Skjeggedal

Matt has been here for the weekend. He arrived from the US on thursday before I left for Tønsberg, and spent the weekend here in the apartment, meeting up with Warren and getting settled. I arrived back from Tønsberg yesterday and it has been really cool having another American around.
We decided to walk up to Skjeggedal today, along the Kaiser's Way which starts right outside our apartment here in Tyssedal. I had never been up it the whole way, so it was an adventure. The weather started out rainy, but just got better and better as we went. Here you can see the insignia that was carved in the stone to mark the path, which was the only way up at the turn of the century. This was where all the workers came up, with their horses, and where the Kaiser came up with his entourage in order to view the dual falls that have now been diverted for electric power.
We wandered up to the dam in Skjeggedal, which was built to generate hydroelectricity at the beginning of the century. All hand-cut stone. Pretty crazy. We went over to the lake that is fed by rivers off the plateau, and it was so amazingly clear - we could see 30 feet down to the lake bed near the shore. There is actually a giant intake for the hydroelectric plant below the surface of the water, and it draws the water through a 2-mile long tunnel under the mountains, coming out right above Tyssedal, around Lilletopp. That explains why no water was getting through the dam, and also why the water level of the lake was so low.
On the way down we met some German tourists, who kindly gave us a ride home in their minivan. By then our feet were pretty tired, so it was nice to have a break.

World's End

It was a beautiful day in Tønsberg. I arrived here yesterday and straight away was whisked to the youth party - the last event of the year, since school is ending for the summer. Had a great time playing volleyball, chatting, eating and reconnecting with people from when I was here last. There was an interesting game they translated as 'the block game' in which two teams have a row of blocks standing, and the object is to knock the others' over by throwing wooden pegs underhand. It's harder than it sounds. We got home pretty late and slept in this morning.
I went out to the Tønsberg center with the girls. The Mørken's cousins are visiting from England, so I wasn't the only foreigner - that's what they kept calling us the whole weekend, as a joke - the 'foreigners'. I walked up to the hill that made Tønsberg defensible, and thus part of the reason why it is the oldest settlement in Scandinavia. Not much to see, but a nice spot for a picnic if it hadn't been so windy. Mostly ruins and a memorial tower currently under renovation.
Then Knut and co picked us up and we went out to Verdens Ende - the end of the world. It's a spot south of Tønsberg out on the last island that kind of reaches itself out into Oslo fjord. If you keep going that direction, the next stop is Denmark. Sara and Knut went swimming, and the rest of us just sat on the rocks and took pictures. Fiona and Hamish agreed with me that they were rather mad to swim with it being so windy - we were cold enough out of the water! But Knut insisted that the water was probably about 17 C, so it really wasn't all that cold - I guess not, compared with the arctic ocean.
We were getting close to when I had to be at the youth meeting to prepare for the concert, so we drove home, picked up some pizza, and then went to the spot where the youth event was going to be. Discussions ensued about where they would have the concert - I deferred to Kristoffer, the youth pastor. They eventually decided to have it outside, with the hope that the wind would die down and the sun would remain outside enough to warm people up while they sat. It was a pretty good concert. A bit hard to hear myself without monitors, and eventually it got cold enough that my strings started going out of tune, but people really enjoyed it. I think next time we'll probably have it inside. =)

Hammond Organ

I just got back from a recording session north of Tyssedal, in the farm country along the fjord. That's where Geir Aksnes stores his Hammond B3 Organ (dual manual) with its accompanying Leslie amp, a trademark sound of rock, blues and jazz from the 40s, 50s and 60s. It sits in a side room of the community building there, and we went in and set up on the stage.
The roads are very steep and narrow around here, and a helicopter was transporting building materials just outside the building. Ove told me that all the farms have hunting rights up on the steppe, and that they use helicopters to travel to their hunting cabins and also to take their game out and back down to their houses. So as we waited for the helicopter to finish, we set up the organ and my recording studio and got familiar with the songs.
Geir is an electrician, and when he got the Hammond organ it was in bad disrepair. He fixed it up himself many years ago, and has since used it all over Norway. He plays in several local bands and is an extremely skilled piano player and, obviously, organist. The crazy thing about the organ is that you have to know it pretty well. You have to be able to use your feet and hands to switch buttons and press dials at the same time as you are playing chords and the bassline on either the top or bottom manual (keyboard), which I assume means you are playing two different registers or tones, though I'm sure that's all configurable in multidimensional ways. Needless to say, it's not something I can do, and that's why Geir was there.
The two songs we worked on: Living Water and Voices. After a couple run-throughs and me explaining what I wanted, we were off to the races. We got some great takes that I'm looking forward to revealing in the final mix. This album is just getting better and better. =)

Rainy Day

Today it rained all day, off and on. Here's a few pictures from my balcony, in succession, several minutes after each other. You can see the rain coming in the first, then it obscures the view (but I still have some sunshine), then it passes by and the next cloud comes into view. It was really windy too, so sometimes the rain would go sideways.
I'm continuing to prepare for Matt's arrival - doing some cleaning, sorting, and organizing. Warren has a lot of papers to go through when he gets back. I need to find a place to store the tools and finish up a couple of small tasks around the place.
I also went shopping in preparation for the weekend. I'm beginning to use Norwegian a bit more as I shop and interact with people, and I can understand more and more.
I also helped Ove set up his Myspace so we could get some songs up in a public place for people to listen to. We listened to some mixes on his surround sound system, and they sound pretty good. I have to send out an email to all my friends letting them know they can listen to them: www.myspace.com/ovedanielsen
The rest of this week is going to be pretty busy. Tomorrow I'm recording some Hammond B3 organ (with a Leslie amp), then Thursday Matt comes, and Friday I travel to Tønsberg for the weekend, where I'm playing for a youth event. Hopefully I can get Matt settled before I leave. Warren missed his flight from Frankfurt, so we're praying he arrives safely today and is able to make it to Bergen for his dentist appointment. Crazy things.
Oh, I met an Afghani on the bus on my way home from Odda. We spoke some Dari together, though he is actually Pashtun, a language which I don't know, unfortunately. My language was a bit confused, what with all the Norwegian I've been trying to learn, but I was able to communicate pretty effectively. That was really cool. I couldn't quite catch whether he was here for a long time, or just temporarily working a job before he returns to Oslo. Hopefully I'll meet him again.

