Gerald Ross
From:
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2007 12:16 pm |
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Kay sent us his latest today. It's a medley of tunes from the musical "South Pacific".
Here's some comments. Happy Birthday Kay!
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A couple of weeks ago I was given tickets for my birthday by my son to the Hollywood Bowl to see a magnificent production of South Pacific with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, a great cast (Reba Macentyre played the female lead) in front of an audience of 18,000. There, in the evening sun and amidst picnic baskets and bottles of wine, I recalled living recently in the part of the world called the South Pacific. We had actually visited on more than one occasion the beautiful island, Pulau Tioman, where the film of the same name was made...pristine white sands, coral reefs and unlikely colors of the ocean..
This is a tribute to the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein..with a little twist....
Steelocaster A6 and West Coast C6 steel guitars, key of C. |
South Pacific Medley - Kay Das
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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'
A UkeTone Recording Artist
CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Hawaiian Steel Guitar/Ukulele Website |
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Kay Das
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 16 Aug 2007 10:34 pm Rocording notes and a few pics...
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Recording notes for "South Pacific" as follows:
The steel guitars plugged into a Fender HotRod Deluxe (tube amp) . From the pre-amp output I used an optical compressor (Aphex Punch Factory ) into the mixing board which is a D1600, 16 tracker. I have found I play better, especailly tunes with a Hawaiian flavor, with no reverb while recording. I used two stereo tracks, one for the Steelocaster A6th and one for the West Coast C6th. Stereo reverb (hall for the steels and plate for the orchestra) and other effects were added at the mix-down stage. For the Steelocaster I added an exciter effect which gave the attack a little added sharpness which I wanted to contrast with the gentler tone of the West Coast steel guitar. The orchestral track was "South Pacific" MMO 1177, available from Music Minus One. I cut and pasted three sections from "Bali H'ai" and Some Enchanted Evening to arrive at the arrangement which was my own. Curiously, I found the MMO track to be 2-3 Hz sharper than concert pitch and had to adjust (tuning to A = 440 Hz) by placing my steel a few millimeters closer to the frets than I would normally. When I tried tuning my guitar to A = 445Hz, it was too sharp. I avoided the problem of open strings on the C6th ( the tunes are both in the Key of C) by playing an octave higher on the C6th or using the C formation based around the 3rd fret. Of course, the key of C on the A6th is conveniently on the 3rd (and 15th) fret position. My C6th is tuned (lo to hi) GACEGACE and the A6th is tuned F# A C# E F# A C# E)
Bali H'ai lends itself to a rich assortment of chord improvisations. Seems like it was written expressly for a steel guitar 6th tuning (did Rodgers and Hammerstein ever know that ???) and mixing the 6ths with minor 7ths and diminished chords was exciting. "Some Enchanted Evening" was also just an absolute pleasure to play on steel.
Hope this has been helpful. If I have been clear as mud, let me know. If anyone wishes for anymore information or help, either on the forum or e-mail, I will be very pleased to help.
Some pictures of Tioman Island, the actual island which featured " Bali Ha'i" in the film are attached....The journey from Singapore was a treat. You boarded a hydrofoil (see pic) at Tanah Merah early morning for the tantalizing 4 hour trip...Tioman first appears as a sugarloaf mountain (see pic) in the distance, and as you got nearer you see white sands, palm trees, thatched and wooden huts, and a way of life typical of the South Pacific....including the mosquitoes...(but some anti-mosquito cream took care of that)!
Enjoy!
Kay
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