My tryst with this genre of music started rather late, though I have enjoyed listening to music for the most part of my life. The option of listening to regular film songs in the childhood moved towards classical Indian music and then particularly towards instrumental, and in the last few years it opened up to the music which can be categorized as contemporary, new-age, ambient, world music, etc.
Exposed to quite a number of genres and styles in music, I have found that different types of music are enjoyed best in different settings or situations. For example, Indian classical music is best enjoyed when you listen to in-person–the live concerts because there is so much to do with the artists, the ambiance, and the connection the audience is able to make with the performers.
On similar lines, I have come to figure out few situations or settings that are best suited if you want to enjoy new-age instrumental music. Obviously, these are picked from the ones that I encounter or have the privilege to experience, and I am sure different listeners will have different choices. I will be very happy to hear more such settings where they enjoy the music.
Why I am writing about these situations is because music has the power to inspire and enthuse a listener to create further–a poem, a painting, a dance sequence, a scientific idea, an emotion, confidence. The possibilities are virtually endless. I often end up writing poems!
Here are my choices:
- In the car, parked on the banks of a lake or a country-side pond as you watch the ducks dabble and quack on a sunny afternoon in the December month. Some migratory birds have arrived in search of food from frozen lands.
- Sitting in your meditation/altar room and trying to imagine taking a spiritual reverie riding on the notes of the music. Trying to achieve a sort of mindfulness.
- Watching the rain falling on your rooftop on a hot summer day as the wind caress your locks softly, and brings relief from the scorching heat of June.
- Traveling long-distance in an air-conditioned bus, enjoying scenes outside from your window-seat.
- Watching a video of beautiful and inspirational images with music played as the soundtrack of that video.
