SOUNDbOARD

vol.1gt'to.+
SOUNDbOARD
<lr AMERTcA
cLrrAR r-oLrNDA-r-r<lN
+oth Ai.lnrvrns,qlygn - zo11
T
l
tecnn'q
u
e
I
'Vho's Drinkinp and\I/hot
Paying?" - Conversations about Duo Technique with
Someof Today'sLeading Eosembles.
by Trary
AnneSnirh
I r€menber heding lulian GEy describehis inpressionwhen
he first heard Ron Pead (a wonderful player and composerwho becme hn duo panner) perforn in lep clss, "'ftatt who I wan! ro
play with." The sameconvicrionsrruckme, when I heardmy duo
pdmer Rob MacDonald in rhe mid 1990s.Id facr, as a srudenr,
I rarherdmidly approachedhim ro {k ifhe would play duo wirh
"Oh,
me.
I don'r knoq" he said, (in ihat concernedaounding voice
"No.") "Playing
that usuallymeans,
in duo is like getiing narried."
Abour ten yearslarer, I visned Toronto. and inspired by a SoloDuo
concerr ar which we were seated together, Rob succunbed to rhe
relepadicmessage
I silendysenrhim throughoutthe 6ar halfofthe
'Ark
conceri:
me !o plai duo wirh you." Inrermissioncane aDdhe
said, Ir's rco bad you dont live her+we could play duo." Elared,
"He,
I imnediarelyreplied,
I don'rhavero live herel"ChromaDuo
had begun.
Grert duos shareno.e rhan jusr an rmniry for eachorhe.'splayingi ai some point in .heir lives, rhe playeB have often smdied wirh
nutual teachers,have dneloped a connon approach to technique,
Above:
Tracy
AnneSmithwithpartner,
RobMacDonald,
ofChromaDuo.
and have reacheda similr view on musical values. In the following
conversations,players from some of ny favorire duos shared rhen
Before dre rchearsa.l-Gngqing
approachro blending lheir individual concepn of rechniqueand
nusicianshipinlo rhevoiceof rheirensenble.
however, one musr know not only his or her own parr bur also be
fmiliar wi$ rhe orhe.'s,and borh must havea ideaofwhar the
Chooshg the right partner
piecewillsound like u a whole. SrysMeng S! ofthe Beijing Duor
"Vhenever
we leun a ns piece. the first srep is o leun our own
p a , r w e l . A r k u l J t i o n . r r c w h a ,w c 6 n d . e i i l y i n p o , u n ( i n L e r m \
vlen Rob and I forned ChronaDuo, we joined d eve.
growing list of long-dismnceduos. The increaling pBalence of
rhese qes of ensemblesspeal$ ro rhe fact rhrr playing with rhe
righr peson is worth rhe lravel rime, ha$le, and rhe rcsuhingintense rehearsalschedulewhen 6nally rogethec \I4erher neu or fu
from your parrner, rhe conmonaliries rhar form rhe foundetion of
your inirial inspirarionro parrneBhipnusr be nurured rhrcugh
rehedsal.Sdrgiotusad, who pla)s in duo with his brorher Odai!
comnentedon thn requirement.
"My
broder Odair Dd I had rhe adrdrase of growing up
rcgerherand being able to sharerhe samekind ofeducarion wirh
ihe same eachers,merhodsad so on," sals S6rsio, rhough he
"Though
caurions:
growing up togerheris a good sadng poinr, ir
is nor enough-and ir doesn'i mem you can skip rhe long houn of
practicing.
ofensenble. so that we decide hoserherl in rhe 6st srage."tu dtic,
ulation can be dimcult ro chdge afier a piece gels inro rhe 6nge6,
ir's essenrialto comnDiate
wirh your parrner on how you her
the musical naterial, and ro make prcvnional decisionson how you
are going m arlicularethemes,recurrenrinorivesand rheir acconpdimen$, and aoy kind of mrerial rhat is tradedback and forrh
beween pans,beforebeginningworkon your parr.
