The Rural We: Daniel Lauter
Meditation D.J. Daniel Lauter is a musician in Kent who leads groups in sound journeys and meditation.
New Kent resident Daniel Lauter (a.k.a. Meditation DJ), is a musician and composer who integrates sound, guided imagery, breath work and mantra in his “sound journeys.” A classically trained musician, he incorporates his knowledge of music and technology to create tapestries of sound that can be both therapeutic and transcendental.
I retired from teaching in New York State schools as a music teacher and technology integration specialist. I also taught mindfulness, and I’ve always been performing — I had two synchronous careers going between the teaching and performing music for 30-some years. I had come to Kent a couple of years back to do a lecture on resilience and mindfulness at the Kent School, and driving up, I thought, where is this? It’s so gorgeous. My wife Donna, a horticultural therapist, and I began looking for a house outside of New York City, and just kept going further north and settled in Kent.
Meditation DJ started when I was teaching technology integration in Long Island. I was trying to find creative things to do with the students. I ran a media studio at one time and had access to different instruments and microphones. I’d bring in the instruments for a show-and-tell kind of thing. The kids thought it was cool. I made an app specifically so students could interact with each other to create an ensemble of meditation sounds.
I use music technology now in sound baths, creating a layered, symphonic approach. I also was a regular DJ and thought, why can’t I DJ meditation music, too?
A sound bath is an immersion of vibrations of sound in a safe space so sound bathes over people. To me they’re performances because I’m composing and improvising. They’ve become crazy popular. When we started in the mid 80s, nobody was really doing this stuff. Fast forward to the last 10 years or so, and a whole next generation has embraced it.
I play all the instruments that are out there on a professional level, and some of these instruments are very powerful. They’re moving sound pressure waves, so you can feel the sound traveling in the space. People will feel that in their legs or feel like they’re floating. It breaks the cycle of worrying or thinking. All of sudden they’re not. I’ve had a lot of success with different types of instruments— crystal and Himalayan singing bowls, Burmese wind gong, didjeridu, and others. When I’ve done large assemblies in schools where the kids are rowdy, I’ll take a Himlayan bowl and ask them to observe how long they can hear the sound. By focusing on the sound, a roomful of 200 kids bouncing off the walls become silent as a pin drop.
People ask me to do sound baths all the time now at art galleries, yoga studios, and resorts. I’ve been traveling around New York, Connecticut, Martha’s Vineyards and many other places. But I’m hoping to develop more local connections and a community here in the area since we just moved up in July from Westchester. We have five acres here, and we’re thinking of putting up a barn so we can host retreats.
