Interview with Dan and Nacole Smith, of Universal Sounds

Dan and Nacole Smith, of Universal Sounds

Dan and Nacole Smith of Universal Sounds

(click here to view the main article: What in the world is a gong bath?)

Gina Marie: Please talk about the gongs.
Dan: The Planetary Gongs are made in Germany by just five men and they’ve been spreading around the globe for about 10-15 years now.  We had seen some players in Connecticut five years ago and they had the same instruments.  We were so enamored and impressed by what they were doing and the experience we had, so we came back and talked and literally started doing some prayers, and decided this is what we want to do.

Gina Marie: Please explain how the gongs are tuned to different planets.
Dan: [The gongs] came from a gentleman named Hans Cousto who is a Swiss mathematician and musicologist.  He was credited with discovering the literal vibrational frequency of the sun.  Through his work and his understanding of how the classic Tibetan Singing Bowls are made with different metals and alloys that were in the original recipes, he took those metal recipes and, with his scientific measurements of those vibrations of the sun,  was able to craft all the other Planetary Gongs.  Each gong is the sound of that planet as it would make one orbit around the sun.

Gina Marie: Is there a connection between those vibrations and our bodies?
Dan: Yes.  [Hans Cousto] wrote a really neat book called “The Cosmic Octave” and he found there’s a harmonic signature that is found in everything (your shirt, the wood in this floor, your eyes, and the gongs…)  The suggestion is by the people who have been doing this a lot longer than we have, is that on the cellular level and just by hearing that vibration,  there’s a re-set, a reminder, of the harmonic frequencies of the universe which then on a subtle level, brings us back into harmonic alignment with life itself.  An attunement.

Gina Marie: Talk about this very large Quartz Crystal Singing Bowl I see over there.
Dan: According to those who make them, it is attuned to the third eye chakra but also is meant to help adjust the pineal gland, as well.
Gina Marie: Are all of the singing bowls tuned to the human chakras?
Nacole: Yes, that’s right.

Gina Marie: Why would you recommend Vibrational Gong Baths and Sound Healing Meditation to people who are new to it?
Nacole: The reason people keep coming back and the reason we keep continuing to play, is at the end [of the gong bath], seeing the people being touched or saying that they’ve been healed in some way, or letting go of some emotional experience they may have been holding onto.
Dan: For a long time I have practiced many different styles of meditation and there are some people who, for whatever reason, can’t get out of their thought process, and they get frustrated with breathing right or different techniques.  What we have found is that some people have a much easier time getting into that stillness of the mind, and that quiet state, through concentration on the gongs. That’s why we’ve continued to do so well and really bring some benefit to people.  The term used is Sound Healing and the gentleman who has been playing these for a long time since the 60’s, says a healing moment doesn’t have to be a physical healing.  A healing moment can be the first time somebody experiences the awareness of that gap between thoughts, and realizing ‘I’m not my thoughts.’  That’s why we like to do it, because it really can be a huge door for people to explore when they have that experience.

Gina Marie: I’ve heard of people with physical conditions finding relief through the gong bath. Can you share anything about this?
Nacole: My mom has Multiple Sclerosis.  She doesn’t sleep well and she has a lot of pain.  She loves the gongs. She actually gave us the loan for our first set of gongs. She loves the feel [of them] and when she goes home at night [after a gong bath], she can sleep, she has no pain.  It really helps her.

Gina Marie:  I understand you also do gong baths outside.  How is that different than being indoors?
Nacole: I love playing outside, my favorite is outside. Birds love it and they chirp so much when we play outside. You’re laying on the earth so you get the earth energy.
Dan: A couple of times we’ve been outside and the birds will flock to the nearest tree and they’ll be singing along the whole time.  It’s really neat.
Nacole: Sometimes we play at parties where we’ll be set up outside on the lawn and play all day long.  The people will go in and out of the house, laying with the gongs, then going back to the party, and coming back again later for more.  They love it.

Children enjoying a gong bath at the Peace Fair in Saratoga Springs, NY


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1 Comment (+add yours?)

  1. mosher jean ann
    Mar 29, 2013 @ 08:35:00

    I have been to the “gong baths” a few times and they are wonderful ….they do get you out of your head


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