May 6, 2015

How ancient songs revive



Small post about making arrangements of traditional songs by Noid - how it started and has been developing.

It was long time ago, 1999 or somelike. I was studying in Petrozavodsk State University, Baltic-Finnish philology and culture faculty, Veps and Finnish languages and literature department. I was in the second year of studying, if I remember right.

One day I decided to try writing a short poem in Veps:

Hei, ei, kotkaine
Lendad sinä taivhadme.
En voi olda ilman händast
Mitte elo om minule.

Lenda randale,
Sanu armhale
Kuti tullei pilvid läbi
Minun joudai kotkaine.

Sanub kotkaine:
Tulin sulale.
Pahad vestid toin sinei,
Mäni armaz mehele.

Joudai kotkaine,
čoma suugaine.
Jäl’ges südäimes
Linneb kandatez.

Funnny thing, I couldn't make a sensible rhyme to the last stanza and I didn't want to think much about it and just made a rhyme with the first words which came to my mind: Jäl’ges südäimes linneb kandatez (it can be translated as: "after that it'll be sourcream in your heart"). Ok, let's suppose lyrics were done. It took 10 minutes to take a guitar and play some chords, some time to make an arragement on my Ensoniq TS-10 synth, record it and add vocal in Adobe Audition - and the song was ready.



In 2010, when we recorded "Kukirikku" CD, the song gained new "breath" in new arrangement, but lyrics and harmony remained all the same:



Some years passed since that and in 2007 appeared "Noid". I'd got some music material - traditional Veps songs - and we should try to arrange it. We were standing at the edge of the most exciting process and it was about to begin!:)
First of all I set an important criteria for my experiments with traditional musical material: traditional elements (melody mostly as Vepses performed their songs a capella) must remain unchanged in the final arrangements.
For the first song we took traditional Veps lullaby.



And arranged it:



I should mention, that we tried to arrange every song in a different style.
And so on:





We're very happy to have an opportunity to acquaint you with Veps culture.
This year we'll finish our second album. New album, new sound.
So, the experiments continue.

3 comments :

  1. Such a revolutionary change is unprecedented in animal cultural vocal traditions and suggests that novelty may stimulate change in humpback whale songs.Travel reviews

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  2. Thank you so much as you have been willing to share information with us. We will forever admire all you have done here because you have made my work as easy as ABC. Ms Thuy

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