Ghana Hilife Music - some samples

I just uploaded a sampling of Ghana music - they are MP3s converted from tape that I recorded onto my computer. Quite a time-consuming process. I'm also not sure how long they will be up, since I don't own the server. In order to download the songs, click the link connected to each title. If you want a physical copy, just get in touch with me and I can burn you a CD.
Feel free to take a listen, and refer to this list for more information on the tracks, the album info and performers. Please note that this is by no means a comprehensive overview of Ghanaian music, nor is it particularly representative. These are simply songs from tapes that I happen to own and enjoy. And there's more where this came from:

01 - Manor Nye Mawu, by Efo Senyo on 'Ametor Woyorna'. We start with an excellent example of Ghanaian traditional music - leader with a choir and drum section, the cow-bell keeping time (but not western time). Check out how the drums all come in together!

02 - Afe Aso, by Nakorex on 'Kpanlogo Fever'.   This second track is more 'pop' style - notice the similar rhythm, but combined with Ghanaian english, much less traditional here with the guitars, but with the Hilife rhythm and feel that incorporates brass.

03 - Woyoo Woyoe, by Nana Tuffour on 'Hilife Tropicana'. The third track is a combination of older Hilife rhythm and horns with the newer electric guitar from French West Africa - although with a Ghanaian twist. Nana Tuffour is the most Hilife oriented of the artists represented here, in my opinion.

04 - Near The Cross, by CYB Tamale on 'Yehowa'. With this track we go back to traditional choir songs. CYB is a youth organization in Tamale (youth refers to a younger generation - you can have 30-year-olds as part of the organization), in this case specifically a church youth association and they sing their favorite songs on this album. Listen to how they fit a western tune into their traditional style (slightly different from Efo Senyo, you might notice).

05 - Ahintabea, by Daughters of Glorious Jesus on 'Aseda'. Daughters of Glorious Jesus is probably the most popular female gospel trio in Ghanaian pop music. Their sound is a combination of Hilife and tight harmonies.

06 - Odofopa Hu Yena, by Kojo Antwi on 'Groovy'.   Kojo Antwi is one of the 'heavy hitters' of Ghanaian pop, and this is a classic track where he combines Hilife with R&B influences (think Barry White)

07 - Odo Mmra Fie, by Daddy Lumba on 'Woho Kyere'.   Another easy grooving track, you can hear the similarity that Hi-life has to reggae and island music (each of these distinct styles has its roots in Ghanaian traditional music).

08 - Adi Nye Wo, by Dada KD on 'Adi Nye Wo'. I just love this track - the way it builds in the beginning with a grooving piano. Check out the bassline too - I love Ghanaian basslines.

09 - Oo Nye Mawu, by CYB Tamale on 'Yehowa'. Back to a more traditional song by the youth choir. You may notice that their songs have no instrumentation. This is partly traditional, and partly practical - you make music with what you have around you. Drums are key, but tone instruments are optional. Check out how tight the singers and drummers are though - everyone is on the same groove.

10 - Fofo Nye Feme, by Efo Senyo on 'Etsome Manya'. Another traditional track, this one highlights the use of horns in a traditional manner. This trumpet player doesn't have a lot to say, but he is on with the rhythm and adds some interesting texture to the song. Listen also to the drums changing their emphasis. Keep in mind that this group, led by Efo Senyo, plays this same drum pattern (with slight variations) continuously for more than 30 minutes, and the only way you know that they've changed songs is because the leader comes in with different words and a slightly different melody, which the choir then follows. No hymnals or sheet music necessary

11 - Odo Esisi Me, by Akatakyie on 'Ghana Mmaa'.   Here is a swingin Hilife song with the more traditional French West-African guitar, as opposed to the western soloing found in Track 3. I love the sampling of the kid's song that happens a minute into the track, without losing the rhythm. You can hear the cow bell counting the 3/4 in the background. You can also hear the influence of rap beginning to come in.

