David Key is a sound therapist, a shamanic practitioner, and a National Board Certified therapeutic musician. With a Masters degree in Music Education, he also has decades of experience as an instructor, introducing students of all ages to the benefits and gifts of music and sound. Through his personal discovery of therapeutic instruments, and training with global sound therapists, David brings a broad knowledge of music and therapeutic sound to his sound therapy offerings.
In his Workshops, David introduces participants to the different healing benefits of sound. In his popular Sound Immersions, he uses voice, drum, wind instruments, singing bowls, gongs, chimes, and other therapeutic sounds to create a deep, transportive version of a sound bath.
David also provides intuitive, shamanic Private Sound Therapy Sessions for individual clients, using the vibrations of frame drum, rattle, and voice.
In his Workshops, David introduces participants to the different healing benefits of sound. In his popular Sound Immersions, he uses voice, drum, wind instruments, singing bowls, gongs, chimes, and other therapeutic sounds to create a deep, transportive version of a sound bath.
David also provides intuitive, shamanic Private Sound Therapy Sessions for individual clients, using the vibrations of frame drum, rattle, and voice.
NEW! Live Music for Restorative Yoga
I have been invited to play live music once a month for Alexis Abbate's Restorative Yoga class at terra sol sanctuary. Alexis provides a wonderful restorative experience with her class each week. It is an honor to add sounds on flutes, drum, multichamber ocarina, and other instruments
the second Thursday of each month, 6-7:15 pm.
Give yourself the gift of self-care! Click on the photo to go to the terra sol page to preregister.
the second Thursday of each month, 6-7:15 pm.
Give yourself the gift of self-care! Click on the photo to go to the terra sol page to preregister.
Sound Immersion Offerings
Zoom Sound immersion
Friday, february 17, 7-8 pm ET
My online Zoom Sound Immersions focus on a few special therapeutic sounds. I use frame drum and vocables, Innate (multi-chamber ocarina), Himalayan singing bowl, Atlantis gong, and gentle shakers, for a deep restorative sound experience.
Click on the photo above to preregister for this online experience at my Sound Immersions page.
$20 for one to preregister, with special pricings for more participants in the same household.
Click on the photo above to preregister for this online experience at my Sound Immersions page.
$20 for one to preregister, with special pricings for more participants in the same household.
live Sound immersion
sunday, February 26, 2:30-3:30 pm
My next in-person Sound Immersion is at terra sol sanctuary, Wilmington, NC,
Sunday, February 26, 2:30-3:30 pm.
Please join the sound circle for this immersive vibrational experience.
Sound Immersions are held one Sunday a month at terra sol.
Click on the photo above to go to my Sound Immersions page
Sunday, February 26, 2:30-3:30 pm.
Please join the sound circle for this immersive vibrational experience.
Sound Immersions are held one Sunday a month at terra sol.
Click on the photo above to go to my Sound Immersions page
Visit my Sound Immersions page for info and links to preregister for upcoming Sound Immersions.
Lennie's Sweet 16th
For a number of years, I provided therapeutic music tankside for turtles in recovery at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Surf City, NC. That work culminated in 2015 with the creation of a special CD, "Turtle Journey." This past October 14th, I was invited back for a special "Sweet 16th" for Lennie, a blind sea turtle and permanent resident who has been at the facility for 16 years. Though I had not seen Lennie for a number of years, after a few moments of once again playing by her tank, she slowly came over to my side, lifting her head out of the water. It was a greeting and gesture that was familiar to me from the past, but afterwards, volunteers standing nearby told me that they had never seen her do that. It was an emotional experience not just for myself, but for all present, and a reinforcement of the special beauty and connection of therapeutic sound.
This conservation work for protected sea turtles at KBSTRRC and on Topsail Island is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 22ST05
watch this video for a brief introduction to the science and sound of therapeutic music. view here or Visit the Therapeutic Musicians of coastal carolina youtube channel for this video and more
I offer private Sound Therapy sessions for those who would like a more individualized therapeutic experience. In these sessions, I use rattle, frame drum, and voice as primary shamanic sound tools. Unlike a Sound Immersion, sounds I use in a private session might have a greater variety of intensity, and I will often use an interactive approach to help release blockages and clear negative patterns. Through guided imagery, intuitive perception, and purposeful therapeutic sound, these sessions can facilitate awareness and clearing at the physical, mental, and emotional levels.
Click HERE for more info and a contact form to complete for a free consultation.
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Some men collect cars....
