Comments on: lullaby

lullaby

nicolin — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:59:58 -0800

I was about to depict a complex scenery, but it wasn't very popular the previous times I did. Let's say that this is one with a strange groove. Like, hypnagogic. To be more specific, let's say some fairies are gathered around a sleeper. Maybe black, african fairies. Summoned by a griot. Softly singing. Well, forget it.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:56:17 -0800

Lovely piece of work nicolin.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:36:10 -0800

nicolin, I think you've found a place where whimsy meets the finest art. This is really beautiful!

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:51:25 -0800

That's some sweet guitar playing, there, nicolin. And may I say that, stylistically, it's the kind of thing that's often too polished, with the life sort of sucked out of it. Not here, though. The playing is real and rough enough, and the timbre of that little flute or recorder or whatever is so perfect, so un-precious, if you know what I mean. Very nice! Wish the whole thing was a little longer, is all.

By: nicolin

nicolin — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:39:11 -0800

hi,
well, as usual, I didn't want it to be too polished, I think that keeping it as close as possible from the spontaneous original musical ideas is keeping it simple and alive, as you said. The flute is actually a blessing one I ordered from ebay, and is about the fifth flute I've been ordering. I think I'm going to buy a brand new one, since each flute I've been buying has some sort of flaw, this one is out of tune from the high C onwards, and the lower C, C# and D are unreachable. Anyway, I managed to make some sort of traditional flute sound with it, which was what the tune was calling for. These little phrases were recorded and I didn't want to make them sound perfect : after all, it's a lullaby, and I wanted to keep some child-like quality in the playing. Since I don't know a thing about flute playing, that sounds right. The guitar groove was my main inspiration for the tune, I always wondered how african musicians managed to create such strong grooves with a simple hand technique. Well, "dry guitar" is often real rich, and I've grown to think that the guitar itself is nothing but a medium (your cigar-box guitars link seemed to demonstrate that too). Seeing kids playing with their own hand-made guitars was an inspiration too.

By: ORthey

ORthey — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:32:38 -0800

Love the guitar on this.

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:23:25 -0800

Great song, and great explanation. It seems to me like you achieved exactly what you were after.

By: nicolin

nicolin — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:28:53 -0800

Thanks a lot.

By: Pallas Athena

Pallas Athena — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:00:37 -0800

I love it I love it I love it.

By: melissa may

melissa may — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:36:22 -0800

Thanks for reminding me of this song since I never told you how much I liked it. It's beautiful.