A Letter From Frank
Dearest Sound Schoolers,
Yesterday, the majority of you finished and submitted your Capstone Projects.
I’ve been reflecting on this week of culmination, as well as taking a long 24 hours to review everything that you’ve accomplished, created, learned, and shared over our time together.
Ten weeks ago, many of you were strangers to each other and to us. Even if you’d purchased instruments from us in the past, there wasn’t yet the level of intimacy and connection that comes from an experience like the one we’ve just shared. Now, we’re entangled. Us with you. And even more beautiful, you — with one another.
You came in carrying something specific to only you. A curiosity about these instruments. A pull toward this work, whether as a continuation of something you’d begun long ago, or as a beautiful new expansion of your life and the possibilities it will contain. Maybe you had a question about whether you could do this. What would it be like? The curriculum? The people? Would you be able to take in as lofty a goal as I described — being able to create transformational experiences for one another through sound.
Reflecting now, you may see that you’ve transformed. We all came into one another’s lives and changed one another for the better. The curriculum, yes. In my estimation it’s a world-class balance of therapeutic sound understanding and heart, compassion and depth of feelings that will ripple out into the world in a way we can’t yet know.
When I spoke about mastermind groups, about what we’d all experience together — it was probably a vague concept at the time. You came here for singing bowls, after all.
What I was witness to, as I looked at every single Facebook post in the group over the last 24 hours, was that you became something more than a class of students moving through a curriculum together. You became practitioners holding each other through the exact kind of growth this work demands, which is the kind of growth that does not happen in isolation and never has. You became compatriots, colleagues. Friends.
I want to thank you for trusting us with this. I do not take it lightly. When you signed up for Sound School, you were trusting us with your time, your money, and your attention, which are the three things any of us only has so much of. You were also trusting us with something harder to name: the possibility that this field, these instruments, this work, could be a real direction in your life. That is a big trust to place in a nine-week program run by people you had never met.
I hope we earned it. I think we did, and what I saw in your capstones and in your eyes and in what you wrote to each other in the group over these nine weeks tells me we did.
I want to thank the people who made this possible on our side. Jonathan Adams, who built this curriculum and who holds the teaching container with a depth and precision that is rare anywhere in this field. Ben Irons, Lynne Stukart, Jennifer Vu, Yelena Reese, Bob Frye — my goodness, we are blessed to be in participation with you all as teachers, friends, mentors. Lauren and Stephanie, who held the container so beautifully, supporting everyone in everything.
Thank you, again. Thank you. Thank you. It’s been my life’s work for the last 10 years to work in this space and your participation and community and friendship fills me to the brim with gratitude and awe.
I want to say something about where you are now, and it is the thing I most want you to hear.
You are at the beginning. The beautiful beginning.
I’ve been speaking a lot about physicist David Deutsch and his book The Beginning of Infinity. It’s about good explanations and reach. Every time we understand something real, that understanding opens doors to entirely new questions we can ask — that we could not have seen from where we were standing before. This field, the therapeutic application of sound, is almost entirely at the beginning. We have some good explanations. We have some real mechanisms for therapeutic sound. And a lot of what we experience in our space is open to progress, to growth.
You are the future of new modalities, new instruments, new protocols, new ways of sharing. Your hearts and minds and connections. That is what finishing Sound School means. It does not mean you have arrived. It means you have entered a field that has barely been explored, with tools that are still being refined, alongside colleagues who will help you sharpen your thinking for as long as you choose to stay in the conversation.
What I hope you feel today, as you sit with capstone behind you, is a specific kind of quiet and beauty. And then, when you are ready, know this: we are not going anywhere. The Ohm Store is not a school you graduated from. It is a home in this field that will be here for as long as you want to keep practicing, keep learning, keep coming back, keep asking the questions that make this work real.
Thank you for letting us walk this path with you. It’s been an honor.
Frank
The Journey
Nine Weeks, Week by Week
We Begin
February 10 – 15, 2026
This was the week 242 strangers became a cohort. We set the intention, met Jonathan, and took our first steps into understanding what sound actually is — and why it does what it does to us.
Jonathan opened the curriculum by stripping frequency down to its simplest truth: it is just how often something happens. From the sun rising and setting to the rhythm of our breath to the subtle oscillations of our brainwaves, we are surrounded by cycles. And those cycles affect us. That was the seed planted in Week 1 — and it grew into everything that followed.
This is such a calming and comfortable group to be in where you can feel the positivity, kindness, and appreciation flowing. It’s very much needed. I’ve needed it, so thank you all for that.
Sue R. H. Kielty — Week 1
From the Community
Care Mycue
“The sound isn’t the product. The sound is the trace. What matters to me is what speaks, reorganizes, and tunes inside me.”
Amber Deters
“It helped me find my voice after years of being numb, and gave me deeper connection in meditation.”
Carrie Suggitt Novak
“My Jupiter bowl just arrived!!! I’m so excited for Sound School!!”