As such, leli-hand fingering srrategiesmusr be decided durins
this 6rst phue, oa in sone nore ex$ehe cales,one memberof$e
ensemblemay finger borh pfis. For example,ar a very busy iine
during my docmrare,my reacherManuel Barueco suggesred
rhar
my panner do the fingering on borh our parc. Since ny pariner's
approach would be consisrenrrhroughour the piece, and u fingering conveysboth tone contol and arriculalion,more time would
be savedthan just rhe tine eachwould speodpurring in provhional
fingerings.
20
Soundbord Vol. J9 No. +
m.guirrfourdarion.org
pans together
Ofcourse, a cohnirnenr 19l€arnirg onet put well is crucial;
Above:
odakAssad,
lefuandS€rglo
Assad,
riqht,theAssad
Brothe6.
Mericuloudypracticinga pan tha! soundsfine on its own md
ghr,ofAmade!s
Kirchhoif,
GuitarOuo.
Abov€:DaleKavanagh,
lefuandThoma5
conpleiely wirh rhe orher paftnert decisioos
rhenlinding ii clashes
rt rhe 6nr reheanalis an obviouswasteof rime ?nd elrort. Trink
unpanella Engetiryrerns singlestrjngs,or openposirionreNusup
"Nores
the neck.
rhar belongto rhe samenusical tenure shouldbe
pldyedin $e samesrringareas,sa/sS6rgioA.sad
pe.fo.manceseasierand more productive.Marking enrnncesmd
solo sectionsis valuable.Decidingwhich notesaci asnusical pillars
aremorefree
ard needro be absolutelyrogether,md which passages
can
,lso
heip
guide
your
irdividual
pracricemd
and o.-"a-enral,
tught-hand rechniquesako need ro be discused and agleed
SdrgioAssadcallsthis'lone accuncy.
upon to achievecoherence.
"Some
peopleplay using rest srokes, others use free srokesr
The rehea'sal schedule
sone play closerto the bridgeand othen closerto the sound hole.
ftis varietyofsoundsk quilervelcomein a broaderpiciureofguirar
Iri imporialr ro reheareasmuch as posible. llough daily is
best,itt nor alwaysposible unles the nemben sharea familial or
ensrmblq however,dependingon the conrert of a piece.the sane
kind ofarticulationshouldbe rpplied.Asound producedwitha rest
Dor ledt Fortheir
mariralbood. The BeijingGuitar Duo, celebrared
rechnicalprowes, conductsrhree-hourreheanalstwice a week.Les
toke hu norebody than the onewith a freestroke,end in $e cse
of noes rhar needrhe sameweight when plLrckedtogetherby rwo
FriresM6duses,anotherlongdistanceduo madeup ofrhe mutmlly
Aver and BenoitAlberr,makeup for $eir inability
brillianr Randa-ll
playen,rhesenoresshouldbe playedusingthe sametecbnique.
ro neer in person in a revoludonary way, through techrologti. Says
Prep&ing 'our s@re
Mainraining rhe sane scorefrom rehearal ro p€rformanceis
mostefrcient, so advancervork to makea scoteperformanceready
"Ar
we live in ditreren!countfies,we use drum nachines d
mems ofhoning our nusical ided when we cmi reheareface+oface.Our.epertoireconsisisof folk musicfrom aroundthe wodd, so
assoonar posible can be rdvmtageous.SaysThomasKirchhoFof
the AmadeusGuitar Duo: ns we play from music.we haveto preparelhe mrric so that we dont havepageturns, so *e usuallycut
the voicesand put rhen on cardboud lhat is a lirde larser lhan
lccer-size."In ChronaDno, we maderhe leapfrom papetscoresto
u electronicscore-an iPadand AirTurn as both music standand
60r pedalm run pagesvinually,and a programcalledForscore!o
displayand mark up rhe nusic (ihough one can .]so scana paper
scorc).]]re be"efirof th. .lectronicscoreis ihat ir is bothelesntand
sn:ll, md thereforeunobrusiv€;no pagetLlrns,and no hugebarrier
berweenrhe audiencedd ihe duo. Still other duosnemoric !hei.
pans;the Beijing Duo recommendsvisualizationto help menorize
duo music,just * one would do for a solo concen.
Vhen working with particularlyrhythmicallyconplex music,
wriringyour pa.mer'srhyihm aboveyour own pan (assimplestemt
can darifi the interplay between pans, a"d make rehearals and
Above:BenoitAlbert,leh,andRandallAve6,right,ofLesFr6rcsMEduses.
w.guitarfoundation.org
somdboddvol.
