Tai Chi - Eternal Chi - Various Artists > Reviews > Hands up, who learned the recorder at school?

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Dire
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	Cheaper than some, good sounds and some good music
Disadvantages:	some really naff noises and lots of synthesisers

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I spent quite some time searching for the perfect music to practise Tai Chi to, because i can't do it in silence and wanted to try and recreate the atmosphere in class. This seemed perfect, specifically written for the practise of Tai Chi and a good price. The music on this disc is described as "flowing, atmospheric and melodic" and I can say that yes it is, but it really doesn't sound authentic. But then it doesn't claim to, I just didn't really think about that when I made my decision. So, what do you actually get for your £7.99?

There are five long tracks: "Eternal Chi" lasting 10 mins 20, "Waves from Heaven" lasting 10 mins 29, "Earth" lasting 9 mins 35, "Flow Motion" lasting 19 mins 19 and "The Gentle Energy" lasting 9 mins 10. Track one, Eternal Chi, starts promisingly with the sounds of birds and light recorder music. Then the voice starts and what can only be described as "some bloke" starts chanting in a rhythmic manner in Chinese. All of which is all very well if you understand the language, but I don't and I found it very distracting. The song also gets much faster and a heavy drum beat is incorporated. I felt myself compelled to speed up and eventually had to jump up and skip the disc forward.

Waves from Heaven is track two and it is a great improvement but still does not quite hit the mark in terms of creating a quiet and relaxing sound. It begins with the synthesised sonds of wind and a random chinese flute. It is a slow and meditative peice that has a slightly threatening quality. After three minutes the sound of an animal howling is discernible and birds begin to sing, the wind sounds stop and a stringed instrument comes in. After six minutes the dominant sound it the stringed instrument and the song is still quite slow and relaxing but it is more of the sort of music that you might find on a New Age CD rather than being authentic Chinese classical music.

Track three "Earth" Begins with the sound of waves and then drums and what sounds like a tenor recorder. Wait, it IS a tenor recorder! I have one of those. I played it for years in school and I reckon I am at least as good as the person playing it on this track...Not really, but it just doesn't sound THAT good. The drumming is nice, the harp sounds are pleasant but it all sounds a bit of a mish mash and not unlike a group of school children asked to come up with what they think chinese music sounds like....And just when you think you know what's coming, a woman's voice wails over the top of the crashing waves. Then she starts to chant what sounds like "ooh ah" repeatedly followed by some more singing. I'm not sorry to say that I skipped the disc again.

Track four "Flow Motion" begins with the sound of a descant recorder over the sounds of children chatting and playing. It is quite a pleasant start but I'm getting wary by now. This won't last. Something naff will drop in and spoil it. I just know. We are two minutes into it and the children are still chatting...Now that I have heard it so often, I have realised that there is only one child and s/he is repeating the same phrase. I am enjoying it less. Three minutes in and there is that tenor recorder again. The pace is slow and repetitive and it is easier to move to than the earlier tracks but I'm still not comfortable with it. I feel as if I am listening to the soundtrack of a bad film on Five in the afternoon. Skip, skip skip....

Track five "The Gentle Energy" begins with strings and a recorder again. Faster than the previous track and with a more recogniseable tune this is quite pleasant. Still it isn't the sort of music that i want to do my Tai Chi to. This last track is a tune I might try to meditate to, except that the woman is back. No. I can't do it. She sounds like she might be having sex and that has really put me off my game!

So, in a nutshell my personal experience of this CD:

Too fast, too loud, too full of noises that are trying to sound authentic. Yes it is cheap but it still wasn't worth it for me. My big mistake was falling for the hype and the title, I shall continue my search for some classical Chinese music and might even remember to ask at class for a copy of the tape. Either that or i will dig out my recorder, get a few mates together and make my own. It's got to be better than this...