The Monochord Singing Chair: Resonance in Music Therapy, by: Joanne Loewy DA, LCAT, MT-BC, Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine
The Vibrational Singing Chair from feeltone, has served as an important instrument to the patients we serve at The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in our Music Therapy program.
I've appreciated that I have the ability to tune the strings and have used consonant intervals which have been made profound in octaves, fourths and fifths. Most often, I have tuned the chair strings in octaves.
How do we use the Monochord Chair in our Music Therapy program?
For several years, we kept the chair in our clinic and it served as a warmup for many patients and staff that entered the Center.
For doctors, nurses, and others, it was immediately an eye-catcher, because the wood is attractive and resembles nature. Posed in the corner reception area of the clinic, many would ask: “What is that chair?” As we described it as a “vibration chair, used for healing”, staff would ask: “May I try it out?”
For one nurse manager, the chair-try became a bit of a ritual. On stressful days, she would come to the Center and request that I work with her - which I was more than willing to do, stealing several ‘in-between’ patient moments for her. Her complaints were of head-pain “migraines.” I used the highest strings and lowest strings on an “ee” vowel breath release - tonal vocal holding, my voice blanketing her pain and slowing the rhythm down of the pulsating head pounds that she described.
There are numerous patients who have benefited from the breath glissando release sounds I use accompanied by the string glissando from low to high and then absorption… where the strings resonate and saturate through the warm wood into the body. In a general way, this warmup takes only about five minutes and creates “flow” and a sense of “homeostasis”, “self integration” or “synchrony between the body-mind-spirit” as one of my pianist musician players often says.
There are two patients who have particularly benefited from the vibration singing chair (also known as the monochord chai or MonChair.)
One was an opera singer who used the chair for neuropathic pain. Her pain was constant and she described it as “radiating from her neck to her fingers and toes.” At stressful times, the pain was so severe that she would come to our sessions with flat affect, and white coloring. Once she would remove her coat, tears would fill her eyes: “I am in horrible pain-ALL of the time.” The medication was not taking affect, and her hands were twitching and eyes were squinting.
For severe pain, the vibration chair has had a profound effect. Starting with low solo tones, and a ‘tighten and release’ muscle relaxation, which focuses on each part of the body, provides a means of access. Directing the tones then, from dissonant strings into consonant intervals, my method of tonal intervallic synthesis (Loewy, in press) is confirmed through the relief this singer describes.
We invoke an image of flow- often water, but sometimes the movement of a tightly wound ball of rubber bands (her image) each being cut away, toned interval by toned interval, to the soft, malleable sponge inside. This soft sponge is her core-and right in the chair then, we begin vocal warmups. Softly, smoothly and on long tones of supported vibrational air. And then she reports: “I am pain-free….I am ready to sing now….”
Surprisingly, a 9-year-old young man, who is on the autistic spectrum with pervasive developmental delays asked one day: “Can I sit in that chair?” “Why sure…” I replied.
He removed his shoes, knowingly (not sure how he knew) and closed his eyes. “I am breathing to the tones” he said. “I see” I replied.
“Imagine you are in your favorite place…” It became from that session on (about a year into our therapy), his favorite opening ritual. At first, many weeks were the same. “I am in the woods…” “I see grass…” “I see trees…” “I feel the wind…” We began to add nature’s sounding instruments which made subtle blends on the blanket of stringed tones. The remarkable part of this ritual were the adages each week. Sometimes there were journeys with animals, and at other times, there was sleep. Slide whistles were birds that blended his breathing with the strings. Once there was thunder with a small hand drum. About half of the time however, was sleep…not deep sleep, but what I perceived as a meditative state. I had not expected this from a 9-year-old, who was usually hard to keep still or induce into a comfort place. I had experienced him flitting from one activity to the next.
The monochord singing chair seemed to provide a place of comfort and trust, and most of all a place where the energy would sustain his body enough to evoke an explorative trusting way of being. From the meditations, our sessions would move into fully sustained interactive attention for the remaining minutes which lasted until we closed, a total of 30 minutes.
The effects of the singing chair were not in any way what I would have ever considered using for a child with PDD who had hyperactivity.
We have recently moved this amazing instrument to our in-patient hospital music room.
We are beginning to quantifiably and qualitatively measure its affect on pain and recovery. We are grateful that the monochord singing chair is so often a part of our treatment regimen and we look forward to collecting data on its use with patients of all ages who are experiencing severe pain.
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Our latest version of the singing chair is the Monchair, which can double up as a space saving office chair with multiple functions. (And it can be ordered with cushions in a variety of different colors to choose from!)
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Works well. Delighted to have the ability to tune my Sansula myself.
We Play well together has been a resource for instruments for, at least, 5 years. The quality of the instruments, customer service, kindness and expertise of the staff has been a huge bonus and blessing in our interactions. I am grateful for their service, friendliness and flexibility. thank you so very much VLamura
These mallets are super fun to use and I love the sounds they create. I purchased a pair of each set of mallets and I love them all so much, I'm planning on keeping the pair I thought I would send back originally.
I have a set and love these so much. They are well made, and the sound is solid and carries well in small and large spaces. Highly recommend!
Wonderful instrument. It’s easy to travel with and well crafted. Customer service is wonderful as well. Very responsive. I am always impressed with the attention to customer service and care of the instruments. This instruments complement my crystal singing bowls and monalina nicely.