39 No. 4
2l
Conversations About Duo Technique . . . (continued)
rhevirtual drunnerseems to be anaturaldiension ofthemusicwe
chooseto play.Irom an interpretiveangle,drum filesgive immediate clarificationto the score'ssnucrureand sere asa r.emendously
precisediscusion templare.It hassfetchedour idex and forcedus
to *olve in our technique,interp.erarionand ensembleplaying."
As such, Les Frnresusesrhe p.ogrm DoggieBox ro creare
p.acdcefiles around Lheirentire dlo reperioire.Atier m,l<ing d
inidalmap ofeechscore.borhmenben naleadjusmens to the 6Le
u n r i l ' h e 1 h r v e e p r e . i , e l yd e n i e d J n d . o l r b o r a , i v ei n r e r p r e r i v e
"Many
plm. As Aves states,
musicalquestionsare resolvedin the
process:empo, rubato, accelzrd,l, ardculaiions. \re becomequickly
faniliar with the macrostrucrure."Paticularly usetulis rhe abiliry
Abov€:Susana
Priero,lefu
andAlexG
^4u2urakis,
riqhi,of Duol,lelis,
cisely.Thus, rhe programbecomesa kind ofan ultra-malleable
and
'Ihey
music.l metonome, and interprerivetool.
dont needto have
as time goeson, sometimesjusr re6.idg, sonetimesbecomingrolally ditrereni \(/e hren io each other's breaihing to nake sure we
are really rcgerher Mosr of rhe dne we jlllt go with rhe flow' ad if
a rehearsal
scheduleassuch.aslong aseachpanner can spendtine
nusically we are rhirking rhe sme, the notes will go rogethec
to cearea quantifiedralaro throughmanipulatingrhlthm very pre-
Ensemblescan glean when their partner will play bared on
with the 6les and with the guitar
keenlyobservinghis breath,the subdemotions of his right hand
as ir iniriaresa moveheni, or the left * it completesa shifr.These
As iD pesonal daily pracrice,ir can be bene6cialro srarrwith
'As
focusedtechnicalwork
a guift duo is avery particuLar
ensemble
w l ' i . h o f t e nr c q u i r ea. ' e D . o m p a . r' o u n d a . o n e i n r r r n e n t . w e
lecommendinregraringin daily pracricesomevery simpleexercises
ftr rhe right hmd, to be playedtogedrerby rhe duo, which focus
conpletely on soundprojecrion,"s,ys SusanaPrietoofDuo Melis.
This cd progressro playing scalestogether,with the aim ofperiicdy
sub e cuesareles obviousthan noddingor neeting eyes.dd also
areofrennore reliable.Ofcoune, cuing and synchronizingcm also
be donethroughdireced expre$ivebody movenenl
F.eai'lyheatingwhx yot and your panner are doing h one of rhe
thar duo pmnen face.As
most difliculr (aodhumbling!)challenges
ir solo pracrice,ir can be rempring!o ger lo$ in lhe beautyofwhar
one is doing in one\ mind, and not realiz€until one is onsageand
natchingsound.Sirringin rhe sam€configumrionand proximiryas
lisredinghyper-criiicallyrhat the duo is not enctly together One
you will in conceri during every rehearsalprovides you with opporruniiiesto pracricecuing,and to get usedto the anglesatwhich you
hr ro atmosrfool the brain by Bking awayrhe exc€ss
sound.Says
"\X4r€n€ver
Duo Melisr
lhereis a virtuosicpa$agewith rhyhnical
can besrseeyou. parrne.shandsfor sFchronizing.