12 - Ebeye Wo Ya, by Nana Ampadu on 'Double-Do'. Nana Ampadu is one of the favorite guitarists in Ghana - this is classic West African electric guitar playing - find a groove and vamp. You can also hear the Hilife brass on this track.

13 - Ehye Wo Bo, by Akatakyie on 'Ghana Mmaa'. I had to include this track because it grooves so well, and you can hear the cow bell keeping time - this is one of the favorite rhythms of Ghana, and most synonymous with Hilife.

14 - Yen Ka No Bokoo, by Godfred Darko on 'Ebedwo Dabi'. Godfred Darko is another staple of Ghanaian Hilife, though a more modern sound - going to town on the keyboard, which brings together the west african electric guitar sounds with the rhythms of Hilife and the backing choir.

15 - M' Endwoodwoo Me, by Nana Tuffour on 'Daasebre'. And to close out, a classic Hilife tune with the horns coming in right at the beginning.

Love - Begotten on Amazon in time for Christmas!

I just found our Christmas album has posted to Amazon MP3! Check it out HERE.

Merry Christmas from Ghana!

The other day my parents gave me a DVD they had received from some friends who had visited us in Ghana and shot footage of my at drum lessons in Ghana when I was 10 or 11. Interesting stuff. I'll have to import some of it and put a clip up on YouTube.
One of the great things about growing up in Ghana is that I got to take drum lessons from guys who made a living playing the proverbs of their people. One of the other cool things was that I was exposed to so many incredible varieties of local music in a place where making music is just part of everyday life - it's a form of expression meant to be shared with others in your community, just like dance and work and food.
I found some cassette tapes of Ghanaian music, and decided I'm going to put them into digital format over the next couple days. I started doing this a few years ago, so have a bunch of MP3s of Ghanaian music and will try to post some here.
Here's an MP3 of the Ghanaian gospel group 'Daughters of Glorious Jesus'. Groovy stuff. =) Now you know where Hiram gets his groove.

ASOMDWEHENE - DAUGHTERS OF GLORIOUS JESUS  

The Business of Music

I've been working on my full-length album for a year now, and it is finally completed. There are some slight details that need to be worked out before sending it to the printer, but the music part is done. It feels good to say that.
Now my attention is turning to promoting the album. I've been thinking about this for awhile (I've had about a year) as I try to figure out the business end of things, and I've come to some conclusions mirrored by a great post by George Howard that I linked to from Tunecore .
Basically, the conclusions are as follows:
1) create
2) be real
3) don't worry
4) make a plan with specific goals
5) work incrementally
6) build on the existing foundation
7) enjoy it!
So I'm going ahead to plan a CD-release here in Lancaster for Feb 7th @ Building Character, kind of like last year's EP release at the Station House. Hope to see you there!

Discovering Twitter

I just signed up for a free account on Twitter.com - pretty cool thing!
It lets me get and send short updates - kind of like chatting, but without the time commitment. I haven't hooked up my mobile phone, but they tell me it would make me more connected... not sure that i want to be THAT connected.
Feel free to follow me, and I'll follow you: twitter.com/hiramring  