Sabbath Rest

Today being sunday, and having gotten a good night's sleep last night, I hung out at home and read and played music, listened to John Piper and did a slight bit of recording. I borrowed a friend's bass last week, and just now got around to recording it on a couple of songs - Play Switch (I wasn't happy with the tone of the earlier bass) and Ove's song I Will Hope Continually. I'm not sure I'll keep the bass on that second one.
You can see me in this picture playing the bass. I relocated my desk to the living room of the apartment, in preparation for Matt's coming this week, and I think the new location is pretty nice, actually. Gives it more of an office feel when I sit down at the computer.
The bass belongs to Jan Olav Andersson, and is pretty nice. It's an old Ibanez (they like the Japanese-made instruments around here) from the 70s - an Eagle bass. Has a nice growly attack and a smooth sound and feel. I recorded direct through the Mbox and am really liking the takes I got.
I also did some laundry, the dishes, and a few other things like nailing nails into a board so I have somewhere to put all my Uncle's keys other than in a pile. I also played around a bit with GarageBand. It's a pretty cool program, but as always I have issues with it. ONly because I dual-partitioned my hard drive, though. So I had to figure out the Mac OS X file structure and copy the files onto the second hard drive so Garageband could find the loops. I don't know why they don't just have an option in preferences that lets you select WHere to look for loops, rather than forcing you to copy the files on a dual-boot system. I think that was an issue they didn't think of though.
It just started raining, so after I post this I'll probably call it a night and crash early. Tomorrow's a busy day. I'd like to watch a DVD, but that means I'd have to change the DVD region on my player, and I'm not interested yet. I need to see if I can find a player online that lets you bypass the region. Though with Mac it might be a hardware lock...

A Bad Night's Sleep

Last night I went to bed around 11:30pm. Which is normal, given that the sun doesn't really go down until 1am. What isn't normal, though, is that I lay in bed until 5:30 am before I finally fell asleep. I don't know if I was just thinking a lot (sometimes my mind just spins incessantly, but maybe I was trying to process all the norwegian I had just learned) or I had eaten the wrong kind of food just before bed (spaghetti and hamburger meat in sauce), or it was just so warm (even though I had opened all the windows), or it was too noisy outside (cars revving their engines outside the apartment at 3am and kids yelling, not to mention the birds that started up a racket at about 4am when the sun rose), or what. Kind of strange.
Needless to say, I didn't feel all that well-rested when I got up at 10:30. I then went in to Odda to record some saxophone with Ove. That was fun, but tiring. Jazz sax - a little gospel feel for the one song, and then more pop-oriented for the other. It's been great to work with Ove as a co-producer, to give suggestions and help steer the ship, as it were. Perhaps not as much creative control, but after all, it's more his vision than mine. I think we got some great tracks today - now we only have three more that Ove wants other instruments on. We have the rest of this week to record, and then the schedule calls for mixing from then on. It's good to have deadlines sometimes.

Shopping Day

Today was a shopping day. I went in to Odda in the early afternoon, brought my computer along. I returned some books to the library (2 of the 3 language courses) and did a few other things - bought some more minutes for my cell phone on the pay as you go plan. I discovered that all the language courses teach the same dialect of Norwegian, which happens to be the dialect around Oslo. So if I listen to the CDs that come along with the books, I sound very different than the people around here. But at least the language is written the same in both places, so I can learn vocab through the books.
I spent some time at the Filadelfia on their internet, checking email and trying to make contact with people to plan out some concerts for the later summer, early fall. Somewhat unfruitful, but maybe that's what happens when you leave the country for a few months.
I then went to meet with Knut Dale to study some more Norwegian. He was very helpful with the short wordlist I had compiled, and was able to give insight on some things I had noticed: the word 'lære' means both 'teach' and 'learn', depending on the context - also the dialect here differs from Oslo with a lot of the common question words, saying 'kå' instead of 'hva' (means 'what'). He also really helped me with pronunciation of Nynorsk as we read from Proverbs. I tend to have trouble with the 'u' and 'o' sounds, with making the vowel sounds right in multi-syllabic words (I want to keep the same mouth shape and just move my tongue), and also with putting emphasis on the wrong syllable (emphasizing the first syllable is generally the rule in Norwegian). To name a few issues.

Norwegian Wood 2

The other day Ove asked me to play a few songs in a concert that was happening in Tyssedal's church. The place he leads worship (Bedehuse) was sponsoring it. So yesterday and today we were busy setting up and playing. I borrowed the key to the church yesterday evening, and overnight I recorded some vocals in the sanctuary. It's a great place for vocals - natural reverb with the high ceilings and natural wood, but not too much bounce. Actually, the guitar tracks I recorded in there sounded pretty good too. Something about all the space, I guess.
Here's a shot of my recording stuff all set up in front (computer on the right), with the sound system up as well. I got some great takes. I was a little worried because earlier in the day, when we were setting up, I discovered a nest of birds just on the outside of the wall, in the eaves. Every now and then they would send up a chorus of 'cheep! cheep!' as the parent came with food. And it wasn't something you could predict, so I wasn't sure how that would go. Luckily, at night they were silent. Of course, night doesn't fall until midnight now, here in Norway. So I was recording from about 11:30 to 2:30. At least I can sleep in. Except for the sunlight coming through my window at 6am. But despite that I managed to stay in bed until 11 or so this morning.
But the concert went well, I thought - lots of people there, and most of them didn't speak much english. They listened well though, and seemed to appreciate the songs, especially the one I wrote in Nynorsk. I have my doubts about how much they understood of that song either, though, what with my accent and all. I've also learned that a lot of Norwegians don't understand Nynorsk anyway. It's like a strange dialect, and you have to study it to really know it. It's probably easier to understand than English, though.

Behind the times

So I guess I'm a bit behind on my blogging, so I'll give a quick overview, though no pictures, unfortunately. Sunday I hung out at home - listened to a sermon by John Piper, did some mixing. I wrote a couple songs as well, which was pretty cool! I'll unveil them at some point, but you guys have to be patient.
Monday and today I've been doing more of the same, as well as doing some fixing up of apartments and chasing down electric companies. I met with Ove a couple times to do some overdubbing and continued to work on mixes. I'm also re-ordering my apartment to get ready for Matt's coming - just a week or so away, pretty crazy. Time is flying.