"During
Meng Su conments:
rehea.sal,
we dncussand experi-
complications.we like io isolatethe pusageand practiceit while
danping d,e soundofthe strinsswith a dorh. This nakes ir easier
nent wirh ihe musicalideas.fte inrerpretarionconsrandychanges
ro lhrenjusr ro rhe aftackdd therebyfigureoutwhich noiesarenoi
However,ensembieis not the only thing to lisienfor:
"onegreat
echnique lhar Michael and I useis to record our rehearals," saysDrew
Hendenon of the Hendenon-Kolk Duo. "Jre dont use snyding
fancy-sonednes
jus d iPhone will do. when we can devote all
oFour arrenrionto simplylisrening,we alwayscatchsonethingwed
like ro change.whether irka balanceissueoruncleararricularion,the
recordingmediumwill alwaysre"ealsomerhingthat needsinprovenent, and somednesii's an elemenrrhat is completelyunupeced."
lrs lrcres M€duses also employs technolog to ma11zetheir
"Olien
we perforn with closeniking, eithe.6r
ensembleplayingr
the purposeofampli$ing or live recording,so we arepushingour
Listeningfor balanceis crucialas well. Get rid of the soloist
'A
habi$," saysSirgjo Assad. soloistis usedto controlling*pects of
the soundon his own.\X/hn playingfor ihe nrsi rimewith, parrner,
Abovq Men9Su,left,andYamenq
Wanq,rlqhi ofBeljlnqGuitarDuo.
22
SoundboddVol.39No.4
w.glitdfoundatiotr.org
playersnornally edy the sme atiitde rowardstheir own ptaying
reallyfeel relded and in-lune onsage unrit weve done someform
of improvisarion.As for rhe more traditionalsecrionof rhe concerr
program,we lake specialcarein both seLecting
rhe right tempo and
crearingclearperformancecues."
ChromaDuo is somewherein berween:we feelrhar playingon
snge n nor an attemprro repli.ae rhe besrperfolnancewe did in
rhe practicerconj n is more an anempt to createthe samecondi,
rioDsor mindses lhar enabledus ro do our best,and ro keeprhe
vivid spontadeirylhar can happenin private.Pe$ir Qeku (of ]}io
Elogiowith PedroRibeiroRodriglesand TomislavVukii) describes
"l
ihink rhar rhe ideaof tag.t erz$r in chambermusicis indeed
aspoeticasirsounds.I havenoticedthroughnyexperienceofplay,
Aboverl',4ichae
Kol! eft,andDrewHendetson,
rightolHenderso.-Kotk
Duo.
and simply dont lisrento their parrners."He srggestsa rhird person
in order ro doublechecklhe balancebesveenplaye6.SdrsioAsad
ingwith Ped.oaddTomislavrlrarir talesmorerhanpracticeto really
be rogerheiI 6nd ir very inporiant m undesrandrhat you haveto
do nore than rhe be$ you can in order ro be logerher' in chadber
'here
alsosharedhis rhoushtsoD developing/,rrl, in duo playidg.
'The
nosr chalLenging
rhing is usirg ihe /,ra, lechnique.lrt
quiie common m seesone new duo parrnersptayingquire srimy.
ofhusicians playingensenblemusicare linked in an onusualwa)-.
This is no surprise,bu! ir is how4er, a scienrincprcofrhar ifboth
The Hexibilirywirh tenpo requiresa conplee underranding of
rour parmer dd requiresyearsand yearsof ptacricingtogetherA
n u . i , r i n . r r c r n r h c r i g h rn n d * r . . l - e r er a . o n n e . r o r - : r e r plainableto dris day bemeentheir brainsrhar will help rhem play
rhis n drar one ofrhe playes takesthe lead
sood way of rehearsing
Jnd applieshis own pesonalrubatorcaprticrlar secrion,rhe orher
playermus ry !o foflow as closelyaspo$ible. when you consider
rhar you have aclieved a good resuh, inveft rhe process.In lhis way
unisons,chdge temposand dynamis rogeder,even/,rrla in rlle
Im sore all chamber musicianswill recognizethar blesed
monent wher you deciderc follow your insinct and rabaroin a
rou giveeqlal opporruniiiesto eachindividualapproachto nbato,
wayyou hadnt beenreheaEingand you realia rhat your pannersare
rDd aftera while you mighr find a comhon ground."