A Christmas Song based on the nature of the Triune God

Glory to God in the Highest
What made the heavenly host sing on that cold winter's night? Was it wonder at the God of the universe becoming small and powerless? Was it amazement at His plan for salvation finally being made flesh, entering the history of humanity in a single, clear instant like the call of a trumpet? Were they simply rejoicing in the beauty and wonder of birth, or were they looking ahead to when He would destroy death with one fell swoop?
The wonder of this moment when the Word became flesh is what I was trying to capture with the song 'O Little Child'. The moment that changed history, the One who created it being Himself created, and what that would mean for eternity and humanity, is a concept that I believe we have to continually re-visit in scripture and song - to try and wrap our heads around and ultimately, joyfully, fail to understand.
It is with amazement that we find ourselves on the other side of the cross and can look back to see the giant steps and sacrifices that a little baby in Bethlehem would have to make to fulfill His destiny. A destiny to restore humanity to the relationship intended for it by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through salvation in himself, Yeshua - the Lord who saves.
O little child, o tiny babe, are these your hands that came to save? Held in your mother's warm embrace, remember me this Christmas day. O little child, your tiny feet will bear the cross toward calvary. Now tightly wrapped on mother's knee, on Christmas day I think of thee.
That God would come to us on earth - he who himself did give us birth. That the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.
O little child, you must be fed - you who will give us living bread. The final Word is said, it's yours to say. Do you remember Christmas day?
Now let us sing with one accord jubilant praises to our Lord! Join with the angels' heavenly choir - proclaim this wondrous clarion hour! That God would leave His heaven above to live with us a life of love, that the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.
Glory to God in the Highest! Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men!
O little child, your eyes still sleep - your tiny form a mystery. Come with the world on bended knee - on Christmas day we think of Thee.

You can find this song and more at www.hiramring.com

Syncing Cell Phones: the beauty of Technology

I just got a new cell-phone today, and experienced one of the great joys of working technology. My old cell phone was a Motorola Razr V3T. A great little piece of hardware - it came with an MP3 player, expandable memory, cool vibes, and both a bluetooth and a usb connection. I've had it for about two years (I got a case for it and tried not to drop it), and just in the last couple months the screen started going bad. Apparently there is a flex cable that gets worn out over time in these flip phones. I could send and receive calls fine, but half the time I couldn't see who I was calling or read any texts. Finally the screen died altogether last week. So I figured it's time to sign up for another 2-year contract and get a new phone with it.
But Here's the beauty: with my Mac, I was able to use Bluetooth to sync my contacts with my address book - a little mac program called iSync. Just beautiful. It took me a while to figure out how to access the contacts via USB, since I couldn't see the screen on my old one to know what I was doing and get into my tools to turn on Bluetooth on my phone for my computer to see it. I had to delete the old bluetooth Razr connection and re-discover the phone while it was connected via USB. I also had to remove the memory card, otherwise it would show the memory card as a USB drive.
So I got a new phone that also has Bluetooth and USB - the trusty Razr. Unfortunately they don't make the ones with expandable memory and MP3 player anymore, but that doesn't worry me. I hear all sorts of stories from my friends about losing or breaking their cell phone and all their contacts are gone. With iSync everything is now backed up - minimal loss of contacts, if any! I just put my old case on the new phone, linked up the Bluetooth, and now my computer is putting all my contact phone numbers on the new Razr with the visible screen.
I love technology... when it works!

Check out: Katie Becker - Firstborn

We just finished working on Katie Becker's EP Firstborn. For those of you who don't know, an EP is a collection of songs in which the total playing time of all the tracks is less than 45 minutes. Anything longer than 45 minutes is a full-length LP (long-play). Katie's EP has already received a great review from Ken Mueller, an avid music listener who works for WXPN. It has been really exciting to work on these songs. Katie is a gifted songwriter, arranger, musician and... singer. She has a unique approach to singing, emphasizing particular nuances of the text with movement and poise. Almost Bjork-like in her stylings. She is also a very grounded person. We got to know each other at church through working with the youth group and helping out with music, and I have spent many a meal and evening at her family's house. As one keenly interested in life and what is going on around her, Katie is a songwriter for a new era of concerned individuals trying to make their way in the world even while they lend a hand to those around them. Find Katie online at www.katiebeckermusic.com, visit her myspace site, befriend her, and try to make it to a show near you to pick up a physical copy of this disc. Better yet, set a show up for her near you. You can also find her 5-song EP on iTunes:

Life Comes at You Fast...

