For as long as I can remember, playing music is as essential as breathing air.  It nourishes my soul and moves tremendous amounts of energy.  When I play the marimba, it is as though the cells of my body are filled with all the nutrients they need, and often times, I am aware that I’m completely aligned with the energy of the universe.  It brings such profound joy that no words can describe it. Through the playing of the marimba, I have explored my inner-landscapes, which led to more awareness of myself and to deeper soul-searching.  The sounds of the marimba soothe the soul as the deep, warm sounds harken back to its homeland—native rainforests of Guatemala.  When I play, the faint aroma of wood ties me to Mother Nature, sound vibrations reach to my cells, the sound itself resonates with my whole being, and sounds manifest as color right in my eyes.   Playing the marimba feeds my soul and helps me come alive.      

 

Traveling long distances and touring are always  challenging for marimbists.  Unless I can drive with the instrument, I cannot bring my own instrument to concerts and recitals.  Even so, whenever I can, I play with my beautiful instrument, Miriam.  She is a custom-made concert marimba from Marimba One in Arcata, California.  

There is no other instrument that sounds like her.  I really love playing with Miriam, to make and to share music with everyone!

Miriam is easy to spot because her resonators (the pipes you see under the marimba bars)  are pink!  Because of my colored-hearing Synesthesia, I see color in my mind whenever I hear sound.  Pink, to me, represents warmth, fuzz, fluffy, playfulness...and overall, very loving and kind sounds/color. The pitch associated with pink, for me, is an E.  Depending on the range, the shade of pink changes, of course.  Because the colors I see don't come exactly the same as color-sample colors from paint supply stores, it's hard to describe exactly what I am seeing.  Still, Miriam's pink, to me, has mid-register warmth and an upper register sparkling quality.  It really makes me happy to play the marimba.  Miriam is like a soul-mate to me.  I am so fortunate to have her in my life, and I am honored to care for her as well.  I hope you get to hear her/us play!