Hi from Ladakh! I’ve been waiting fourteen years to say that.
Actually we’re not there yet as I type but when you read this we will be. I’m scheduling this post a few days ahead as I know it will be a busy travel week.
Ladakh is where I spent at least half of my time between the years of 2008 and 2010 leading U.S. high school semester abroad programs, based at the local alternative educational campus of SECMOL, part of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh. I won’t go into detail here because it’s not relevant but I’ll say that it was a special time for me and I’m excited to be returning after so many years.
On to the matter at hand…
Stick Fingers! A title that I think really fits the sound. A clicky, often staccato, echoing piece recorded using a stick and three of my fingers on a plastic bucket.
I had already thought about and recorded a version of the thing you’ll hear on the piano, a Yamaha CP to be specific. (The CPs were a line of electric pianos put out by Yamaha starting in the 70s and I’m using a modern emulation on my traveling keyboard along with some built-in delay and reverb effects.) I was having fun with these choppy, echoing phrases and when they stuck in my head afterwards a percussion idea popped into mind as well. Specifically, sticks clicking.
So I went outside with the Zoom field recorder I use for everything and looked for some sticks, recorded this thing and then re-recorded the piano part against the percussion so they’d be in time (more or less - my timing gets a little weird at one point!). I added basic after effects in GarageBand, one of them (the ending) just as a way of kind of “wrapping it up” for the time being. I know it's a sudden stop. I have thoughts for a bass line and would like to explore other directions for this piece of music but I think this snippet is really fun.
It's also encouraging to imagine the possibilities for recording percussion using sticks or other things that can be found freely anywhere we go.
I hope you’re continuing to enjoy these short musical shares. If you’re reading this, you really are the best.
I’ll be back, lickety split.
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