#4076: Unusual String Instruments
Hear music for unusual stringed instruments, from a Sardinian prepared guitar to South American stringed instruments like the cuatro, charango, or ronroco. The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument, made of armadillo shell, and in the lute family, while the ronrocco is somewhere between a guitar & charango. Also, there’s music for cuatro, bouzouki, and Paolo Angeli’s prepared guitar.
Listen to two recordings by Gustavo Santaolalla, a composer perhaps best-known for his soundtrack work, in music from his record, Ronroco. Hear the ronroco again in acoustic music from the German producer & multi-instrumentalist Aukai, from his forthcoming record, Branches of the Sun. Then, listen to music involving the 4-stringed Venezuelan cuatro (sounds something like a ukulele) by the Penguin Café Orchestra, from a performance recorded in our studio in 1989. (The other style of cuatro is rather violin-like, with ten strings, and is found in Puerto Rico.)
Then, listen to music from the island of Sardinia by Paolo Angeli and his prepared guitar, (as seen here in this Tiny Desk concert):
So many possible sounds come from the instrument, which is bowed cello-like, has drone strings, is plucked, strummed, or struck like hammers on a piano - plus pedal effects. Plus, hear the bouzouki, a long-necked lute from Greece in music by Chris Morphitis & more music for prepared guitar.
PROGRAM #4076 Music for Unusual String Instruments (First Aired: 2/06/2018)
ARTIST: Penguin Café Orchestra
WORK: Air A Danser, excerpt [1:00]
RECORDING: WNYC Live, 1989
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Most PCO records are available now via penguincafe.com
ARTIST: Gustavo Santaolalla
WORK: De Ushuaia a la Quiaca [4:23]
RECORDING: Ronroco
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79461
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Aukai (Markus Sieber)
WORK: Fragmentary Blue [3:11]
RECORDING: Branches Of Sun
SOURCE/INFO: aukai.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Tunto
WORK: Chicken music [5:07]
RECORDING: Huvi
SOURCE/INFO: aani.fi or cdbaby.com
ARTIST: Gustavo Santaolalla
WORK: Atacama [3:40]
RECORDING: Ronroco
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79461
INFO: nonesuch.com
ARTIST: Penguin Café Orchestra
WORK: Air A Danser, excerpt [1:00]
RECORDING: WNYC Live, 1989
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Most PCO records are available now via penguincafe.com
ARTIST: Aukai (Markus Sieber)
WORK: Oars [4:06]
RECORDING: Branches Of Sun
SOURCE/INFO: aukai.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Paolo Angeli
WORK: Due Tempi [2:49]
RECORDING: Talea
SOURCE: Paolo Angeli
INFO: angelimanucheproductions.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Paolo Angeli
WORK: Due Tempi [5:51]
RECORDING: Talea
SOURCE: Paolo Angeli
INFO: angelimanucheproductions.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Chris Morphitis
WORK: Where to Go [3:39]
RECORDING: Where to Go
SOURCE: Village Green VGCD011
INFO: boomkat.com
ARTIST: Marina Fages
WORK: Mundo Dios [2:47]
RECORDING: Madera Metal
SOURCE: naturebliss.bandcamp.com
INFO: marinafages.com.ar
ARTIST: Matteo Liberatore
WORK: Agnes [1:27]
RECORDING: Solos
SOURCE: Innova 985
INFO: innova.mu