Smelteverk

The Smelteverk used to be the largest employer in Odda and the area. At one point it had between 500 and 800 workers. Don't quote me on that. =) But there were a lot of people working there. I think this was around the turn of the century. It was the largest Calcium Carbide factory in the world, according to my Uncle. The following story is also according to my uncle:
There were two American brothers who owned the second largest calcium carbide factory in the world, at the time, based in Germany. Through various means they bought the Smelteverk and ran it into the ground. Their purpose was to drive up the price of calcium carbide by limiting the supply (they must have read Mr. Smith's book on economics), and they succeeded. In the process they decimated the local economy and the government here in Norway didn't do anything to stop them. Eventually they just left, the factory mostly in ruins and the ground contaminated, and most of the workers left as well. The land now belongs to the government by default.
If you go around Odda, most of the old buildings are somehow connected to the Smelteverk - many of them built by the original owners of the factory to house workers or provide places of entertainment, shops, a library, etc.. There is actually still a performance hall located on the premises of the factory that gets regular use. It seats about 500 people and is usually full for a performance. But most of the land and the buildings are in disrepair.

Beautiful Day

I took my time waking up this morning - what else is a saturday good for if not for sleeping in? =) Peter was supposed to come and move some of his things in the early afternoon, but when I reminded him via text that the last bus to and from Tyssedal was around 2:30pm, he decided he'd try on Monday. I'm hoping the electricity is on by then...
Dave Henrickson called in the afternoon and invited me up to Skjeggedal with him and the family. Both their younger daughters were visiting (from Bergen and the UK), and had brought another friend and her two daughters, to accompany Julia, the grand-daughter. So Dave and I were the sole representative males in the group. It was a really fun time though - gorgeous weather!
We rode in the cart/trolley up to the plateau at the top of these mountains - it's a huge national park almost in the middle of Norway. Takes a couple days to get around by car, and sits a thousand or so meters above sea level - great for wildlife and various winter sports, summer backpacking, etc...
This particular area of Tyssedal/Odda is known for the twin falls that used to fall from this plateau - the longest falling twin falls in Europe, until a company decided to divert the river to go through holes in the rock and through pipes for hydro-electricity. First, though, came the dam for hydro-electricity. Here's a picture of it from the trolley - it's one of the largest hand-quarried dams in the world- built around the turn of the century, I believe (don't quote me). That's the thing about being a tourist without having a guide - you find yourself trying hard to recall bits and pieces of information that you weren't paying incredibly close attention to at the time. I guess I could look it up on google, but who has time for that these days?
This river eventually comes out in Tyssedal, goes under the rock through a special tunnel built for it, and enters the fjord. There's a path called the Kaiser's Way that comes all the way up from outside the Slottet, along the river and to the dam. This is the way that the workers came up - they lived in the area of the Slottet and would travel up to work on the dam. But the name of the path comes from Kaiser Wilhelm - apparently Ringedallsfalls (the twin falls) was one of his favorite places to vacation, and he'd always go along that route.

Getting the washing machine

So I was mixing some songs today (I think I was working on Ove's project) and I got a call from a random number. Turned out it was the company that Warren had ordered a washing machine and several other appliances from. He ordered them a couple weeks before he left, thinking they'd deliver them before he went to the US. Now finally, after more than a month, they had found my phone number and were sending them.
I guess they had called his phone after he left, but since he took the phone with him, of course he didn't have service where he was, and they didn't have a number for me since I didn't have a phone then. The lady that talked to me said she found my number on the internet... not quite sure how that would work - maybe she meant email. In any case, she said the washing machine was on its way.
About an hour later I got a call from them again - this time a guy letting me know they probably wouldn't get it to me today, but would try to get it to me early next week. Ok, cool. I've been waiting this long, I can wait a bit longer.
A couple hours later I got a call from the driver of the delivery truck, asking me where exactly my apartment was. So I gave him directions, and a few minutes later he drove up, delivered all the things, carried the washing machine up, and even took the old one with him. Pretty sweet. Now I can wash clothes whenever I want. =)

Mixing and Making Movies

Today I just mixed and read and chilled out. You need some days of that, I think. Everything takes time, but at least I can choose my own pace. I worked on some of Ove's songs and finished reading a book called 'Peace Child' about missionaries in Irian Jaya/Indonesia during the 60s/70s. Quite a good read, I thought.

I'm continuing to explore the world of Mac. There are some cool programs, like iMovie and iPhoto. You have to learn their own little quirks though. Like iMovie won't let you separate actual movie file clips - if you record a 10-minute clip and decide you don't want half of it, you can't just delete the half - you have to export it as a separate movie file and then delete the original. And iPhoto won't let you create an album of multiple events that automatically updates itself when new photos are added to an event. Or maybe i just haven't figured out how to do these things yet...

But anyhow, I did figure out how to interface the Mbox mini with iMovie so I could record audio through my condenser mic while recording video. That was pretty cool. Here's the end result, which I uploaded to YouTube and Facebook. Not a bad sound, I think.

Recording with Ove 5

Busy day today. Met with Ove and we did some recording on the folk tune - his friend came and recorded vocals. We also recorded some drum parts - brushes on the snare and cymbals, and a conga drum to give some bass/tom sounds. I'm going to try to mix it to sound like a jazz trap kit. Should be interesting!
Then Ove played some music down at the Old People's Home. Someone just donated a new electric piano to them, and he was invited to be the first to play it. It's a pretty sweet Roland with some nice sounding samples, and the mayor of Odda and some of the residents were there. Lots of cake and coffee.
Afterwards we went back and did a bit more recording of percussion and then went up to Ove's girlfriend Lena's house for dinner - out on the balcony in the sun with a great view and a good meal (pizza eaten with knife and fork as good Europeans). Hanging out and chatting with them was great, and then we walked up the hill, through the woods, over the bridge and to a home meeting with some other believers. Here's a picture or two of the sweet bridge over troubled waters. Or is that living water? Rushing down the hill, at any rate.
It was a rather warm day, but is cooling down now that I'm home. But how I know it is really spring turning into summer: I walked out to get my clothes off the line and surprised a hedgehog nosing around in the grass for beetles. Do hedgehogs hibernate? I think they do. It must be warm enough now for them to forage. Pretty cool, i think - and I've always thought hedgehogs are neat animals.

