"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
the recording on this one is exceptionally good. I think you may have perfected the perc mic up over this last year. is there a hint of reverb?
Nice one, really warm malaria-like sound
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
@ Kirk& Kamachi: excellent observation, and you are correct. As most of my patterns are built around clave, and as clave is structured upon so many off-beats, to get my metronome to "click" on some key clave beats, I set my metronome at double time- so my bpm notation reflects what my metronome setting was dialed to. Here is a clave link that graphically shows how many times clave percussion scores are transcribed in 2/2 (cut time) to make it easier to read... but if one is counting 8th notes instead of quarter notes, the bpm will be doubled.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_(rhythm)?wasRedirected=true
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
@ Richard: many thanks- recording accoustical percussion is sometimes tricky and I'm still learning the skill sets required for that. I mount my own skins from bulk rawhide (so not actually tanned) but I don't actually make the rawhide from animal skins... that's a lot of work on a non-industrial level and there are some health concerns when it comes to working with (especially imported) fresh animal skins. Many of the (nonterrorist) cases of anthrax reported involve folks making their own drum heads, so I just use commercially cured cow skin from the USA for the latin drums and buy pre-made drum heads for the African drums, which are usually water buffalo, goat or some sort of deer.
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
the sound quality is great,,, i can almost see/feel the bending/vibrating of the skin,, do you make,, tan etc your own skins?,,, this has a wonderful warm quality,, great piece
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
@ Dave: thanks for listening! This recording is 8 tracks, consisting of 2 (stereo) bass drum, cowbell, clave, chinese blocks, and 3 tracks of various sized conga drums playing their parts. Traditionally it is performed by a group of percussionists, which I would *love* to assemble- but that rarely is possible for me to do where I live.
Perhaps I should move to Africa.
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
Thanks Norm, I posted the lyrics. Now then on to this great groove, Yeah baby thats really moving isn't it. Is this one track or a few tracks overdubbed together? I am moving every part of my body to this groove.
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"Afoxe" is a rhythm played by carnival groups from Bahia in Northeastern Brazil. It is named after an instrument that is traditionally used to play this pattern: an afoxe is a beaded gourd; aka "shekere". In this rendition, I replaced the shaker…
A 3 track improvisation on 7 congas roughly tuned by ear to a chromatic scale.
LYRICS:
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne…
A 3 track improvisation on 7 congas roughly tuned by ear to a chromatic scale.
LYRICS:
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"High Life" is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920. My friends from that part of the world consider this be the "go-to" rhythm for just about anything…
"Afoxe" is a rhythm played by carnival groups from Bahia in Northeastern Brazil. It is named after an instrument that is traditionally used to play this pattern: an afoxe is a beaded gourd; aka "shekere". In this rendition, I replaced the shaker…
"Afoxe" is a rhythm played by carnival groups from Bahia in Northeastern Brazil. It is named after an instrument that is traditionally used to play this pattern: an afoxe is a beaded gourd; aka "shekere". In this rendition, I replaced the shaker…
This songs reminds me that this is the moment i have. No longer looking for the dawn for the dawn is here.
This is the moment
this is the moment
that i've been waiting for
I've been waiting for
the dawn and the dawn is coming soon
This is a good place for me to be....it does me good to remember this.
God around me
God within me
there's nothing i need to fear
always remember you're here
I was thinking about Haiti...
i don't know what to say
i don't know how to feel
when i'm way over here
and things are going well
my house is standing still
my friends are still alive
the smell of spring is in the air
and i just can't connect…
Written for a friend of mine.
be and i will be with you
you are a light house in this storm
you will overcome
you will overcome this storm
don't fear the wall for you will climb upon it.
you will see from higher ground
and the sun…
Improvisation on congas and very fragile, clay Moroccan bongos (which my brother found for me from an African display at some zoo!). These bongos are basically clay pots with permanent, very thin goat skins stretched over the top - they can not…
This is the first tune I wrote using an actual loop pedal. I really like the rawness of its form. The sound is sharp, it kind of attacks your ear.. but then after it loops around a few times, it calms down and sinks in..
I expect that there will…
Written and Recorded April 18, 2010
Some people accidentally delete tracks...I accidentally kept this one :)
Details: Epiphone Les Paul (DADGAD, Capo III), Seymour Duncan Pickups, POD XT, Boss RC-20 Looper, Audacity.
Year: 1983
Album:
Land of the Lost
Artist's description:
Music Concrete
This was recorded/performed in 1983
I used reel-to-reel and cassette and LP records and a HP-85 with 16k of ram, custom HP 8bit CPU @ 0.613MHz, running a BASIC program I…
for my ex....