New instruments I have added to my sound collection in the photo above. 1. At the top: My friend, Ave, had gifted me some wonderful False Blue Indigo seed pods a few years ago. They were starting to split and fall apart, so I placed them in these two basket woven rattle/shaker shells, adding a deer hide leather bottom to one to enhance the sound possibilities. 2. Bottom left: I had been wanting a synthetic hide drum that would not be affected by weather and still have wonderful energy and a great sound. I purchased this Remo frame drum with a black synthetic hide, and made my own beater stick from a branch of a cedar tree I had planted in my yard some 16 years ago. 3. Bottom right: I haven't been able to find a wind chime of obsidian needles that I like for my sound therapy work, so I made my own, again using cedar from the same tree, with a combination of materials to suspend the wind chime and the needles. A lovely, gentle sound like ice softly cracking on a river. |
A video introducing some of the instruments I use in sound immersions and with my private sound therapy sessions
Two videos of me playing a beautiful African Rosewood Flute in C, made for me by Casey Burns (you can also hear this flute at the beginning of Ocean Healing). It is an instrument I am still developing a relationship with for my work as a therapeutic musician. I asked for a simple system flute (no keywork), lower than the traditional one in D, for a deeper sound. With all of my therapeutic sound and therapeutic music instruments, I sometimes create sounds and music in the moment, just for myself.
The first video captures one of those moments. Think of it as "improvised sound therapy." The second video is a meditative, less rhythmic version of "Both Sides Now."
The first video captures one of those moments. Think of it as "improvised sound therapy." The second video is a meditative, less rhythmic version of "Both Sides Now."
The linked video below is an improvised flute "song" on my Native American style Buffalo flute. This flute was made for me by JP Gomez, Heartsong Flutes, Sedona, AZ, in 2001. I asked for the Medicine of the White Buffalo for the totem carving, as well as the choice of white cedar for the flute. I also requested 2 bands of pipestone at the bottom end, in honor of the Earth Mother, and as a connection to the root chakra, and 2 bands of turquoise near the top to represent Father Sky and the 5th chakra of expression. The total number of stone bands is 4, a sacred number. I offer these sounds in a sacred way as a prayer for the Earth Mother and all beings.
Elk hide rattle
The photo below shows me with a rattle I created over 30 years ago. It is an important sound tool in my group and private sessions, and can help recipients shift from the chatter of "Monkey Mind" to a quieter place of listening and feeling. Use quality headphones or speakers to listen to this brief recording of this Elk hide rattle. Take a few deep breaths prior to listening, noticing how you feel, then allow the various simultaneous sounds of the rattle to shift you from a place of thinking to a place of feeling. Allow your listening to broaden, and notice how you feel when done, as you take a few breaths again.
audio recording of this rattle
A sound offering to help us feel our Wild Power
and find our Grounded Center, recorded live in my home.
This is my own composition, inspired by horse, followed by some wild improvised vocables
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HORSE DRUMMING SONG
As I run, I breathe. With each breath, I burn. With my sweat, I grieve. With my strength, I return. I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth. I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth. I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth. I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth, I'm drumming on the Earth. In the Circle, we breathe. With each breath, we burn. With our tears, we grieve. With our strength, we return. I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth. I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth. I am the Hawk in flight, I'm the Dolphin on Earth. I'm burning Sunfire bright, I'm drumming from birth, I'm drumming on the Earth. |
Music and sound have been used for healing in all cultures, for thousands of years. Those working with sound as a healing modality know that we respond at the cellular level to sound itself. The healing ability of the parasympathetic nervous system is engaged with intention-filled positive vibration. The number of scientific studies dealing with sound and the brain continues to grow. Many of those studies reinforce the understanding of sound therapists that our brains "entrain" to beats and frequencies, allowing sound to shift our brainwave state.
During a waking state, our brains vibrate at a frequency in the range of 14-30 Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second. When we sleep, our brains vibrate between .5 and 4 Hz. The brain's relaxed, healing states are Alpha (8-13 Hz), and Theta (4-8 Hz), which can be induced through the physical law of entrainment. When a rhythm or frequency is introduced, the brain will respond, vibrating at the same frequency. Your brain "gets in step" with that frequency, and there is a shift in brainwave state. A sound therapist uses this automatic response to facilitate these deeper states of awareness and relaxation.
David Key, M. Mus., is a Sound Therapist and a Certified Clinical Musician (CCM), accredited by the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians. He facilitates group workshops and sound immersions, and offers private sound therapy sessions. As a CCM, David provides therapeutic music bedside for hospice patients and residents of memory care and assisted living facilities.
Intention Breath Vibration
When we use intention and breath to create vibration,
we access the deep healing potential of sound and music.
When we use intention and breath to create vibration,
we access the deep healing potential of sound and music.
David Key Music
17 Indigo Court
Hampstead, NC 28443
910.200.2820
17 Indigo Court
Hampstead, NC 28443
910.200.2820
© 2023 David Key