We are pleased to be able to
inspire (you) Eldalie to create
new Elven inspirational music, and
to provide you with an unified
platform to present it; our
YouTube
channel. If you would like
us to share your music with the
Elven community, via audio, or
video, the below criteria must be
fully met. There are two groupings
of music, Devotional
and
Inspirational; (granted,
all Devotional music is also
inspirational, however, you’ll
understand the reason for the
distinction, as such, by reviewing
those criteria.) The easiest one
to share via our YouTube channel
is the Inspirational one; so let's
discuss that first.
Inspirational Music
As long as it
uniformly pertains to advancing
spiritual experience of Eldalie,
the field here is wide open.
“Uniformly” means it must
generally be spiritual in focus,
relative to the lyrics. The
preferred language for verbal
content is Quenya; Sindarin and
Arvyndase [the language of the
Silver Elves] is also acceptable.
You may translate inspirational
poems (e.g. Rumi, Hafiz, Rilke,
Blake…) into Elvish for such
content, or you may have original
lyrics. A cappella works are
welcomed. Instrumental works
[devoid of lyrics] are fine, given
clearly Elven-related titles.
Instrumentation may be acoustic,
electronic, or both. Your music
may be in any genre except Rock
(of all types), Pop, Hip-Hop,
Industrial, Trap, and Dub-step,
Avant Garde, and discordant
Classical; (there may be other
genres we’ll not present, and you
may use the above genres as
general parameters for whether
your music submission to ESP will
be accepted. [The reason those
genres are excluded is due to the
disruptive
effect they have on water, hence
on cell structure and vitality. A
good way to test whether your
music has a disruptive, or
constructive effect on cells is to
play it to potted plants that
quickly respond to light, e.g.
flowers, tomatoes, etc., for a
period of three hours, a few times
a day, for one week. If you notice
the health of the leaves, flower
petals, and stalk are remarkably
decreased, your music is
detrimental, and we’ll not share
it.]) The genres, World, Folk (of
all types), Country, Jazz, Ambient
(that’s not discordant),
Alternative, EDM (that’s not too
heavily-laden with saw waveforms,
and anxious percussion) are all
fine; provided they pass the
“plants test” if you have any
concerns about the biological
effects.
Devotional
Music
All
devotional music directly serves
to enhance Eldalie participation
in the Elven Solar and Lunar
Observances. Fundamentally,
there are seven critical
criteria relative to devotional
music;
(1) there must be
words,
(2) the words must be
in Quenya, and
(3) [as J. R. R.
Tolkien, the originator of
Quenya, specified that he
envisioned Quenya formally
being sung in Gregorian
chant], all devotional music
must loosely adhere to the
compositional rules of
Gregorian chant,
(4) all Elven
devotional music presented via
ESP must be in 7/4 meter,
(respecting instruction the
founder of ESP received from
Manwe in that regard),
(5) all instrumental
accompaniment must be
acoustic, and/or exclusively
using acoustic instrument
samples if it’s electronically
generated,
(6) the modal adherence
must be according to the below
modal alignment with the
Valar, (i.e. they must be
aligned with the Vala, or
Valie honored relative to the
respective Observances), and
(7) the technical
quality of the audio must be
excellent, with the LUFS of
the recordings conforming to
broadcast industry standards
for such.
The Basic Rules
of Gregorian Chant.
Gregorian
chant is remarkably
well-structured, with distinct
rules, depending on the era of
chant development. Relative to
the above latter criterion, we
simplify those rules by
observing the minimum essential
ones; hence, the therein use of
“loosely”. Minimally, Gregorian
chant must begin and end on the
same note, and it must be modal
in compositional structure.
Intervals may be single and half
steps, cadence may be
syncopated, and the devotional
pieces may be either in
plainsong, or with instrumental
accompaniment. Instrumental
accompaniment may be simply a
shruti box, tampura, other
instrument, or vocal drone, or
it may be any number of other
instruments, (with, or without
the inclusion of such a drone).
Modal
Alignment with the Valar.
Gregorian chant is
diatonic, and its modes are relative
to the white keys on the piano. For
the sake of consistent modal
alignment with the Valar, the
Ionian, Aeolian, and Locrian modes
(which are not strictly included in
historic canticle chants) are
included; hence, chants beginning,
and ending on C are Ionian. The
below alignments are to be strictly
observed if you wish to have your
devotional music presented via ESP;
(as the Valar Kings are presented
first within the Silmarillion, so
they are presented first in the
modal alignments).
