Forest Spirit

Forest Spirit

There's an uncanny sense of vitality being surrounded by the tall trees and the lush green undergrowth of a forest—that pervasive spirit is the lifeblood of our planet. Forests are biological treasure houses teeming with life. The sounds of the forest, the grandeur of the trees, the sunlight playing through the leaves, the fresh, clean air—being in nature can restore our mood and refresh all of us.

Although this tune has a sense of mystery and anticipation, the underlying essence IHMO is a spirit of unity, a commonality that unites elements that normally might be considered strange or foreign to be grouped together—like the spirit of the forest: uniting rocks, plants and animals, decay and rebirth: the cycle of life and revitalization.

Music
Forest Spirit is a bit of an international mish-mash in terms of the instrumentation. The opening groove starts off with my recorded pandeiro and a kind of weird patch on the Casio called berimbau - they are both Brazilian instruments of course but they are joined by Native American flutes. Later the tune adds an instrument from India: a tanpura. Although the same steadfast groove continues, the tanpura adds a decidedly different flavor.

Another left turn occurs when the acoustic guitar is joined by the trombone. Finally the vamp at the end returns to sounding more Native American as various instruments are layered in and the mysterious ancient forest spirit envelopes the long gradual fade out...