MindTravel takes meditative musical trek through Frick Park
An event title like MindTravel may evoke the psychedelics of the ’ 60s, but it’s really a far more science- driven trip.
Composer- pianist Murray Hidary has fused a deep love of nature, an intimate knowledge of meditative traditions, concert hall- sharp piano skills and a background in neuroscience and audio tech to create what he’s calling SilentHikes/ SilentWalks.
For the past several years, Hidary has led groups of listeners on guided meditative journeys in museums, on beaches, in concert halls and nature preserves. The destination? Mindfulness: A more complete awareness of the inner self and one’s surroundings.
On Friday, Hidary visits Pittsburgh for the first time to lead a free SilentWalk in Squirrel Hill’s Frick Park.
“I use music to interpret everything around me and everything inside me,” Hidary said in a recent phone interview from Berlin. “Nature, for instance, is filled with incredible patterns and textures. My music is inspired by nature and the creative energy that describes the whole universe. It’s about representing nature at the micro and cosmic scale.”
MindTravel began in Hidary’s living room in Los Angeles with a group of about 40 of the pianist’s friends. The response was so positive that the event turned into a second performance, and then a third, snowballing to the reach it has today. The outdoor SilentWalks, which last about an hour or hour and a half, are one version of MindTravel. Hidary has also experimented with underwater experiences, gallery tours and more traditional concert performances outdoors and in concert halls.
On the day of each SilentWalk/ Hike, Hidary scouts the route he’ll take and curates music specifically for that location. For this experience, inspired by Hidary’s immersion in the walking meditation practices of Japanese monasteries, listeners don headphones and recorded, improvisatory music and Hidary’s voice are piped directly to participants’ ears.
“It’s an extremely slow- paced walking technique that’s connected with breathing,” he said. “I used to get up and start my day with this at 5 a. m. at the temple — this is a modern version of that practice.”
Hidary said that people will experience the event at different depths. On the surface level, it’s a beautiful and evocative event. Listeners that fall further into the experience may feel emotional responses, and some might even lose track of time and undergo a more spiritual, mindful expedition.
“That music, really just the compression of air molecules, can generate an emotional and neurological response like this is just incredible,” said Hidary, who explained that through deliberate use of different rhythms he moves listeners towards a trance- like state. Specifically, in the beginning of his pieces, he uses beats and frequencies intended to move the brain from shorter, more active beta waves to slower, more relaxed alpha waves.
The music itself blends gentle, improvisatory piano strains over deep electronic tones. Hidary said he interweaves binaural beats into the fabric of his compositions, an established practice in creating music to assist in meditation. Binaural beats occur between two pitches; they’re something listeners typically feel rather hear. Studies have shown that this binaural beats can be used to relax subjects and decrease anxiety.
“The brain loves this beautiful balance between predictability and spontaneity,” Hidary added. “If the music is too predictable, we get bored and lose interest. The opposite is true as well. The art of music is taking someone through that fine balance beam between the two. At that point, you can surrender and just experience the music in the space you’re in.” Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@ post- gazette. com or 412- 263- 1634; twitter: @ Reynolds_ PG. Mr. Reynolds’ work at the PostGazette is supported by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.