Calvin Pia of Felt Sound / Sound Design, Music, Mix & Healing in Portland, Oregon
FELT SOUND
Felt Sound is a creative sound studio based in Portland, Oregon. They use sound to bring stories to life, and to bring people into deeper connection with themselves and the world around them. Their offerings include custom sound design, music & mix, as well as in-person sound healing & deep listening events.
Meet the creator of Felt Sound // Calvin Pia
Calvin is an Emmy-nominated sound designer, mixer, musician, voiceover artist and sound healer. Formerly the lead mixer at One Thousand Birds in New York City, Calvin has since found home in Portland, Oregon, where his studio Felt Sound is based.
He has nearly two decades of experience in sound— from sailing the Brooklyn indie rock wave of the early 00's with his bands Snowmine and Akudama, to working in audio post-production and music composition for films and commercials in NYC, to deepening his spiritual relationship to sound and its healing potential in the woods of Portland. His north-star is a world where humanity learns to listen closer, and truly hear one another.
INTENTIONAL BRANDING
SHOOT ONE ~ NATURE
Calvin’s Intentional Branding session was an immersive, three part shoot which reflected the multidimensional nature of his life’s work.
During the preparatory Vision Session (an hour long, meditative journey where we dive into the structure and heart of the shoot) we explored the ethos of Felt Sound, and creatively dreamt into ways to reflect its essence through imagery.
We decided upon three bespoke locations for the series to unfold within.
The first photo session came to be at the Oregon Coast, amidst the lush, open expanse of nature. Our aim was to capture the human spirit’s unique connection with sound through deep listening and communion with the natural world.
We focused on micro and macro explorations of abstract natural textures as well as nestling Calvin into rich, immersive environments. We centered sound equipment and instruments and played with wide-angle elemental shots to evoke the key elements of Felt Sound that had channeled through during Calvins Vision Session:
Spaciousness • Curiosity • Safety • Reverence • Texture • Witnessing • Co-creation • Play • Intention • Nature • Balance • Symmetry • Wholeness • Immersive • Openness • Essential • Healing
It was an honor to create with Calvin in this way. His connection with sound and its healing qualities have inspired many lives including my own. Please enjoy diving into and exploring the magic.
“I bring a portable Zoom H5N recorder wherever I go - capturing ambiances, soundscapes, song seedlings and miscellaneous moments whenever inspiration strikes. In addition to amassing a bespoke library of sound effects to use in any project I choose, field recording has become a spiritual practice for me - a meditation in grounding into whatever environment I find myself in. Hitting the record button gives my body and mind permission to be still, listen deeply, and truly arrive. I find that it’s these moments that I’m the most open and receptive to the present moment, when time expands and life becomes infinitely rich. I’m always surprised at how even the most mundane moments - rain pattering on my window sill, birds playing in the bamboo shoots behind my house, my wind-chime slow dancing in the wind - anything manages to become enrapturing when given my full and undivided attention. It’s in times like these where I understand the joy that comes from being truly present - a state of being that, despite it being a watered-down colloquialism in today’s context, remains the crux of a life well-lived. As Gordon Hempton says, “silence is not the absence of something, but the presence of everything”. Nature’s songs are infinite and always unique - it’s up to us to choose to listen.” -From a recent interview with Forager.
INTENTIONAL BRANDING
SHOOT TWO ~ SOUND HEALING
Shoot two was an in-person deep dive ~ capturing the LIVE energy of a sound bath; highlighting the somatic, healing journey that Calvin takes people on through Felt Sound immersive experiences.
What is a Sound Bath? // Sound is a gateway to the present moment. As humans, we hear with our whole bodies. In a sound bath, we allow vibrations to wash over and through us, which can have profound healing benefits for us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Sound therapy is the use of healing sounds to bring us into a parasympathetic state, also known as "rest & digest" (opposite of "fight or flight"), which allows our body to relax and rejuvenate on its own. The key to this process is the Vegus Nerve— the longest nerve in the body which, when stimulated by soothing vibrations, can initiate this parasympathetic response.
A sound bath is essentially a meditative concert— a full-spectrum tune-up that can induce deep states of relaxation for the mind, body and spirit. When we are in-tune with our body, we are in harmony with the universe.
Calvin's “Felt Sound Bath” is a full-sensory experience set to the ancient healing sounds of the gong, singing bowls, tongue drums, tuning forks, ethereal realms and beyond.
INTENTIONAL BRANDING
SHOOT THREE ~ SOUND STUDIO
During shoot three, we captured the headquarters of FELT SOUND ~ showcasing the full spectrum of services that Calvin provides: creative sound design, music and mix for film, TV and beyond ~ and the felt experience of him at work + with clients.
“When we listen, we remember.”
“Calvin (of Felt Sound) and I have been working together for years. Every time he crafts the sound design & mix for the films I direct, it feels like I'm getting to watch the movie for the first time. He has an unbelievable gift in his ability to craft a sonic world that perfectly matches the emotion of every scene. He is a storyteller through and through and I feel so lucky that I get to work with him. Beyond our collaborations in film, I have attended one of his sound baths and found the whole experience to be deeply restorative and healing. Calvin's appreciation and dedication to sound as an art form - through his work in film, his music, his sound healing practice - is unparalleled. I can't recommend Felt Sound enough.” ~Charles Frank (Voyager)
