Insights in Music and Culture

Archetypes of Transformation in Music, Myth, and Self-Development.
music psychology, myth, health and wellness Dr. Vincent Sebastian music psychology, myth, health and wellness Dr. Vincent Sebastian

Archetypes of Transformation in Music, Myth, and Self-Development.

Archetypes are ancient instinctual patterns that influence human behaviours and emerge at critical times in our lives. They follow typical patterns, which is why they appear the world’s myths and art. What isn’t spoken about is their use in music- as sonic representations of psychological narratives. This article explores the use of archetypes in music and their relationship to ritual systems of transformation, used throughout cultures to aid personality and spiritual development. The article concludes by showing how these insights are developed within the Sound-Soul system, a unique ethos and approach to music and performance aimed at transformative experience.    

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How we Hear: Recreating the World through Sound
Dr. Vincent Sebastian Dr. Vincent Sebastian

How we Hear: Recreating the World through Sound

Summary

Contrary to what you may expect, sound is not ‘out there’ in the world but a product of our brains. In fact, sound develops through a recreation of vibration information from the external environment. This poses interesting questions about the nature of perception and reality, and the way we experience the world. The article starts with a discussion about the biological nature of sound and hearing, and then moves to a Philosophy of Sound that challenges the way we think about the world and our role within it.

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“I Make Content, not Art!”How we Traded Deep Musical Experience for Consumerism, and How to Revert the Trend.
Dr. Vincent Sebastian Dr. Vincent Sebastian

“I Make Content, not Art!”How we Traded Deep Musical Experience for Consumerism, and How to Revert the Trend.

Today, music is often considered ‘content’, used to satisfy social media algorithms and streaming platforms. This modern development not only affects musicians ability to earn, but devalues many of the traditional views of music used for health, social cohesion, and spiritual development. In this article, we explore the development of music since the Enlightenment, suggesting that the role of music in the West has drastically changed with modernity. The article offers ways to bring our intuitions about music back into harmony with the most pressing issues of our times, offering a new vision of music’s function based upon an understanding of the past.

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