Recording with Ove 4

Today Ove and I had another recording session. We ended up spending most of the time re-working a song he wrote called 'Kom Til Meg'. I think we managed to do a decent job with it. I also gave him a rough mixed CD for him to listen to of the ten songs we already recorded, so we'll see what he thinks after he plays it on a few different systems.
That's always the trouble with mixes, as you may know - they sound one way in the headphones and another way on whatever other stereo you play it on. Something about not having the right mixing environment maybe. Hopefully I can get to know these headphones well enough that I can figure out how to mix in them so it sounds right on other systems.
We're starting to think of other musicians/instruments we can add. We recorded the rough sketch of an Australian folk tune that has been translated into Norwegian (Syng Meg Heim), and Ove's friend is coming in to record the female vocals tomorrow. This is one that Ove is hoping to get permission from the translator to put on his CD. We also want to get some Hardanger fiddle (special instrument of this area) and saxophone.
Another session planned for tomorrow around 11 am, and I (perhaps foolishly) agreed to play settlers of Catan with some friends (seafarers, rather). So I didn't get home until late. Ach, vel.

Renters Galore

I did a lot of mixing today - a few of my songs and a bunch of Ove's. Things I'm still working on, but I want to get some rough mixes on a CD so he can listen to them. Just kind of hung out in the apartment today.
Peter, a friend of one of the our African friends, came to look at one of my uncle's apartments as well, so I was around to meet him, Innocent, and Blaise. He liked the place and is ready to move in as soon as I get the ok from my uncle (who, remember, is in the US at his neice's wedding) and can get the electricity turned on. Probably the end of this week.
They came in on the bus, and hung out with me in my apartment after seeing the empty one. We chatted and played some guitar, ate candy. Fun times. I should probably brush up on my French.

Recording with Ove 3

Today I slept in until 9, having gone to bed around 2am. So I guess that's not really sleeping in. I did kind of laze around though. The light is lasting longer at night and arriving earlier in the day, so I'm going to have to adjust my sleep schedule accordingly, i think. Or just get heavier curtains.
I recorded with Ove in the afternoon, and we got a few more songs done. I'm mixing them at home and really they're mostly done by the time I get there. Simplicity is wonderful.
We also tried (on my recommendation) recording drums, vocals and keyboard live (only working with two inputs here), and it turned out pretty well. I wanted to try recording the electric organ that's sitting in the church and hasn't been played in year. Ove wasn't too sure about the idea, but was pleasantly surprised with how it sounded in the mix. I think he's hooked.

Recording with Ove 2

Yesterday afternoon I spent with Ove again, working on recording more songs. We were able to record foundational tracks on four more songs, so we have a total of seven songs after just two sessions - with piano and vocal tracks that we'll probably keep. Since the focus is on Ove's singing and playing, we probably won't add much more than that. There are a few other instruments/sounds that we'd like to add (perhaps a choir in a few places) and we're going to try to get a few more songs on Sunday afternoon.
It's cool to think that (after Sunday) with only about 20 hours of work we're almost done with his album - and it sounds pretty dang good, let me tell you. I think there's something about simplicity that works so well, as long as the songs are good. Makes me wonder why I'm spending so much time on my album with all the different parts... but I guess just because I can. There's no string quartet around here, or we'd get it on Ove's album, and we're kind of crunched by time for various reasons. But with what we have we're doing a lot.
Today I slept in til 9 (got home last night around midnight) and then got up and went down to my uncle's apartments down the hill (Salthellervegen) to make sure that one of them was ready for viewing. A guy who's coming to work with the Salvation Army came around 11 with his two boys to take a look at it and take pictures. Hopefully he'll move in when he comes to work in August.
This afternoon I've been recording some guitar on a couple of Ove's tracks. A friend of Dave Henrickson had this sweet classical guitar sitting in her house when we went to visit her the other day (after the trip to the water factory), and after I played it a bit she said I could borrow it while I'm here. It's an Ibanez made in Japan - 30 years old, so it's got a sweet tone with the wood mellowed nicely. That's what I'm playing in this picture. It's nice to have a second sweet sounding guitar for recording.

Eternal Flame

There are two main factories still working in the Odda/Tyssedal area (besides the hydroelectric plant, but that doesn't need constant human labor) - both having to do with extracting metal from rocks that they mine locally. The one down the hill from where I live, in Tyssedel, is some kind of smelting factory - I think they make iron ingots that they then send all over Norway and Europe and maybe the world. Don't know much about it except that they run 24 hours every day. Here's a picture of the flame that comes out of the stack all day and night and year round unless the kiln breaks down.
Across the fjord are big holes in the side of the mountain, which I guess at one time were mined out, but now they are just holes to put the junk into. It's like the factory's own private dump - pretty handy. Keeps the neighbors from complaining. And it employs a lot of people.
The other factory in the area is the zinc factory, just outside of Odda on the other side of the fjord. It's actually on it's own island, which used to be a farm before it was sold to the factory. Here's a picture I took when I was walking into town one day.
So these are the two main employers in the area, besides the hospital. There was another factory that was the largest employer earlier in the century, located directly in Odda, next to where the river empties into the fjord. But that's a story for another day.

Recording with Ove

This is Ove Danielsen. He is quite a talented local musician - singer and songwriter, piano based. In this picture he is listening back to a rough mix of one of the songs we recorded. Yesterday we spent the afternoon (after I and Tommy ate at China House) working on some of his songs for his first album. He is very well prepared and we were able to get a lot done.
Ove has written a couple songs in English, one of which I was able to help him with lyrically. The other two songs we got foundational tracks for yesterday are Norwegian songs that he wrote. I can understand some of the words, but can't really comment on the songwriting, so my understanding of the song is mostly musical and I am able to offer production input. I think we are working well together as producer/engineer and musician. Ove is very humble but at the same time knows what kind of sounds he wants, which is a great combination.
Over the next couple weeks we will get foundational tracks for most of the songs that he wants on the album, and begin working on fleshing them out - not too much instrumentation, but pulling from the best local musicians that Ove knows. He has been playing music here in and around Odda for the last 10-15 years and knows most of the musicians and technicians in the area. From what he says, the quality of recorded sound that I get with the equipment I have is better than most here in Hardanger.
There is a small music store in town and a company that does live sound, and that's pretty much it. Any recording is usually done at live concerts, and often subcontracted to people from Bergen or another larger town (Haugesund, Oslo). Although the live sound company based in Odda is quite good - contracts out to large concerts in Haugesund and elsewhere, and they have some great mics for instruments and vocals. Ove of course is allowed to borrow their equipment if we need it - score!
We are recording in the sanctuary of the Bedehus, a local church/community center where Ove leads worship. The room is large and paneled with wood (unvarnished), which makes it rather live. Pretty good for vocals and perhaps piano/organ/strings, but perhaps not quite as good for guitar and other kinds of instruments. We'll find out, I guess. I'm checking into using a few other spaces to record in. Ideally, we'd like to record the concert grand piano in the Formanshus, but it hasn't been tuned recently, so we've made do with electric piano. It is also on the main road, so we'd probably have to record at night.

