"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…
There are a bunch of bass tracks going on here. Headphones help pick out what's going on. This one came to me leaving Taos on the drive back to Phoenix, coming down out of the canyon. I suddenly became conscious of a disturbing dream from the…
Deadlines, freeways, appointments, things to do lists, expectations, getting older, not enough hours in the day to get everything done? ..... make each day and moment count! Thanks to Dave Matthews for a lick I threw in there. Enjoy!
title is self-explanatory, past tense however.
i really wanted a song that had the flow, emotional intensity and unpredictability of an ocean. perhaps that's a bit cliche.
done over the period of two months in a little dark room with an…
*apology for the artifacts
so this was a song sitting around for a while, didn't know what to do with...common occurrence. anyways, i wanted to create a song that had a bit of a 'grainy' vinyl feel to it, with nice, slightly distorted highs…
Its my first attempt at writing a piece for piano. I think this would probably best be played by two players..
if I ever write out the piece on paper, it might have to be so.
I would value any of your comments greatly, as I greatly want to improve…
My second attempt at writing a piece for solo piano. Quite obviously the inspiration were Philip Glass Steve Reich and Terry Riley.
I hope you like it.
Ha! I couldn't believe it when I heard this. I've got to tell you that I have played this very pattern on my congas many times - it is the quintessential consonant (i.e. congruent, enharmonic) 1.5:1 polymeter – aka 4 vs.6. The higher pitched piano notes playing 6 beats/bar and the lower (basically) 4 beats/bar. "The 4 pushes the 6 like a gorilla pushing a swing". It is easy to get lost in patterns like this because it can be listened to from the vantage point of either the 4 or 6. One of my favorite examples of this effect is "Carol of the Bells". Nice work.
This is our little bundle of joy now grown up to be 10 years old. She took up the flute this year at school and this is her first effort in front of my microphone.
She decided on the flute after watching some vids of Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull…
As the song says, this is a song I wrote for the RPM Challenge. I simply took my actual experience beginning at 12 midnight on February 1st, and a couple or three hours later I had my first song. The player takes away the intensity of this track…
Jarvis, yes it does have a "Wipeout" sound to it - I was trying to get that sort of vintage surf music feel into a drum pattern. Now if I can only find a guitarist to do that quick decending "doodle-loodoo-loodle-loodle-loodle-loodle-loodle" surf guitar lick at the very beginning... what in the world do you call that cool sound anyway?
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
Very spooky indeed!
Nice jam!
Wow! Fantastic!
Outstanding!
Excellent!
Groovy!
This is my personal favorite of all your beatiful pieces. Well done!
I'll bet that this beautiful concerto is an absolute treasure to your daughter.
Beautiful.
Debussy was truly one of the pioneer rock stars... thanks for illustrating that for us!
Massive. Nice work!
Your best yet! Awesome!
Way cool. Man, that's a lot of tracks!! Epic.
I find it fascinating that your first attempt at writing a piece for piano is in 7/8 time signature! Cool beans!
Ha! I couldn't believe it when I heard this. I've got to tell you that I have played this very pattern on my congas many times - it is the quintessential consonant (i.e. congruent, enharmonic) 1.5:1 polymeter – aka 4 vs.6. The higher pitched piano notes playing 6 beats/bar and the lower (basically) 4 beats/bar. "The 4 pushes the 6 like a gorilla pushing a swing". It is easy to get lost in patterns like this because it can be listened to from the vantage point of either the 4 or 6. One of my favorite examples of this effect is "Carol of the Bells". Nice work.
Nice work, Nina! My 12 year old son plays the flute as well, and Ian Anderson is a huge hit around our house too. Great collaboration.
Hilarious! Well done! **drooling**
Those must be space pants, because this is out of this world!
I must admit that I actually WAS singing along! Good one!
Jarvis, yes it does have a "Wipeout" sound to it - I was trying to get that sort of vintage surf music feel into a drum pattern. Now if I can only find a guitarist to do that quick decending "doodle-loodoo-loodle-loodle-loodle-loodle-loodle" surf guitar lick at the very beginning... what in the world do you call that cool sound anyway?