Theo Travis' heart-to-heart dialogue with the world through the sounds of Armenian duduk

The sound of the duduk, an Armenian woodwind instrument, is distinguished by its melancholic tones and exceptional ability to penetrate the depths of the human soul. Years ago, when British composer Theo Travis began playing the duduk, he had no idea that his improvisational duduk music for meditation or relaxation would reach millions of listeners around the world.

The positive response from the audience inspired the musician to co-create the album “Aeolus: one-hour duduk meditation” with Steven Wilson. Mediamax interviewed Theo Travis about his upcoming album set for release in September and the enchanting sound of the duduk.

The voice from the soul's depths

Saxophonist, flutist and composer Theo Travis is best known as a member of the band Soft Machine and as a former member of Gong. He has worked with many famous musicians including Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, David Gilmour and others. As a professional woodwind player who loves to explore exotic flutes, Theo also became interested in the duduk since 2017.

Inspired by the play of Armenian duduk master Jivan Gasparyan and other talented Armenian duduk players, he took some lessons from Arsen Gasparyan and continuously improved his skills, creating his own unique style.

In recent years, he started posting duduk meditative music on his YouTube channel, which gradually started to gather a large audience.

“A few years ago, I recorded an hour of calm duduk music for meditation, titled “Ancient Soul, Modern Times”. Within a year or two, it gained significant interest not only around British listeners but also worldwide, reaching over 1.2 million views on YouTube alone. People listened to it for meditation, reading, studying, or simply to relax and relieve tension at the end of the working day,” says the musician.

Theo Travis was very touched by the comments left by people, which proved that the melody from the author's heart found reverberation in the hearts of many, regardless of nationality and culture.

“One thing that was really interesting was the number of “God bless Armenia” comments and remarks about how Armenia has given the world this amazing instrument that can touch the soul like almost no other,” says Theo Travis.

Creation of the magical melody

After such a response to Duduk's meditative music, Theo had the idea of creating a duduk meditation track in spatial audio within immersive soundscapes that will allow listeners to fully engage with multidimensional music. For this, Theo turned to his good friend and top professional Steven Wilson.

“I thought that would be a really nice combination of the magic of the duduk, the use of the meditation tracks, and also using the skill of Steven Wilson. He is well known for remixing a lot of classic rock albums in Dolby Atmos, like music of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Hawkwind, Gentle Giant, and also more modern music like Chic, Nile Rodgers, Guns N' Roses. I suggested this idea to Steven and he was very excited by it so we strarted the production process,” says Theo.

Initially, Steven created the lush soundscape as a backdrop for the duduk based on Theo’s alto flute play with live looping. He developed the record with additional layering and other sound processing techniques. With that soundscape as a base, Theo recorded his duduk improvisation.

“Everything happened spontaneously. Meditation music should come from the heart and speak to the soul, and for that, the soundscape is very important. Of course, I also had to be in the right mood, with a sense of peace and calmness," says the musician.

For the album, Theo wanted to choose a spiritual name. In the end, he settled on the name Aeolus, the god of the winds in Greek mythology. It is interesting that sometimes you can really hear a duduk in the sound of the wind.

“I very consciously listen to the sound of the wind, and I love it. When some people say they are tired of the windy and rainy weather and want some sun, I say that I like the sound of wind, as you can hear the trees, you can hear the grass, and it is magical,” says Theo.

Expected release and future tracks

After the recording and production of “Aeolus” were completed, Theo initially wanted to release it online. However, after consulting with the Panajaric label, they jointly decided to release the album physically. It will be available in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound, and 24/96 high-resolution stereo on Blu-ray, as well as in standard 16/44 audio on the accompanying CD.

The album is scheduled for release on September 6th of this year. Theo also included the previous hour-long improvisation, already famous on the internet. The trailer of the album is already available on Theo's YouTube channel.

“I master a number of woodwind instruments, but duduk has something very unique. One of the special factors about duduk meditation music is that it is for everyone. Even if a person does not know anything about this instrument, the sound of the duduk immediately reaches the heart and soul,” says the musician.

Although the duduk may appear to be a very simple instrument - just a wooden cylinder with holes for the fingers - Theo Travis continues to explore the instrument's wide possibilities and subtleties of playing technique.

“I certainly have enjoyed the process of trying to get better and learn new ways to express oneself on the instrument. Although duduk it is about the feeling and the heart, it takes technique to accomplish that emotional sound,” emphasizes the duduk player.

In the near future, Theo Travis will tour with his band Soft Machine in the USA and then also in the Nordic countries. Meantime, he plans to continue recording other duduk improvisations for his YouTube channel.

Gaiane Yenokian