—An Interview with Mike Hardin, Part Two—
>>> Part One: Meditation Soundtracks, Practicing Meditation – Deeper Space
Meditation How: Is all of your music for meditation just the music alone or is it sometimes coupled with suggestions or guided meditation elements? I am also curious as to whether the music has a sense of progression (i.e. from energetic to more peaceful) or more consistent and steady with less of a beginning or end.
Mike: I’ve considered producing music that includes guided imagery and/or suggestions. I have not done so as of yet. That type of product would be more akin to hypnosis than meditation. The music I produce for Blissfulsounds.com is definitely consistent in nature. It’s quite a challenge to produce music that is beautiful without drawing attention to itself.
Meditation How: Do you use your music for your own meditation practice? Also, do you find yourself in a meditative state when creating the music?
Mike: It’s easy to enter a meditative state when composing music for meditation. In fact, it’s almost impossible to avoid. (Not that I try to avoid it.) The state I enter is overwhelmingly tranquil yet focused. I lose all sense of time passing. I find myself firmly in the present moment… Although I have a definite idea of the general parameters of the production before-hand, the music is recorded as it comes to me.
The nature sounds are usually included in the final stages of production. (During which, I am not “in state” and making calculated production choices.) The music for meditation on Blissfulsounds.com is only available via download. Fortunately, the servers for my website are pretty fast so downloads go more quickly than you might expect for large files like these.
Meditation How: I have two more questions, however feel free to add anything here that you feel we haven’t touched on and that might benefit readers. First, would you share a bit about the meditative state that you find yourself in when creating your music for meditation? Secondly, can you tell me how the music itself is packaged, as in by album or song, downloadable or not, how much and how one can pay for it, etc.?
Mike: Right now, WhaleSongs.mp3, OceanBliss.mp3 and Planets.mp3 are available separately for $10.95 each or all three are included in BlissfulBundle.mp3 for $21.90. Each mp3 plays for around 75 minutes. (BlissfulBundle.mp3 runs over 3 and a half hours.) I’d like to say that it has been an honor doing this interview with you Benjamin and I love your website. Be well my friend.
Meditation How: Thank you so much for participating. It’s great to hear that you enjoyed the process. I enjoyed it very much as well, and learned a great deal.
About Mike: Mike was fluent on a toy xylophone before he was two years old and was speaking near perfect English around the same time. His parents soon bought him a piano. For most of his early childhood, Mike couldn’t accept that everyone wasn’t able to play piano. He came to understand that he was born “different” than other children. Mike became a professional touring musician at age 17 and got a degree in Music Composition at age 29. He still works in lounges, showrooms and studios in the Las Vegas area. Mike has worked with Charo, Jay Leno and many other show business legends as well as many lesser known artists. Mike has been meditating for over twenty years and is the owner and web master of Blissfulsounds.com where you can find his music for meditation.