Duo Melis echoesrhk idea: For us, rhe mo$ imporranrihing
nhcr perfoimingonsrageasa duo is to expres rhe nusical idea5as
right therewirh you.It doesin i way resroreyou.fairh h humaniry
.rrcnglyand asclearlyaspossible.To arlve ai rhn poinr, ir is really
,rnportanrm respecieachoL\er! husical ideas,and nanage ro be
' . b l ee n o L 8 h, o a d i u . r, o J , F e r c ns a y . o t p n , r . i i g .
havebeensomescientincstudtesshowingrhat the brains
However,in order ro deseNe$at momenr-work hd ro be
dobe. Fnsr of all ir\ impossiblefor your pannersto follow you,
i r - h e y d o r r k n o " r o u r p a r . W \ " r h e l p .u . a , r ' r i o r p u c r i c i n g
Clearly,one penons a/aro cant conpleiely dominarerhe rehcasalione musrrry ro srayopento diFercnces
aswell assiinilariries
n uDdersrudingmd inreryreringmusi..
Concot Perfomance
Chanber musici.nsdiffer in the amountoffreedom theyajlord
:h€mselves
in inrerprerationin performance.
On one side,yor have
R B e i i : r gD u o . k \ o h m r h . i r . \ p e ,i n e n r ' , o r h ep r , I c r . o o m .
r)n srage,somerimes
we feelihe needio refinesomespors,but ir is
nlv in rhe pracriceloom wherewe nake chmges,"saysMens su.
)rhes, like rhe Meduses,rhrow caution to rhe wind, bur only in
'We
progtamtiee or gencrarive
inp.ovisador inro eachofour
.,ncdrs.ci.cularinsaround a broadspectrumofnusical etenents:
.onrareousmotifs, balance,colo6. polyrhrhmic rextures,and dis,nanceand resolurion,amoig orher rhings.Veve done rhis now
. r 1 0 0u m c .i n . o r . e r n d i t r j u . , J p l e r , u K . o r
Above:IrioElogio(leftto righ0:TomislavVukiia,
Pedro
Rib€no
Fodrig!es,
w.guitarfoundation.org
Soundbo dvol. 19 No. 4
23
Conve$ations About Duo Technique ... (conti"ued)
slolly *,irh our earsconcenrraredro eachothcr'spens. Thar s,ay
we can ako unddsrandrvhich pa.! is more imporraDriD d cerrain
monenii as Cro.rial rvisdonrs.ys, Y/e realizervho\ paying,and
Beyondthe Ens€hble
Its ruer plavingin r duo is i lor like geiringma.ricd.\(/hilc ir's
ihpo.ianr io work togerher,ir's iusrasimporrento haverimc rpjn.
ft: besrro spenddme wirtr vour duo piftner rh ;nt iu$ work, and
ro haveifferensand musicrlenjovmenrbcyondrheduo evenptayirg in ensemble$,idr
orherpeoplc.D.le Kavanagh(AmadeusDuo):
''Ensenble
playing is ahvrrs a dilftrcnr rnd !
€nce,and, with e\rry pe6on, ir is dillerent.Thercfore.it\ grearro
h.ve a duo thlr can deyelopro whareyeri.'ill bccomeby dotng,
doing, doing, bur ar dre samerimc iL is ve.y impordnt ilso ro ptay
wlrh other peoplc dnd etre,nblcsto re lnd fcel the orher rvays
ofdoing, doine. Like a rcla rnship, wc will ncve. Dak flresme
. x p e r i , r . < r i r h . , n o trrt or o r c r r c n t , L h. , { \ y e , ( \ \ I n r q u e
so expcrierceeach odrcr ftel eacli odreri rhyrhnic, nelodic,
.rriculare approachand seervhat happetu. Playingrvirh ditierenr
musicianskeepsone fteshrnd on onc! toesand will help kep rtre
cstablished
duo alivemd rvell.
'lhc
bond you mal<cdrough succ.sful reheusas,kcorq,nss,
rnrt concertpcrtornrncesrvhereyou connccrir thar magicrl,telepadric w4r is pr€ciousand worrhivhile.By obscNing.soodr€ch
niquesand keepnrgyour .elationshipin halancc,yoft duo can str;,
vigorous.rvh€ihcrFu a.e deali|g $,ith loDgdistan.e,or afe down
. l - e . r ( , l r o n u i I n o , , . r \ a g i o L - J l - r J - * o r p . n p e .i \ e :
'A
rtrong as dre personalirics
dre,ifrhey mrnxgero so ovcr a subsrandalsuerchofdne wiihour haviig I big tishr, a reftfkabte duo
appeamand rvillevennrallvshine.
