Chris Conway & Neil Donoghue - Ayurveda Gold

background
Chris Conway released an album Ayurveda in 2003. That was a totally solo album, playing all of the instruments himself. Chris thought it would be interesting to weave in the textures offered by Neil Donoghue's sitar. Also that old album was quite a static one.

On Ayurveda Gold Chris wanted each track to start meditaively and slowly develop with it's own character, evoking the element in each case.

influences
Jai Uttal, Stephan Micus, The Rain Garden, Al Gromer Khan, Robert Rich

notes
On this album the music is created to reflect the Ayurvedic elements in sound and feeling. Each element has been given a signature instrument to reflect it. Thes instruments occur in other tracks, but on their own track they feature.

Air – Irish whistles
Fire – sitar
Earth – guitar
Ether – theremin
Water – kalimba

1. Elements
The 5 elements are introduced. They appear loosely gathered together and unstructured.

Chris Conway – keyboards, low Irish whistle, acoustic 9 string guitar, theremin, kalimba, voice, zither.
Neil Donoghue – sitar, acoustic guitar


2. Air
One principle of air is motion. Where there is movement, air is present. Air gives consciousness a direction and goal. It governs the nervous system and therefore the senses. The low whistle captures the essence of air at the start, before other smaller flutes join as the movement begins.

Chris Conway – low & tin Irish whistles, keyboards, zither, kantele, voice, bodhran, percussion
Neil Donoghue – santoor.


3. Fire
The main principle of fire is transformation and intelligence and radiant energy. In this piece the sitar and piano create a feeling of warmth, and the music transforms as the movement of ideas are exchanged between them as the music heats up.

Chris Conway – piano, keyboards, kantele, percussion.
Neil Donoghue – sitar



4. Earth
The main principle of earth is structure. The 2 guitars introduce themselves at the beginning, along with the flute. Then when moment begins, all 3 are bound by a recurring structure. Each take their part in it separately and together, and are bound by it.

Chris Conway – acoustic 9 string guitar, keyboards, flute, zither voice, bodhran, percussion
Neil Donoghue – acoustic guitar


5. Ether
Ether is the most subtle of elements, having a mysterious quality to it. It is the space within which all objects exist. The theremin, which portrays it here, is an instrument played without touching – hands move through the air around it. It was originally called the Ethervox, as it was thought the sound came from the ether. The voice is here as ether also governs the vocal chords which pass through it creating subtle vibrations.

Chris Conway – theremin, piano, keyboards, voice, effects, zither, bodhran, percussion
Neil Donoghue – sitar
Mo Coulson – Celtic harp


6. Water
The main principle of water is transportation and flow. As plasma flows through the body delivering nutrients to cells, the water element is the river upon which life flows. The kalimba (African thumb piano) and the piano reflect that ripplling and flowing, transporting a flute along the way.

Chris Conway – kalimba, piano, tin Irish whistle, keyboards, percussion.
Neil Donoghue – acoustic guitar, swarmandal


7. Elements In Balance
The 5 elements and signature instruments come together in a unified structure to form a balanced whole, just as we would wish the elements to do. After the meditative introduction, the movement begins and the elements and instruments flute, sitar, guitar, theremin, and kalimba each get their time to shine between the melody inspired by Indian folk melodies.

Chris Conway – low Irish whistle, flute, piano, keyboards, acoustic 9 string guitar, theremin, kalimba, zither, voice, bodhran
Neil Donoghue – sitar, acoustic guitar.
Zorpinda Zorpin - percussion, temple bells.