The “Muse Room” is the room in my house where I make music and my wife makes visual art. Published the first Friday of the month, each issue of Letters from the Muse Room will include news and updates about my music, as well as something that has inspired me creatively over the past month.
Dear friends,
Happy December! Whether you celebrate Advent, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the winter solstice, and/or Festivus, I hope this will be a meaningful month for you with lots of lights, celebrations with family and friends, and hopefully warmth.
You can hear a recording I made in 2009 of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” on my website — and even download it if you want — here!
https://ajharbison.com/music/pop/redeemer/hark-the-herald-angels-sing/
In terms of news, I’ve continued working on the piano trio, and I have a new clip to share!
I mentioned in September that the concept of the piece is two alternating ideas, one fast and rhythmic and one with a continuous, sustained, lyrical line, with the instruments — piano, violin and cello — each taking a turn featuring in each of the ideas.
This clip is from the second section of the piece, with the piano featuring in the second, more lyrical idea. Listen here! https://www.ajharbison.com/wp-content/uploads/pianotriomiddledemo.mp3
I’ve also started to think about some ambitious compositional goals for 2020. More on those in January….
––––
On the inspiration front, I surprised my lovely wife last month with tickets to a Rodrigo y Gabriela show. Rod and Gab, as they’re affectionately known by their fans, are a Mexican guitar duo who do some pretty incredible things.
The entire show was just the two of them playing their guitars — mostly nylon-string/classical guitars, though Rodrigo used an electric guitar for some of the songs from their newest album — with no other instruments.
One of the fun things about the show was that their guitars had cameras mounted to the headstocks, and the live feed from those cameras was projected onto the stage’s backdrop.
They both had an incredible amount of energy and showmanship that made the concert a lot of fun, but the music is excellent as well. Rodrigo plays lead and Gabriela plays rhythm guitar — but her rhythm guitar playing is unlike anything I’ve ever heard.
She uses the body of her guitar as a percussion instrument, and it’s miked in a way that makes hits on the guitar sound like a kick drum in places and a snare drum in others. (But the performance is all live, without any extra electronics or effects.) She plays super-fast rhythms (often in triplets) on the guitar strings to create a full, vibrant accompaniment to Rodrigo’s lead lines.
The best part about her playing is that it’s not a gimmick, and it’s not just showing off, but is actually an integral part of their style. (While still being crazy awesome.)
You have to see it and hear it to believe it. This video is from a long time ago (2006), but it’s a great performance of one of their most popular songs and has a number of good camera angles that show what Gabriela is doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbFLHlB8o4
In addition to having a great time at the concert, I was inspired by the energy, excitement and originality of their music. I want to write “concert music” that makes people feel the way I feel when I listen to Rod and Gab.
Peace,
AJ Harbison