Full Belly

Today was another special occasion. Remember the karaoke contest I won? Well, today was the day that I had set up with Tommy (the second place finisher) to go and collect our prize - a full meal at China House. We had 800 crowns to spend, and I was pretty determined to spend as much of it as possible. Well, not really. Just enough to fill my stomach. Some of you know I have a hollow leg. Or just a high metabolism.
So I ordered what I would order in the states, not having to worry that it was four times as expensive. An egg roll to start, a plate of Chinese spare ribs (I was hoping the sauce would be special, but no such luck), a plate of fried rice with eggs and shrimp (the waiter asked me if i was sure - he informed me that the rice was a dinner plate - turned out to be the same size you'd get here in the US), an order of french fries (raised eyebrows from the waiter, but he let it pass) and water to drink. I have to say it was a good meal. Tommy had a Norwegian dinner - steak in béarnaise sauce with broccoli and a baked potato. We topped it with fried bananas and ice cream, and coffee for me with a chocolate at the end. I think the waiters were a bit impressed that I polished it all off, but of course they couldn't show it.
Here's a picture of me and Tommy at the restaurant, having just finished our meal and waiting for our dessert. None the worse for wear. And our bill for a meal at the chinese restaurant? 685 kroner (191 dollars) - well under our limit.
Afterwards I got a sim card in a local shop, so people here in norway can get ahold of me easier, and did some recording with Ove Danielsen - but more about that later.

Opening of Isklar

Today I went with my friend Dave Henrickson to the opening of Isklar, the new water bottling plant that opened just north of Tyssedal across the fjord from the glacier. They pipe water from the glacier across the fjord, bottle it using machines, and pack it up to ship to England. There was a big ceremony with all the bigwigs of the local area, the entrepreneurs and the co-owner from Oman with his people. I forgot my camera, so I can't post any pictures of the balloons being let off into the sky, etc... We also got cake and ice-cream and a tour of the facility. Pretty cool stuff. Here's a link to an article about it: Isklar Opens .
In the facility, as a souvenir, we got to take a bottle before it gets made into the actual container for water - I took a picture of the before and after once i got home. Pretty impressive how they stretch the plastic out into that shape with the machines. We also got to wear plastic suits, and since it was raining after the tour, Dave and I wore them on our bikes - pretty handy as raincoats!

Mixing and such.

It was a bit uneventful today - just taking care of business related things. I worked on the apartment that needs to be fixed up to show to a potential renter. The same one on which the windows were broken. There are a few other things that need to be done there, and I'm slowly completing the tasks. I also arranged for some of the trash to be picked up tomorrow.
I worked a bit on mixing some tunes. Play Switch is nearly ready, I think. The instruments sound good - maybe i'll redo the vocals. I did some recording with my mic today, working on 'Herre Mitt Berg', the Norwegian praise song, and I discovered that this room is not particularly conducive to recording - due to its smallness and flat walls, I would imagine. So I might have to go elsewhere to record. Maybe they'd let me do some recording in the church... I'll have to check.
I met with a guy named Ove Danielsen yesterday who wants to record an album. He is very talented and so I think I'll probably work with him over the next few weeks - test the limits of this Mbox Mini. Fortunately he has access to a large room for recording - the Bedehus in Odda, where he leads worship. Maybe I'll just do my vocals in there as well. He also knows everyone involved in the music scene here, so that is rather handy.

Apartment #6 Tour

So today, instead of writing a lot or giving you pictures, I'm going to make this a Vlog (video blog) and let you watch the video I just uploaded of a tour of my apartment here in Tyssedal. Hosted by yours truly, using the camera in my mac. Pretty sweet. =) Enjoy.

Gratulerer Med Dagen

Today, the 17th of May, is Norway's independence day - the day they declared independence from Sweden. It was quite a busy day. We started off with a parade in Tyssedal from the town center, up the hill and around to the pavilion at the school. People were greeting each other with 'gratulerer med dagen', which roughly translated means 'congratulations on the day'. It's also what you say on a birthday or any other special day.
Everyone wore their best clothes, which means the national dress if you can afford it - the 'bunard' that is different depending on which region of Norway you are from. Pretty dang spiffy if you ask me. If I spoke Norwegian better I'd probably save up for one just so I could sport it on holidays. I guess I have a soft spot for cultural expression - you should see me in my african clothes or central asian garb. I think I look better in them than western clothes sometimes.
At the pavilion, the Tyssedal choir sang. They are apparently famous throughout Hardanger and pack out the house whenever they sing anywhere. I wonder if they need any recording done... They sounded pretty good, though it was a bit hard to hear because of all the kids running around and talking and yelling. I think if the kids did the same sort of thing in the US they'd be smacked, but here in Norway they are tolerated. Something about them needing 'freedom to express themselves' according to popular opinion. Not in my house. Bring up a child in the way they should go, and when old they will not stray, as Proverbs says.
After lunch we went in to Odda, where another parade was going on. Much bigger than the one on May 1st, and much bigger than the one in Tyssedal that morning. All the local believers had made a banner and were going to march together, so I went to join them. It was quite a good experience. At the end we gathered at an open-air grass amphitheater, and there was some singing and the mayor spoke. Dave Henrickson kindly translated for me.
Finally, with the day over, around 6pm I went to the Filadelfia pentecostal church for a meal and a message. I played a song after the message by Roman (from Russia) in Norwegian, which Samuel from the Congo translated into English for me. It's crazy how many languages there are floating around here. We filled up on sandwiches and coffee and topped it off with many different kinds of cakes and ice-cream, all in celebration of freedom. Now this is the kind of freedom I like to enjoy!
Only one downside: no fireworks. But we did have cannon salutes - almost as good. =)

Rainbow

Today I finished fixing the windows in Salthellervegen 7C and did some other chores to fix it up (painting, cleaning, etc..) as well as doing some laundry. I had left one of the windows open while some paint on the frame dried, and had gone back up to the Slottet to do some mixing, thinking I'd come back in the evening to shut the window. After a few hours it started raining, and I ran down to close the window. Reminds me how little exercise I've done and how out of shape I am. As I walked back up the rain had mostly stopped, and over the Slottet was a huge rainbow. It was probably the most complete rainbow I'd seen, as its ends touched the mountain on either side. Quite a cool sight to see.

