This missing link is the viola da gamba, originally an improvisation instrument, which happens to be able to associate with all traditional instruments of the world.
There is the manifestation, then the writing of a composition (to communicate with other musicians), and most important of all, its interpretation. In both cases, for me, it is always a question of improvisation.
For about 15 years I stopped working with chords and did only melodies, but as I still liked ensemble music I composed pieces using parallel melodies, like in The City.
I always use a special concept for a composition, as in film music.In this recording I chose the most accessible compositions, leaving too complex rhythms (9, 6, 5, 11 and 13, in the relevant order), and used almost everything I had at my disposal (Ableton Live software), a lot of vocoder. As I don´t have a midi viol, I had to put the sound of the viol through the filter of a synthesizer or sampler. And then even a wah-wah effect. Why not? said Frank.
Not being subjected to time constraints as support for images, the compositions did not have to be formatted in an acceptable way for the masses; each musical idea implies its own development, and so the pieces are relatively long, sort of symphonic poems.
The interpretation is another paire de manches (a whole different ball game). Find the musicians who can, who will, who dare, and who stay, most importantly of all modal improvisers. And keep it going. This recording reflects my ideal ensemble, and I hope to reproduce it live as soon as possible.
Sucheta Ganguly, vocal
Probir Mitra, tabla
Gaspare Sepio, keyboards & accordion
Gilles Zimmermann, acoustic & electric viola da gamba, add. keyboards, production
extra musicians: Ulli Siebenborn, berimbao, Bic Koenig, guiro
hard copy by Artmode-records - 14,90 €
Available online also on Amazon, I-Tunes, Spotify, Deezer, etc) but here the artists get all the income
A remixed version in 432 Hz is on Magnatune
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