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Rock Garden (Karesansui)

from Shelter In Place (pandemic double album) by Arthur Durkee

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Rock Garden (Karesansui) (Shelter In Place no. 6)

for Zen meditation flute made by John Niemi

This solo flute improvisation is inspired by the various Japanese rock gardens (also known as Zen gardens, or karesansui) that I spent time over several years. They are places that, for me, embody stillness, the changing of the seasons, Zen Buddhist meditation, and silence. I have photographed each of the Japanese gardens I have spent many hours wandering, some of which are featured in the music video accompanying this music.

The music is performed on a bamboo flute made for me by the late flute maker John Niemi, of Hawai’i. It is one of the first flutes I ever bought for myself. (I have two shakuhachi also made by John Niemi.) The flute is in a unique tuning, intended to be played as musical instrument for meditation. It is a traverse bamboo flute with four finger holes. In some ways it is a hybrid blend of Japanese shakuhachi and European folk flutes.

For this piece, two takes were recorded in sequence, without headphones, then mixed and aligned by ear and by intuition. The music is essentially a solo meditation in which the self echoes back to the self.

credits

from Shelter In Place (pandemic double album), released March 31, 2020
Arthur Durkee: bamboo flute

Music video: youtu.be/NHH56vLUVfA

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Arthur Durkee Ann Arbor, Michigan

Arthur Durkee is a composer & songwriter who records & performs on Chapman Stick, bass, analog modular synths, bamboo & wood flutes, keys, frame drums, and voice. He has won awards for composed, notated music as well as for his recordings, & is a published poet, & designer & illustrator. ... more

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