In 1985, the Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir came to the attention of the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart, who brought them to his California studio to record the incredible multiphonics of their sacred rituals. The monks gave Hart permission to overdub their voices, achieving the huge sound of the 100-voice choir as one might hear at their mountain monastery – with each monk’s voice singing a complete, extraordinary chord.
Heard on January 21 over the 360-degree spatial sound system of the Reethaus, the tantric choir produces a rhythmic chewing sound at the lowest range of the human voice, interspersed with sounds from bells, drums, cymbals and horns. Melody is not the point here—nor even musicality—but rather the body’s physical response to the grating repetitions, and the spiritual strength that follows from becoming one with their movements.