Sometimes when people are relaxing during the early evening, they’ll hear music, but each individual doesn’t hear the same music; they listen to what they like, which isn’t from a radio or any device hooked up to an earphone. The music is heard in the wind; humans do not make it. It’s part of nature, but it sounds like human hands and thoughts are related to the composition. Through wind chimes, music is composed by nature. Even without the chimes, the winds create various sounds before a drizzle and during a storm. When the rain comes down hard, different sounds are built on concrete, stone, asphalt, soil, and wood, to list a few of the things that rain touches. Think about the sound of rain on a glass window and the beautiful sounds it creates. Nothing can take away the instruments of nature; they are part of the world. Imagine human hands touching something made naturally; a sound comes from tapping it; metal, rock, soil, wood, or stone. Many of these materials might have been used to develop the early instruments of the ancient peoples. Animal sounds could be considered music; think about the barking of a dog in the distance during the early evening, the sounds of whales, and fish swimming through the water, the roar of a lion evoking majesty, or the beautiful sound of birds from various species. The wave, with its power and gentleness that comes to the shore and is heard in the distance, could conjure up memories when such sounds were heard. The music of the winds comes from its soul; all things have a soul, a non-physical element that is part of the eternal universe. Think about imagining a sound coming from observing a cloth flowing out a window; its sound could be heard, but think of other possible sounds, a sound of thousands of flags imparting the combined sound of ocean waves and fire; any form can be imagined. Even if no sound is conceived, an object could create something that is heard through imagination. In some ways, nature seems to have a rhythmic beat visually and audibly. Patterns in a pool of water might subtly create sounds imagined when small eddies lap against stone or concrete.
A breeze coming through the window is an exciting feeling; the sound it creates depends on the velocity of the wind, and when it’s strong it could evoke a frightening feeling. Other sounds coming through the window may not be natural. They are the things of everyday life, cars going by, people talking, trucks traveling in the distance, a plane flying overhead, or the sound of machinery. These sounds could awaken memories dormant since childhood or something that could be annoying. Every sound awakens feelings that are different for each person. An open window could create beautiful feelings as the sounds from the outside world come through. When those distant sounds are heard, a person might be pounding a nail, and a truck is being loaded up with things to be hauled away; the continuous sounds of a highway and every sound from the world coming through a window in combination have a strange sound that seems soothing.
At night a person can be awakened by the sound of crickets. It sounds like a dream, as if the world is covered with those sounds. Sometimes there is silence in a way. This is a kind of music that renders strange tranquility.
Sounds could be anything when they are heard. Memories rise, and certain moods are evoked. Anything is possible.
Robert J. Matsunaga
