Alrite http://www.alansondheim.org/alrite.mp3 http://www.alansondheim.org/alriite.jpg Probably as good as I'll get on the rebab, but happy with it. The sound is straightforward, no post-production. Something soothing playing the instrument, surprised on listening later. I'm fascinated and confused that I was unable to really play the rebab at all in the past, and traded it to Stephen Dydo. I returned a pipa to him, and tried the rebab again, and it was much easier, as if I'd be practicing on it all along. The only change I had is that I'd been practicing on fretless plucked instruments - the sung lisu, gambus, and hasapi, becoming used to the finger positions. On the rebab, it's difficult to see where they are; the rebab is awkward, but perhaps already having worked them out on the others helped with this. But it did seem to be a more fundamental change, as if my mind were capable of a basic intuitive remodeling. Knowing histories helps. I prefer instruments that have been played a great deal; they carry signs of usage, worn areas for example. There's an archaeology involved. I feel honored to play them. The archaeology guides me, almost as if there were spirits or ghosts imbued with the instrument, speaking again through it. One might even speak of an archaeology of the sheen of the wood itself. Doing research of course helps; I become a detective of the instrument, and through that, of its sound and perhaps its music, as it functioned within a musical community. __ _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