Ttdcy Anne smith tt a menbet of the Torcntaba5ed entenble,
ahrcnaDua.she w.s jotned h ttlit dtti.te by the fatlatuinlgunorjsts:
SitgiaAsad .rfDtloA$otl iEtotil):RonddllAve$,ai Le\f riresMaduses
tN.tvlay/Fran.eIPetit (eku af Iia Elagiolcrcatia)iDtcw Hen.tetsan
ot Hendetsan
KalkDuo (Canadd);
Thantatlfichat'fandDateKdvonagh
at fhe Ano.leusGuitatDuo l6etn).ny/Conadd);
Ale,isMu^nkjs and
su'and P eta af Dra !4elislsp.nt/6rce.e);Menq 5u of The Beijjng
GutaI DLro(Eeitin9/Baltiorc).
24
Soundboard Vol. 39 No. .i
wlry.guitalforndation.org
2013 GFA Convention Review (conti"uru/
Scon ltnnanr's cla$ was.prly locusedon t",/r1,. A poftbn of
rheexercises
he discussed.2n
be found in his rcchniqucbook,?,,?
,B -^/_),/,,.
SindTennmt, The sandafd cla$ical,?,ola (p t ,t i) A
e$enriJilrm d?.gu on one srring.I\,e lound
ar pcoplervho|ave
rouble with tr.u,/,, almosracro$ rhe boxrd.alm hI€ troublekeeping lp .r sr.ad!-p n ,] i tulKt,. So we $ork on drc a?igalos 6N,
rnd usuJly I finJ thr thq+e nor inco+roririDgz,7,.Kqatrc thrir
'the
tolloivingr.n
cxccfprfiom Scon\ handourbasedon rhar
connccrionbcsrccn ,'.,r,/, and d?gr. Y/hen doing drn cxercisc
(ligure 4), S.otr urgesphrers to keeprheir handsrcad}1 especiJ\,
rvnh Legard
to the thumb,asir is drc mdin cruseoftrny imbalance.
He
alsocmphisizcdkccpingrheroneconsntentbenveenall the 6nger.
Above:Cavatina
Duo.
(ofroLks like 'GLanada."Tomdilh." rnd t.a naj.
andanangemenrs
d . r , o , .r ' , * ' . * , l i ' e t l n , .
ro"€,
..1.n.,n,, .
1,,.," -.ti.grir'
" l-lgtrt"ente.RiniDgs.rr ro chdber nusic ar this
ligar. 4. 1/i",,1,cxcrcn..
Irter in their aftcuroonconccrr,Lesfrires Mldusesprovidedr
vrried piog.am of modcm atul nvenrierh-ccDrury
workr. Beginning
Hlppy pracri.ingl
rvidran cxccllcntfrccinprovisarion,the duo p.esenred
a combinarion
oioriginrlslrks brborh A\rn andAlbctr,somcofdre berer known
works for guirar duo likc Brourver!Mi.to Pidt and Ma.E^das
rn theerrlydaltof silenrfitm, audienccs$,outd
frcqu.ndychoof
a rhearrebasednor on rhequaliryofrhcscreenor comfbrt.fiN chai6,
rs one night suppose,bur rarheron drc rcpdri'ioD of rhe rccon
parying orgdr or piaDoplayer Crowdswould flock rc rhe mon tal
enredimprcvise.in orderguaRnrccdremosrcngrgingand sdslaing
experience.
Conrnrunrgdw silentfiln kaditbn, RandallAversand
Bcnoit Albcn, of la Fri6 Mddus6, havecElred original nuic
lnagot do Nodcstc,a gtar mixcd meierddn.efroh Ou.kou?ouno\r
and more,all to high acchim.
l'erouing such a largc nurnber of inrern bnal aftk$, yisa
, , u , t e . ] J " \ . , , , , r J - " . , , , b o , , , , d, k , , . . o . " " , € " n i . .
dor.l dilemnrs. Zonn Dulda hxd originall).beenschedulcdto gile
the openibger€ningconce.r,and aft€rsom€shuffiing.CavatinaDuo
war oHiged b rlnrosrdouble rhe iengfi of drcir progrm in order
to 6ll ar otni4
spor rvhichdrevdid elTorrlcssl),,
and widr no small
amounrofreasingDukia foLliis nLdhes.
