Steven Halpern is the award winning composer, producer and recording artist who has been using music as therapy since the mid 1970’s. Using instrumental music, Halpern uses global healing traditions with modern medicine and music to support meditation, yoga, sleep and relaxation. Deep Alpha is his latest release. Halpern has made over 70 recordings that focus on the connection between sound and healing and he has eight previous albums in his bestselling Inner Piece collection. Special guests on Deep Alpha include Grammy nominees Paul McCandless (oboe) and Michael Manring (fretless bass).
From the first note on “Deep Alpha 8 Hz: Pt. 1,” the soothing nature of this album began to unravel me from a hectic day at work. McCandless musicianship with the oboe combined with Halpren’s skill on the Rhodes electric piano adds a dimension to the piece that takes you into a place of suspension while you decompress from reality. The first thought I had when the song began was the lush sensation of morning dew on the budding bloom of a flower and just watching it as it unfolded with the day.
“Deep Alpha 8 Hz Pt. 6” is an audible journey through a lake of glass, skating over time and trouble to reach that place in your psyche that brings you much needed rest. As I listen, the winding passage of lyrical notes weaves a spell and bids me to release all cares into the abyss. The composition here is flawless. Every note is measured to create a space that is free from stress and is filled with atmospheric wonder.
“Deep Alpha 8 Hz: Pt. 14” is perhaps my favorite track on the album. Ocean waves roll over you in a rhythmic pattern, combined with Halpern on the piano. Using the technique of Aural-Sync brainwave synchronization throughout the album, the waves guide your brain into an alpha state of 8 cycles per second, merging your mind with the motion and energies of the earth itself. This track in particular exemplifies what Halpern is trying to accomplish with his sound therapy. The sound waves, combined with the lulling sound of the ocean carry you into a relaxed state that is perfect for the overstimulated minds we have in today’s world.
Steven Halpern was one of the first pioneers in New Age music. After researching and documenting the healing power of music, Halpern became a leader and an advocate to the sound healing field. Described as listening “to the spaces between the notes”, Halpern leaves himself open with each song and uses improvisation to create musical art and a companion piece to his successful album Deep Theta. The use of 8 cycles per second creates a harmony, paired with the Rhodes Mark 7 piano to craft a musical theater of lyrical pieces that carry you into a meditational state of peace.
Key Tracks- Deep Alpha 8 Hz: Pt. 1, Deep Alpha 8 Hz: Pt. 6, Deep Alpha 8 Hz: Pt. 14
August 1, 2012