It's a cliche, especially now that it has been used in a TV commercial, but it does serve a purpose, as all cliches can. My brother reminded me the other day that I needed to update the news page on my website, and I figure I'd better do the same with my blog.
Suffice it to say that life has been pretty busy, with work and finishing up mastering a couple projects and trying to finish mixing the Christmas album. We spent a good chunk of time yesterday on one song, and got it pretty much mixed. We have three more sessions like that and then we can listen back to all 14 tracks and make final adjustments. It is amazing what hard, focused mixing can do to transform a song from 'okay' to 'great'. And I think we've been able to do that for a lot of these tracks.
The busy spell is beginning to slow down, and I feel like it goes in waves. Next week will probably be packed, or if not next week then the following week. I'm starting to book some more solo shows, and pretty soon I'll be working on finishing up the cover design for my album. It's exciting to have projects to work on, but when busy-ness goes in waves it's often hard to know what to do with my time when it's free.
In my free time there's a lot I could probably do (practice, write songs, record new tunes, etc..), and I do a fair amount of music-related things, but sometimes I'm just burnt out on music and I'd rather do other things. Today, for example, I had a big lunch and watched Seinfeld episodes. Last night I watched the vice-presidential debates. But that's another story.

John McCain

Last Tuesday I went to see John McCain at a rally in Lancaster. I figured since both candidates were in my city (just down the block from my house) I might as well go see them both and see firsthand what the difference was.
I joined some friends who are hardcore McCain supporters in the long line to get in (there was no possibility of standing outside the cordoned area, since the rally was in a gym instead of outside in a park) and eventually made my way through.
What amazed me was the number of Obama supporters yelling obscenities and wearing tshirts, etc.. intended to spark something who were standing or walking around where the people were lining up to get in - almost as if they wanted conflict to occur. I didn't see any anti-Obama people openly at his rally on Friday, but here were anti-McCain people at his rally, most of whom were being ignored by those in line. It strikes me that this may be the fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats, at least in Lancaster: D's are much more emotionally tied to their candidate, where as R's are much more willing to separate their emotions from their decision. I have to admit I'd rather make a rational decision than an emotional one, but maybe both are valid.
Inside people were giving out signs to hold up, and when I declined one offered to me, the girl looked at me with a weird expression, as if she didn't know what to do with me. I smiled at her and she smiled nervously back.
Finally the candidate came out, and with him were Sarah Palin and her husband. Sarah introduced McCain and he gave his spiel. I have to admit I was pretty impressed. They said some good things - I was impressed more by the way they delivered their ideas, though. They were very specific about their goals and the way that they intended to achieve them. Energy independence was a big topic, something Barack didn't touch on, and there were specific measures that they intended to use to get there. It was cool too how both people running spoke too - I have yet to hear Biden speak a single word.
Maybe it was just that I had never heard their positions, or maybe that Barack assumed people had already heard his positions, but McCain was somehow clearer about what he wanted to do with and for the country.
Still with-holding judgement, but it was definitely good to experience both sides of the political spectrum.

Barack Obama

Yesterday afternoon I went to see Barack Obama. Seriously. He made a campaign stop in Lancaster's Buchanan park, just up the street from my house. So I rode my bike over there to see what all the commotion was about. I climbed a tree to get a better view, since there were so many people there. It was kind of like Zaccheus and Jesus, except that Barack didn't call me down from the tree and tell me he wanted to eat at my house. Good thing, too, since I didn't have any food ready. I heard him introduced and about five minutes of his speech, and then got yelled at by the secret service to get down from the tree. I guess they don't like people in trees around presidential candidates. That was as close to Zaccheus as I got. So I got down and listened to the rest of the speech from the ground - fortunately I could still see him ok, since I was taller than most of the people around me. He gave a good speech, I thought, given that he only spoke for 45 minutes. He has a comfortable and easy way of speaking, and he seems to think clearly, though the long hours of campaigning are showing their toll in his pauses and his lost train of thought. But all in all, a good speech. I've never been really interested in politics, especially presidential campaigns, but this campaign is a bit different - I think because both candidates are coming to my back yard. Good 'ol Lancaster. And they're both coming to places I can walk to. So I plan on going to see McCain in the flesh when he shows up on Tuesday - see what it's all about. Maybe then I can make an informed decision.

