Resonance and reverb at the year's end 🎄
Ammon's "what's happening" update — December edition
I don't have any music happenings to share this month (maybe one if you read to the end 😉). I've never been a NYE party person — I prefer quiet and reflective for the new year. And with my kids out of school at the end of the week, the end of the year will be focused on family.
Here's a little summary of what's on my mind:
Resonance and antiresonance — vibrating with the times
The passing of a musical treasure: Zakir Hussain
Disco with the Rhythm Society
Ok — let's go!
I've been thinking about resonance.
Resonance (n.) - a phenomenon in which an external force or system influences another system around it to vibrate with greater amplitude and/or harmonious frequency.
There's a simple explanation for the existence of reality (not arguing it’s true BTW). I grew up hearing different versions of it from my parents. "The great Om" was one version — the harmonic/spiritual version of the big bang. In my 20s I watched a 1968 documentary by Dr. Hans Jenny called Cymatics which illustrated life-creation through vibration. Soon after, I read Guy Murchie's "Music of the Spheres" — a beautiful articulation of the ancient Pythagorean theory of celestial body harmonics. The through-line is that reality is the product of vibration, and "life force" is the natural desire to align with harmonic resonance.
This thinking about resonance started before the past election, when I was wondering how people can "resonate" with such different ideas. For example, how can some people hear overt narcissism and childish behavior and think "that's my man!"? And at the same time, hear heartfelt caring and kindness and think "I don't want any of that!". This phenomenon is called "affective polarity shifting." The extreme version of this is called "valence inversion," or the interpretation of messages having the opposite meaning. I started thinking about this through the lens of musical resonance.
Just as physical objects have natural frequencies at which they vibrate most strongly, our emotional states have "resonant frequencies" with music. When we're in a negative emotional state, we might resonate more strongly with music that mirrors or validates those feelings, while being almost repelled by overtly happy music which feels discordant with our internal state. In other words, when there's emotional dissonance (out-of-phase resonance), the message can become inverted.
If this is the case, and the masses have a flipped valence that's making them resonate with darkness, then what actions can flip them back? In the immortal words of Fela Kuti, music is the weapon — music is the cure. For Fela, music was a strategic tool for consciousness-raising and resistance. He saw it as more powerful than traditional weapons because it could change minds and inspire collective action while being harder to suppress than other forms of protest.
So that's my plan for the next couple years. More Fela. More music. More dancing. More community connection. In the grand scheme, we’re all just molecules vibrating in resonance or antiresonance.
Yesterday, December 15, Zakir Hussain left this world. He was one of the world's most celebrated non-pop musicians — especially in his mother country, India. He won three grammy's last year for his Indian/jazz fusion creations (four in total). He influenced everyone from the Beatles to Yo-Yo Ma to some music heroes of my generation: Talvin Singh, Four Tet, Thievery Corporation, and so many more.
I was incredibly fortunate to grow up with Zakir as a member of our extended family. My mother is godmother to his daughters, and my step-dad (Shabda) is a longtime friend and musical collaborator. Shabda spent 25 years studying Indian classical music with his teacher Pandit Pran Nath, who was childhood (and lifelong) friends with Alla Rakha — Zakir's father. Because of their friendship, I spent many birthdays and holidays with Zakir and his family.
While I always knew about Zakir's fame and legacy, he was just a friendly, smiling, loving friend of my parents. And his wife Toni a perennial beacon of light and beauty. Their two daughters Bella and Anisa are like sisters and as extra-special as their parents. It's difficult to understand, and even reflect on, the feeling of having people like this treat you as family.
I was able to spend time with Zakir this past September at my dad's birthday. I sat next to him for dinner. I've never felt comfortable talking to Zakir about music — my own insecurities about my lack of experience and knowledge. And was always concerned he wouldn't be interested in my other passions: design and technology. But on this occasion, I shared my personal music discovery project, SNDOUT, with him. I started with a search for Zakir. I thought it might be a disaster — that AI would make up a bunch of things. But to my surprise he was mesmerized. He quickly noticed correct insights not well known or documented. He wanted to explore more and kept telling me how much he loved it. He offered to connect me with others who could help share it with the world. It was a magic moment of recognition and connection. Although I've known Zakir for most of my life, it was the first time I felt he understood who I was beyond Shabda's son.
I'm so thankful for that deep and sweet connection at the end of his journey. I'm feeling sad for the massive hole left in the hearts of his family and community. I also know that he'll be celebrated and remembered for many lifetimes. Very few people in history leave this world with as much grace and positive impact.
I have one more DJ gig this year. It's with The Rhythm Society, a community I helped create nearly 30 years ago. Since 1996, we've held 4-5 late night community dance events per year — occurring on the solstices and equinoxes. I'm sure most of you have heard stories about the RS, so I'll keep this one short.
Each event is led by a volunteer who defines the theme and intention of the event. Because of this approach, each event can have its own unique flavor, music intention, DJ lineup, and location. The coming event theme is Disco! Pretty sure it's the first time in the long history of the RS that Disco has been front and center. I'll be tag-teaming with my favorite disco DJ collaborator, Disco Dianna!
One consistent factor (by design) is our events are by invitation, and invites are very limited (each member receives four invites). I only have one extra invite for this event. Dianna and I will be playing from 9-11pm and held at a private space this Friday evening in Oakland. If you're interested, let me know. And I apologize in advance if it's already taken. If you're interested in future events, please let me know!
That's it for now. If I don't see you before the year's end, I hope you, family and friends are healthy and happy. And remember, music is a weapon — a weapon against fear, anger, oppression, and anything else the world wants to throw at us.
Much love,
Ammon
p.s., I don’t have any new mixes to share (I have a backlog of 3), but as a reminder, you can ask “my twin” to help you find the perfect mix 😉 Here’s a starter:
I saved this one and just found it in my email account. Lovely writing per usual.
Would still love to be a plus+ for a RS reunion (for me). <3