MUSINGS...by Beverly Rieger

Well....it's time that a new blog writing went up. We are again in the midst of wonderful, incredible storms. I was working away this morning and it was thundering lightly, but nothing too alarming. Then....a HUGE kabaam and it felt like we were hit right outside my window. Luckily my computer survived. However, shortly after that hit, I heard many, many fire engine sirens, so someone close was not so lucky. The Ancient/Future Symphony was fully recorded on Wednesday, June 18. Here is it's developing story. The first movement of the Ancient/Future Symphony (Velvet Blackness) has undergone three tweakings since that first recording. These are subtle things...like adding two notes to the end of the music...then making sure they are feeling like an echo...then making sure there are no foreign noises in the wind that moves at the end of this movement....then adding more wind between the first and the second movement. The extra notes and the extra wind give the energy of the

This photo was taken by Conrad Satala at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Lots of love to the group that is flying into this area of the world today. Yeah for them! The new music of Ancient/Future Symphony is created from this particular part of the world and from the world view of the ancient and modern Maya. Here at my studio, it's early morning. The air is clean and clear. The full moon is pouring down it's very special light. The birds are just beginning to wake up with that special sleepy chirping that they do. A new album is being released. It's been almost a year since I have released a new CD to the world (special commissioned Soul/Deepbody music is another story). I had forgotten how much work is involved in releasing a new CD. It's kind of like birthing a baby....the mother's body has to change....she gets very emotional....then there is the ecstasy, effort, and focus of the birthing process....the intense love of the mother for the new baby...but also the 24

I know that you are all waiting with bated breath to find out about my recording session yesterday. Arrived at Tempel Recording at noon with Copan drum, rain stick, large wind chimes, four flutes, Kurzweil keyboard, and Guatemalan flat drum. The large drum was already in the studio. The wind chimes did indeed open up the music and after 5-1/2 hours of recording, I have the Ancient/Future Symphony at a little over 40 minutes. Now I have to go back and do a little tweaking, but the music has come forward and the album exists. Yeah! Here is the final version of the CD cover. Creative design by Susan Stamm. Photograph of Palenque by me. There are five tracks on the Ancient/Future Symphony: 1 : Velvet Blackness The space of black is the Milky Way, the Cave, the Jaguar, the Womb. It is the place of nurturance and of change. 2. Wisdom's Heart Wisdom is all around in the place of blackness...heart beat of support...whispering of new awareness...energy of restory. 3. Carried o

This blog is so special to me because I feel that I am talking directly to you. It doesn't feel like there is any distance or any barrier. Today, in just two hours I will finish the recording of the new Ancient/Future Symphony music. My body is flowing with the energy of this music. Everything is alive! So I just wanted to connect with you as I move into the space of creating...or allowing new music to emerge...and share this creative space with you. This image is of me with the drum from Copan and this sacred drum will be a part of Ancient/Future Symphony. Be sure and check out my new MySpace for Musicians website. Just click on the link on my Musings blog on the right side panel. MySpace has really done an excellent job of providing a good quality place for musicians to connect...and also for everyone else to find my music and communicate with me. With so many millions of people on MySpace, I absolutely had to be a part of this energy. Have a beautiful day. Love to all.

Hello everyone. Tomorrow I go into the recording studio and record a new album. This new album is called Ancient/Future Symphony. Preparation for this new music has required much time in the outdoors, and a shift in my own vision of the unseen world. For the last month or so my inner world is changing and deepening....again...and I am sure this is because tomorrow I will be recording the Ancient/Future Symphony . What in the world is "ancient/future" all about? When I tell people the title of this new music, they mostly look at me with blank stares and nod their heads. So...why this obscure title? The photo in this CD cover is Palenque in the misty morning. Susan has created a portal that brings us through the mouth of the serpent into the energy of Palenque. The people of Palenque were able to create the powerful beauty of their sacred space because they stood in the unseen world and the seen world in their daily lives. They were in constant communication with both w

Here is another beautiful portal for you today. It's beautiful and in the lower 70s here in Fort Wayne and when I walk in the trees I feel such a gratitude for the beauty around me. The nature beauty always takes from my mind and into the flow of the Heart of Everything. Today I went to create the musician's MySpace and discovered that, even though the book (MySpace for Dummies) says you can have a musician's account and a personal account on MySpace, that is really not true. You have to have separate e-mails for two accounts. So...I have canceled my personal MySpace account with all of you good friends on it, and have to allow 48 hours to pass and then I can set up a Musicians MySpace account. Sigh!! The personal account wasn't impressing me at all anyway. It is just full of advertisements for the strangest things! I know that musicians, and especially rock bands, were one of main driving forces for MySpace. However, the personal website was just not feeling right

I was awakened this evening to work for a while. So, a good way to start is to update my blog. We visited family in Indianapolis today (really had a good time!) and came home through severe weather. Those storms are moving in a new, cooler weather time and tonight it feels misty and soft. I believe that the veil between worlds is very thin tonight. Anything seems possible, but still so much is unknown. So....even though I don't know what is actually happening, and why I was awakened this evening, I will work....and be ready for the next adventure. Talk to you again, soon.

