Works Based on Ostad’s Music

Music for the Mind I

Arguably the most beautiful of art forms, music has considerable effects on both our physiology and psychology. Indeed, the profound effects of music and its role as a therapeutic tool have been extensively studied and utilized in various forms over the centuries.

While the therapeutic benefits of music have long been explored, only recently have advances in neuroscience led to a better understanding of the profound effects of music on the brain. Ethnomusicologists, neuroscientists, and composers alike have begun to study the potential benefits of adapting certain kinds of music into auditory programs that can elevate mood and enhance cognitive states. Music for the Mind (MFM) is a unique, sound stimulation auditory training program through the power of music and active listening. Co-produced by Advanced Brain Technologies and the Nour Foundation. The purpose of MFM is to develop the listening skills, restore the sense of peace and tranquility, increase the energy level, extend the attention span, and enhance the memory and concentration ability of the listener through the music of Ostad Elahi, a master musician and virtuoso of the tanbur.

There are several reasons why Ostad Elahi's music offers a unique and powerful opportunity for promoting active listening. Ostad Elahi's art is naturally rich in high frequency sounds that invite deeper and more precise learning, promoting increased awareness, creativity, motivation, and energy. The numerous improvisations imbue the music with a free quality, while the unusual harmonic and rhythmic structures cause the brain to be attentive in a dramatic way. In addition, the tonal qualities of the tanbur are quite dramatic, presenting a dense range of high frequencies more intense than any other instrument. This density is partially attributable to the fact that Ostad played multiple notes per second that built on each other's harmonies.

Based on the science of psychoacoustics-the study of how humans perceive sound-the program combines unique psychoacoustic techniques with improvisational music and nature sounds to exercise both the ear and the brain. Through the practice of active listening, MFM enables one to regain tranquility and focus in today's hectic world and to develop greater attention and energy in one's daily activities, thereby providing a doorway to begin the implementation of positive and profound changes in one's life.

Works Based on Ostad’s Music

Music for the Mind II

Building on the popularity and success of the original Music for the Mind program, Music for the Mind II (MFM II) features a new sound stimulation auditory training program produced by Advanced Brain Technologies that is based on the science of psychoacoustics, or the study of how humans perceive sound.

Music for the Mind II (MFM II) is a four-disc set produced by Advanced Brain Technologies that builds on the highly popular and successful Music for the Mind (MFM) program. Overall, nearly 90% of MFM users reported a meaningful impact on their lives as a result of this active listening program. The resounding success of MFM and the heartfelt encouragement of listeners to produce another active listening program prompted us to begin working on Music for the Mind II. As with its predecessor, MFM II presents innovate psychoacoustic methods integrated with spatial soundscapes of the tanbur and harmonious nature sounds in a series of new musical arrangements that facilitate emotions ranging from a sense of wellbeing and energy to states of relaxation and contemplation.

Combining the latest psychoacoustic techniques with improvisational music and soothing nature sounds, MFM II naturally enhances the function of the ear and brain while providing a highly enjoyable listening experience through the unique music of Ostad Elahi.

The new musical arrangements of MFM II not only stir a wide range of powerful emotions, but also provide the listener with the option to select which state of being to induce by selecting one of the four corresponding discs: energy, relaxation, contemplation, or well-being.

Works Based on Ostad’s Music

The Spirit of Sounds

Jean During, an accomplished ethnomusicologist and Director of Research at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research in Paris), has published several works on the music of Central Asia, particularly its relationship with eastern culture, mysticism, and thought. As a specialist with international practices and experiences, he has always been interested in combining the basics of music techniques and their social and cultural aspects.

In this latest work, his polygonal approach to music provides a unique and original contribution to musical aesthetics, religious anthropology, and Eastern mysticism. As a result of his multifaceted approach, the present study constitutes an original and unique contribution to a deeper meaning of music. During considers all available and up-to-date scientific data and evidence, and provides interested readers with a thorough scientific basis for the convergence of particular characteristics of Ostad Elahi's musical system and teachings. Congruently, Ostad's musical repertoire knows no boundaries. Ostad not only learned the traditional religious repertoire, but he integrated all the music that could be heard in his environment, with instruments such as the oboe, viola, and the peasant flute. He accomplished all this at a very young age while playing of the tanbur, allowing Jean During to attest that Ostad had become a master of the tanbur. What is most striking when listening to his music at first is the system itself. In this sense, it is a music that combines vision, hearing, gesture, and intention, perhaps explaining the reason behind its powerful and deep impression.

Drawing upon a number of diverse sources, Prof. Jean During succeeds in bringing the uniqueness of Ostad Elahi's intricate art of tanbur into relief by analyzing it in its original context and tracing its genesis and development through a series of biographical elements, rich anecdotes, and detailed accounts by those who were close to this exceptional musician.