LISTEN: Angelica Olstad Shares Music for Healing

The 55-minute composition combines soothing sounds and science-backed modalities to create an immersive experience

May 31, 2024May 31, 2024 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2024, Ambient Music, Angelica Olstad, Bolero, Culture Lab LIC, Music for Healing, Ravel, Shattered

Angelica Olstad (Image: Julia Diaz Petta)

In light of the everyday chaos that surrounds us, it’s no surprise that more and more people are looking to ambient music as a means of escape from the daily noise.

Multidisciplinary artist Angelica Olstad keenly recognizes the popularity of “spa music” and it’s holistic benefits, but aims to create something deeper than what you might hear at your local Hand & Stone. And with the assistance of a $10,000 grant from the NYSCA, she’s created Music for Healing ‐- an immersive sonic installation which combines music with science-rooted healing modalities to create a shared experience with the listener.

Angelica Olstad Music for Healing, Sonder House 2024

“This project was somewhat of a happy accident,” Olstad explains. “I needed to create music for the installation I was working on which was part of a grant-funded project of the same name. A big piece of the project was exploring science-backed modalities through music and ensuring that the work I did was science-informed. So I consulted with a professor of music and music health education named Dr. Lee Bartel on what facilitates ‘healing’ music. I learned about the use of entrainment, the ‘wah-wah effect’ and isomorphic connection and how certain musical applications can actually facilitate deeper brain waves that facilitate healing emotionally, psychologically, and on the cellular level.

“The recommendation was to keep the music around 60 bpms which I did. To employ the wah-wah effect the pedal was held down for the entire track which results in a beautiful release of the piano’s natural overtone series. I was also inspired by Maurice Ravel’s Bolero with its use of simplistic, repetitive melodies and layering techniques.

“At the core of the project, I wanted to challenge what ‘spa music’ or healing music can sound like. I wanted to create something that felt organic and truly relaxing but something that also feels modern, interesting and engaging. The recording was done in one take and my goal is for listeners to come along on a journey of transformation through the 55 minutes. It’s also a commentary on playlisting and the typical recommended length for the algorithm. It is my hope that folks feel compelled to come back to this track again and again to go deeper into the music but to also over time, feel a transformation and an internal shift. My hope is that folks will use this as a tool to feel inspired and to engage more actively with other music that goes beyond typical new music releases in the digital streaming age.”

Music for Healing flier (Image: Culture Lab LIC)

Music for Healing will be featured as part of the Culture Lab LIC’s forthcoming exhibition, Shattered, which focuses on mental health by using soothing audiovisual displays to promote physical, emotional and mental well-being. Also featured as part of the experience is the use of an EEG – an instrument for measuring brain activity in visitors. Once activated, the EEG will impact the installation environment to create a tailored experience based on each unique visitor’s brain chemistry. This interactivity incentivizes participants to go deeper into the experience.

“The show aims to not only raise awareness for mental health issues but the importance of art as both a healing tool and outlet,” said Dawn DeVito, curator of Shattered, which is scheduled to run through June 2nd at Culture Lab LIC in Queens, NY.

In the meantime, you can listen to Music for Healing in full below, which is out today on the Woodstock, NY-based Sonder House imprint.