kalimba/mbira update

Hi all micro-folk,

I just wanted to share that I've been on a rampage of high-energy
inspiration these days. The kalimba and mbira tuned to Mavila[7] (diatonic
subset of 23 edo in this case) are the reason.

I'm finding that I can do fantastically satisfying things (for me anyway,
YMMV) by severely limiting my pitch set, and focusing on rhythm and groove.
In a way, I find that this help the tuning be more "digestible", too.

I already posted a video on YouTube a while back of my "Queen of Hearts"
piece, but I want to share with you a fresh recording today that I'm fairly
happy with (save a buzzing sound I haven't diagnosed, which to my chagrin
went away *AFTER* I had done this take). Oh well, mbiras are supposed to
have a dirty rattle sound underneath, anyway. This piece (link below) is the
more lyrical side of things I've been doing; in the main I've been doing
some "prog-rock a la King Crimson with Mavila" type grooves. When I get a
free moment, which is rare nowadays, I'll record an improv based on the
handful of motivic/rhythmic sketches I've jotted down over the past few
months (I'm off to teach at the moment).

What I like about this piece is the 17/8 meter not feeling, at least to me,
that it's in your face. Maybe it's the gentler nature of the piece or the
instrument. Most folks wouldn't notice it, I dare say. And I'm loving the
"resultant melody/counterpoint" aspect of the kalimba/mbira phenomenon. I
feel like there's something here akin to what Leo Kottke does in his rather
rhythmically textured guitar playing, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I hope you dig it.

http://www.akjmusic.com/audio/queen_of_hearts.mp3

--
Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.akjmusic.com
http://www.untwelve.org

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

excellent Aaron! beautiful harmonic shifts, and the meter gives a nice lilt. bravo.

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 27, 2011, at 4:12 PM, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...> wrote:

> Hi all micro-folk,
>
> I just wanted to share that I've been on a rampage of high-energy
> inspiration these days. The kalimba and mbira tuned to Mavila[7] (diatonic
> subset of 23 edo in this case) are the reason.
>
> I'm finding that I can do fantastically satisfying things (for me anyway,
> YMMV) by severely limiting my pitch set, and focusing on rhythm and groove.
> In a way, I find that this help the tuning be more "digestible", too.
>
> I already posted a video on YouTube a while back of my "Queen of Hearts"
> piece, but I want to share with you a fresh recording today that I'm fairly
> happy with (save a buzzing sound I haven't diagnosed, which to my chagrin
> went away *AFTER* I had done this take). Oh well, mbiras are supposed to
> have a dirty rattle sound underneath, anyway. This piece (link below) is the
> more lyrical side of things I've been doing; in the main I've been doing
> some "prog-rock a la King Crimson with Mavila" type grooves. When I get a
> free moment, which is rare nowadays, I'll record an improv based on the
> handful of motivic/rhythmic sketches I've jotted down over the past few
> months (I'm off to teach at the moment).
>
> What I like about this piece is the 17/8 meter not feeling, at least to me,
> that it's in your face. Maybe it's the gentler nature of the piece or the
> instrument. Most folks wouldn't notice it, I dare say. And I'm loving the
> "resultant melody/counterpoint" aspect of the kalimba/mbira phenomenon. I
> feel like there's something here akin to what Leo Kottke does in his rather
> rhythmically textured guitar playing, if that makes sense.
>
> Anyway, I hope you dig it.
>
> http://www.akjmusic.com/audio/queen_of_hearts.mp3
>
> --
> Aaron Krister Johnson
> http://www.akjmusic.com
> http://www.untwelve.org
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I like this quite a bit! Well played and composed - I like all of the
melodic themes.

Chris

On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 4:12 PM, Aaron Krister Johnson
<aaron@...>wrote:

>
>
> Hi all micro-folk,
>
> I just wanted to share that I've been on a rampage of high-energy
> inspiration these days. The kalimba and mbira tuned to Mavila[7] (diatonic
> subset of 23 edo in this case) are the reason.
>
> I'm finding that I can do fantastically satisfying things (for me anyway,
> YMMV) by severely limiting my pitch set, and focusing on rhythm and groove.
> In a way, I find that this help the tuning be more "digestible", too.
>
> I already posted a video on YouTube a while back of my "Queen of Hearts"
> piece, but I want to share with you a fresh recording today that I'm fairly
> happy with (save a buzzing sound I haven't diagnosed, which to my chagrin
> went away *AFTER* I had done this take). Oh well, mbiras are supposed to
> have a dirty rattle sound underneath, anyway. This piece (link below) is
> the
> more lyrical side of things I've been doing; in the main I've been doing
> some "prog-rock a la King Crimson with Mavila" type grooves. When I get a
> free moment, which is rare nowadays, I'll record an improv based on the
> handful of motivic/rhythmic sketches I've jotted down over the past few
> months (I'm off to teach at the moment).
>
> What I like about this piece is the 17/8 meter not feeling, at least to me,
> that it's in your face. Maybe it's the gentler nature of the piece or the
> instrument. Most folks wouldn't notice it, I dare say. And I'm loving the
> "resultant melody/counterpoint" aspect of the kalimba/mbira phenomenon. I
> feel like there's something here akin to what Leo Kottke does in his rather
> rhythmically textured guitar playing, if that makes sense.
>
> Anyway, I hope you dig it.
>
> http://www.akjmusic.com/audio/queen_of_hearts.mp3
>
> --
> Aaron Krister Johnson
> http://www.akjmusic.com
> http://www.untwelve.org
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks, Dante.