Sharla Diane
“Less striving for knowledge and more allowing it to settle into the soul.”
Christy Shelton
“There is something to be said about the healing spirit of animals and how lucky we are as humans to be cared for by them.”
Christine Keller
“OH, WOW, I LOVE THE JUPITER BOWL!! It feels like we all know each other already.”
Brian Whitson — Dallas, TX
“Hello everyone! Looking forward to the training ahead and interacting with you all.”
One of many stunning setups that arrived in Week 1 introductions
The Body Knows
February 16 – 22, 2026
We went deeper into the science of why sound works — and the group started to feel it, not just understand it.
Rhythm, entrainment, and the intelligence of the body. Jonathan explained how our circadian rhythm is simply our body entrained to the light cycles of the sun — and that the same principle applies to sound. The outer cycles of our instruments begin to synchronize the inner cycles of our nervous system. The group started to understand, on a physical level, why they had fallen in love with sound in the first place.
Frank reminded everyone that beginner questions and advanced questions are equally valuable — that explaining something to someone a few steps behind you is one of the fastest ways to deepen your own understanding. The room felt like a Montessori classroom for adults, and that was entirely intentional.
From the Community
John Fazakerley
“Omg this is so fun!!!! Love the sounds you can make with just friction against carpet!!”
Amber Deters
“Had a lot of emotions moving through me yesterday and thought I would share the sound meditation that came from that emotional connection.”
Going Deeper
February 23 – March 1, 2026
This was our biggest week of curriculum yet, and the group rose to meet it. Brainwaves, neurotransmitters, scales, bowl curation — and the first real glimpse of how much there is to learn, and how much we were already feeling.
Jonathan introduced the neurochemistry of altered states — how sound begins to shift us from Beta into Alpha, then Theta, and why that twilight state feels like coming home. He also introduced the Shiva and Shakti allegory: motion and stillness as two aspects of the same consciousness. And then, practically, we got into building scales and curating bowls that speak to one another. It was a week that felt both ancient and very, very precise.
Real. Unedited. Human. There are a few little oopsies in this sound bath… and I’m sharing it anyway.
Sharla Diane — Week 3 Homework
From the Community
Sharla Diane
“Real. Unedited. Human. There are a few little oopsies in this sound bath… and I’m sharing it anyway.”
Alisha Bee
“I invite you to breathe, soften, and allow the vibrations to flow through you. Meeting you where you are.”
Aerick McCaine
“Sometimes it is hard to stop when you love what you’re doing.”
Richard A. Morrell
“ECHOS of COSMOS… where Sound meets Soul.”
Gabriela Poletti
“I’ve been resisting this assignment all week. I really dislike cameras. Well, it can only get better from here!”
Pia Garneau
“I found the courage to not try so hard to be perfect and just really be present.”
Nicky Branagh-Schmidt
“A quick little experiment while baby napped… we roll!”
Melanie Dallas
“The dogs love to join in when I play the bowls. Posting it feels strangely vulnerable.”
John Fazakerley — A Love Letter to the Cohort
“You, are a Healer. You, are a Unifier. You, are a Peace Maker. You, bring the Galaxies into Sacred Alignment. Your Song… Your Harmony… Your Love… Heals, Aligns, and Restores.”
Maria Kovacs Pogorelec — The Blooper Reel
“Week 3 homework blooper!! I didn’t use this version because I struck one of my bowls a bit too hard. BUT the ending was too funny not to share.”
The Patterns We Carry
March 2 – 8, 2026
We looked honestly at stress, at trauma, at the feedback loops our nervous systems get caught in — and we understood, maybe for the first time, exactly what our bowls are interrupting.
Left brain, right brain, stress, and the feedback loops that keep us stuck. Jonathan used the analogy of audio feedback — a frequency looping from microphone to speaker and back, growing louder with every cycle — to describe what happens in our psyche when a trigger fires and our nervous system spirals. Sound therapy, he explained, is one of the most direct mechanisms we have for interrupting that loop and returning to the present moment.
From the Community
Carolyn Lewis
“So humbled to be in this amazing group of people.”
Sue R. H. Kielty
“I have missed being out on our patio. Today, I just let’er go.”
Dahlia Badawi
“Finding positions that support where my body is ‘currently’ is the ongoing challenge I face. The exploration shall continue as the healing continues.”
Ken Ma
“My dogs were restless and provided a percussive cadence.”
Debra Smith-Andersen
“First ‘public’ video like many others have experienced! We are in good company! It’s amazing how quick the time goes by.”
Roberta Wilson
Jonathan Adams: “Beautiful work Roberta! The flow was superb, and I love your collection of instruments.”
The Craft of It
March 9 – 15, 2026
With the science firmly understood, we turned our hands and our ears to the physical reality of playing — and discovered that silence is as important as sound.
Mallets, space, delay, drone, dynamics. Jonathan demonstrated how the choice of mallet changes the entire character of a bowl’s voice, and how creating deliberate space between strikes allows the sound to do its work. The group began to understand that playing a sound bath is not about filling silence — it is about knowing when to let the silence speak.
