Music Composed by Hoshin Gupta (all rights reserved)
  Song Title Comment Date Posted
 

Tunes written on a Mac Pro with MBox-2 interface using Garageband. All tunes are works still in various stages of progress. Click on the name of the tune to download. Best listened to using a good pair of headphones or a system with adequate volume and bass. Many of these tunes (especially the "Strange Brew" project) were a direct result of my Zen Koan meditation practice.

(c) Hoshin Gupta. All rights reserved. You may download these songs for personal use only.

I would appreciate receiving comments - write to me at ocean@hwr.arizona.edu

A STRANGE BREW (ROCK OPERA)
1
Overture

In progress

A Strange Brew is a "rock-opera" in progress that will eventually be about an hour long and include video (and possibly a stage/dance version). The material is inspired by "Lord of The Rings" by JRR Tolkien, "Dongshan's Five-Modes Koans" from the buddhist Zen tradition, my Zen practice, and the influences in my life.

 
2

Tune number two in the Strange Brew project. Lyrics originally written when I was 17 after reading the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy.

Vocals by Hoshin

Part I: The Young Prince

Part II: Forest of Night

Part III: Vast Water

Part IV: Whitecaps Dance With the Rain

8:56 min

76 bpm

10.3 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

3

Tune number three in the Strange Brew project. Conceived during a trip to Brazil in summer of 2006 while staying next to a beach called La Feitceira on the island of Ilhabela.

Vocals by Sally Withers.

Inspired by the Second of Dongshan's Five Modes: Cycle I -- The Phenomenon within the Universal

"An old woman, oversleeping at daybreak, encounters the ancient mirror, and clearly sees a face that is no other than her own. Don't wander in your head and validate shadows anymore".

8:06 min

160 bpm

9.4 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

4
And Somehow Still Remember (The Elegance of Ancient Days)

Tune number four in the Strange Brew project. Conceived and largely written during a SW airlines flight from Oakland CA to Tucson October 2005 after a Zen meditation retreat.

Inspired by the First of Dongshan's Five Modes: Cycle I -- The Universal within the Phenomenon

"When the third watch begins, before the moon rises, don't think it strange to meet and not recognize the other, yet still somehow recall the elegance of ancient days".

5:00 min

120 bpm

5.9 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

5
Drop Everything (East Meets West)

Tune number five in the Strange Brew project.

I wanted to write something that integrated my childhood developmental influences of western rock (Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd etc) with music from India (listen for the tablas). My best recollection is that the signature riff took form during a visit with my friend Martha Perrier in San Jose CA.

4:21 min

176 bpm

5 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

6
100 In the Shade (The Western Desert)

Tune number six in the Strange Brew project.

OK, so I live in Tucson Arizona ... enough said. Can you 'see' the rattlesnakes playing the shakers?

4:03 min

130 bpm

4.8 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

7
To Ride The Wind (And Let It All Go)

Tune number seven in the Strange Brew project.

The title says it all.

2:56 min

120 bpm

3.5 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

8
The Emperor With No Name (Eloquence Surpassed)

Tune number eight in the Strange Brew project.

Another attempt at East-Meets-West type fusion in a 20/4 format - blends tablas with western rock and jazz drum sets.

Inspired by the third of Dongshan's Five Modes: Cycle I -- Emerging within the Universal

"Within nothingness the road is free of dust. If you can simply avoid mentioning the Emperors name, you will surpass the eloquence of the Sui dynasty poet".

5:06 min

160 bpm

5.9 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

9
Reposand En El Fuego (Like A Lotus Resting In Fire)

Tune number nine in the Strange Brew project. This piece is somehow about freedom in the living of life, and the nature of time.

Spanish lyrics and vocals (still to be added) by Sally Withers.

Inspired by the fourth of Dongshan's Five Modes: Cycle I -- Proceeding within Phenomena -- and by Pink Floyd.

"Two crossed swords, neither permitting retreat, dexterously wielded, like the lotus in the midst of fire. The natural spirit of the supreme encounter".

9:03 min

120 bpm

10.5 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

10
With Force And With Grace (The Great Dance)

Tune number ten in the Strange Brew project. Conceived of while waiting to see the movie Amazing Grace (about the life of Sir William Wilberforce - hence the name)

Inspired by the fifth of Dongshan's Five Modes: Cycle I -- Arriving Within Concurrence -- and by the life and work of Sir W.

"Not falling into being or non-being, who can be in accord with this? Everyone wants to leave the eternal flux, not just to live in harmony, but to return and sit by the charcoal fire".

6:36 min

80 bpm

7.7 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

11
The Charcoal Fire (Love and Awakening) In progress  
12
To Bend The Dragon Waist (Celebration Everywhere)

In progress

Inspired by the first of Dongshan's Five Modes: Cycle II -- Orientation

"As the sacred master, make the way of Yao your own. He governed with propriety, and bent the Dragon waist. When he passed through a market, he found culture flourishing, and the august dynasty celebrated everywhere".

 
     
NO SABES NADA (LATIN SUITE)
1
Fernando (My Friend)

Dedicated to my longtime friend and fellow musician Fernando Gomide who lives in Campinas, Sao Paolo State, Brazil. The signature riff for this tune (after the intro) came about when we were jamming together at his Campinas home in April 2005.

Lyrics and vocals by Hoshin. Backup vocals by Sally Withers.

5:28 min

130 bpm

6.3 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

2
Viene Y Se Va (She Comes and She Goes)

Dedicated to my awesome friend Sally Withers (the Diva :-).

Spanish lyrics and vocals (rap) by Sally Withers.

8:26 min

126 bpm

9.7 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

3
Ilha Bela (Beautiful Island)

Written on the island of Ilha Bela (off the coast of Brazil) during the Summer of 2006 (winter in Brazil).

Instrumental solo to be added.

3:37 min

126 bpm

4.2 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

4
Lorena Rough draft of a tuneinspired by the lovely and gentle town of Lorena (near Sao Paolo, Brazil) during the Summer of 2006 (winter in Brazil).

5:07 min

164 bpm

5.9 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

5
(Hermano, Tu) No Sabes Nada

Rough draft of a tune inspired by a tradition in which musicians in a part of Brazil get together on the street to compete in song - each waits his turn and then responds by starting with the phrase "Hermano, tu sabes nada (loosely ... My brother, you don't know shit)!"

The tune was written in the town of Lorena (near Sao Paolo, Brazil) during the Summer of 2006 (winter in Brazil).

4:42 min

85 bpm

5.4 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

6
Inside You, Inside Me Based on a theme composed by my wonderful friend Lance Swaim in April 2007.

3:54 min

92 bpm

4.5 MB

Updated 5/12/2007

 
Songs
1
The Wind Blows A relationship song, written on Mt. Lemmon in May 2007

7:14 min

78 bpm

8.3 MB

Updated 6/23/2007