Sounds to remember the forgotten - music for the journey...

The key to the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside the enigma at the heart of Gong? Maybe, perhaps - I could choose only one volume of the many Gong and related releases that have been part of my life over the past 40 years it would be this one.

The Drones are the most minimalistic and yet at the same time the most intricate of daevid's music - a distillation of years of experimentation into the nature of sound. They are created with layers of glissando guitar and synth which combine to form the subtly fluctuating basic note of the drone, one for each Chakra or energy centre of the body following the classical Indian tradition. On top of this root drone are more layers of sound, chosen to be appropriate for the qualities of each Chakra. These are created in a variety of ways, more gliss guitar and synth, didgeridoo, space whisper, chimes, flute, and even in one or two places some words. These overlayers seemlessly merge in and out of the root drone in a harmonious way to complete the piece.

The Drones came were developed in the early 1980's, although the idea had been around much longer, back into the days of Gong and before. At that time, living full-time in Australia, Daevid abandoned the music business altogether and immersed himself in 7 years of 'Mystery School' training. This consisted oftraining as a councillor and re-birther, meditational retreats and the development of the 'Self-Initiation Workshops'. The urge to fully investigate the use of sound within spiritual practises also grew, so he decided to go back to basics and investigate the pure essence of individual musical notes. It is this study which led to the birth of the Drones.

This CD has carefully edited versions of the 7 major Drones, the full length versions of which are 45 minutes and more, and the longer 'Heartspace Meditation' piece, based on the F Heart Drone. It has been designed to be used in conjunction with meditational practise or other personal growth therapies. This issue has been re-mastered from the original recordings and comes in a new triple-fold didgi-pak artwork design by Peter Hartl, designer of 'Dreamin' a Dream', 'You Re-Mixed' and others. And Daevid has written new detailed liner notes for the 12 page booklet.

Blimey all that's a bit serious. How about just turn on CD, sit, close eyes, breath in - breath out, relax/melt/expand/merge/gliss/bliss/glid/lift the lid - pop! You might have to practise a bit.