The Timothy James Experience 

He plugs his guitar into the amp and flips on the switch—pop! The retro mocha finish of his Fender Acoustasonic amp simmers under the sun. It’s hot to the touch. The guitarist scans his audience under the shade of his palm. The heat of the sun wrings sweat from his brow. He inhales one deep breath and takes flight into the “flow state.” But on what winds will he ride, and where will he go? 

To the music enthusiast, describing good music as “an experience” is commonplace. To the audiophile, it’s an expectation. 

When I was a death metal head—Black Dahlia Murder, Wretched—each serpentine solo and soul-wrenching bend summoned me out of my body and into a charismatic and ferocious force. Beat blasts from the double-bass drum sets penetrated my consciousness like steroid shots to the brain. 

Soon after fleeing from my devilish encounters, I dove into the rhythmically rich realm of progressive metal. And I mean heavy prog metal like Tosin Abasi’s, Animals As Leaders. I traveled new dimensions through his otherworldly arpeggiation. He painted a musical universe unlike anything that I knew could exist, and I orbited his planetary systems with bliss. 

After I landed back on Earth and sought simpler vibes, I chilled out with acts such as Chon (shout out to my San Diego locals). Dreamy, spacey spaghetti solos and video game riffs reminded me of what it meant to be a San Diegan again: Careless in paradise. 

What is it, though, that the musician experiences? And how does it affect their listeners? 

Do You Hear That?

I’m sure we’ve all heard of mental imagery—perceiving visual images in our minds, such as when we dream. But “musical imagery” is also a verifiable psychological phenomenon. 

Think about your favorite song, or maybe a song that gets “stuck in your head.” You can hear it. 

Nearly as audible as the real thing, too! MRI scans have shown that even imagining a song in our heads activates the same brain regions, minor may they be, as listening to a piece of music. 

Let’s take it a step further…

Our motor cortex mimics rhythmic patterns as though we’re performing them ourselves. The same neurons that fire when we play an instrument are stimulated by listening to music or watching music performers. 

This means that when we watch musicians, we perform with them. Perhaps, this is why we enjoy watching musicians perform. We gather a sense of virtuosic expressiveness vicariously through the entertainer. 

Representing the physical through the ethereal is a constant truth. We don’t hear sounds, we perceive vibrations. Electrical representations of acoustic signals are the basis of all human hearing. 

Air: The Medium of Life 

So, if all human hearing is reduced to interpreting vibrations in the air, and all the innermost musical imagery in our brains is an enigmatic spark from the void, then we’re merely receivers. 

Our minds are antennas, fixed for their next broadcast update. 

So, where’s the source of the signal? Or, from whom? 

For myself, if you’re familiar with the triune God, you’ll know He is the Father, the Son of Man, and the Holy Spirit. 

In Hebrew, Ruach Ha-Kodesh translates as Holy Spirit. Ha-Kodesh is “Holy,” and Ruach is altogether Spirit, Wind, and Breath. The Holy Breath was mentioned in the Tanakh from the very beginning. 

“The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth].

The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.”

Genesis 1:2 (AMP)

Such poetry! 

The Holy Wind “moving over the face of the waters” would imply that He breathed over the face of the earth, like blowing air into a balloon and giving it form. Except, His breath filled our world with life-giving air. 

YHWH Is Always Within Us 

I can’t speak of God as the very air we breathe without saying Yahweh. And neither can you! 

In Jewish tradition, the name for “The Lord,” YHWH, is the first thing every human on this earth has uttered since birth. Yah is the sound we make as we inhale; Weh is the sound of our exhale. 

To breathe in another breath of life and exhale for another breath, is to proclaim the name of the Creator. He is the air we breathe and the name on our lips so that we may live. 

The Basics of Acoustics Said Basically 

To be together with God is as simple as drawing in your next breath. He is as eminent and intimate with us all, as the oxygen that fills our lungs.

For musicians, this is especially fascinating for one distinct reason: Physics! 

Sound is a physical vibration, a disturbance, that displaces nearby air molecules. Rarefaction and compression is the vehicle by which sound waves travel. 

Consider the isolated concept of the ebb and flow of waves in the ocean. The force of one oscillating wave displaces the body of water in front of it. The space that was pushed behind it, returns to its organic form. But the force of the wave continues until its velocity is depleted. 

Physical vibrations, then, voyage similarly to the ebb and flow analogy as depicted above. Air is the medium through which sound waves may travel. 

Breath In and Inspire Creation 

The pluck of a string initiates the wave force of the surrounding air molecules, or Ruach Ha-Kodesh, meaning that our instruments interact with God Himself. 

We musicians have all experienced it. That moment when we let our strings ring freely in the air, or we’re synchronizing an arpeggiated riff to the perfect chord progression, and a sensation spreads from our heads to our hands. Our fingers start moving almost independently of us. Our minds are racing with musical insights like an unsealed scroll thrown down a flight of stairs, revealing its secrets on parchment. We feel transcendent. And we know that this moment will only last for as long as we continue to play. We all chase it! 

Drugs don’t grant musical transcendence. 

To play music alone is to perform a conversation with the air that always surrounds us. Therefore, whenever we play our instruments, the songs that emerge worship God by design. 

The vibrations on the air are the breath of God speaking to man’s soul. Music is the language of God. We musicians are as close to God as man can be.

— Ludwig Van Beethoven

God Is The Medium of Music 

As I’ve stated in my article about humanity’s first language, I consider music to be an authentic language—that could be resurrected as one. Musical thoughts could have preceded syntax and a distinguishable lexicon. The neurology of musical pattern-making may have provided blueprints for linguistic ones. 

I love to entertain the idea that music performance is a conversation with God, with whom we attempt to harmonize. The audience who witnesses this interaction between the musician and the Creator feels the serenity of His presence.  

As for that guitarist sweating by the seaside, he knows that in his deep breath, he’s invited the Creator for a lengthy chat. And all his audience get to witness that experience. Whether it’s purely sensorial or it’s a work of divinity, the feedback he’s received is simple: Peace is present. 

Further Reading 

For those who share in my Musicophila and want to know more about Your Brain on Music, or are just interested in Music, Language, and the Brain, I recommend these reads.