Background
Who sings, who, where and when?
Music & sounds
Listen to the world
in its spiritual diversity
From liturgical songs to trance music, from lonely breath to large assemblies: thirty traditions put back in their history, then ten paths to learn to listen with attention and respect.
30Detailed traditions
10listening path
0hosted audio file
The Orabel method
Listening doesn't mean mixing everything
Each entry distinguishes ritual practice, concert music and contemporary adaptations. Listening links open a targeted search on an external platform; Orabel does not host any recordings.
Guided listening
Simple cues to hear voices, rhythm, text and silence.
Selected Works
Artists, albums and archives integrated directly into each entry.
Compliance
Public songs are distinguished from reserved knowledge or rituals.
First four stops
The same search, very different functions
Proclamation, devotion, collective offering or personal creation: the word "spiritual" does not mean a single sound.
Liturgical songs
Western Europe
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the main Latin plain-chant repertoire of the Roman Catholic Church. Monodic and normally unaccompanied, it organizes the proclamation of texts of the Mass and offices according to melodic modes transmitted by manuscripts and then by choral teaching.
LiturgyPrayerMeditation
Devotion and mystics
Indian subcontinent
Qawwali
qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music in South Asia, particularly related to the Shishtiyya and the shrines of saints. A soloist, a chorus of respondents and percussionists increase the intensity around poems in Persian, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi or other languages.
DevotionMystical poetryAssembly
Rituals and transmissions
Bali, Indonesia
Balinese ritual gamelan
In Bali, the word gamelan refers to the ensemble of instruments and the musicians who play it. Many types of gamelan accompany temples, processes, cremations, dances and theatre. Not all are sacred and their functions are not interchangeable.
OfferCeremonyDance
Contemporary creations
United States and then international scene
Spiritual jazz
的Spiritual jazz
QuestContemplationRelease
10 guided listening journeys
Choose an intention to listen
Each course offers an order, duration and precautions. It does not claim to cause a particular condition or to reproduce a ceremony.
Be careful calm · 35 to 50 min
Meditating without words
Four instrumental landscapes where breath, timbre and silence guide the listen.Collection · 40 to 60 min
Contemplating the Sacred
Voice traditions where space, text and silence become architecture.Devotion · 35 to 55 min
Pray singing
Four ways to make melody an address, a praise or a surrender.Communion · 30 to 45 min
Singing together
Choruses that exist fully when several voices respond.Memory and Landscape · 35 to 50 min
Connecting to the Territory
Listen to how artists make a place, a people and a relationship present in life.Lamentation and hope · 45 to 65 min
Crossing the mourning
Works that shape loss without promise to erase.Collective joy · 35 to 55 min
Celebrate together
Rhythm, response and movement to the service of feasts that each have their own meaning.Intensity · 45 to 70 min
Explore rhythm and trance
Understanding how repetition and participation can intensify an experiment — without simulating a rite.Appeasement · 25 to 35 min
Re-establish calm
A short sequence to slow down without promising to cure stress.Introduction · 70 to 95 min
Sound travel of the world
Ten stops to hear the diversity of the spiritual functions of music.Sound Atlas
30 musical and spiritual traditions
Look for a tradition, region, instrument, artist or function such as prayer, celebration or transmission.
30 traditions displayed
Liturgical songs
Western Europe
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the main Latin plain-chant repertoire of the Roman Catholic Church. Monodic and normally unaccompanied, it organizes the proclamation of texts of the Mass and offices according to melodic modes transmitted by manuscripts and then by choral teaching.
LiturgyPrayerMeditation
Liturgical songs
Eastern Mediterranean and Orthodox Worlds
Byzantine and Orthodox songs
Byzantine chanting refers to a monodic liturgical tradition linked to the Byzantine rite churches. The Greek, Arabic, Slavic, Romanian, Georgian and other worlds have developed distinct ways of singing, however: to gather them under a single label should not erase this plurality.
LiturgyPrayerContemplation
Diasporic music
United States, African-American communities
African-American Spirituals and Gospel
Spirituals are religious songs created by Africans who are enslaved and their descendants in the United States. The modern gospel is then born from the traditions of the Black Church, blues, anthems and urban innovations. They are related, but not a single timeless genre.