Recording and Math

I just started a new job, working for Math U See, which makes and ships math textbooks to people around the world - mainly homeschoolers. They have textbooks from basic math all the way up through Calculus. As I remember trying to teach myself Calc out of a public school textbook, it seems like they're on to something - especially the way they are able to teach these concepts using visual blocks. They've found the teaching methods to be so effective that some public school special-ed classes are adopting it as their curriculum. Pretty cool!
We've also been recording these past couple weeks, which has been really good. somewhat stressful, of course, but we've gotten a lot done on the project. I'm working with Matthew Monticchio, David Green, Katie Becker and a bunch more musicians and it's turning out pretty nicely. Hopefully this will be ready for release by Christmas.
I actually have to go record pretty soon (we've got some string players coming in for a session), so I'll cut this short even though I haven't mentioned Purple Door. I'll try to blog about that in the coming days.

For those who believe that bad Art exists

I've been back in the US for a couple weeks, and something I've been thinking about I wanted to get out here. Many of you know I'm a musician, and as an independent artist starting on my own I'm interested in the social implications of art. I've had some local recognition, wherever I play people like my music (no-one has told me lately that they dislike it, though when I was first starting to write and perform that wasn't the case), and I think over the years I've come to discern what makes a good song (music, content, etc), which is why I've become a bit of a producer of other people's music.
Being a producer and engineer for other people has required an understanding of the niceties of musical quality. Instruments have to be in tune, the mics have to be set up properly, and there has to be something of value in the song at hand. I use a certain set of criteria to judge that value - is the song musical, does it move people, is it emotive, do the words and the music add to each other rather than detracting...? I believe that music (and any Art, really) is intended for an audience, and if these elements don't exist within the song it will not be worthwhile to record it, because the song won't DO anything for anyone in a deeper way - it will just annoy them.
That being said, some songs do this better than others - and that's the real social implication of song. I want to write and record songs that last a long time precisely because each of the elements - the music, the lyrics, the instrumentation - fits together so perfectly that is strikes a chord of response within the listener as music is intended to. Which brings me to a final point about why quality is so relevant to any discussion about Art.
As an independent musician, I want people to listen to my music. If the music sucks, people won't listen. There's a lot of music out there that sucks, and it floods the market because people believe that "anyone can create, whether they have talent or not". Yeah, they can create - but it might not do much for their audience. I've discovered in trying to get my music out there that there are a lot of contests to help you get your music heard. Some of them have great prizes. I have begun to avoid contests, though, where your fans get to vote - I live in a small town, and despite a large email list I have discovered something scary: the hardest working musicians with the most fans don't always have the best music, but they often win the contest because the criteria for winning is based on how many people vote for them.
Which makes me wonder - does this mean that most people who listen to music don't have any discernment about the quality of the music they listen to? I don't think so. I'm sure if you talked to any music listener over a period of time you would find that they discard the crap and listen more often to certain musicians. However, in terms of winning a contest they would rather help someone they know than a better musician who they don't know - it becomes more a relational territory war than about the quality of the music. Those with the largest social networks win.
So when we talk about the 'democratization of the arts' we are talking about letting down the drawbridge for everyone to come in and vote, removing all criteria and ignoring social ties to the artists. Not a very fair representation of quality, I'd say. What would be really interesting is to find a group of people (say 1,000) who have no ties to any of the artists, who have a large variety of music they like and listen to, and who would vote simply on what they like in the new artists they are exposed to. That would be a worthy group of judges to submit music to.
But at the end of the day, I realize that I just have to create music, and as long as the people I live with enjoy it, that's all I really need. It would be nice to gain larger recognition, but that's just a question of time. Because time filters out the crap, and only worthwhile songs remain.