Norm Harris performs the excellent percussion
Down by the riverside
Where all of the fish had died
I threw my faith right in
When I saw it, it was sinking
Oh don't you go
Don't you even dare
Don't run away until you…
A little scratch track from a few months ago. A song about the trials and tribulations of being 11 years old. Watching Six Million Dollar Man, dodging bullies and pretending our bicycles were Harleys.
I was at a friends house and saw a little…
Comments on Norm's stuff
the recording on this one is exceptionally good. I think you may have perfected the perc mic up over this last year. is there a hint of reverb? Nice one, really warm malaria-like sound
@ Kirk& Kamachi: excellent observation, and you are correct. As most of my patterns are built around clave, and as clave is structured upon so many off-beats, to get my metronome to "click" on some key clave beats, I set my metronome at double time- so my bpm notation reflects what my metronome setting was dialed to. Here is a clave link that graphically shows how many times clave percussion scores are transcribed in 2/2 (cut time) to make it easier to read... but if one is counting 8th notes instead of quarter notes, the bpm will be doubled. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_(rhythm)?wasRedirected=true
Excellent playing. But +1 here for the 110 BPM perception :-)
Excellent! I find it interesting that in almost every one of these that you list the BPM I feel them in half time, so I would think of this as 110 BPM
glad to be back. good stuff here.
@ Richard: many thanks- recording accoustical percussion is sometimes tricky and I'm still learning the skill sets required for that. I mount my own skins from bulk rawhide (so not actually tanned) but I don't actually make the rawhide from animal skins... that's a lot of work on a non-industrial level and there are some health concerns when it comes to working with (especially imported) fresh animal skins. Many of the (nonterrorist) cases of anthrax reported involve folks making their own drum heads, so I just use commercially cured cow skin from the USA for the latin drums and buy pre-made drum heads for the African drums, which are usually water buffalo, goat or some sort of deer.
the sound quality is great,,, i can almost see/feel the bending/vibrating of the skin,, do you make,, tan etc your own skins?,,, this has a wonderful warm quality,, great piece
I heard the style somewhere but you perfected it. Thanks for uploading.
Phenomenal - almost, pheromonal!!
i played this in college. fun.
@ Dave: thanks for listening! This recording is 8 tracks, consisting of 2 (stereo) bass drum, cowbell, clave, chinese blocks, and 3 tracks of various sized conga drums playing their parts. Traditionally it is performed by a group of percussionists, which I would *love* to assemble- but that rarely is possible for me to do where I live. Perhaps I should move to Africa.
Thanks Norm, I posted the lyrics. Now then on to this great groove, Yeah baby thats really moving isn't it. Is this one track or a few tracks overdubbed together? I am moving every part of my body to this groove.
Absolutely brilliant.
Great brilliant top job mate.
@ Jarvis: Ha! I'm vocally challenged, but to hear the lyrics, go here: http://alonetone.com/vaisvil/tracks/walk-with-sorrow-norm-rick-chris-emily
Cool job ...but hey lyrics and no vox ?
Yet another good one. I love how you always post the style and a bit of history with each track. It always helps me understand the song better.
excellent! I like the way the congas answer each other.
Great stuff Norm! I must make some time to jam with some of your tracks
Beatiful!
Comments made by Norm
Awesome.
They tell me that "do not be afraid" is the most common scriptural command. This song is a beautiful reminder of that. Many thanks.
I can add nothing more than agreement to all of the preceding wonderful comments. Many thanks.
The harmonies are perfect and the lyrics fantastic... very profound and comforting.
Many thanks, Launched! It is always a blast working with ReefWalker.
Excellent! A loop pedal - how fun! Nice work here!
Nice Calypso beat!
I love your steel guitar work...
Very soulful. Well done!
Wailin'! I like how you end the song on the same pitch as the dial tone. "I'm out of here!"
Stunning.
This is a true piece of history, in more ways than one!
I'm really glad you posted this one. I love the sax work...
I just love this one...
Solid.
You must be surfing in California. You may find the temperature more appealing in Hawaii or Central America! ;) Thanks for listening!!
Ha! I agree - in fact I'm fairly certain that it is an unalienable right for all; but you've got to be very good about the sunscreen.
This DOES rock. Great concept, too.
You two did a great job with this. Tabla jazz - yes!
I must agree with Savage. Wendy's background voice is wonderful and really makes this one drift. I just love that. Well done.