Chapter 7 Luminous Music That Makes You Feel Better Inside
Luminous Music That Makes You Feel Better Inside
Dear Friend,
I’m very flattered that a university teacher like yourself (yes, I checked you out and found your email address in the faculty directory—and prefer this to social media) should have listened to my CD and found it interesting.
I know the quality of the sound isn’t very good.
I decided to record the songs because I was starting to forget them.
I’ve composed too many and there’s not enough room for all of them in my head.
Once I started recording them, I realized I could make a demo CD.
Despite the sound problem, I think the quality of the songs themselves hasn’t been lost. Then again, the arrangement is always the same: always one voice and a guitar. As it has to be. From start to finish. The uniformity could make for monotonous listening.
As for the language, there is no language.
It’s voice as just another instrument. Pure improvisation.
The melody’s the same, but the sounds of the voice change.
Those sounds are never repeated. This lets me create in a strict present and express the emotions I’m feeling that precise moment.
It’s strange, but I think the listener somehow picks up this immediacy.
My experience is that when I sing like this I’m able to express feelings I can’t convey in words.
I’ve always admired luminosity and (spiritual) power in my musical gurus.
I like luminous music that makes you feel better inside, opens up a space of well-being, gives you strength and courage, and holds out hope.
If I manage to convey these values some day, I’ll feel fulfilled.
I like to say that I can’t be understood in any country, but everyone can understand me. There’s something universal about that.
Moreover, the ego kind of dissolves. I think that language is essential to the construction of our identity. It helps us to think about ourselves.
When I’m singing I really don’t feel as if it’s me singing. I experience it as a void. There’s no one there. Or maybe it’s the opposite. I am more me than ever. Creating my own language, able to change from one moment to the next, like reality itself.
I’m a big fan of Nietzsche, Wittgenstein and Foucault, and their studies on language.
How language determines your way of seeing and understanding the world.
But all this is just words. I’m complicating matters.
The main thing is the music. And the fact that this urge I have to sing is natural and spontaneous.
I believe it comes from an innocent, ingenuous spirit.
In fact, when I was a little kid and my brother and I were still sharing one room in bunk beds, he would always fall asleep immediately, but up in my top bunk, I would start to sing in the dark.
I haven’t got a clue what I was singing.
I was just a little boy and didn’t have CDs or favorite songs. I simply sang.
Anyway, as I’ve heard people say several times, the innocence of a child is unexceptional. The innocence of an adult is the result of hard work. I don’t know whether I’ve kept it, or recovered it, or maybe I believe I have it when in fact I haven’t.
Well, as you can see, I love talking about these things. I get carried away. And, after all that, I haven’t said much about music.
With warmest regards and hoping to hear from you soon!
Daniel Lumbreras