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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 08/25/2010 : 11:56:40 AM
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Please watch this video of Makana and especially listen to what he has to say at the end of the video.
To summarize what I heard, he said slack key is very simple and the player has to not do very much that the tunings are what makes the sounds and to keep it simple like Gabby Pahinui did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ_5fe_HiQM
I would welcome discourse about his comments. I think that a) Makana does not play simply -- his original music that is billed as slack key is extraordinarily complex and embellished. I also believe ethat how Gabby Pahinui played was fairly complex with lots of jazzy sounds here and there and his intros were definitely not simple. I believe the more nahenahe sounds of Uncle Raymond Kane could be considered more simple, yet to me NO slack key is simple.
What say ye?
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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sirduke58
`Olu`olu
USA
993 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2010 : 1:08:59 PM
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Although I do not like Matt Swalinkavich (Makana "The Gift"... I think not) there is some element of truth in what he says. Slack key is not only about how many notes you can fit into a measure. He's also correct that tunings contribute so much to ki ho'alu, making it possible for simple fingerings to sound very complex.
There is a certain amount of simplicity to ki ho'alu but Gabby Pahinui is not a good example.For instance: If you put a gun to my head (Because I wouldn't do it of my own free will) I could figure out 90% of that piece that Makana plays in this video TODAY.By contrast me & Cyril & Ozzie & George Kuo & Ledward have all been trying for 35 plus years to capture that signature sound of Gabby but none of us have achieved that same 90%
Makana has lost touch with his traditional ki ho'alu repertoire. When he does play it, it seems like his heart is not in it anymore(Heart is a key element BTW). I would bet the farm that he has not learned any different traditional ki ho'alu pieces since his days as "The Ki ho'alu Kid" All the elite slack key players are always in pursuit of learning more vintage ki ho'alu.......always will be haumana of the art
The root of my dislike for Makana's music is this....."While performing, he is more interested in telling you the story of Matt Swalinkavich than the story of the mele" I don't know about everyone else but I'm not interested in the prancing & preening, just play me the song & move me with the emotions the mele invokes in you.Your preference may differ LOL.............Ready,aim,fire!!!!! I'm already bobbing & weaving & zigging & zagging & ducking & diving.....you can't catch me.Hahahahaha
Malama pono
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Hoof Hearted?...Was it you Stu Pedaso? |
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Peter Medeiros
`Olu`olu
546 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2010 : 1:42:57 PM
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| Eh brada, I tink fo you waz mo like "Fire, ready, aim. Yeah?" But come to tink about I beginning to see da family rezemblence between you and brada Shrek. |
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mike2jb
Lokahi
USA
213 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2010 : 6:34:45 PM
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Hmmm ...
At the risk of entering one of those "what is slack key" discussions that never seem to end well around here, I guess I'd comment as follows:
1. My experience is that when an author or an artist or a musician says something he does is "simple", he's not really talking about the same thing I am when I use that word.
2. There are plenty of musicians with personal characteristics or stage presence that irritate me, but I still like much of their music. This is one of them.
3. I have seen this performer twice in intimate settings (a small room, sitting close enough spit on the stage), and he seemed different from how he performs in the larger venues-- there was definitely "heart" there, imho.
4. I think the comment at the festival was perhaps more superficial than we may be thinking-- that he was just speaking of respect for the instrument and for the ingenuity of taking advantage of its resonance in open tunings. In fact, he never actually used the word "simple" at all.
5. Here's what Makana/Matt actually said, by my hearing:
"Do you know why slack key is so beautiful? I’ll tell you why it's so beautiful: because it has less of the player in it than any other style of music. What do I mean by that? I mean that the guitar [he strums an open chord] is already tuned into this channel of music. And the player has to do so little, it just has to not get in the way.
"That's mastery of this art form: the less you do. And that's why Gabby Pahinui and that kind of music is so timeless. Because when you watch the old videos of Gabby playing, he's not doing that much-- it's the tunings that did it.
"And the Hawaiians were so ingenious to create this style that they tuned the guitars [he strums an open chord again] to a chord and then they just changed a little thing here and there, but they let-- they let the chords resonate. And you-- when you see us play, it just rings. Like this ..." [he again strums an open chord, followed by some runs on the top strings, which I suspect is his usual intro for "Ku`u Lei Awapuhi"].
