'Rivers', the making of

 

'Rivers'. 

I had been playing with electronic and overdriven guitar just previous to making this one but I wanted to go back to an acoustic tune again for a break.

I had been listening to different styles of acoustic guitar but my favourite is often the old medieval/renaissance 'feel' when I get on the acoustic strings. I don't really know what you call this style. 

I had been experimenting with a few chords and so on but on this particular evening, after a long day at work and also within a week of the first anniversary of my fathers passing; I locked myself away in one evening and finished the tune. After a few run throughs I recorded it live on my phone and directly from a microphone my son gave me into my DAW on the computer in one take.

It is surely technically very imperfect, I'm missing notes and hitting the strings dead at times. However, I felt that I captured the essence. That was enough, so I didn't lose the spirit of the tune.

So, here is the live recording before I added any other instruments, just me and the guitar: 

I'm a big fan of free VSTi's (virtual instruments). So I used a midi keyboard to play these once I started to multitrack it. In my head I was trying my best to play as if they were the real instruments.

So the tracks added after the live recording were:

2nd acoustic guitar - to add a bit more emphasis to the first guitar

Cello

Soprano recorder

Gentle percussion - you can barely hear it but it is there

Chinese style flute

I tried to keep it simple as though it was a small group of people playing in a hall.

Mutant Orchestra - cello

Soprano renaissance recorder

Percussion

Mini DiZi flute

I put together a breakdown of each track so you can hear the instruments separately.

If you have any comments, let me know. 

Probably the best way is through my music page on FB:     Tim Oestmann Music

Thanks for having a look and all the best with your own music making. We all draw from a great river of music and creativity that goes beyond time and boundaries.