House Meeting

Last night I went to a house meeting with local believers. There were about 17 of us, meeting further north of Tyssedal along the fjord. It was quite a multi-national meeting, with the Congo, Eritrea, Ghana (myself), Holland, and the US represented, not to mention Norway. Prayers were in Norwegian, English, Congolese (I don't know exactly which tribal language), and French. I brought my guitar and tried to figure out the songs without chord sheets, which worked for about half of them. When we got into the Gospel songs (black gospel, here) with the multiple key changes I was pretty much lost. I'll have to get Jan Olav (the other guitarist and worship leader) to teach me.
I also played the Norwegian song I wrote with my friend Håkon (did I mention I wrote a worship song in Norwegian?), and it was very well received. It's in NyNorsk and is mostly taken directly from verses in the Psalms, so I could do an almost literal translation to English, though it wouldn't flow in the same way. When I told Jan Olav that he said "Yeah, but you put it to music." I guess that's always a gift I've taken for granted - can't everyone put words to music? I guess all can, but it doesn't always make sense. Hopefully I can encourage more people to try at least.

Glass and Food

Today I ventured out on my own to town for the first time since my uncle left (he left on Monday). I had to go get some work tools and materials at the local building supply store. To get there, I caught the 8:30 bus from Tyssedal, through Odda to Eiterheim on the other side of the fjord (I probably could have gotten there quicker by boat if i had one). A place called Montèr, which supplies most of the local contractors. I got a few things, but apparently they don't supply cut glass, just the whole windows, so I had to go somewhere else. They also don't have plumbing equipment. For a building supply store they sure didn't have a great selection - I had to walk down the road to find a 3-in-1 combination painter's tool at a smaller supply store, and learned that one of the glass cutter/supplier companies had an accident earlier in the week with broken glass and so none of them were at work. So I walked the rest of the way into Odda and ordered glass from the only other glass supplier in town.

I figured while I was there I should do some grocery shopping, and I'd brought my list - I managed to find everything. Mayonnaise is pretty expensive, I learned (what isn't), and comes in a squeeze container as if it were toothpaste. Probably the packaging is what is so expensive - although peanut butter comes in a jar but is still expensive. A small amount of either (the smallest jar in the US) costs $3-4. Wow! So if you come to Norway, expect to spend twice as much on food. I figured I'd include a picture so you can see. Notice the rice cooker (a must-have) and the cutting board, which comes standard in all Norwegian homes - it jut pulls out from underneath the counter, quite handy in my opinion. I haven't seen that in the US.

Waiting for Deliveries

The new washing machine (for clothes) is supposed to come today between 12 and 5pm. It is now 5:11pm and still no sign of the washing machine or the guy who's supposed to deliver it. Maybe we're at the end of the line and he had trouble with one of the other deliveries. That's a long time to wait for something that doesn't come. I could've gotten a lot of other things done today, but I assumed that since this is Norway the guy would be on time. Wrong assumption to make, apparently. Maybe Warren should've left his phone with me so the guy could call, or maybe it's actually coming next tuesday.
Ah well. At least I got a lot of mixing done, and I wasn't sitting around doing nothing. Tomorrow I'm going in to get some supplies so I can finish making one of the lower apartments ready for a tenant who's coming to look at it on May 23rd. Should be able to finish the projects in a couple days, and if I can get the supplies tomorrow that should be plenty of time. I'll probably also go shopping tomorrow for a few minor items. I got the 'deal flyers' today in my mailbox, and the prices are pretty insane when compared with the US. Fortunately I was able to open a bank account so my uncle can deposit funds if necessary while he's gone.

Norwegian Wood

Today is the second sunday of Pentecost. There was a morning service here in Tyssedal, which doesn't happen very often. There are so few believers/churchgoers in this small town that the Lutheran church (the only church in Tyssedal) only holds a service here once a month. I counted nine people in the pews, including the organist. Perhaps there would be more if the service had been on a sunday. It's a really pretty church, though, and a shame not to see it used more often for worship and other events.
I was able to talk with the officiators after the service (some of which I understood - Jesus praying for his disciples in the gospel of John after his resurrection, that they would receive the Holy Spirit when he left) and they were friendly. The priest, a reader, and an offering taker. They were all pretty new to it, so none of them knew of my uncle - the old priest who is relocating knows my uncle. Very friendly though, and could answer some of my questions.
Here's a couple pictures of the church in Tyssedal - the outside with the really steep roof and the mountain backdrop, and the inside with all this beautifully bare Norwegian wood supporting the high ceiling, and the Lord's table at the center.

Pentecost

Today is the first day of Pentecost, when the first believers in Jerusalem received the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire on their heads (first few chapters of Acts in the New Testament). This is a national holiday here in Norway, as is tomorrow (it being the second day of Pentecost). It seems like they have a holiday almost every week here, but my uncle says I'm just experiencing what it's like in May, which happens to have tons of holidays in it. Which is a great thing after such a long winter - the sun shines and you're able to enjoy the day without having to worry about work.
A lot of people take the extra time to work outside and get their gardens ready, as well as doing other general maintenance around the house and having barbecues with friends and family. Norway is a pretty social culture - not like the US where people are glued to their TVs or computers.
But regarding holidays, it's interesting that so many of them are based around the church calendar, though most people who live here in Norway would probably tell you there's no God. "There's no God, but I'll enjoy the holidays He gives us!" Seems like quite a funny mindset.
It's interesting that so much of the societal framework we depend on and take for granted - laws based on morality, a system of government founded on the premise that the hearts of humans are bad and checks and balances are necessary, the simple distinction between good and bad, right and wrong - so much of it was founded on biblical truths by people who sincerely believed the scriptures to be the word of God, yet so easily people slip into worshipping the created framework and denying the existence of the one who created the foundation of truth in the first place.
Well, on Pentecost the believers received the Spirit of God, which enabled them to proclaim boldly the truth of the Gospel. "God is One and His name is One," they may have said, "And His name is Yeshua - the Lord Saves, Jesus the Christ of Nazareth, of Bethlehem, a Benjaminite of the tribe of David, a light to the Gentiles and to his people Israel - salvation to all those who call on His name." May I speak so boldly to those around me.