-- I'm not sure I can find fault with the essence of those words.
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2010 : 7:36:42 PM
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| Nice video - compliments to the person filming. Good to see him covering Keola Beamer's "Blue Water Dolphin." |
Andy |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2010 : 8:56:26 PM
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| Maybe the operative is "simplicity" rather than simple. It just means for me that the deeper meaning of Hawaiian music is felt by the naʻau and not the mind. So one can see the simplicity in something that is multi layered and complex. Not simple in the " aah das easy fo play!" but when the heart strings are plucked by a beautiful slack key rendition it sets a visceral reaction which is simple in the sense that we donʻt need to analyze what we hear. Just enjoy it it is that simple. Barry Flanigan once said as he was accepting a Hoku that Hawaiian music was so easy to play. But what did he and Makana mean when they said that. I believe that Segovia sometimes said that guitar music was simple but he was comparing it to the piano and violin which are the honcho instruments classical music. The guitar has had to fight for its place i the sun in that genre. Sooo why donʻt we just sit back and enjoy and we donʻt need to worry about what some people say about some things. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2010 : 06:10:19 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by noeau
Maybe the operative is "simplicity" rather than simple. It just means for me that the deeper meaning of Hawaiian music is felt by the naʻau and not the mind. So one can see the simplicity in something that is multi layered and complex. Not simple in the " aah das easy fo play!" but when the heart strings are plucked by a beautiful slack key rendition it sets a visceral reaction which is simple in the sense that we donʻt need to analyze what we hear. Just enjoy it it is that simple. Barry Flanigan once said as he was accepting a Hoku that Hawaiian music was so easy to play. But what did he and Makana mean when they said that. I believe that Segovia sometimes said that guitar music was simple but he was comparing it to the piano and violin which are the honcho instruments classical music. The guitar has had to fight for its place i the sun in that genre. Sooo why donʻt we just sit back and enjoy and we donʻt need to worry about what some people say about some things.
Aamen, Braddah! |
keaka |
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Hookani
Lokahi
232 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2010 : 08:31:57 AM
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| I think for Hawaiian slack key, the player has a lot of input on how sound comes out of that sound hole. It may not be technical input but it's the heart that goes into playing it. It's not the tuning that makes me sit back and say wow, it's the how the person is playing and the feeling they are projecting thru the instrument. Simple or not, in my opinion, the player plays a big part in kiho'alu. |
Ke Kani Nahe
YouTube
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2169 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2010 : 09:32:01 AM
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| Music is communication. No 2 people will play the same. No one person will play the same way twice. Also, be happy for digital tuners. |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2010 : 09:33:36 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by mike2jb
Hmmm ...
At the risk of entering one of those "what is slack key" discussions that never seem to end well around here, I guess I'd comment as follows:
oh dear, I asked this question in my last post, sorry if ths subject is kapu 
I dont agree that slack key is easy at all, I find it very challenging, all the fingerings , ahving to learn the different note placeent and different tunes, its a lot,
but I also think there is a truth in what he said about the resonation of an open tuned guitar, the guitar sings on its own and its easier in a way to 'speak' through it and focus on put heart into it instead of having to focus so much on achieveing a harmonicly pleasing sound out of a standard tuning. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2010 : 12:52:41 PM
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Alice - don't worry about asking the question. It is not kapu, as long as everyone is pono about voicing their opinions. Matter of fact I frequently post topics that I know will generate discourse...otherwise things might get a bit dull around here. Folks are free to respond or free to refrain, their choice.
The part about an open tuning resonating, to my untrained ear, that is indeed true. That is one of the reasons I am so drawn to Hawaiian music and slack key in particular -- the music is resonant, it is beautiful. In traditional style slack key there is nothing dischordant about it but in some of the more modern stuff passed off as slack key, I do hear sounds that just downright grate on me like scratching nails on a chalkboard. But that is purely my personal preference.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2010 : 2:51:29 PM
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| I stayed for the entire show. I thought everyone was awesome. But Ledward is the real deal. Dennis did Pua Hone and Kokee. Sweet. |
Stay Tuned... |
Edited by - hikabe on 08/26/2010 2:56:43 PM |
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Makana at Slack Key Festival Kapiolani Park
