sound

I lay on my back and stared at a bright blue painted sky, dappled with puffy clouds. As my mind drifted, the sound of a breeze, created by handheld fans, filled the room. Then came a symphony of chimes, crystal bowls, wave drums and rain sticks. To my right, a black bear cub eyed me curiously.

Soon a thunderous crescendo of gongs arose. I looked to my left, where two endangered polar bears stood on a sheet of ice, ocean looming behind them.

The noises softened and went still. With a resounding clap from participants around the room, I came back to reality.

I wasn’t in a forest, nor the Arctic. And no, I had not recently taken any psychedelic substances. I was at a sound bath in the North American Mammal Hall at L.A.’s Natural History Museum, surrounded by dioramas of taxidermy, meditative instruments and sound healers from the Oso Sound Healing Studio.

Avery Whitmore leads participants in a sound bath.

Hosted earlier this month, the sound bath was the first of two events in the museum’s new Mindfulness Mornings at the Museum series, where guests can experience a meditative practice in the iconic gallery before opening hours. A nearly sold-out yoga session led by SoulPlay Yoga will take place on Sept. 13, and museum organizers hope to host more events after that, said Joel Quizon, the manager of public programs.

The Natural History Museum always looks for ways to “activate the museum space,” Quizon said. Ahead of the sound bath, Oso Sound Healing Studio founder Avery Whitmore said the unconventional space would invite a childlike energy, a deeper connection to animals and introspection.

“Just seeing these older animals, it takes you into another place,” Whitmore said. “It could invite you into a deeper meditation about where we are, where we come from. In that mind state, you might be a little bit more receptive to exploring the same questions about yourself.”

The museum introduced Mindfulness Mornings following the success of its past wellness events — including sound baths that were part of its First Fridays after-hours series. With those events, the lines went “down to the basement,” Quizon said.

The Natural History Museum is an apt venue for mindfulness events as people already see it as an “oasis [in] the city,” said Joel Quizon, the museum’s manager of public programs.

Participants Kenny Mayo of Culver City, left, and Verseilla McCloskey of Long Beach are immersed in sound.

Whitmore, who previously collaborated with the museum during First Fridays in 2025, founded Oso Sound Healing Studio in 2023. He played piano and percussion as a child and later guitar as an adult, but “put all of that away for many years,” he said.

About a decade ago, personal struggle led him to seek out spiritual practices, and that healing guided him toward being of service to others. That led him to attend massage school — not to start a career as a massage therapist, he said, but to learn how to give back to others.

The experience inspired him to learn other healing modalities, including breath work and sound meditation: the latter of which reignited his musical appreciation. “ It helped to revisit that, or reawaken it from another perspective,” Whitmore said.

When I attended the sound bath, about 100 people filled the hall and Whitmore opened the meditation by asking how many new sound bathers were here. More than half of the attendees, including me, raised their hands.

During the practice, participants can peek and see the varied habitats of North America beside them.

Avery Whitmore created a sound bath experience inspired by the unique museum space.

With the overhead lights dimmed and soft light spilling from the dioramas, the displays looked like windows to other worlds. I took a mat next to the American black bears and American badgers, only slightly jealous that the mats next to the large-scale walrus diorama were taken.

The meditation lasted about an hour. In addition to the variety of instruments evoking the sounds of nature, it incorporated breathwork, vocal exercises and a small amount of physical sensation: a refreshing spritz of rose water. Sets of instruments were stationed along every wall of the room, fully encompassing us in sound. Peeking at the animals around me, I couldn’t help but think of them as characters whenever new instruments joined the symphony.

“Definitely the coolest sound healing experience I’ve been to,” said Kenny Mayo, 35, after the sound bath.

“The different stations felt like an orchestra. It was put together in such a beautiful, methodical way, and all of the instruments were harmonizing perfectly.  It felt like no matter where you were, there was something close to you,” Mayo said.

Toward the end of the meditation, Whitmore asked participants to envision an animal and invited them to receive its message. Mayo said she thought of a hawk, and found meaning in connecting with the spirits of animals that “don’t exist anymore.”