BTW, I'm still loving the live disc that my friend's dad, Ken, the engineer,
made of your 2009 concert here. Should be an album. Maybe we can get an
iTunes thing happening? :)

AKJ

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 12:44 AM, Dante Rosati <danterosati@...>wrote:

> excellent Aaron! beautiful harmonic shifts, and the meter gives a nice
> lilt. bravo.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Apr 27, 2011, at 4:12 PM, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi all micro-folk,
> >
> > I just wanted to share that I've been on a rampage of high-energy
> > inspiration these days. The kalimba and mbira tuned to Mavila[7]
> (diatonic
> > subset of 23 edo in this case) are the reason.
> >
> > I'm finding that I can do fantastically satisfying things (for me anyway,
> > YMMV) by severely limiting my pitch set, and focusing on rhythm and
> groove.
> > In a way, I find that this help the tuning be more "digestible", too.
> >
> > I already posted a video on YouTube a while back of my "Queen of Hearts"
> > piece, but I want to share with you a fresh recording today that I'm
> fairly
> > happy with (save a buzzing sound I haven't diagnosed, which to my chagrin
> > went away *AFTER* I had done this take). Oh well, mbiras are supposed to
> > have a dirty rattle sound underneath, anyway. This piece (link below) is
> the
> > more lyrical side of things I've been doing; in the main I've been doing
> > some "prog-rock a la King Crimson with Mavila" type grooves. When I get a
> > free moment, which is rare nowadays, I'll record an improv based on the
> > handful of motivic/rhythmic sketches I've jotted down over the past few
> > months (I'm off to teach at the moment).
> >
> > What I like about this piece is the 17/8 meter not feeling, at least to
> me,
> > that it's in your face. Maybe it's the gentler nature of the piece or the
> > instrument. Most folks wouldn't notice it, I dare say. And I'm loving the
> > "resultant melody/counterpoint" aspect of the kalimba/mbira phenomenon. I
> > feel like there's something here akin to what Leo Kottke does in his
> rather
> > rhythmically textured guitar playing, if that makes sense.
> >
> > Anyway, I hope you dig it.
> >
> > http://www.akjmusic.com/audio/queen_of_hearts.mp3
> >
> > --
> > Aaron Krister Johnson
> > http://www.akjmusic.com
> > http://www.untwelve.org
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

--
Aaron Krister Johnson
http://www.akjmusic.com
http://www.untwelve.org

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

i dunno I haven't heard it! maybe you could send me one?

On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 9:01 AM, Aaron Krister Johnson
<aaron@...>wrote:

>
>
> Thanks, Dante.
>
> BTW, I'm still loving the live disc that my friend's dad, Ken, the
> engineer,
> made of your 2009 concert here. Should be an album. Maybe we can get an
> iTunes thing happening? :)
>
> AKJ
>
> On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 12:44 AM, Dante Rosati <danterosati@...
> >wrote:
>
>
> > excellent Aaron! beautiful harmonic shifts, and the meter gives a nice
> > lilt. bravo.
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
> > On Apr 27, 2011, at 4:12 PM, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hi all micro-folk,
> > >
> > > I just wanted to share that I've been on a rampage of high-energy
> > > inspiration these days. The kalimba and mbira tuned to Mavila[7]
> > (diatonic
> > > subset of 23 edo in this case) are the reason.
> > >
> > > I'm finding that I can do fantastically satisfying things (for me
> anyway,
> > > YMMV) by severely limiting my pitch set, and focusing on rhythm and
> > groove.
> > > In a way, I find that this help the tuning be more "digestible", too.
> > >
> > > I already posted a video on YouTube a while back of my "Queen of
> Hearts"
> > > piece, but I want to share with you a fresh recording today that I'm
> > fairly
> > > happy with (save a buzzing sound I haven't diagnosed, which to my
> chagrin
> > > went away *AFTER* I had done this take). Oh well, mbiras are supposed
> to
> > > have a dirty rattle sound underneath, anyway. This piece (link below)
> is
> > the
> > > more lyrical side of things I've been doing; in the main I've been
> doing
> > > some "prog-rock a la King Crimson with Mavila" type grooves. When I get
> a
> > > free moment, which is rare nowadays, I'll record an improv based on the
> > > handful of motivic/rhythmic sketches I've jotted down over the past few
> > > months (I'm off to teach at the moment).
> > >
> > > What I like about this piece is the 17/8 meter not feeling, at least to
> > me,
> > > that it's in your face. Maybe it's the gentler nature of the piece or
> the
> > > instrument. Most folks wouldn't notice it, I dare say. And I'm loving
> the
> > > "resultant melody/counterpoint" aspect of the kalimba/mbira phenomenon.
> I
> > > feel like there's something here akin to what Leo Kottke does in his
> > rather
> > > rhythmically textured guitar playing, if that makes sense.
> > >
> > > Anyway, I hope you dig it.
> > >
> > > http://www.akjmusic.com/audio/queen_of_hearts.mp3
> > >
> > > --
> > > Aaron Krister Johnson
> > > http://www.akjmusic.com
> > > http://www.untwelve.org
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Aaron Krister Johnson
> http://www.akjmusic.com
> http://www.untwelve.org
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]