[NetBehaviour] ~~wards, qin improvisation

[Annie Abrahams]

thanks Alan

On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 2:47 AM Alan Sondheim <sondheim at panix.com> wrote:

>
> Qin slows you up by its very nature, I think. Even though I don't (and
> can't) play traditionally, it's hard to play fast on a 200-400 year old
> instrument... It's a different experience -
>
> On Thu, 15 Oct 2020, Simon Mclennan via NetBehaviour wrote:
>
> > Really meditative and great Alan. Enjoyed this.
> > It?s a great contrast to your recent acoustic guitar improv pieces which
> move differently.
> > Simon
> >
> > Sent from my spyphone
> >
> >> On 13 Oct 2020, at 15:23, Alan Sondheim <sondheim at panix.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ~~wards, qin improvisation
> >>
> >> http://www.alansondheim.org/wards.jpg qin
> >> http://www.alansondheim.org/wards.mp3 sound
> >>
> >> I hadn't played the quqin for several months; one has to come to
> >> it, I think, at least for me, in the proper state of mind. This
> >> is the older of my two instruments, some centuries old, unsigned,
> >> originally designed for silk strings. I keep the metal strings
> >> tuned low. I try I want (not I desire) to keep to its nature as
> >> well. I love this improvisation. There's a slight ringing on one
> >> of the harmonics due to the nature of the glass table I use for
> >> the qin. The table was originally for packages and down in the
> >> lobby of the building we live in. It was being thrown out, and
> >> we had another rescue. It's the perfect length. We found an old
> >> chair from around 1850 maybe that's the perfect height. Stephen
> >> Dydo brought the qin to life. Originally, I asked the luthier
> >> Candelario Delgado to make a tuning apparatus which was
> >> non-traditional but worked for a long time. Dydo restored the
> >> original, including adding two legs which had disappeared a
> >> long time ago, before I had it. As I've written before, I found
> >> the instrument in New Hampshire at an antique shop for eighteen
> >> dollars. When I left the proprietor asked what I wanted that old
> >> board for. I improvise only on it; I don't read qin notation. I
> >> listen a lot to qin music, I've know qin players, including Fred
> >> Lieberman, who was partly responsible, I think, for introducing
> >> the instrument to the United States. He told me I'd never learn
> >> to play it. Stephen Dydo has been amazingly generous and helpful
> >> and I've learned to play it. I have to add, not all the way up
> >> the scale, and my right hand fingers don't hold the traditional
> >> postures. I have to also add I've had it for half a century and
> >> we accommodate each other. The improvisation is called 'wards'
> >> because it's inwards, outwards, upwards, downwards, forwards,
> >> backwards, but mainly in wards. Any relationship to asylum wards
> >> is coincidental, hopefully, enjoy. The Album Stephen and I did
> >> together for ESP, Dragon and Phoenix, issued by ESP-Disk, is
> >> available online. It's described and can be purchased at
> >> http://www.espdisk.com/5019.html . Thank you!
> >>
> >> ___
> >>
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> current text http://www.alansondheim.org/xp.txt
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