“It’s a magical thing, to be able to see the history of all the animals, our ancestors,” she said. “We can still connect to the essence.”

I looked at the taxidermy black bear cub, standing energetically on its hind legs, and imagined the future ahead of it; then across the room to the adult polar bears, traversing an icy surface that, beyond the diorama, continues to melt away.

As part of the meditation, participants were invited to think about where they were, and where they’ve come from.

On Friday night at the SoFi Stadium, there was nothing random about the songs that played just before Karol G took the stage for the first of three evenings at the venue. We can safely assume that the Colombian superstar selected the cuts herself — the perfect tropicoqueta mix to set up the mood.

First, a shadowy “Bésame Mucho”; Elvis Crespo’s merengue smash “Suavemente”; the Afro-Cuban nugget “El Manisero”; and two life-affirming hits by the Queen of Salsa herself, Celia Cruz: “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” and “La Negra Tiene Tumbao.”

These carefully curated gems share a common element: They managed to transcend the stylistic contours of their respective genres and become something bigger — the kind of irresistible, it-takes-a-village anthems that will lure everyone to the dance floor, even if they don’t understand the lyrics.

And that is exactly what Karol G — la bichota, the South American Cleopatra, the woman with the billion-dollar smile — has been doing for global pop since the release of “Tusa,” her imperial duet with Nicki Minaj, back in 2019.

(Jill Connelly / For De Los)

Karol is currently the 42nd-most-streamed artist on Spotify, and her albums “Mañana Será Bonito” (2023) and “Tropicoqueta” (2025) helped reinvent the sound of contemporary Latin. She emerged from the reggaeton thunderstorm that hijacked the planet, but then guided it smoothly into a different aesthetic territory, far away from the movement’s misogynistic toxicity. Her ongoing collaboration with producer Ovy On The Drums — they’re the same age, 35, both from Medellín — was transformative, combining clanging, tribal beats with liquid textures and a refined, champagne-like lightness.

Part of the massive “Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour,” Friday’s performance confirmed the singer’s stature as one of the most vital and charismatic Latin artists of the 21st century. More than a conventional concert, it felt like a stark, delirious fantasia, a relentless cinematic mosaic of decadent dance numbers and hyper-popped fragmentation presented in five acts, unified by a tropical visual motif: lush vegetation; a blue lagoon where cleansing erotic rituals take place; plumes of purifying fire to expiate the aftertaste of all those failed romances.

(Jill Connelly / For De Los)

Beginning with the wicked reggaeton beat of “Latina Foreva” — an existential jam about curves and pleasure, the freedom of the flesh — Karol ignited a deafening roar of adoration from the full-capacity crowd. For a moment, I got a taste of what Beatlemania must have sounded like in the 1960s.

As the cameras followed her closely, projecting every playful grimace and flirtatious wink onto the giant video screens, the complexity of her artistic persona became increasingly transparent: an indomitable woman who is deeply connected with primal joy and sensuality, but also vulnerable enough to get her heart broken on the way to the red carpet (and still embrace the experience). In the world of Karol G, what doesn’t kill you makes for an international hit.

Admittedly, it was the aggressive, in-your-face numbers that worked best. Karol sounds even better when surrounded by half-naked dancers — “Gatúbela” and “Ojos Ferrari” were highlights in that respect — and the choreography evoked the sweaty rapture of a full-blown Roman orgy.

(Jill Connelly / For De Los)

But she’s also smart enough to alternate the futurism of neo-reggaeton (the cutting-edge territory where her work with producers like Ovy On The Drums and Tainy has given us some astonishing records) with an affectionate nod to the past glories of Afro-Caribbean lore: the 20th century cultural bubble where Colombian families listened to the “14 Cañonazos Bailables” compilations during the Christmas season.

On the title track of “Tropicoqueta,” she draws an imaginary line that connects her current sexual emancipation to the frisky downbeats of 1950s mambo and the early 2000s movement that jazzed up the Afro-Caribbean classics with a digital bounce. On Friday, she salsified “Provenza” and added the riff of Willie Colón’s “La Murga” as an intro to “Tusa.” Her visual recreation of the “Tropicoqueta” album cover onstage was one of the show’s wittiest moments.

