About Martyrs of Sound

Martyrs of Sound is Dr. Steve Koc and Sara Wiseman. We create healing music that transports the listener into expansion and bliss.

Martyrs of Sound started out as a street band in Salem, Oregon circa 2005. The band's first shows were an eclectic mix of drumming, percussion, Steve's 12-string guitar and an array of organic instrumentation: world percussion, cymbals, the gong. Guest performers (aka our friends) showed up from around the globe, returning for a session from wherever they'd been: Norway, Africa, Brazil. 

Since 1975, Dr. Steve has studied meditation, mantra and sound therapy. In 2006, he began to focus on healing soundscapes. He spent a year working with tone, tempo and vibration, and in 2007, recorded our first album, Mantra Chill.

Since 2000, Sara Wiseman has worked as a visionary teacher of spiritual intuition. She creates the etheric voice, lyrics and vocal arrangements.

OM Variations

After a recent NDE Steve had a curious inspiration: incorporate the children's bedtime prayer, that one that starts with, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” into the new song he was working on. He wondered if by using it as part of a creative project he just might be able to reclaim the essence of it, the protective spirit that my mother intended to impart to him so long ago. 

The main vocal line, the Sanskrit mantra Om Namah Shivaya, translates as I surrender to death. The song, titled Om Namah Shivaya, (no surprises there) is the final piece of a musical trilogy using variations of the mantra Om. The first two parts are complete: the first, titled OM, is a 60-minute chanting of Om (again, no surprises) with musical interludes. The second track, OM Shanti OM, is a prayer of peace. And now the third part, Om Namah Shivaya, is complete. So, on to the next adventure!

​OM SHANTI OM

The vocal line “Om Shanti Om” is a Sanskrit mantra which is a prayer for deep peace.