Track number 9 of the Snow on Water Soundtrack on SoundCloud.com features my son Maxwell Campbell Barrett playing the bamboo root flute.
The shakuhachi is the traditional Japanese 5-hole flute. The name describes its length, and thus its key, as D.
The pentatonic scale is known to native people everywhere as the modality of the Earth. You can hear its notes in the falling water of rivers, in birdsongs, in the rain. Perhaps more familiarly, Blues music is a recent outgrowth of this scale.
Max drifted into trance during the recording, and I composed the music afterward around his profoundly beautiful and soulful playing. The breathy flute embodies spirit, and the descending, four note motif in the accompaniment are common threads throughout the Snow on Water body of music.
To me, it signifies the movement of water, and the cycle of return and renewal.
It is now possible to listen to the playlist on SoundCloud while visiting the Snow on Water website. The homepage slides and the music are part of the installations described under the Work menu.
If your system does not support embeds, or if you want to play the soundtrack, you can Click on the gold link below to go to SoundCloud.com for the entire listing of 9 tracks. Click the play button there and the tracks will play in their entirety in sequence. 45 minutes duration, or in a continuous, meditative loop.
https://soundcloud.com/snow-on-water/sets/snow-on-water-soundtrack
Enjoy!
