“Not only did he construct a damper
to expedite more rhythmic playing, he broadened the harp's tonal range by
electrifying it.”
Because he had the knowledge of music from his upbringing
and because he knew how to play other instruments, he was able to experiment
with the harp; Andreas, develop a distinct sound delivering a new way to
orchestra the harp into a contemporary sounding mix of the late 1980s. This was quite different from any other
performing harpist in the past. This new concept with the harp also incorporated the
synthesizer, flute and percussion instruments.
Since Andreas Grammy, which he received in 1987, he experimented
with a wider spectrum of musical instrument; he did this by adding more cultural
sounding instrumentation such as the Chinese flute, Greek Dulcimer, and different
sounding vocal styles. Found at the
Oldies.com website on the following link,
http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Andreas-Vollenweider.html
The author indicates:
“This approach deepened on Book Of
Roses, where Vollenweider himself played Chinese flute and Greek dulcimer, and
on one track performed with South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.”
As Andreas Vollenweider, grew musically he was able to
continue his experimentation by using other styles and musicians that were coming
from various countries and parts of the world now earning him a new title as
“World Music Artist”. The genre he
played mixed classical, pop, jazz, synthetic styles, and world music opening
the doors to others forms of instrumentation; his concepts went beyond “New Age”
music. His influences came from
growing up in Europe plus having a family who were also a group of musicians
and artists.
I was surprised by the fact that Andreas was the rebellious
type, since European musicians usually are well schooled in classical music and
discipline themselves in their approach because of their ridged
upbringing. Taken from Encyclopedia.com
the author states in paragraph four on the following link:
“A Bohemian type who rarely
attended school, Vollenweider drove his music teachers crazy because he refused
to follow the sheet music they gave him to play. Instead, he gained proficiency through trial and error and
was, for the most part, a self-taught musician.”
As a music educator, I found from my own experiences that
when I am teaching a student, it would be a bad practice to use any single
approach when educating them; every mind has a unique design and unique dna
which allows the student to learn differently. Therefore, I would never insist on how to learn something or
create music for that matter.
Andreas’s style and approach toward creating music had me also
examining how I may want to use different and other unique ways when using
sound and sound design. I also
found that when listening to a composition, to listen both passively and
actively in order to understand what the artist is trying to convey, yet be
engaged technically to what is actually being recorded and how it may have been
created. I am hoping that in my
future projects when writing and recording music, I will also remain open minded
as other successful artists have demonstrated in the past. Andreas Vollenweider, in his examples
heard on his albums and live performances, helped me to see how a professional
in the music industry may want to go about developing their own unique and different
styles of recording, yet still remaining marketable and fresh for music created
in the future.
I believe the above approach will aid me in keeping my
career competitive and constantly advancing over the next 5 years and beyond. I find it extremely important to
remember that listening to a variety of musical genre is essential for growth
for ones career in music and as a contribution to the music industry as a
whole. My plan to stay current and
interesting as a professional music industry person is by paying close
attention to the noise and sound surrounding me, and how sound can evolve and
continues to change effecting the viewers and listening audiences. Overall, I am looking forward to
hearing other artists and creating new and exciting sounds that will impact the
future lovers of music who not only play, but who also listen closely to an artists’
work.
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