I'm quite happy to share a few highlights from an exclusive interview I had the honor of conducting with Myriam Carl Ayuna, a folk harpist with a German base who participated in a number of band projects. She was a very busy musician and a wonderful friend who I got the opportunity to meet in 2022 through the Instagram social media platform.
Myriam performs Mystic Folk and Celtic Folk Music, as well as original songs that are inspired by Mysticism and Celtic Heritage. Her voice is frequently characterized as being both forceful and gentle at the same time, crystal clear and touching. Her music has a lot of strong influences from the Nordic region.
Celtic Sprite: I know you grew up listening to Celtic folk bands and having a good connection to folk harp music. Please tell us about your first encounter with the harp as a musical instrument. When you decided to try a career as a harpist, was it love at first sight for you?
Myriam: Yes, it was definitely love at first sight. I got to hear the Celtic harp for the first time, listening to my wonderful friend Christopher Daams, the founder of the band "Eilean - Celtic Music." I was in awe and very fascinated by the sounds of his Celtic harp and the therapeutic effect it had on me. So going to the rehearsals of the band, which I joined as a singer in 2001, was always like going to a music therapy session.
Celtic Sprite: I guess we all had a mentor or a spiritual master, so it happened to me as well! At this point, please tell us how you got started on the Celtic harp. Do you consider yourself a self-taught folk harpist?
Myriam: Yes, I am a self-taught harp player. When Christopher first let me play on his harp, I realized that my classical formation on the piano was very helpful in learning to play the Celtic harp. And I watched some videos of harpists explaining the position of the hands and fingers, and I also followed some basic exercises for the finger movements. I want to make it clear that I use my harp mainly to create a sound tapestry for my songs, to accompany my singing, or in rather simple instrumental compositions. There are so many amazing harp players out there. Like you and the beautiful people you show here on your blog. My contribution to the harp is modest.
Celtic Sprite: You are really kind! Was it simple for you to get yours since you reside in Germany and are so used to folk instruments?
Myriam: A very good question! It was clear to me that I would let a harp builder make a harp for me. But it took some time to find the right harp builder and the right model. I knew I wanted to have a small harp that was also suitable for travel and that it should be a Celtic harp with levers for every tone.
So I saved money for a long time in order to be able to afford such a harp. In the meantime, I was almost seduced to buy a cheaper harp model from eBay. It looked beautiful with wood carvings on the body. But my friend Christopher gave me the advice to invest in a harp made by a professional harp builder, saying that I would be disappointed by the sound of a cheaper model. And I am happy that I listened to his advice and that I took my time. I love my little harp deeply. She is amazing.
Celtic Sprite: Please tell us about your lever harp; what model is it?
Myriam: The name of my harp is "Iona," like the island on the west coast of Scotland, and it was designed and built by the wonderful harp builder Bernhard Schmidt, who sadly died in 2018. He did such a wonderful job of bringing quite loud and characteristic tones out of a small harp.
It is made of maple wood and has 28 strings spanning from Ab to G. The lowest three strings are coated with metal, and the rest are nylon strings. I got it at the end of 2011 and have been very happy with it ever since. Bernhard’s workshop is being continued by Karsten Stielow, by the way.
Celtic Sprite: I observed that you started recording your music with "Cool Masala," which featured songs and dances from the Nordic and Celtic regions, about seventeen years ago and released an album together. But prior to and after that CD, you were involved in a number of other projects, including "Brigandu" and many others. The information regarding your current and next musical endeavors is probably quite interesting to our viewers as well.
Myriam: My blue piano has been a dependable and devoted friend ever since I started writing music, which was actually in 1999. Later, as my involvement in folk projects grew, I was able to incorporate one or more of the songs I had composed on the guitar—or, as of 2011, the harp—and include them on the many CDs that were released with my various band projects.
Actually, on the CD "coolMasala", already half of the songs are self-written songs that were arranged in a folk style by my band colleague Christian Nocon. And during the last few years, I decided that the next albums I would produce would contain 100% self-written music.
And so I started to write songs for the eight pagan festivals throughout the year. I plan to release these songs on an album that will be called "Wheel of the Year" on Samhain this year. Despite the fact that I wrote them myself, the songs sound very Celtic or Nordic. I guess it is because I have been singing, especially Celtic music, for 22 years now, and most of my songlines unintentionally have a Celtic sound.
Celtic Sprite: Thanks for sharing the good news with us! What can you tell us in a few words about the creative process that went into creating all the albums you have released?
Myriam: I draw inspiration for my songs from the cycles and beauty of nature, from love, and from intense emotions. A look at the full moon, the screeching of cranes, touching a tree, or looking at the sea often causes melodies and sentences to flow into my mind. Every artist knows this flow of consciousness. To me, this state of mind is a mystical union with the source of all there is, and so my interpretation of "Mystic Folk" comes about.
The most natural way to create a song in the shortest possible time is through a deep moment of inspiration, in which I hear the lyrics and melody inside, like a radio broadcast.
And when I want to write a song about a certain subject, which I did the last two years with my songs for the "Wheel of the Year," I first set out in my mind a clear intention for the song. Then I waited some hours or some days and listened a lot inside of me and watched the circumstances in my surroundings.
Like magic, every time a perfectly fitting song came through, I believe that songs are beings and that they can show us what they want to sound like. So half of the work is listening.
Let me share with you this video of her music dedicated to the Ostara festival.
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You can also find meditation music and guided meditations on her
"Ayuna Healing Sounds" YouTube Channel,
where she always strives to be a pure conduit for healing sounds and energies.
Find updates and further information about Myriam Carl Ayuna on her
"Mystic Folk" - Official Website
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