Nancy Hennings

Who is Nancy Hennings?

Nancy Hennings is a musician who teamed up with Henry Wolff to make the album Tibetan Bells in 1971, one of the pioneering LPs of new age music. In 1982, with the assistance of Wolff and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, she produced the mysterious sounding Yamantaka. She also contributed to the other Tibetan Bells albums Tibetan Bells II, Tibetan Bells III and The Bells of Sha'ng Shu'ng.

The Tibetan Bells albums should not be confused with ethnic Tibetan music. They are new age-style Western compositions that use the Tibetan instruments. Authentic Tibetan music has a quite different sound, using other instruments besides the metallophones. However, the beauty of the Tibetan Bells albums is exquisite, and the sounds other-worldly. If it was not stated outright that only acoustic instruments were used, your ears would trick you into thinking some of it was synthesized. In 1971, when the first album appeared, this was even more true than it is 35 years later.