"Music is wholly about listening…. to our inner selves and the outer world.”

ELEMENTS OF SOUND
All that exists creates sound. The tiniest elements ofeverything on this planet move, vibrate, and therefore create resonance or sound. This powerful force has the ability to heal and create or confuse and destroy. Once we understand what sound truly is, we have the ability to influence our consciousness as well as our environment.

Music is an attempt to arrange sounds and silences. It comes from our innate desire to express and it can evoke a range of emotions from ecstasy to anger. As a sound scientist, I help students listen deeply and experiment with the intangible, even mystical elements of groove and lyricism. The essence of sound is a great joy to me.

WORKSHOPS
Rhythm & Drumming Workshops
--Achieve a well-rounded tone, and make your drum sing
--Build upon our own naturally-given internal rhythm
--Learn rhythms from around the world
--Play harmoniously with other people, and much more.

Sound Exploration & Meditation Workshops
Sound can induce trance-like conditions which include slow respiration rates and deep relaxation. These states have been known to induce strong visual imagery, and evoke little or no awareness of the physical body

—Share and understand the deep, creative, and rhythmic space from which sound/music originates.
—Make listening a full-body experience, learning how to absorb sound vibrations with our whole bodies.
—Use instruments such as Himalayan singing bowls, gongs, bells, rattles, flutes, drums, and voice to demonstrate the transformative and healing power of sound.

BOOKING PRIVATE LESSONS AND WORKSHOPS

Schools: Workshops or Long-Term Residencies
Inspiring students to listen, move, interact, and develop a responsive engagement with the world around them through movement and sound. One time workshop or on-going lessons available. Learn more...

Public: Sound Meditations and/or Resonating Drum Workshops
River brings his versitle talent to help others experience the power of sound and rhythm in dynamic group settings. To learn more or book a workshop please contact River.

Privates: Drumming Lesson and/or Sound Therapy
Private drumming lessons and sound therapy sessions take people further into experience as they relate to rhythm and tone. To book please contact River.

“All the participants were extremely pleased with River’s approach and teaching style. One of the students told me after the class, 'I learned more in several hours with River than I did in a year of lessons.’” —ASHANTAY, Celestial Gifts, Sautee, GA

INTERESTING FACTS

• The sound vibrations of Earth’s electromagnetic field, deep space, and people in deep meditative states all resonate at a frequency of approximately 7.8 Hz. We normally function at Beta state, approximately 12-16 Hz.
• Our brains receive up to 80% of its energy through the ears.
• Musicians were originally shamans, physicians, healers, and priestesses/priests.
• The use of gongs and bells has been traced back 4,000 years in Asia Minor. The oldest record of drums date back 8,000 years.
• Playing or listening to a steady beat has a regulating effect on the biological functioning of the body.
• We remember 20% of what we hear, 40% of what we see and hear, and 80% of what we do.

                    
This site is dedicated to Fred D. Hinger, who showed me how to "touch" the drums.