The mostly-acoustic, cross-cultural music features Tim White on wood-flute, guitar and two traditional instruments from India -- sitar and esraj (a bowed string-instrument), as well as Joe Paulino on piano, synthesizer, Balinese gong and, on one tune, Native-American frame-drum.

The project’s musical roots are influenced by the classical ragas of Northern India, music that White has studied and taught for the past three-and-a-half decades. The background raga-esque drone, on this project, was created mostly by retro-classic analog synthesizers (“for their calming resonance,” says Paulino). While these original compositions do not follow exact structures of traditional ragas, some of the improvisational elements within a framework are similar. The result is music that is restful and ambient while still full of melodic beauty.

The music’s therapeutic benefits derive from its beginnings as accompaniment created to assist spoken-word guided-meditations led by distinguished meditation teachers Patricia Ellsberg, Dr. Khaleghl Quinn and Heidi Hans Scott, all of whom stress breathing techniques and the sacred importance of breath.

From that beginning, the music was more fully developed, with added instrumentation, melodies, and new arrangements, to create a new work that truly stands on its own. The recording is ideal for meditation, massage, yoga, therapy sessions and what White and Paulino refer to as “Road-Rage Neutralization.”

“The music moves along at the relaxed speed of a slow breathing cycle,” explains White. “We consciously went about creating musical phrases that went with inhale and exhale rhythms. One of the reasons the flute is the main voice on the recording is because it is so closely related to breathing. The idea of meditational breathing inspired us to pursue the goal of producing music that will help people slow down, relax their breathing process and escape for a time from our hectic world.” Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.