The Wall of Sound

Having just gotten home from the club, I'm still cooling down after being in the hot box for 25 minutes. My idea for this blog congealed this evening around many thoughts and ponderings I've had over the last months. You know how sometimes before you get the full concept of something, you get little nudges, hints, and inklings but not enough to grab onto? Well that's what I'm talking about here. Finally the pieces all came together.

The Wall of Sound is a music production technique developed by record producer Phil Spector in the sixties, and continues to be used in pop and rock music today. (Don't worry, there is not a test afterwards.) The idea is to create a full and rich sound with good reverberation. I find this kind of sound to be very pleasing to my ear most of the time. Consequently, a lot of the tunes I listen to in the sauna employ the technique. Where is he going with this, you're wondering. Well, I'll tell you.

But first, you may recall a blog where I mentioned the distraction aspect of working the cold calls at the insurance agency, and how it opened up a door to my fire and motivation to get my coaching business going. I realized tonight, the music I play in the sauna has a very similar effect, particularly if the songs use the Wall of Sound. Said songs are usually the ones during which I pay less attention to the words and allow the sound to move me. It also distracts me in a way that allows creative thoughts to flow, surface, and congeal. (I know, I used it twice now)

There's another cool effect that takes place with this kind of music as well. When I first got hired at a commercial airline way back when, I flew a commuter plane called the Metroliner. A real pilot's airplane if you ask me and I loved it. But it was noisy....and hot in the summer and cold in the winter and cramped and the passengers hated it and called it a "puddle jumper" which I hated....but the point is the noise.

We pilots generally wore earplugs and full headsets to be able to hear air traffic control and each other as well as block out the noise.  Most days I had my sunglasses on as well and the combination of all this headgear made me feel like I was wearing a fighter pilots helmet. If you've ever seen the movie Top Gun, you know what I mean.  I flew that way for so many hours that when I moved to a quieter plane and didn't need all the gear, I felt a little naked and exposed. (I got used to the change very quickly however.)

Interestingly, the music I now listen to is sort of like the helmet I used to feel like I was wearing.  Only instead of just blocking out noise, it walls out the rest of the world. It creates a vibrational barrier between me and everything else which facilitates my meditations and inner discovery. Now, you thoughtful types out there are probably saying, "Oh, he's created an escape!" Yes, I recall times when it has provided me some moments of peace that were all about "getting away".  And I think that's all right. Life can be stressful. We all need a little quiet escape every now and again, so why not.

For me, only about 20% of my experiences have been escapes and the rest were energetically fruitful, you could say.  Now I can be aware of which is which when I take my heat soaks. Each time is valuable in many ways. Sometimes, on the coldest winter day, it just feels darn good to be in a hot and relaxing place where you get warmed all the way thru. Reminds me of sitting in front of the fire in a ski chalet after an all day ski in really cold weather.....but another blog post for that.

A query:  Do you prefer to escape or meditate?  Are they the same thing?  Do you ever meditate about what you're escaping from?  What kinds of walls are around you, and what do they keep out?