L.A. meets Bruchhausen Vilsen: Jamie Bechtold from the Soundbath Center visits Olli Hess

Direct contact with the community has always been extremely important to Olli. The regular exchange with his customers in particular makes it possible to continuously develop and improve gongs, mallets and the like. This results in products that are precisely tailored to people's needs. So it was all the better that Jamie Bechtold from the Soundbath Center in Los Angeles also made a short detour to Olli on her tour of Germany. We would like to report on the lively exchange here.

Who is Jamie Bechtold?

Jamie Bechtold is considered a pioneer in the world of sound baths. Her Soundbath Center in Los Angeles, California, was opened in 2004 - the first studio for sound baths and sound healing. She has been pursuing her dream job as a soundbather for more than 20 years and has contributed significantly to the further development of the method. She runs her center in Los Angeles together with Robert Lee, who specializes in breathing techniques and thus further enriches the sound baths.

Along the way, however, she also developed her own sound bath playing methods, not least through the experience of thousands of sound baths in her sound groups. From the very beginning, she combined gongs and crystal singing bowls to offer an even more extraordinary experience. As far as we know, she is the first person ever to use this method.

Over time, she gained more and more popularity, which now extends far beyond the borders of the USA. As early as 2010, she also began to combine the relaxing facets of yoga with sound healing. Since 2012, she has also been teaching herself and passing on her knowledge of sound therapy and sound healing to other people.

Jamie Bechtold on the road in Germany

In 2023, her schedule included a major tour of Germany - and it was very important to her to visit the manufacturers of singing bowls, gongs and mallets. Olli Hess was not to be missed - and we are always very happy about that!

Previously, she worked for the gong maker Broder Oetken, with whom Olli has also had a close relationship for many years and who co-developed and manufactured all ollihess gongs. Jamie Bechtold also uses the ollihess and Oetken gongs for her sound sessions.

Jamie Bechtold meets Olli Hess - a meeting with added value

What do two people who share the same passion talk about? About God and the world - the personal exchange was a colorful mixture of professional knowledge as well as very personal topics. Jamie also talked about her personal situation in the USA. She herself now lives quite remotely in the desert and travels long distances to L.A. for her seminars and sound baths. However, general topics such as environmental protection and sustainability, which are just as important to Olli as they are to Jamie, were also discussed during the personal meeting.

Jamie naturally also shared her own personal experiences with ollihess products. She has been using them for a long time as part of her sound therapy and is impressed by the high quality and also the sustainable standards of the mallets, gong drivers and gongs. The process of her gong baths was also a topic that Olli and Jamie talked about for a particularly long time.

They also made joint plans for the future and exchanged ideas on how to make the world of sound baths even more varied. Both always find the comprehensive exchange of experiences very enriching. For Olli Hess, it was of course a very special pleasure to have someone from L.A. come all the way to Uenzen to talk about working with sound and to get to know the new products from our small factory.

Finally, Olli Jamie presented the brand new ollihess mallets "Soft Line Flex" and "Direct Line Flex", which she packed straight into her suitcase. Officially, the gong mallets will only be on the market in a few weeks.

Would you like to know more about Jamie Bechtold?

If you would like to find out more about Jamie Bechtold and her work with sound, you can visit the Soundbath Center website. There, Jamie also shares many details of her daily work and gives you practical tips on working with singing bowls and gongs. You can also find more information and personal insights on the Soundbath Center's Instagram channel.