| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
 Posted - 09/28/2007 : 08:14:16 AM
|
I know some about Gabby's C, also Gabby's Hi'ilawe Wahine...
Thanks to the discography in Keola and Marks "Learn to Play HSKG" and the work of George Winston...
Are there more sources new or forgotten about Gabby's playing...
Driving home from the mountains last night, The King of Slack Key--best of Gabby, vol.1 got me there relaxed and safe...while trying to hear some of the tricks and tunings...so I was glad to see some extant research to avoid re-inventing the wheel.
The "Slack Key Medley" sounds like it's in F...(or concert E--kinda in the cracks on my piano, which was 440 last I checked...
The tunes in this Medley are:
1)Nani Wale Lihu'e
2) Silver Threads Among the Gold
and
3) Wai' Alae
Haven't seen anything yet on the home tuning he would have used...
would it be Gabby's C with a capo,
or am I missing something?
Would he have played in C tuning, but used another chord as "home", so that open C would take on the function of the Dominant (V7)?
I don't know why, but I want to know...the musical flow is interesting, even when isolated elements of execution may have imperfections.
It's obvious that they recording this stuff live to tape...with no touch ups or "fixing it in the mix"! That was the ONLY way till the multi-track...
anyway
Often Gabby lowered a tuning, or it landed somewhere near "standard" plus or minus a half-step or so...
but the key of F is not likely this way...
I can hear amd decipher most tuning oddities on the violin...only 4 strings/limited options in most instances... and lots more time hearing things for that beast...but the guitar and the many tunings can confuse my synapses when it travels outside my 4-5 years of experience!
|
|
|
Peter Medeiros
`Olu`olu
546 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 09:28:06 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Kapila Kane
I know some about Gabby's C, also Gabby's Hi'ilawe Wahine...
Thanks to the discography in Keola and Marks "Learn to Play HSKG" and the work of George Winston...
Are there more sources new or forgotten about Gabby's playing...
Driving home from the mountains last night, The King of Slack Key--best of Gabby, vol.1 got me there relaxed and safe...while trying to hear some of the tricks and tunings...so I was glad to see some extant research to avoid re-inventing the wheel.
The "Slack Key Medley" sounds like it's in F...(or concert E--kinda in the cracks on my piano, which was 440 last I checked...
The tunes in this Medley are:
1)Nani Wale Lihu'e
2) Silver Threads Among the Gold
and
3) Wai' Alae
Haven't seen anything yet on the home tuning he would have used...
would it be Gabby's C with a capo,
or am I missing something?
Would he have played in C tuning, but used another chord as "home", so that open C would take on the function of the Dominant (V7)?
I don't know why, but I want to know...the musical flow is interesting, even when isolated elements of execution may have imperfections.
It's obvious that they recording this stuff live to tape...with no touch ups or "fixing it in the mix"! That was the ONLY way till the multi-track...
anyway
Often Gabby lowered a tuning, or it landed somewhere near "standard" plus or minus a half-step or so...
but the key of F is not likely this way...
I can hear amd decipher most tuning oddities on the violin...only 4 strings/limited options in most instances... and lots more time hearing things for that beast...but the guitar and the many tunings can confuse my synapses when it travels outside my 4-5 years of experience!
Not all tunings are slacked. This is an example of one of Gabby's F Tunings -- FCEGCE -- it's kind of like an FM9 chord without the A. The F chord is implied via Hawaiian rules. With the exceptions of the 1st & 3rd strings, the strings are not slacked, but raised in pitch. C7 is the V7 chord in the key of F and Bb is the IV chord.
The medley is in two sections for contrast, one slow and the other up-tempo. The first section is comprised of three pieces; Nani Wale Lihue, the Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze and Silver Threads Among Gold are played in rubato -- without strict rhythm. This style is a style that I find more soulful and contemplative, true slack key. The focus was on a melodic interpretation, without bass accompaniment or pedal point. In the old days lot of instrumentals (including uke, fiddle, steel, mandolin, clarinet, etc.) were played this way -- without the strident bass accompaniment.
The second section of the medley is up-tempo with an alternating bass line now setting a strict rhythm. It reprises Nani Wale Lihue in 4/4, and then goes through another rhythm change to 3/4 utilizing a fourth piece Waialae (another one of Gabby's signature pieces). It closes with Waialae. This is another example of Pop's genius.
PM
|
 |
|
|
Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
Posted - 09/30/2007 : 6:08:17 PM
|
Thanks Peter...
I have run across FCEGCE before, on a version of "How'd Ya Do" ...but was not aware of it till now, as an essential Gabby tuning.
I will need to change my 5th string to a lighter gauge to safely reach a 5th string C...and I have done so on other strings/tunings occassionally... violin stings are so much easier to change!
So FCEGCE would be a good place for me to explore eh?
Peter, when you get your book published, I'm in line for a signed copy...
make sure you put the Tattered Cover in Denver on your book signing tour!
Or, I can come there...I'll just will have to take a sabbatical.
On the meter fluctuations...well, I'm used to classical and emotional stuff, so that was not the "error" factor I referred to, it was more the natural performance flow, with a couple of "bumps"--some minor performance hitches...which only added to the authenticity and sense of hearing a real performance....not the "perfect" pro tools sound I've been guilty of using...
If one wants to hear some primitive, natural flaws...have I got a tape for you.
Live, from Nebraska, on state of the art 8-track...It's Kapila Kane!
Look for it under:
A REALLY LONG SUMMER NIGHT IN LINCOLN, UNDER THE MOSQUITO NET, WITH MEISTRO KAPILA KANE, AND THE TARRED AND FEATHERED ORCHESTRA.
Wardrobe courtesy of Leavenworth Arts Council, given to the performers the previous evening...
From a special 3-hour (river boat) tour.
Ya...Gediven.
Das late shift ist Verukt und crazy-machen.
Ich mussen das komputer abandon fur diese nacht.
Auf Weidersehen.
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