At one point after the success of “Mañana Será Bonito,” Karol must have realized that her newly acquired diva status gave her the chance to voice some valuable thoughts on the merits of Latin American culture.

In between songs, Karol spoke with compassion about the recent earthquakes affecting Colombia and Venezuela — the latter of which is where her poised opening act, Elena Rose, also hails from — but her pan-Latino ideology seeped into the music as well. Her face was covered in tears after she performed “Ese Hombre Es Malo” backed by female mariachi players. At the end of the show, a stunning reading of “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” revealed the instinctive ease with which she can navigate the sweet, syncopated phrasing of Dominican merengue.

1/2

Elena Rose opens for Karol G at SoFi.  (Jill Connelly/For De Los)

2/2

Inglewood, CA., Aug. 14, 2026. – Opener Elena Rose performs during the first of Karol G’s three nights headlining the SoFi Stadium for her Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour. (Jill Connelly / For De Los)  (Jill Connelly/For De Los)

A few tracks from her recently released sixth studio album,”No Me Arrepiento De Sentir Tanto,” displayed a more introspective side. On the dreamy ballad “Después de Ti,” she was joined on guitar by Greg Gonzalez of Cigarettes After Sex, reenacting their performance together from April, when Karol headlined Coachella.

The deafening volume at SoFi was the only aspect of the show that got in the way. The sound stage felt bludgeoned into submission throughout, as the intense distortion of bass, percussion and guitars made the instrument separation within the mix almost inaudible.

That said, the overall experience transcended the sonic elements, as Karol is clearly using the Tropitour as a good reason to celebrate her extraordinary achievements with the fans (she even hugged a security guard).

Somewhere in the venue, a young Latina girl must have been dazzled by this extravagant spectacle and perhaps dreamed of one day following in the footsteps of Carolina Giraldo Navarro: a gifted singer and composer, a woman intelligent enough to cherish the emotional value of dancing the night away.

And that is one solid role model to have.

Universal Studios Hollywood appears to be taking steps to address noise complaints regarding its new high-speed, outdoor roller coaster. The office of L.A. City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian stated the theme park will install two additional sound barriers to mitigate the sound of rider screams on its new ride Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, which have been described by nearby residents as “disturbing” and “untenable.”

Nazarian’s office made the announcement Monday evening on social media. A Universal Studios Hollywood spokesperson has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, which is currently in a soft open phase, has come under attack from residents in the nearby Toluca Lake neighborhood.

“You think something is happening,” said Toluca Lake’s Patrick Nazari. “Like someone is getting murdered out there.”

Nazarian’s Instagram post stated that construction of the new sound barriers would be completed by early September. It also insinuated that recent testing of the coaster has met Universal’s sound requirements with the county. A community meeting is being planned by Universal and the Toluca Lake Homeowners Assn., stated the post.

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift does not yet have an official opening date. The ride is operating in what Universal refers to “technical rehearsals,” which is essentially still a testing phase. It is not guaranteed to be operational on any given day, but has been cycling guests in recent days.

Universal Studios Hollywood has been proactive with Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift, devoting a website to just how silent and unobtrusive its groundbreaking coaster would be. Multiple noise mitigation efforts were undertaken — sound walls, scream shields and even pea gravel in the coaster’s tracks.

Residents have stated the coaster runs relatively quiet, noting that there were no complaints until it began testing with guests. At that point, say many Toluca Lake residents, the screams became untenable.

“I heard it, and I thought to myself, ‘There are going to be problems with this,’” said Toluca Lake’s Leonard R. Garner Jr.

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift has been about a decade in the making. It’s a feat of engineering, situated on a hill between the park’s upper and lower lots, extending out toward Lankershim Boulevard. Universal has its own interest in limiting noise from the ride, beyond being a polite neighbor, as it is still a working studio.

The theme park has made outreach into the neighborhood over the years in an attempt to assuage concerns, be it distributing fliers or attending community meetings. And many a Toluca Lake resident enjoys some theme park perks courtesy of Universal, such as free parking, and invites to preopening events at the park.