PrayerResistanceCelebration
Liturgical songs
Taizé, Burgundy, France
Songs of Taizé
The songs of Taizé are short biblical or liturgical phrases, repeated in canon or ostinato. They were developed for the prayer of the ecumenical community and the welcome of thousands of young people speaking different languages.
PrayerMeditationEcumenism
Liturgical songs
Jewish communities in the Middle East, Europe and Diaspora
Jewish Cantillation and Psalms
The biblical cantilation puts the Torah, the Prophets and other books into the voice according to signs called te-a-amim. These indicate both accentuation, syntax and melodic outline. Psalms and prayers have other sung uses, varying strongly according to rites.
ProclamationStudyPrayer
Devotion and mystics
Eastern Europe, Hasidic communities
Hasidic nigunim
A nigun is a devotional melody; many hassidic nignums use syllables without lexical meaning. They can accompany a gathering, a party table, a dance, a contemplative moment or a prayer, depending on the lineage and context.
DevotionJoyContemplation
Liturgical songs
Arabic Peninsula and Muslim World
Quranic and tajwīd narrative
The recitation of the Qur'an, or tilāwa, follows rules of pronunciation and articulation grouped under the name of tajwīd. Although it may be melody, it is not generally considered as music by Muslims; Orabel respects this distinction by presenting it as a sacred vocal art.
ProclamationPrayerMemorization
Devotion and mystics
Anatolia, order mevlevi
Samā
In the order mevlevi linked to Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, the samā
DhikrContemplationCeremony
Devotion and mystics
Indian subcontinent
Qawwali
qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music in South Asia, particularly related to the Shishtiyya and the shrines of saints. A soloist, a chorus of respondents and percussionists increase the intensity around poems in Persian, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi or other languages.
DevotionMystical poetryAssembly
Devotion and mystics
Indian subcontinent
Bhajan
The word bhajan covers many Hindu devotional songs, in classical or vernacular languages. It does not mean a unique musical form: a very simple domestic piece, a temple song and a concert performance can all bear this name.
DevotionDomestic PrayerTransmission
Devotion and mystics
India, then the world diaspora
Hindu Kīrtan
The kīrtan is a practice of devotional singing, often responsory, especially important in several bhakti currents. It can tell the life of a divinity, comment a poem or repeat a sacred name. Its bengali, marathi, sikh or globalized styles must be distinguished.
Collective songDevotionPilgrimage
Liturgical songs
Punjab and Sikh diaspora
Gurbānī kīrtan sikh
The Gurbānī kīrtan musics the anthems of Guru Granth Sahib. The sacred text is organized according to rāgas, and the song occupies a central place in the gurdwara. The word kīrtan is shared with other Indian traditions, but its Sikh meaning is specific.
LiturgyContemplationEducation
Rituals and transmissions
India
Vedic songs
Vedic chants orally transmit Sanskrit texts of the Veda according to rules of accent, duration and sequence. Different methods of recitation repeat words in precise orders in order to control the fidelity of the text.
RitualOral transmissionMemorization
Devotion and mystics
South India
Devotional carnatic music
Carnatic music is a great classical tradition of South India. A significant part of its repertoire is devotional: the compositions of Tyāgarāja, Muttusvāmi Dīk的itar, юyāma 的āstri and others invoke deities while exploring rāga and tāla.
DevotionConcertTransmission
Liturgical songs
Tibet, Himalaya and Diaspora
Tibetan Mantras and Songs
Tibetan Buddhist traditions use recitation of texts, mantras, instruments and monastic songs in a wide variety of rituals. The famous multiphonic grave voices of some monasteries represent only part of this sound universe.
RitualPrayerVisualization
Liturgical songs
Japan, Tendai and Shingon Buddhist schools, among others
Japanese Shōmyō
Shōmyō is a Japanese Buddhist ritual song, particularly associated with Tendai and Shingon schools. It adapts Indian and Chinese heritages to Japanese language, liturgies and aesthetics.
