Maximal Listening: Listening to Music with the Entire Body
“Maximum volume yields maximum results.” -Sunn O)))
Listen fully.
Maximal Listening is the practice of listening to music with the entire body. We combine experimental music with sound pressure and meditation principles to guide you through an intense and attentive listening experience that is physiological as much as it is psychological.
In this practice, you will be listening to a full instrumental album at an all-encompassing volume through a loud PA in the near or complete darkness, demanding your full attention and sensory engagement. If ambient music is “as ignorable as it is listenable”, maximal music is “as listenable as it is noticeable”. This experience will feature instrumental music, to transcend the limits of language and communicate what can’t be put into words.
You can think of this practice as the music equivalent to sitting in an ice bath. The experience may at times might make you feel difficult emotions and varying levels of discomfort, however, when you choose to sit with this discomfort voluntarily, it can be very beneficial to your health, because you are consciously rather than unconsciously accessing your fight or flight response and allowing yourself to sit with discomfort in a present and accepting manner. This can be a very powerful, healing, and creative experience.
Participants should bring a water bottle, eye mask, mat, pillow, and blanket.