A "solarium" is a room built for light. For warmth. For the quiet tending of living things that naturally seek the sun.
The GrailHeart Solarium is shaped with that same spirit — a place where the imagination can play. After all, we play music; and imagination thrives in that same atmosphere of lightness. Here, music, story, symbol, and number gather the way plants gather at windows: drawn by light, revealing the unexpected as they grow.
Sacred geometry is the study of geometric patterns and shapes that are believed to hold spiritual significance and reflect the fundamental divine design of the universe, with an emphasis on their aesthetic beauty. Found in natural forms, religious architecture, and art, these shapes are thought to symbolize the harmony, balance, and the interconnectedness of all things.
The GrailHeart Solarium is dedicated to extending the ideas — and ideals — of 'Sacred Geometry' to music.
We human beings are the otters of the vast ocean of the Cosmos — curious, playful creatures cavorting in a forgotten cove of our galaxy called Earth, reveling in the currents of being alive. Unlike any other species we know, we have the extraordinary gift to shape and explore vast worlds that exist only in our collective imagination. Language, music, math, and myth are like shimmering streams we dive into for the sheer joy of discovery and imaginative play. (Which turns out to be extraordinarily useful for the survival of our species.) We build intricate sandcastles in the infinite sky, marveling at their beauty even as they remain intangible and ephemeral.
Here, at the GrailHeart Solarium, we celebrate this wondrous ability to play with the luminous threads of our shared imagination, weaving meaning, delight, and possibility into the fabric of our collective imagination.1
This group of tools is concerned with using patterns we are accustomed to experiencing in the natural world:
Beyond the braiding of hair, friendship bracelets and even parachute cords, there is a world of braiding patterns that can be applied to music. Opening soon!
"Change Ringing" is the art of ringing church bells in patterns that shift their order each time, creating beautiful, ever-changing sequences of sound. These patterns can be applied to much more than just bell notes. Opening soon!
Markov chanins are a mathematical construct which addresses the idea that what happens next is influenced by what happened before. Opening soon!
Create two looping series — not the same length — and combine them with this tool to create an effect where the two loops go in and out of phase. Opening soon!
Suppose you have two musicians. Between the same time goalposts, one wants to evenly fit three beats. The wants to evently fit five beats. That's 'polyrhythm'. Opening soon!
Another set of tools is concerned with expanding the horizon of Western music's "common practice":
All the possible scales, based on the Western piano keyboard. Opening soon!
All the possible 3, 4 and 5-note chords, based on the Western piano keyboard. Opening soon!
This set of tools uses a splash of mathematical Number Theory to open the aperture of the imagination.
We humans use ten digits — '0' through '9' — mostly because we have 10 digits/fingers. If we had 8, or 12 fingers, we'd count using 8 or 12 digits. (When we base our counting on 10 digits, that's called "base 10".)
Explore how alternate ways of counting unlock new ways of thinking when numbers are involved in creating art and music. Opening soon!
Prime factors are just the beginning. Opening soon!
In the ancient Mediterranean, the Phoenicians used their alphabet for both text and numbers, intertwining the two and giving rise to "gematria," a natural exploration of the relationship between language and numbers. Many cultures, including the Greeks and Hebrews, adopted this concept, and its profound connection between text and numbers invites a similar extension to music. Opening soon!
Another set of tools is concerned with expanding the horizon of Western music's "common practice":
Generate random titles in the GrailHeart mood — for stories, music, what have you! More....
Various articles relevant to Sacred Musical Geometry. Opening soon!
1Inspired by Hesse, Herman, The Glass Bead Game. Hesse received the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature for this book. It's quite extraordinary!