Mallung Records X Space Eka #2
On one of the first days, I took a short nap after a morning of yoga, chatting and having breakfast in this beautiful place.
I woke up from this nap with a tune in my head, quite clearly inspired by my surroundings and knowledge of what instruments and sounds were at my disposal during the week. The track had a repetitive, reverb/subby bassline (which would be played by Uvindu), the sounds of nature (with FX on), some solo / improvised violin (over a pedal string section texture) and some improvised pahatharata bera and hakgediya.
I spent the week putting this tune down in Ableton and adding layers to it. I hope for it to be released at some point. It was my first time making anything that sounds like this, but it nicely crosses genres and musical interests of mine, even though it sounds so different!
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Aside from putting this track together, we did so many other things as a group.
A long and thorough chat about the sample pack we were recording during the week
The intentions behind recording it, whether or not it would be quantised, and who the intended users would be. Much of the pahatharata bera tradition differs from what those who haven’t trained in this music idiom would be used to hearing. To a foreign ear, this music may sound ‘out of time’, when really it is supposed to have this lilting feel — this is ultimately what gives it its character and uniqueness. With this in mind, how do we create an accessible and usable sample pack for musicians to utilise? This chat was fruitful and took into account all challenges and opinions from the whole group. It was special to be involved with this process.
On one of the first mornings, we walked the edges of the Sinharaja Rainforest and settled by a stream for a meditation. Mindful and wellness activities of this nature seeped into the whole week, for this I am grateful.
We recorded Kavi and bera within nature.
late night pal Kavi recited alongside crickets
bera played to the valleys with mics capturing the sound of the birds, insects and natural reverb from the surrounding area
we recorded kavi sang at the edges of the rainforest, moments after a monsoon rain had fallen
Jam sessions in the evenings
These jam sessions allowed me to observe how our different musical backgrounds could come together while participating as a violinist
It was really interesting to see how this ensemble (pahatharata bera, bass, drum kit, hakgediya, electronics and violin) came together and fed off one another
Kaley Tea Estate walks
On a couple of the days we went down to the shop / the tea factory in the estate
Here we were able to see how the tea is made and the operation works
I met the Tamil children from the estate on the last day and hope to come back to perhaps run some music workshops with them
There is a long and sad history here which the wonderful leaders of this project are trying to better, including exposing these children other opportunities life could bring them
