Name: Bellbirds in a New Zealand Shower by Shamanator
Duration: 9 min 40 s
Description: Recorded in Ocean View, Dunedin, New Zealand during the first real shower in over two months.

I'm going to have to do something with this motif. So lovely!

Tapping into the rich musical history and folklore of Appalachia, Julia Wolfe based her text for Steel Hammer (called a “wild hybrid” by the New York Times) on over 200 versions of the “John Henry” ballad, which has been recorded by everyone from Johnny Cash to Bruce Springsteen. A runner-up for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, Steel Hammer features the alternately haunting and playful vocalizations of Norway’s renowned Trio Mediaeval, and stretches the standard instrumentation of the Bang on a Can All-Stars with wooden bones, mountain dulcimer, banjo, clapping, clogging and much more.

“Steel Hammer was inspired by my love for the legends and music of Appalachia,” Wolfe explains. “It’s a return to my musical roots in folk music, and when I wrote the piece, I looked to the breadth of musicianship in the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Trio Mediaeval was also a key inspiration, because they bring a beautiful pure sound and a real depth of emotion to the work. And last but not least, I was moved by the myriad of songsters, some known, some not-so-known, who filled my ears with their own personal versions of the John Henry ballad.”
 
Steel Hammer premiered in November 2009 at the University of Florida, and eventually made its way to Carnegie’s Zankel Hall for its New York debut. Writing for the New Yorker, Alex Ross referred to the work as “...a musical archaeology of a familiar tale — one that preserves, even enlarges, its central mystery.” In exploring the subject of human vs. machine in the quintessential American tall tale, Steel Hammer evokes a swirling gumbo of folk, bluegrass, post-minimalist and classical motifs, each referring back to the other in a call-and-response ritual that breathes new life into the legend. 

Buy the CD

Julia Wolfe - Steel Hammer: Some Say

demo 5 (drone-y)

a more subtle drone 4 yr ears sry its so quiet 

Subtle (demo)

Hopefully I add the fugue too soon... and a better rendition of this!  This one has its moments but some are just utter shit.  

J.S. Bach - Prelude in B minor BWV 544

Northern pacific tree frogs (Pseudacris regilla regilla), recorded in Bayside, California (Humboldt County) in February, 2003. The pacific tree frog may tiny (males are between 3-5 cm), but the call from one individual male can exceed 87 decibels! It is the only frog which actually goes "ribbit!."

Northern Pacific Tree Frogs

Abattoir Frigorifique de Bobo Dioulasso, 27 June 2012

Recorded with Sony PCM-D50

http://www.lorenzoferrarini.com/sounds-of-the-slaughterhouse/

Sounds of the Slaughterhouse

AMP-095. Bob Fernandez interviewed by Curtiss Pernice on January 19, 2019 in Athens, GA. 

For more information about the Athens Music Project, visit the collection finding aid at: http://purl.libs.uga.edu/russell/RBRL379AMP/findingaid

Bob Fernandez, Athens Music Project Oral History

Recorded in Ocean View, Dunedin, New Zealand during the first real shower in over two months.

Bellbirds in a New Zealand Shower

Flat, lifeless crowd. Kinda gave them some life in between wee digs at them 🥳

Christchurch 2/2/21

I love sound.  I have always loved sound. Sound has been 'here' long before 'hear.'  I believe we are cosmic nets and our unique patterns of warp and woof filters the Sound as our spirits see fit.

Bellbirds in a New Zealand Shower

Shamanator

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