Ionian - Manwe and Varda
Dorian - Irmo and Este
Phrygian - Orome and
Vana
Lydian - Aule and
Yavanna
[Perfect
4th--hint,
hint]
Mixolydian - Ulmo and
Nienna [Perfect 5th--hint,
hint]
Aeolian - Tulkas and
Nessa, (and Ainur)
Locrian - Namo and Vaire
Provided your compositions are
aligned with those modes
relative to the Observances, the
verbal content may be anything;
it doesn’t need to refer to the
respective Valar. You may find
which Observances apply to the
respective Valar by consulting
our Elven Spiritual Calendar
page.
Quality
As
aforementioned, the quality of
your recordings must be excellent.
It’s fine to recording a piece in
your bedroom using an acoustic
piano and voice, or in your back
yard with a group of musicians,
however, you should apply the
highest audio engineering in your
mic placement, etc. When loudly
played back, there must be no
distortion that’s not intention
relative to any given instrument.
It’s wise to have your recordings
mastered to ensure the LUFS meet
broadcast industry standards; if
you’re able to master your own
music, fine; otherwise, bless a
mastering engineer with a few
ducats to get that done. If you
need a benchmark to help you to
mentally lock into the quality we
expect, it’s on par with those of
major record labels, or the most
technically strict indie labels.
If you’re unsure of whether your
end results meet that bar, then
play your recordings for friends
who are very critical of music
quality; if most of them say,
“Keep working on it”, then, you
certainly can’t go wrong by doing
so.
You may submit only audio, or
video, or both; please consult SC
for accepted audio formats, and YT
for accepted video formats. With
respect to your video image
content, provided there is no
vulgarity, whatever you submit is
fine; highly produced, or simply a
static background with only
lyrics, it’s all good;. Please
provide cover images, otherwise,
YT will generate one for you that
may not represent your art the way
you’d like it to be presented.
Video Presentation of
Tengwar
(For those who don't know what
Tengwar [sing. Tengwa] are, they
are the beautiful Elven letters;
some of which is above presented
in Elven Spiritual Path's logo.)
There are several forms of
Tengwar, and nearly all of them
are acceptable in videos ESP
presents. The only one that is not
is "Annatar". Generally speaking,
Annatar Tengwar is the most
lyrical and graceful in its form.
However, as the name represents,
it's the form that Tolkien
indicated was developed by Sauron,
the arch-villian of the Lord of
the Rings. ("Annatar, the name and title
taken by Sauron
when he attempted to seduce the Elves
of Middle-earth
during the Second
Age" *.) Hence, despite the
beauty of its form, no videos
containing it are, or will be
evident on our YouTube channel, or
any thereof mirrors.
How to Submit Your Music to
ESP for Review
Please read the below Terms of
Sharing prior to submitting any
work(s) to us. If you agree with
them, you may use the form below
to provide us with hyperlinks to
your music. You may submit a
sample from your web site, or a
full piece via Box. Dropbox, or
otherwise. Links to GoogleDrive
and Microsoft’s OneDrive will be
ignored; any further storage
limitations will be hereby
posted. Please send your
link to sacredmusic@elvenspiritualpath.elvenspirit.org
Terms of Sharing
Presently, ESP is presenting music
composed by (its Executive
Director) Michaele de Cygne, and
by those artists who have been
invited [and have given their
permission] to also have ESP
present their music, (in advance
of the completion of the legal
formalities enabling all Elven
music creators to hereby share
their music). Expecting the legal
terms to be completed by
mid-November (2021), ESP
anticipates opening the field to
all such creators on “Cuivérë
Quendiva", the Elven spiritual
path’s day honoring the Awakening
of the Elves, November
twenty-first (21st). You may keep
track of our progress in the
development of those terms, and in
the addition of artists who are
willing to enable us to share
their Music prior to by following
our
Facebook page.
*
Lord of Gifts. Encylopedia of
Arda.
https://www.glyphweb.com/arda/l/lordofgifts.html
EIN:
86-64118870
Copyright by Elvenspirit and
Art
of Pop LLC. All
rights reserved.
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