flute ragas - (G.S. Sachdev, numerous recordings)

• Classics for Relaxation, Vols 1-4 (Excelsior / Madacy Records)

Music for Deep Rest and Meditation

• slower and more calming, no discernable beat, trance-inducing

• Thursday Afternoon - Brian Eno (Sony)

• Dolphin Dreams - Jonathan Goldman (Spirit Music)

• Angels - Don Campbell

• Coyote Oldman or Carlos Nakai- Native American flute recordings

• Quiet Music - Steve Roach (vols 1, 2, 3) (Soundquest / Fortuna)

Sonic Stimulation, Arousal, Invigoration

• has a good "beat", 80-90/minute, higher frequencies, more exciting

• Earth Tribal Ryhthms - Brent Lewis (intricate melodic drumming)

• Saving the Wildlife - Mannheim Steamroller (Amer. Gramophone)

• "Fireworks" - Eugene Ormandy & The Philadelphia Orchestra (RCA)

• Medicine Music - Bobby McFerrin

• Soundtrack from "Flashdance" - (Casablanca)

• Mozart: "Marriage of Figaro" overture

Music for Reverie and Emotional Processing

• rich harmonies and sonorities yet gentle and subtle

• Eight String Religion - David Darling (Hearts of Space)

• North Indian evening ragas on sitar, sarod, or veena

• Crystal Rainbows - Don Campbell (Spirit Music)

• Soundtracks from "Out of Africa" or "The Mission"

• Adagio - Barber

• "The Lark Ascending" and other pastoral music - R. Vaughan-Williams

• Mad About Romance (Deutsche Grammophon)

Music for Active Kinesthetic Imagery

• vivid tone colors, imaginative orchestration, energetic movement

• Equinox Oxygen - Jean-Michel Jarre

• Drums of Passion - Olatunji

• Symphony for the Inner Self - Don Campbell

• Johann Strauss waltzes

• Pines of Rome / Fountains of Rome - Respighi

• Symphony Nr. 6 - Beethoven

• Concerto Aranjuez - Rodrigo

• The Moldau - Smetana

Music for Inspiration and Spiritual Awareness

• spiritual content of composition and spiritual intent of composer

• Mass in b minor - Bach (Vox) NEW, played on historic instruments

• Hymns Triumphant - London Philharmonic Choir (Sparrow Records)

• Requiem - Durufle or Faure (Erato)

• Requiem - Andrew Lloyd-Weber

• Gloria - John Rutter

• "Mad About Angels" - (Deutsche Grammophone)

• Missa Gaia - Paul Winter (Living Music)

• Stor Amhran - Noirin Ni Riain (Gaelic vocals) (Sounds True)

• "Tabla Rasa" or "Miserere" - Arvo Pärt

Toning, Chanting, Singing

• examples of the spirituality of the voice

• Gregorian chant recordings by the monks of Solesmes (Paraclete Press)

• Gloria - Robert Gass

• The Gyume or Gyuto Tibetan Monks (several available)

• The Harmonic Choir - David Hykes

• Harmonic Singing - Michael Vetter

• The Fire Mass - Kenneth Mills

• music of Hildegard von Bingen (various)- Sequentia (Harmonia Mundi)

Music Through the Day

Music for the Morning

• any bright, airy, clear Baroque music - no heavy bass

• Bach for Breakfast - various artists (Philips)

• New Friends - Eugene Friesen (Living Music)

• Bach's "The Well Tempered Klavier" - Keith Jarrett (ECM)

• Handel's Suites for Keyboard - Keith Jarrett (ECM)

Music and the Journey to Work

• gently steady rhythm - promotes alertness

• Brandenburg Concertos - Bach

• Concerto for Two Violins - Bach

• Piano Concertos - Mozart

• FreshAire, Vols. 2, 3 & 4 - Mannheim Steamroller (Amer. Gramoph.)

Music for Concentration and Learning

• gentle, steady character, 70 beats / minute, promotes concentration

• any moderate Baroque music (concerto movements, etc.)

• Violin Concertos or String Quartets- Mozart

• String Quartets and Trios - Schubert

• Violin, Harp and Flute Concertos - Telemann

• Baroque Music for the Panpipe - Zamfir (Phillips)

• "Relax with the Classics" series (Vols. I-IV) (Lind)

Music for Awakening

• rhythmic energy, bright textures, strong beat 80-90 / minute

• Planet Drum - Mickey Hart

• Flashdance - soundtrack

• Mouthmusic - astounding Gaelic folk music and dances

• FreshAire, Vols. 4 & 5 - Mannheim Steamroller (Amer. Gramoph.)

• Not Live from New York - Cambridge Buskers (Deutsche Gramoph.)

Music for Commuting Home

• melodic, harmonious, rhythmic, balances and promotes alertness

• Piano Concertos - Mozart

• Medicine Music - Bobby McFerrin (EMI)

• "Water Music" or "Music for the Royal Fireworks" - Handel

• Silk Road - Kitaro

Music for Good Digestion

• generally soothing, pleasant, calming, grounding

• "Tafelmusik" (Table Music) - Telemann

• Flute Quartets, Concertos - Mozart

• "Moments Musicaux" - Schubert (solo piano)

• Lute Concertos, Oboe Concertos - Vivaldi

I welcome your suggestions for additions to this list.

Be sure to read Don Campbell's book "The Mozart Effect".
It's a landmark study of the healing effects of music on mind and body.