Apartment #6

I may have mentioned that I moved into one of my uncle's flats last week - I think I blogged about cleaning it out. Well here's a shot of before I cleaned it, and then one of after:
As you can see, it looks a lot nicer now that all the stuff is out of the way. And that was just the bedroom. My desk is in a great spot by the window, with a nice view (I can see Lilletopp on the opposite mountain as I write) - this is where I take care of business, write emails, and mix music. I also watch movies once in awhile. I just set up the second monitor, to make it easier to mix, and today I've actually been spending some time with my songs on ProTools, for the second time since I got here. Just so many other things to keep me busy.
The only downside to this space is that I don't have internet access from here - I have to take my computer into town or find an open wireless network here in Tyssedal. Few and far between, unfortunately. But check out the view I get from my balcony! Oh yeah, I have a balcony.

Learning Norwegian 2

I've started compiling a list of Norwegian words to learn, and I'm finding that the biggest issue is pronunciation, whether you speak Nynorsk or Bukmol. But knowing English has helped - there are a lot of words which are similar sounding to English, if you use a bit of imagination.
For example: lære (learn/teach), sofa (couch), bror (brother), mann (man), fot (foot), far (father), ting (thing), gjest (guest). What you have to keep in mind is pronunciation - the word 'gås' looks like 'gas', except for the fact that you pronounce the character 'å' like the short vowel in the English word 'mall'. When you pronounce it correctly, it sounds more like the first syllable in the English word 'gosling' (baby goose), which is closer to what it means - gås (goose).
Of course, then there are words that are completely unrelated to English words in appearance and sound. Words like: bonde (farmer), ås (hill), stong (rod), barn (child) - I think even more difficult than those, however, are the words (like barn) which look and sound like English words (or at least American english) but mean something totally different.
Fortunately the characters are pretty much phonetic. Unlike English, where the sound of the words sometimes seems independent of spelling, in Norwegian each character has a specific sound. So once you learn the sound for each character you can simply sound out the word. And then you might be able to recognize it. Of course some dialects leave off part of the word or pronounce it differently... but most of them are consistent in where and how they do it.

Laundry

Today was a bit of a long day as well. Up early and on the road by 11 - we had some breakfast and then drove to Haugesund, where I caught the bus to Odda. I got to Odda around 4:30 and was able to check email and get the Norwegian language course from the library before coming to Tyssedal. I'll be spending some time with it over the next few weeks to get more of a handle on the sound and basic vocabulary.
I'm still reading the Psalms and Proverbs in English and NyNorsk, thanks to the bible that Knut gave me. Håkon's dad also gave me a dual English-Norwegian NT that I'll probably dip into. Since the grammar is so similar to English, it's relatively easy to figure out what the words mean - some even sound like English words. There's still a tension between Bukmal and NyNorsk that I'm trying to figure out. I'll probably end up learning both.
Well, back at home now and trying to do laundry. There's no washing machine in my flat, so I'm using one in the flat next door. Had to send an extension cord through the window to my flat, since the apartment the washing machine is in doesn't have the electricity turned on yet. It seems to be taking a very long time, though, so maybe that machine is broken. I hope not, but if so we'll figure out what to do. Dinner of trout and rice - officially the first meal in the flat. Quite tasty if I do say so myself...

Siggjo

Today was an eventful day. A trip to Bømlo, where we visited the local mini-mall, tasted Norwegian ice cream and chocolate, bought some decent shoes that were on sale, and passed by the highschool - where Håkon greeted some old teachers and raced me around the track. 800 meters in 3 minutes, not too bad.
Later we checked email and chilled out, enjoying the beautiful day from the deck, had a light meal of lasagna, salad and bread. Did I mention they eat a lot of bread here? And it's really good. Last night we finished writing a song in Norwegian that I'd begun writing in Tyssedal, so we played that for his parents, got some good feedback.
Around 6:30 or so we decided to go ahead and climb Siggjo - the large peak in the distance, the natural landmark that early Christian missionaries headed for from England. It was a nice hike - a good hour or so and his dad came with us. Håkon's dad had open heart surgery this past Christmastime, and this was the first big hike he'd been on since then. He did pretty well to climb the 1500 feet or so in an hour. Some more beautiful views - hard not to have nice views in Norway, I'm learning. My camera quit once we got to the top though - I think it has trouble with the cold or something.
We got home around 9 and then Håkon took me to the old stone church which was the first church in Norway - built here on the island of Moster, about 15 minutes from his house. His grandparents who were missionaries in the Congo are buried there, and right now they're doing restoration on the building. But we got to see it, and also the open air amphitheater where they have plays and particularly the re-creation of the story of Christianity coming to Norway. Good stuff. Then we came back and had some fresh shrimp. Good day alltogether, but full. Tomorrow we head out - Håkon back to London and his wife, and I back to Odda. Glorious. =)

Sunset in Moster

Today I took a bus ride to visit my friend Håkon, who grew up in Moster on the west coast of Norway. He leads worship for a church in London, but was visiting his parents this week and invited me to come and visit. I took the bus from Odda to Haugesund, skirting Folgefonne - the giant glacier to the west - and then traveling north from Haugesund through the Bømlo tunnel to Føyno, an island where the road makes a giant fork. Håkon picked me up there and we went over the long bridge to the island of Moster.
This place is beautiful! We took a ride in his family's outboard speedboat around the islands that surround Moster. The water was so calm you wouldn't know we were on the ocean except for all the seagulls and the smell of the ocean and the taste of salt water on the wind. My camera froze up after a bit, so I didn't get as many shots as I'd like, but it unfroze long enough for me to get a shot of the sunset at 10pm.
The island of Moster, and particularly the landmark of Siggjo was the first place where Christian missionaries came to Norway. Siggjo is a peak on the island just north of where Håkon lives, and we might climb it tomorrow. Håkon says Moster can be bitter during the winter, but they hardly get any snow - just a lot of wind and waves. I'll be here until thursday, so hopefully the camera will unfreeze and I can get more shots.