LiturgyRecitationOffer
Sound mediation
Japan
Honkyoku and shakuhachi zen
Honkyoku are solo pieces of shakuhachi transmitted by different schools. They are often associated with the komusō of the Fuke sect and the practice of suizen, 的meditation by blowing up, but the historical links between music, Zen and religious identity are complex.
MeditationDiscipline of breathTransmission
Rituals and transmissions
Japan
Kagura shintō
Kagura is a collection of ritual music and dances related to Shintō. The forms of courtyard, sanctuary and village are very different. Some welcome the kami; others tell myths or accompany a local festival.
OfferFestivalMyth
Rituals and transmissions
Bali, Indonesia
Balinese ritual gamelan
In Bali, the word gamelan refers to the ensemble of instruments and the musicians who play it. Many types of gamelan accompany temples, processes, cremations, dances and theatre. Not all are sacred and their functions are not interchangeable.
OfferCeremonyDance
Diasporic music
Morocco, Sub-Saharan and Islamic heritage
gnawa music
The Gnawa are Moroccan communities whose music combines heritages of displaced sub-Saharan populations, Islam and ritual practices. The lila, led by a maâlem, organizes songs, colours, incense and musical cycles during one night.
Lila ritualMemoryCommunion
Rituals and transmissions
Countries yorùbá, Nigeria and Benin
Songs yorùbá with orisha
Yorùbá traditions combine singing, praise poetry, talking drums and dancing with orisha. Each divinity has distinct rhythms, stories, colors and gestures. Local practices differ, and their diasporic forms have continued to evolve in the Americas.
InvocationPraiseDivination
Diasporic music
Brazil, especially Bahia
Candomblé music
In Candomblé houses, songs, liturgical languages, drums and dances order the relationship with orixás, voduns or inquices according to the ritual 的nation. Ketu, Jeje and Angola do not share exactly the same repertoires or conceptions.
CeremonyInvocationDance
Diasporic music
Haiti and diaspora
Songs of Haitian Vodou
The Haitian Vodou organizes its songs and rhythms according to ritual families and the lwa served. The music is not a decor: it guides the ceremony, supports dance, calls minds and transmits stories, values and social comments.
CeremonyInvocationDance
Diasporic music
Jamaica
Nyabinghi rastafari
Nyabinghi refers to both a Rastafari mansion, spiritual gatherings and a tradition of drums and songs. Groundations combine readings, reasoning, prayer and music in a perspective of black liberation, unity and praise to Jah.
GroundingPrayerResistance
Rituals and transmissions
Siberia and Northern Asia
Siberian shamanic songs
The expression Siberian shamanic songs are imperfectly composed of Touva, Iakut, Evenk, Burian, Altai and many others. The ritual specialist, his songs, drum and cosmology differ according to language, clan and territory.
RitualNarrationRelationship to the Territory
Rituals and transmissions
Sápmi, Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia
Joik sámi
Joik is a Sámi vocal tradition. A melody can evoke a person, an animal or a landscape; it often has words and few words. Terms and styles change according to Sámi languages: luohti, vuelia, leu-dd and others are not strictly equivalent.
EvocationMemoryIdentity
Rituals and transmissions
Americas, a wide range of nations
Public Indigenous Songs of the Americas
There is no unique Native American music. Hundreds of nations have distinct languages, songs, protocols and aesthetics. This entry is limited to songs, pow-wows and creations that their performers have chosen to publicly present.
Public ceremonyDanceMemory
Rituals and transmissions
Aotearoa New Zealand
Karakia and waiata māori
Karakia refers to recited or sung formulas related to openness, protection, work or rite. Waiata brings together many forms of singing: lamentations, love songs, genealogies, modern action songs. Both terms are not synonymous.
InvocationHomeGenealogy
Contemporary creations
United States and then international scene
Spiritual jazz
的Spiritual jazz
QuestContemplationRelease
Contemporary creations
Europe, second half of the 20th century
Contemporary sacred minimalism
The sometimes contested expression of sacred minimism is similar to composers like Arvo Pärt, John Tavener and Henryk Górecki. Their styles, stories and theologies differ, but some works use slowness, consonance, repetition and religious texts to create a strong contemplative attention.
ContemplationConcertLiturgy