Nectar Meditation by Steve Roach & Serena Gabriel

released May 23, 2018

Composed, recorded and mixed by Steve Roach and Serena Gabriel at Ancient Waves ~ Tucson Arizona and the The Timehouse ~ Baja Arizona, late March 2020

Serena Gabriel : Harmonium, voice, temple bells
Steve Roach : Oberheim Xpander, Solina String Ensemble
Byron Metcalf : Frame drum, percussion

Mastered by : Howard Givens ~ Spotted Peccary Studios NW, Portland, Oregon.
Cover design Sam Rosenthal.

2020 Soundquest Music BMI & Ancient Waves Music BMI

Nectar is often mentioned in conjunction with ambrosia, the food of the Greek and Roman gods. For centuries, English speakers have used ambrosia to refer to something with an extremely pleasing taste or smell and nectar to refer to a delicious drink, especially a fruit juice. To the ancient Greeks and Romans, however, the powers of nectar and ambrosia far exceeded those of any earthly fare; consuming nectar and ambrosia gave the gods their immortality. In Greek, the literal meanings of ambrosia and nektar are "immortality" and "overcoming death" respectively. Nektar is believed to be a compound of Greek nek- (probably akin to Latin nec-, meaning "death") and -tar (probably akin to Sanksrit tarati, meaning "he overcomes or crosses over").

Expose Review by Peter Thelan
Arizona based musician, performing and recording artist Serena Gabriel creates sacred sound spaces and performs worldwide. Her exploration of various world instruments (synthesizers, drums, percussion, flute, kalimba, didgeridoo, and more), voice, healing arts, and music production has led her to develop her own style spanning multiple genres: meditation, tribal medicine music, electro-acoustic, experimental and electronic. A quick visit to her Bandcamp site and her 2015 recording Diving Deep will offer a sterling example of what she can do on her own. The recording at hand, Nectar Meditation, is her first full collaboration with Steve Roach, and joining them on this long-form piece is none other than Byron Metcalf on frame drums and percussion. Roach soundpaints with his battery of analog synths and Solina string ensemble, while Gabriel plays harmonium, temple bells, and some wordless voice, with Metcalf’s drums keeping a slow trance-like pace as needed. Opening with the gentle sound of bells, the droning electronics soon make their entrance, with the wavelike interactions between harmonium and synths offering a revelatory, shimmering, and immersive listening experience. As the piece proceeds, the synths and harmonium (both droning at roughly the same pitch with very subtle nuanced variations) gently move forward and back within the soundspace, at times eclipsing one another or meeting somewhere in the middle, stretching and bending as it goes. The drums come in at around the twelve minute mark, creating a subtle cadence that underscores the dreamy proceedings already in progress without really dominating it. The sound created by the three offers a perfect respite from the tensions and stresses of everyday life, a perfect gateway to meditative states or even slumber, as it works its subconscious magic. Somewhere around the one hour mark, the drums withdraw and are replaced by other more subtle percussives, bells and such, eventually leaving the synths and harmonium to wind the piece down to its conclusion. A beautiful and engulfing journey.