Through England

I am now in the US once again. I spent a week in England on my way back, visited some old friends from Ghana and made some new ones. My friends the Hewers live in Thame, which is in Oxfordshire, not too far from Oxford. So the second day I was with them i caught the local bus to Oxford and walked around the city.

Thanks to the gift of the gab (or my self-effacing humility, or something of the sort) I started talking to another wanderer who was on her own. It turns out Marta is from Portugal and came to Oxford to study English for a few weeks. So we wandered around together, had lunch and then went our separate ways. It was great to have someone to explore the city with.

The Natural History Museum was probably the coolest of the sites we saw. Something about old dinosaur bones just gets me. Amazing what these animals must have looked like.

The day after I visited with friends from Norway and other friends from Ghana in Guildford, a bit south of London. It was so relaxing just to sit in the garden with friends and eat and chat while the little ones ran around. It threatened rain, which happily never came, and I even got some sun!

Walking on Ice

It's sad that I was only able to blog daily for about a month, but there has been a reason for it. Matt and I have been busy painting one of the apartments, and it's beginning to look a lot nicer. It's amazing what a coat of paint will do for a room! So a lot of the last few days have been pretty much the same.
In preparation for my leaving, however, we have been doing a few different things. Yesterday we went with Dave and Liv Marit to a craft show in Jondal, northwest of us toward Bergen. We traveled up the West side of the fjord to Utne, and then took the single-lane, old road over and through the mountains to Jondal. It was pretty scary in some parts, especially as we had to pull off several times to let big buses and other cars going the other direction pass by. We stopped to look at some old rock pictures (petroglyphs) from the beginning of the Christian era, though probably made before Christianity arrived in Norway. We did our best to interpret whatever story might have been displayed there.
In Jondal we wandered around the craft show and looked at various handmade work - a lot of great woodcarving and fabrics, as well as jewelry and painting. It reminded me of various craft shows I'd been to in the US. I managed to find a good Norwegian cheese cutter (my Mom made me promise to bring one back, since they are some of the best cheese slicers in the world), and Matt got a wooden toy for his daughter.
There was also music to listen to on the bandstand - the Hardanger Big Band was a highlight. We ran into Lajla Storli as well, a local folk musician, who together with her folk musician husband John Ole Morken recorded with Ove and I last week. Lajla's main instrument is Hardanger Fiddle, a particular type of violin that has four under-strings strung below the regular strings, which are tuned as sympathetic strings and resonate when the top strings are played. It has a really unique sound, one instrument that I've never heard before - it sounds like a couple violins at once. BUT it also means it can only play in certain keys, because of the harmonic resonance of the under-strings. It was really neat to record them - John Ole's main instruments are the viola and violin, and he just completed an album of Norwegian folk tunes, which sounds quite good. Here's a picture of Lajla recording with us last week. Some great musicians around here.
Before we left Jondal to go back home, we decided to drive up the mountain to the glacier, Folgefonn. This is the glacier that sits between Jondal and Odda, and on the Jondal side they have a summer ski center on the glacier. We drove up to 1200 meters (on a road much smaller and more windy than the one between Utne and Jondal), right to the edge of the glacier, and stood on the frozen snow at the end of June. Pretty crazy stuff! Matt, having grown up in Florida, was excited to be on so much snow. It was a pretty incredible experience!

The Bunker

So once again I have been lax in blogging. The past couple weeks Matt and I have been working on the buildings and staying busy. We've also done a few other things, but it has been raining almost constantly for the past two weeks. So here are some pictures of what we've been up to - not the work, but the other things. This past Monday was midsummer night, and they celebrate it around here by having a 'child wedding'. Kids get dressed up and go through a 'ceremony' and dance together to celebrate the longest day of the year. It was a cloudy day, but that didn't stop the ceremony.
Yesterday was finally a sunny day, and after working Matt and I took a walk along the old road north of Tyssedal. There's a German bunker there that dates from WWII when Norway was occupied by the Germans. Odda was a strategic location because of the factories here, and this bunker covered the approach from the north.

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.