My G Monolina is perfect! Beautiful to play in a group, as well as on the body.
Absolutely in love, but should have ordered the bag! Ordering it now as it is was too fragile to travel with without the bag.
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This set elevates one’s instruments to the next level. Having all these components really sets one up for success and allows room for growth to grow into your sound practice.
The versatility that comes with having the leg extensions allows the player to be comfortable in a variety of ways while playing. The mallets add additional ways to play.
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I can’t say enough great things about it, it’s a must have in the sound tool kit for sure.
The floor model sale price feels too good to be true for such a fabulous instrument. So easy to create varied, beautiful sounds. This is the 3rd instrument I've purchased from WPWT and they're always efficient, friendly and helpful.
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Fast forward, I read about the Twin Kalimba and was encouraged by a review that suggested it was great for events. This particular person, evidently a musician like me, gave out ten of these during his shows and was thrilled by how the audience members enjoyed the experience.
So, given these two experiences, I had high hopes for the twin.
It is a sweet sounding instrument, but the sound is very quiet. The wood is solid so it doesn’t resonate like its higher priced solo cousins (that feature a resonator) or traditional kalimbas that have found holes.
So, I’m a little underwhelmed by the sound, but it’s still a great concept. Perhaps it will be fine and dandy when I share it with audiences. Let’s see!
Joule is an excellent teacher! Her lessons flow from topic to exercises with so much ease and class time is so enjoyable. Joule makes sure everyone's questions are answered before going to the next lesson. Before this training, I had no idea of all the many different ways to play the monochord. After this course, I now have so much more knowledge and I'm able to tap into my creativity with a deeper love and appreciation with this beautiful instrument.
I love the "water" collection and this chime is one of my favourite instruments (so far!). The D minor tuning is said to be the "saddest" key, but I find it soothing, ethereal, and utterly charming. The gentle tones of this chime bring gentle, meditative tones. Do yourself a favour if you can and get the matching Koshi chime. They sound absolutely amazing together!
Thank you for sending me the Hokema Sansula Deluxe. I am enjoying the unique sound as I relate it to similarly designed instruments in parts of Africa. It creates a beautiful sound world with which you can improvise and expand infinitely. I will be using the small ones for my gatherings. It's a beautiful instrument and as I explore and improvise with it, I'm sure I will find something new that I will want to share with you. - Kevin Nathaniel
Wonderful, perfect to play on top and bring my sansula basic everywhere!
It’s my first Kalimba and I absolutely love how it sounds, such a magical instrument
Never got the delivery
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This is a very beautiful chime that I can play with my Aqua Zenko Element (432Hz), Aqua Tinka Tong (432Hz), & my Aqua Hokema B5 Kalimba (432Hz) with a little help from my friends. Of course, I can mix & match the chimes with other elemental instruments & be amazed by the way that the sounds blend perfectly.
This is my favorite chime that I play before bed for a more restful sleep. I have noticed a little hum with beautiful overtones & undertones when moved around in a circular motion that I particularly enjoy. I can play this with my beloved Terra Tinka Tong or my beautiful Hokema B5 Terra Kalimba.
This is a lovely chime that I play with either my Hokema Terra B5 Kalimba or my Ignis Tinka Tong. The great thing about these chimes is that they sound great mixing & matching them with other instruments from WPWT.
I play these chimes for self care before bed for a more restful sleep.
This Kalimba is pleasing to the eye because of the cut & quality of the cherry wood. The size is perfect for small hands such as mine. I particularly love the Terra Tuning & fell instantly in love with this Kalimba that reminds me of a music box when played.
I also received the Aqua B5 Hokema Kalimba which is equally as beautiful as the Terra.
The Aqua Kalimba completes my Aqua Elemental Soundscape bundle. I cannot say how much I have loved jamming with my set.
This B5 Kalimba may be small, but its sound output is excellent & the tone is perfect. The B5 Kalimba can also be paired with the matching Koshi Chime & easily played. I think that I prefer the size of the B5 Kalimba & would highly recommend it for sound & ease of play.
Thanks & best wishes to the WPWT team.
All that I can say is that I love my Koshi Chimes. Each Elemental Chime is unique & complete in its own light tinkling playful sound & becomes even more beautiful in the complexity of two chimes paired together. I particularly enjoy the calming quality of Aqua & Aria. I also like the joyfulness & energy of Ignis & Terra as they are played together. I bought the Koshi Chimes because they were highly recommended for their durability & because they never go out of tune. I also like the earthiness of the color of bamboo. One day I might like to pair Koshi Chimes with a pop of color from matching Zaphir Chimes.
Now let me throw in the beauty of the B5 Hokema Kalimbas - Terra & Aqua as they are paired with their companion Koshi Chimes. I have small hands & can easily hold & play the B5 Kalimba as I am holding the chime of the same tone in the other hand. This is indeed as lovely as the Elemental Soundscape video.
I like to play the Koshi Chimes before I go to bed as it helps to empty my mind, offer relaxation & sounder sleep.
My thanks again to the WPWT team for providing yet another pleasant experience as I keep adding to my ever growing collection of musical instruments.
The packages arrived in a timely manner and packaged with care. The instrument had the richest tone and a divine frequency, I look forward to using this for sound journeys.