Gallery Rallaren

Just down the hill from me, on this side of the tunnel from Odda, is Galleri Rallaren - a small group of highly skilled artists who have decided to make Tyssedal their home. They do some wonderful work in photography, sculpture, ceramics, painting, and mixed media. They also have some great rotating displays. This past weekend was a gallery opening which featured some snowboard art (on the boards themselves) with video, some themed pop/modern art pieces, a crowd participation expression wall, and last but not least a live tattoo artist.
I'm beginning to make their acquaintance (they are just down the hill from me, after all) and would really love to buy some art, but the limited budget of a traveling musician still trying to make it big doesn't lend itself to that. At least I can enjoy it and maybe make some friends at the same time...

A Light Meal

This blog is for my friend Ken Mueller, who is really into ethnic food. He's been bugging me since I got here to describe the food, so I'll do my best.
First of all, let me say that Norwegian food is, by definition, grouped into the general categories of 'Western ' and/or 'European'. So if you come from one of the countries in that group, you will find the food to be similar. However, there are distinct variations between countries and even within countries which we would call 'regional specialties'. This is also the case in Norway - just as there is dialect differentiation, there is culinary differentiation. This can be said to be due to geographical boundaries to some degree, but by and large the food people eat is similar across the breadth of the country.
Since Norway has traditionally been a country of farmers and fishermen (at least in the recent centuries, vikings having become more and more scarce), the fare you find here comes from the land and the sea.
A traditional meal can be seen here: bread and cheese. The bread is whole-grain, some of the tastiest bread I have eaten, and substantive - not fluffy and airy but thick and heavy and filling. The cheese comes in many different varieties (Jarlsberg on the left), but the favorite of most Norwegians is their special brown goat's cheese, seen on the right. This is made from the milk of goats that graze in high mountain pastures, and every region of Norway makes their own - differing slightly in texture and flavor. It is extremely flavorful - almost nutty - and sweet.
Another specialty to be eaten with bread is Norwegian honey. The most special kind of honey can be seen in the foreground of this picture and is hard like butter. This kind of honey must be spread with a knife, and it melts on warm bread or toast. In the back, right, you can see a Norwegian cheese slicer, which is probably the best kind of slicer that is made. Personally, with my toasted, honeyed bread and cheese I like something a bit sweet - in this case banana, which is not native to Norway. During the summer and fall, though, other fruits come into season. Norwegian apples are especially well known and are exported to many countries. This particular part of Norway, along Hardanger Fjord, is famous for its cherry orchards and in the spring many tour buses come through to view the cherry blossoms along the roads. I love cherries, so maybe I'll go and pick some when they come in. =)
< As a side note, we keep our bread in a traditional place - two large ceramic pots upended on one another. It keeps the bread fresh for weeks on end. Usually we finish the bread off long before that, but it's amazing how fresh it keeps in these pots.
So that's a Norwegian meal! We eat a lot of other things besides bread and cheese and honey, of course, but this is a traditional light meal here in Norway. If you have lots of bread and cheese and honey, it could be a heavy meal I suppose... but this kind of takes the edge off for most people. I'll try to get another blog up here before too long that's just about food. Just for you, Ken!

Sing for your Supper

EDIT. For some reason this post didn't post properly.
Today I went into Odda and won a karaoke contest. Pretty cool. Turns out the prize was dinner for two at a local restaurant - China House - to the tune of 800 kroner ($150). I think they serve Chinese food. Shows you how expensive eating out can be here, and I'm told that's common.
Understandable, when a hotdog goes for $8. The hotdog that you get at the gas station, that is. And a hamburger is $10 - without the bun. Pretty crazy. So sometime in the next week or two or three I'll have dinner with my friend Tommy, who was the runner-up in the contest. Works out pretty well.
What songs did I sing, you ask? Stand By Me - Ben E. King, and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2.

Lilletop

Well my friend Ken is going to hate me, but I still haven't had the time to blog about food - too many other exciting things to do! I just moved into the empty apartment in the Slottet, so I have some time and space now to do mixing. So that's what I worked on today. Around 6pm I decided to hike up to Lilletop. This is the spot where water is channeled from the lake high on the mountain through five large pipes which let the water rush down and power huge turbines that the power station converts to electricity for most of the area (and perhaps beyond - I'll have to get the exact figures).

The walk up isn't exactly easy, but it is really pretty and I got some wonderful views of Tyssedal and the fjord. So here are a few! But speaking of food, I need to go make dinner... =)

First of May

Today being the first day of May, it was a holiday here in Norway, so none of the buses were running. Warren and I walked the 5 km to Odda to check email and watch the parade. This is a worker's holiday - somehow associated with the communist party, so none of the workers worked today. It was also a bit rainy, so even those who work today in their gardens in protest of the holiday and the communist party were not out.

To get to Odda, you drive through the 'Tyssedal Tunnelen', along the side of the mountain, and through another smaller tunnel. Only, we walked. It's a pretty far walk through this tunnel, and it's not really made to be walked through, though occasionally people on bikes go through. It's pretty tight and people go pretty fast, so we had to walk up on the dirt path a few times as cars whizzed by. There is an old road that goes around the side of the mountain, but half of it has been destroyed by rocks and at this time of year the other half is not really safe, especially lately after all the rain.

We quoted Romans 8 to each other from memory - he reciting the chapter first from the King James, and then I from the NRSV. It was good practice, and with his prompting I was able to get right some of the parts that I had misplaced from lack of use. It was a bit of a cloudy day, but I was still able to get some good pictures along the way.

After spending some time checking email, I went out to watch the parade. Here are some pictures of the flag bearers and band as they came up from the harbor past city hall and then down the main road. It was a very colorful display, and a good band too - quite impressive, I thought, for a small town. It's a small town with a lot of history, vim and vigor.