A husbind rnd.vife duo composedofDeDisAzibasicand fla!risr Eugeoi.Molinea tbey coftbibed somesolo guir.r works (ir is a
guirarfenivJl frer rll) s,ith a prcg.amofchambersorks from Bxch
rnd T:kemitsu.senrulwotls dedicared
ro Civarinabv MiroslavTadic
andAlan Ihornas,alorg rvidrsomeineviiaL,le.
and hunorous,marital
r n b - r . . ( - n ' o . l e . , r l ' u o r . Bs r l l - d p . r . o r J i r i .
I askedEugeni. and Drnis hos rhen marriagesuNivcsdrcir
reherrsals.
Iueenia responded.he is vct' $roqjnnrded, like I m,
rnd ofcou.se our ideascollideand rvc tdol hx\r arguftentsabour
musicand rh€waywe approachit ... rvcsarr fron rcry differenridcas
end perspectives,
but at thr end rve meersomcrvhcrc
in dre middle."
Denisdescribed
rhisasbcnrgi vcrv positive.sprcrofrhei..ehearsak,
Abov€:Lei FrCrerMdduses.
58
Soundboa.d vot. 39 No.4
s/gry. guitarfound.tion.ory
Starobin, David (with Mdi Yoshinaga
L6 Frires Miduses (BenoitAlbert and
od Ddiel Diuckmm, percussion,and
Rmdall Avers,guitars).
Modefl Gtitb
D"ets.
Guitar
\i',trk\ br hrnolic, Llogdrforlt', 1&h,rlo.
i J , o u $ c r\ r n b . r n d L h .i t r i r t r .
( l L r i N o t I i 5 7 . 1.,l 0 l . l .
br-
t.iu nt tht,iit Dn trur.\\/odis b\ r\'ciVv. no..
,^ll).,r/Lrbo ., IlrcuNcL,inrl ln,q.hnolia.
N o t e se n s r , c L ,n o n r n i b c r 'l,r l 1 0 . l N i S ! l I ) \ / 1 ) )
lhe CD here is r delecrable
disc. Bcnoit Albert and Randall
"JellyfishBrothen.
AversareLeslrires Miduses.Ycs,drisrnc.Dsrhe
No, lin not going ro ell you aLJoutdteir nane, you car Googleir.
Patick Mdon, baritonc).
Neu M6t u;th cdta'r Vol. 8.
\ \ / o r s b v \ r r r o b l n .t . r n s k r l t u r l r n ,r n r l
a l ,u . , b . l i r ( l s c l t . . o i l s i ) 1 0 1 .l 0 l i .
BridgeRccods iDkhrablesetiesN.a Mati.llith CritdtMclls
highlighringmajff works
irs eighih iteodon wirh dris porveLfuldisc
by Prul Lanskyand CeorgeCmmb rnd substantialoncs by Poul
Rudes (i Bridgelavodre)and Drvid Statubinhimsell Lcadirrgrhe
progranris ilrc.rrisis orvn Vnintioh' o, z th,n. b| Cnl Nitlf,.
Fo. an performerofrcn identiFedwith the ruant gr r, St.robin thc
*ell. with absolLne
ft is enoughro knorv dur rhcy play exceptionally
rechnicalsccuriry,and lL*les crscmblc.Mary ofthervorksue frcm
composeris remarkablyconservrdvehere.Nonciheless.rhe work r
ve4 crjorablc and hr fiom anachrobisticsounding.His cxplora-
eastcmEuropeand tiaturerhe infe.riousmixedmerersotthc rcgion.