I realized that my Musings on occasional sleepless nights, occasional weird schedules, lack of control of what might happen....all of this was sending a mixed message about my life. Actually, my life is awesome. I get to create music almost every week as my way of making a living. How wonderful is that! I get to be friends with creative people from all over the country. How wonderful is that! My schedule is flexible and matches a life lived in the unknown. How wonderful is that! The occasional (and I stress occasional ) sleepless nights come when there is a lot of creative energy pouring in. It keeps me up but since night is the clearest time of vision for me, that is a good thing. Then, occasionally , I get caught in my mind and that will keep me up. That is the other side of the sleepless thing, and that is not recommended. Contrary to what my Musings from several days ago might have sounded like, I don't spend every night of my life worrying! Having my own business an

The storms did come in and they were severe. 19,000 people in Fort Wayne without power including my parents. So, in the evening I was moving them from their garden home into a hotel because mom has COPD and she couldn't breathe well. We had power, but no longer have a spare bedroom with a bed. That will have to change I think! As always, let's see what today brings. Love to all.

I promised that this blog would be about the day to day life of a musician. This particular musician is self-employed, so that will always direct the Musings into a different space than if I was teaching music in a school, playing music in a Philharmonic Orchestra...you get the idea. It is fabulous being one's own boss. It is also sometimes difficult to set boundaries that work. I can find myself working 24-7, and I can find myself not working at all. Neither one is a good thing! Then there is the matter of no paycheck coming in and supporting me from an outside source. There are no paid sick days or vacation days from a corporation. On the other hand, no one except me is giving me a hard time for my work schedule, or my dress code, or anything else. Friday I blogged about the lack of control in this musician self-employed business. Usually that is not something that bothers me, but occasionally I get caught in wondering what is going to happen, where the money is coming f

This was a beautiful area to explore although very steamy! It reminded me so much of walking in Copan....the stairs are the same....the green....the connection with ancient/future. These photos were taken yesterday in Kokiwanee Nature Preserve around the Salamonie River.

Last night we had tornado warnings in much of northern Indiana. It's been really hot and humid in this area and that sets up the perfect conditions that produce the awesome power of storm. I was in Huntington County yesterday morning, walking in a nature preserve. That same area suffered a lot of damage last night. Today we are expecting 90 degree weather, and the possibility of more storms. A significant number of the people who request Soul/Deepbody commissioned music request thunder in their music. Thunder is also part of the Heart of Sky music and the Emergence CD. In the Mayan sacred tradition, thunder is Chak cracking open the back of the turtle for creation to be released. There is nothing wimpy about thunder. It signifies the presence of lighting with it's danger to human life if we are crazy enough to stand outside in it's presence. And yet, lightening provides the nitrogen nutrient to the green growth that I treasure. Thunder rolls through the sky with a

Hi again. This is a photo of me with my drum from Copan and in my brunette look. If you see me often you know that my hair doesn't stay the same color for very long....ever! On one of my trips to Copan, Honduras, I was feeling drum music and asked if anyone knew where I could get a drum. Well....as I was walking down the road toward a small town, I heard this drum beat. The drummer was leading me to my new drum! It was from a local musician and he made it from a tree trunk, goat skin and heavy twine. The goat skin still had it's original small insect life forms contributing to the sound. One of my best memories is of having to "de-flea" the drum before I could take it on the plane back to the US. I love this drum! It is featured on many of my albums. Another cool thing about this photo is the jewelry around my neck. Walter had this made for me and he designed it himself. It includes many Mayan symbols. What a guy! A good friend and very wise person is cele

I'm so excited! This website allows me to share photos with you, and a slideshow. Thank you blogspot for welcoming me on board! This month of June is really an appropriate time to be creating from a new blog site. In 2007 I completed a 20 year cycle of creating, recording and publishing my original music from my business which is Mayan Dream Production, Int'l. Now, in 2008 I am starting a new 20 year cycle. How cool is that! I am so privileged that I am a musician for this lifetime. It is more fun than you can imagine to actually have my life's work involve recording music, composing music, playing music, writing about music, talking to people all over the country, walking in nature to be soaking up the inspiration for my music...the list goes on. Even the business aspect is really supportive to me. My music is spiritual in it's essence (as is almost all music, actually!). It has it's source in what the Maya call The Heart of Everything . Music flows out o