Crystal Spirit - The Healing Sounds of Crystal Singing Bowls

There is music that sounds crystalline, then there is crystal music, played on a "glass armonica" originally designed by Benjamin Franklin. The instrument looks like several crystal disks stacked and rotated along a central core. Yatri coaxes extended meditational lines from the disks using her wet fingers (much like playing a crystal wine glass) or alcohol-soaked cotton gloves. The disks sing and wail, they sob and resonate. Harmonics then spring to life on their own. Occasionally, disks are struck with a rubber mallet, reminding me of the emptiness of Zen, the holiness of a Tibetan monastery, or the giddiness of a burbling brook. The sounds are sharp at times, but listening is an invigorating and relaxing experience. Subtle synth orchestrations (skillfully done from the classically trained Yatri, a.k.a. Kathryn Root) and bird songs provide angelic settings for this ethereal instrument. If you like the sound of the austere Tibetan bells, you will probably resonate to this album and its melodic possibilities. In a word, "heavenly."