This album was made possible with generous grants from the Arts Council of England, Help Musicians UK and the Oppenheim John Downes Memorial Trust.
Composed, performed, recorded, mixed and produced by Ch'Lu in her home studio, this album is a fusion of binaural field-recordings, hypnotic Sanskrit vocals, classical guitar arpeggiation and electronic soundscapes. It is using the ancient Sanskrit texts of the Mandukya Upanishads, which create the experience and journey of "Om". It is the ultimate Sound Medicine.
A polyglot polymath, Ch’Lu has been studying Sanskrit for the last thirteen years, alongside her teaching and practice of Vedic meditation, which fuels her drive to expand consciousness through creativity and performance. As a classical guitarist, singer, actress, linguist (13 languages) and martial artist, her creative vision is to fuse the ancient with the voice of the Zeitgeist, throwing in a contemporary edge, humour and the element of surprise.
Here's a link to the music video of an earlier version of the opening track - Aum:
https://youtu.be/OuQh8NDY6lo
LYRICS (Original Sanskrit text, Romanised Version & English translation)
हरः ओम् ओमयेतदरमदं सव तयोपायानं भूतं भववयदत सवमोङ्कारएव यायकालातीतंतदयोङ्कारएव
Aum ity etad akṣaram idam sarvam,
tasyopavyākhyānam,
bhūtam bhavad bhaviṣyad iti,
sarvam auṁkāra eva,
yac cānyat trikālātītaṁ,
tad apy auṁkāra eva
Translation:
All is OM: Hari Om. The whole universe is the syllable Om.
Following is the exposition of Om. Everything that was, is, or
will be is, in truth Om. All else which transcends time, space,
and causation is also Om.
CREDITS:
Composed, performed, recorded, mixed and produced by Ch'Lu
Album Mastering – Jessica Thompson
Album Artwork – painting in acrylic by Ch’Lu
Acknowledgements:
Without all of these incredible beings, this album would not exist:
Thank you to my Mum for giving me a space to create my home studio. Immense gratitude to Hari also, for his guidance and encouragement over the years as friend, Jyotish expert and mentor. Thank you to Garuda for the introduction to the Mandukya Upanishads and my first steps into deeper Sanskrit study. Thank you Isobel Anderson for developing my self-recording, mixing and producing skills and confidence, especially introducing me to binaural field recording. And again thank you to both the Arts Council of England, Help Musicians UK and the Oppenheim John Downes Memorial Trust for your generous grants to finance vital elements of this album.
