Ruan Stereo Recordings

[valdae]

Here are five recordings of my stereo ruan pieces.
First up is “Prayer for a Friend”. I used my 12 string for backup on this piece, and mostly it works, though the mixing on it was a nightmare. This is one of the more meditative compositions I’ve come up with, and not the easiest piece to play.

soundcloud.com/e-282/prayer-for-a-friend

Next is “DAYofDAYS”. I find it has a very full sound for just two tracks. I used both ruans for this piece

soundcloud.com/e-282/dadofdays

“Clouded Judgment” is the piece I spoke of in my last post. The neighbor’s dog is all over it in the background, so I gave the pooch credit for his participation, such as it was.

soundcloud.com/e-282/clouded-judgment

“Happiest” was a celebratory piece I did for my daughter. I must admit it’s the most Western sounding of my pieces. The tone on the ruan is a bit compromised but overall I was very happy with the result.

soundcloud.com/e-282/happiest

“BEENthereBLEDthat” is one of the first stereo recordings I made with the old ruan. I’m very proud of it, though I couldn’t quite get the mix I wanted but decided to keep what I had , as I didn’t want to record it again.

soundcloud.com/e-282/beentherebledthat

There you have it. I hope you enjoy these little tone poems as much as I enjoyed making them. Putting them together made me appreciate the ruan all the more!
~ Eric

[edcat7]

valdae

I'm slowing going through them. I also love the song titles. If I knew how I'd copy them onto mp3, then cd to play in my car.

[edcat7]

Clouded judgement.

Why do I associate your music with driving. I imagine driving down some dirt road in a hot day in the deep south. Great!

[valdae]

Kicks. It's interesting that you associate my ruan playing with driving. Well, better that than thinking of a kennel because of the dog in the background! LOL.

[edcat7]

Happiest

Are you using two instruments? I can feel the heat and the rain in this tune

[valdae]

That's the sunburst ruan on two tracks. The intonation was a tad stiff, but overall its true sound came through.

[xindi]

None of those links will work on my Safari browser??

[xindi]

But it works on Firefox!!

Good old Firefox.

Just listening to 'Prayer for a friend'. Yes - these are definitely not oriental pieces lol.

You play very poignantly. Strangely, it reminds me of the alternative college band, the Sonora Pine - its mood rather than anything else.

Yes and that dog does bark on cue! Your rhythm timing is something special. Is this a function of the ruan playing, just in terms of string plucking? I guess not - it seems more like discipline. I know when I start a piece, I usually start near comatose speeds,and pick up speed towards the end, rather than holding constant as you do.

[valdae]

I'm glad you finally got a chance to hear some of my pieces. I usually start out slow as well, feeling my way until it starts to jell, then I'm off. I do practice quite a bit. Before the ruan I had played guitar over thirty years.

Yes, my pieces are not oriental, but to me they have a quality that differs somewhat from purely Western.

[valdae]

And yeah - that dog drove me crazy, which is why I decided to use it on the recording!

[xindi]

Sometimes the adventitial sounds make a record. Like Jeff Buckley's classic and unrivalled cover of 'Hallelujah' when it starts by his sudden breathe into the microphone, infusing the music with the very soul of the spiritually forlorn. I must say, I rather liked the creaking chairs of Gillian Welch's earlier albums too. Like the strumming noise of the plectrum which is what I've come to associate with stringed instruments, even if my own pipa playing sounds like I'm chattering through a piece like a nervous thesaurus lol

[valdae]

LOL. I agree. I have recordings where you can hear it rainng in the background, and one piece I haven't posted yet, "MINDadrift" uses the sounds of cicadas in full cry. Though I only use them for the opening of the piece the effect is startling. I'll post it at some point. I recorded two new pieces yesterday but I still have to mix them. One of them, "Two Men Talking" is rather meditative and somewhat abstract, and I use trills throughout the piece. I think you'll enjoy it.

[xindi]

I think you can upload stuff onto iTunes to sell now lol.

I came across some track on the guzheng by a guy who was just whacking any old string with no structure, rhythm or ability. If you'd never heard the guzheng (like most of the western iTunes audience), it would sound experimental and rather avant garde lol. In the company of royalty and experienced guzheng players however, they can tell it's crud lol but I wondered if I tried a social experiment like this and uploaded myself on a guzheng, whether it would find an unsuspecting audience lol.

Anyway tangent aside. I wonder where you would file your music in categories: it isn't oriental, although it uses a zhongruan - in that respect, it might appeal for interest for zhongruan players. Oddly, although I play the flute, I rarely listen to flute music: I mean, I enjoy playing, but I don't enjoy hearing myself

[valdae]

Thanks for your observations and impressions. If I had to categorize what I play I’d describe it as “alternative acoustic” or American Primitive via an Asian instrument. Of course, in some circles that description conjures up newage music. It might have some appeal to ruanists, but only as a departure from traditional playing and repertoire. Players of conventional Western acoustic guitar would have an interest, though if they saw the instrument they’d be shocked.

I’ve seen some Westerners on the TUBE approach the ruan in ways that made me cringe. Clearly, they were searching to find an approach to the instrument but produced rather awkward results. One of my proudest experiences with the zhongruan was having the vendor of Eason Music use one of my pieces on his site (Crepe Myrtle). I don’t know if it’s still up. Anyway, he was amazed I was self taught and had been playing as long as I have. It made my day!

A few nights ago I listened to some of my earliest recordings going back almost three years, and some of those early compositions were cruddy enough, and most of them I no longer play. I too was searching for a way in. Comparing my older pieces with what I’m doing now is like night and day. I’ve grown quite a bit, but have leagues to go.

I recorded two new pieces yesterday, one of which took several takes (have yet to mix and convert them, but another day or so I’ll have ‘em up). Listening to the playback was rewarding, as I felt I nailed what I set out to do. Early on, listening to recordings of my playing developing over time I was struck by what I conveyed, as in, where did that come from, what made me play that phrase, is the ruan telling me what to play (I know that sounds strange, but what can I say, I feel a strong connection to the instrument)?

I enjoy listening to myself most of the time and enjoy recording a great deal. Sometimes playing the ruan is like a meditation for me. I rarely felt that playing Wester