The duo soundsas lf rhey haveliverl this srylefrom infrncy.All of
rion ofthe Nielsenrhcmcis ofien quite beauriful,rnd I pditicolarly
enjorcd the tenutes ernploycd.l)aul l.aml$r subtantial (18 25 )
/'rlrrz lbr guitrr and pcrcu$ioDis quire sinrplr iresisiiblt. fts iour
dresepicccsare 6ne, bur Dusan Bogdrnovi.'szoologicallvrcdunda Na Featha\o, )is Flzg ard AranasOurkouzounovs.E ,td;u
B griu
^tc especiallyiresisriblc. Of tht remeining works,
Z.u hrre reler soundcdbctrq rcminding the
Mru
BLouwer's
lisrcncr drat akhough the rvorls nrv lt very bricl, rhcy ate srill
Th€ duo (rviih colliborxros in eich casc)
aesrherically
sophkricared.
alsoappearrs cornposer,and thq afe verv eFe(ive. Excerpsftom
Arers' 12 SiIl Sougtfat 12 .t/, .srt,isr ire not eMcdv sil[ but are
cenainlvcharning. I prrricularlycnjoycdthc nostalgicAnniversrrv
Song.'AlbcrtslisoZnrlna Rrnpiece,mercifullrbrsednot on fttud,
ro!s.lnlerspercdamongthe.onposcd
bur nth* dre buildiDg-block
rvhichire ohen(though
worksft (noreor les) improviscdinrerludes
nor rlways)efticriveand anra.iivemerns of xrticularilg drc tormal
.orp..i
r.. Re."rJed
o u , d I g o o d . ' , , d , , , 1 o , 1 . ' , ' e n o (n. '", .
movemcnrsmosrlytakerheir forns from drncesofa baroqucsuite,
bur rhe pieceis no neo biroque rri{te,bur mrhera iiesh an.l inven
tive explorarionof the magicalsoundsptodrced by dre guitir lridl
a largebtrer) ofpcrcussion instmments.ft indudes r wonderful
syncopred Allemrnde amd. ip-roaring Cigue s.hi.h soundsrr
rimeslike a hoc-downin ourcr sprcc.(vhen you get rhe dnc }'oull
.ee.rrr
m n r . , r . r r o b r r r: . r o r n e r i i . a rJ l - i . p f l r e r .p e r .r . . i o r r
ist Mari Yoshhaga,is tully hn equal-On dre basisofhct picrurein
rhe disc insdt, I cad nor rbsolurel,rrule our her havingnore rlDn
s,o arms:she cerninlr.getsaround hcr insrrumentssuperbl)'.Rrul
Rrrdcs is /'rgcrcomefrom a group ofat lcastthineen,and, while
briel exploreinnov.rive rexruresand ideasvery rvell. l,r his notcs
'...
xll oii dre picccs.te srudiesin rhc
on thc work Srarobinwrites:
Alrhoughnavigldoncrn be r bir skcrcb),,
many comme.cialftltxses
subdean ofcrcaring a conplerc sr.rcmcnrin a very shori anount
Closingthe dnc is GeorgeCrumb's 7t. Gr,rti ,l
of timc.' Prcciselv.
'
Alhatubtu. ti{eD for for Snrobins goup Cra,y Jane. ir 6rsr
in Srdl/,r/,1, Volun.
.ppearedon their eporvmousdhc revierved
'11re
work is vcty elltctirt, some38, No. 2. Ar thar poin! I rvrote:
arenot nearlyasgood,sosceifyou can find onelllc prognn is ptt
ofrvhat is on the CD. - A Kunze
thcs sonndinglike arant gardcFlamcnco,ifone can imaginesuch
a rhing. I! is Jso a workout for the musical,vocal,end dramatic
videdin a lvell dcsigncdcco-fiiendlycase.
'lhe
live perlbrnanceDVD mav Dor bc commercialb,ivail'
rblc, bcing apparentlymore of a pronotionJ piece.NoncdreLe$ir
is vcq rvelldonewith good sound.camrn rvork.rnd vidco cditing.
skillso[drc singerrvhichn noi to sar it is r wrlk in lhc park fo. lhe
guitarisi or pcrcussionisreilherl The piece is by far thc most
nodernislvork on thc dkc, bur dos includesmomens of rhythmic dlnamnm and eerie beaurl parricularlyir fie lisr songs,
'Malaguena
rnd Memento. All of $is n sdll rrue, and the rvotk
recordingqualiryand
rvell deservcs
to appearin this seri$. Flarvless
fine lind notes. Al Kunze
$.'{.guitarfoundation.orB
SoundboardVol. 39 No..1
75