Archives: December 2007
Mon Dec 17, 2007
fretless + drum kit update
Jefferson and i have been rehearsing, getting used to the new instrumentation. Its coming together, we're finding our way in this new sea of timbres.
i ve dialed in some good tones on the effects board - unknown yet is how to optimize the program switching on the unit so you can easily transition through gradations of reverb, overdrive, etc.
Im finding ways to emulate a little bit the ambience and fullness of the sarod , with all of its echo from the sympathetics. Im using a lot of harmonics and harmonics+fretted notes ( an earlier technique i used in my avant-flamenco days).
I'm also fascinated by the waves of beats created when you linger on a Ni before it glides up to Sa in a long alap, when all of the other open string or harmonics are ringing...a nice wash of color to hang and revel in, a very dimensional and absorbing stillness, if you manage all the attacks and voicings right.
Im listening to a lot of Carnatic violin playing as of late, as that kind of phrasing and articulation seems very well suited to the fretless.
Hopefully we'll put up some raw samples soon.
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Sun Dec 02, 2007
a next phase
A little bit more about last week's rehearsal...
Im intrigued by the potential.
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, its an interesting transition from the acoustic sarod and tabla to fretless electric and drum kit.
Some of the methodology we incorporate in our acoustic setting didnt quite work and some of it did; some of the tunes adapted well, some didn't. So what needs to happen next is to figure out the new rules of engagement, so to speak.
Its tricky, because it runs the very big risk of being a bad world music fusion clone, a second -rate Mahavishnu or Shakti or Tabla Beat Science. All great, but those are what they are, they've been there, done that.
The past few years have been a tremendous intake phase - with the trip to India, learning the language, etc., and the Duo has taken its time in development, no pressure, no rush.
Im feeling very strongly a lot of information percolating, ready to explode - if we can nail down the approach for an electric duo (and/or electric 4 piece).
Its possible. In the late 90s I had some nice solo opportunities in Europe using the most abstract modern free jazz and improv techniques from a springboard of very traditional flamenco. I developed a successful methodology for that at the time, and the Duo now has a pretty good acoustic methodology in its own right , a much more subtle and melodic approach.
I think the electric instrumentation we're exploring will in some ways call for a return to some of the rigour and abstractness of some of my more experimental work of years past, but i still hope to maintain the lyricism of the acoustic setting as well.
Im in a mental and spiritual feeding frenzy right now, the apex of the intake phase before its release -- reading a lot of various material (Tagore, architecture, some classic Sufi texts, etc).
Its all about to connect. Stay tuned.
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