As our interoceptive awareness becomes attuned we become more aware of harmony, and dis-harmony. We begin to recognize the more subtle choices and their effects on a moment to moment basis.
Jonathan Adams (Sonic Yogi) — Week 5
From the Community
Christine Keller — First Live Event!
“Thirteen people showed up. After the hour, everyone seemed to be meditating/sleeping/so relaxed I hated to quit. And I got 3 reiki appointments.”
Ken Ma
“Instead of going bigger, I thought I will sing my smaller bowls. Not part of a homework assignment. Just showing them some love.”
Integration Week — Breathe
March 16 – 22, 2026
We built a deliberate pause into the architecture of the program. This week belonged entirely to the cohort — to catch up, go deeper, or simply sit with everything that had already landed.
No new foundational curriculum. Instead, the advanced audio recording electives opened for those who wanted them. Frank was clear about the purpose of the capstone: “Show us what you can construct emotionally. That is what we are here to see.” Not a test of audio engineering. Not a performance review. A snapshot in time of your current level of comfort and skillfulness at creating a sound experience. That framing visibly relaxed the group.
From the Community
Ken Ma
“I forgot to put my phone on airplane mode and got a text message at the end. Please excuse the rookie mistake.”
29 likes, 31 comments — the group loved this
John Fazakerley
“I just had the most amazing transcendental meditation experience, and this poem came to me… Read this as a Love Letter. To. Your. Self.”
Now You Lead
March 23 – 29, 2026
We crossed a threshold this week. The curriculum turned outward — from learning to play, to learning to guide others. The group began to see themselves as practitioners.
How to introduce a sound bath. How to briefly educate participants on what is happening in their nervous system — not to lecture, but to give them enough grounding that they feel safe enough to let go. Jonathan described the arc of a session: the opening, the mindful breathing, the sound, the silence, the return. And he made a distinction that several people found genuinely clarifying: a sound meditation moves toward stillness; a sound bath can move through a full arc of instruments and energy.
Frank asked the group about their personal meditation practices. Jonathan’s answer to why it matters for a practitioner was simple and direct: it is hygiene. If you are consistently giving your energy to others, you need a practice that returns you to yourself.
From the Community
Sharla Diane
Playing in the beautiful natural light of her studio — the practice deepening week by week.
Christine C. Bastian
“When I’m playing and experiencing the beautiful vibrations and overtones of these incredible instruments it’s so hard to listen to the iPhone replay.”
Process Over Outcome
March 30 – April 5, 2026
One of the most important weeks of the entire program — not because of what we learned, but because of what we were asked to let go of.
Entrainment to BPM, setting intention, and the philosophical shift from goal-oriented playing to process-oriented practice. Jonathan described what had shifted for him in recent months: when he sits down to play for a room, he no longer thinks of it as a performance. He thinks of it as sitting on his meditation mat — with other people present. Whether two people show up or two hundred, the practice is the same.
Whoever dies with the most mallets wins.
Ken Ma — Week 8
From the Community
Pia Garneau & Polly
“I know 3 notes that don’t sound like a dying chicken! Polly and I are now besties.”
Pia’s native American flute made her debut in Week 8
Ken Ma
“Whoever dies with the most mallets wins! Low tech low cost mallet caddy. Can double as a bucket when empty.”
Mikayla Schappert — Written Meditation Script
“What I share tonight are simply suggestions. You are welcome to take what resonates with you and leave the rest. Simply being here is enough.”
The Journey Continues
April 6 – 12, 2026
Our final week of curriculum arrived, and with it, a quiet recognition: we had not reached a destination. We had built a practice. And a practice, by definition, never ends.
Deep listening, the five energy bodies, developmental brainwave states, and the pineal. Jonathan explained how meditation guides us backward through the brainwave states we traversed growing up — from the busy Beta of adult life back toward the open, receptive states of childhood. The final curriculum was not a conclusion. It was an invitation to keep going.
Whether two people show up to your session or two hundred, the practice is the same. Whether everything goes right or a few things go wrong, it is still a practice.
Jonathan Adams (Sonic Yogi) — Final Q&A, Week 9
From the Community
Carol Ng — World Gong Day
“My husband Ken Ma is playing gong with his sound school friend Jeff DeepBreath Bryant, over FaceTime. I’m so grateful for this beautiful connection and our shared love for sound.”
Nicholas Ray Bradford
“Camera shy and nervous — but that’s just a side effect of being brave.”
Ana Shadrick
“Did a little sound bath for my son and his wife today. This was the first time my son ever had a sound bath and he really enjoyed it. He has always been apprehensive in the past.”
Jennifer Vu — Guest Teacher
“Saw Sonic Yogi’s share of his setup and wanted to share a couple of my acoustic setups for y’all. It’s helpful to see how things can be packed up for gigs.”
