Whilst walking near a friend Kent’s home in Sweden I was inspired by the natural sounds that surrounded me. It was a beautiful early morning, and the air was very still, except for the tops of one silver birch tree where the leaves were shimmering, dancing, singing in the wind. It was a very light, high-pitched sound – delicate yet very noticeable. It reminded me of a line I had read – and the trees clapped their hands.
Since then, I have been out recording various trees, forests, woodpeckers and birds and these soundscapes provide a backdrop to this piece of music. In the first section I use log drums from Samoa, Hawai’i and the Cook Islands and Angklungs from Indonesia. Most of the instruments used throughout the track are wooden instruments and the voices are singers from Sweden, Poland, Northumbria UK and Hawai’i. I have known men and women of eighty, ninety and hundred years of age continue the practise of their lives – going from one to two miles to the seashore to join their voices with the voicing of the waves and their praises with the praises of the ceaseless sea”.
– (Carmina Gadelica – Alexander Carmichael).
Hawaiian Chant
‘O ka leo nui me ka hauoli ‘o namea ola ‘o ka honua no ka mana loa
(shout for joy all creation for great and mighty is the Lord our God!)
aia ma kona lima na wahi hohonu o ka honua; nana ho’i na waiwai o na kuahiwi e hele mai kakou, e kulou ho’omana, a e moe ho’i a e kukuli iho imua o iehova nana kakou i hana
(Psalm 95:4-5 In His hand are the depths of the earth, and mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
Percussion used:
Oeoe – HawaiianBullroarer
Angklung – Indonesia
Traditional Ethiopian Bass Drum
Lali – Samoan Log Drum
Pate – Cook Islands Log Drum
Toere – Tahitian Log Drum
Kayamba – African shaker
Pandeiro – Brazil
Dunun (Dundun) – West Africa
Djembe – West Africa
Bodhran – Ireland
Snare
Udu – Nigeria
Singers :-
Viola Grafström – Sweden
Ania Stosik – Poland
Anna Raine – Northumberland UK
Lokelani Dahl – Hawai’i
Thanks to Kevin Penner on the island of Kaua’i for bringing sparkle to the mix.
