Hearts of Space on NCPR

The complex, resonant harmonies of the acoustic guitar. Emerging out of Central Asia by way of North Africa, Spain and Italy, the modern Spanish-style guitar has become the world's most popular musical instrument. What, you might ask, is so special about six strings on a medium size box?

Well first, size matters. The guitar has a four octave range; it's flexible, yet small enough to be portable. Second, the acoustic guitar promotes a certain intimacy. Like the harp, it's an instrument that wants to be caressed. It's generally played with the fingers, which are always right where you need them. Finally, the guitar is versatile; it plays notes and chords with equal grace, can be simple or complex, and melts into the music of many cultures. In short, the acoustic guitar has made itself indispensable.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another exploration of the acoustic guitar, on a program called FINGERSTYLE 2. Music is by DOUG YOUNG, TOMMY EMMANUEL, WALL MATTHEWS, STEVE GRAHN, RICH OSBORN, WILLIAM ACKERMAN, ALEX DE GRASSI, ESPEN JØRGENSEN, JOHN DOAN, and MURIEL ANDERSON.

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Ahhh, the sweetness of early summer, the balm of warm breezes, the pollen, the allergies. It's a good time for electro-acoustic music with gentle rhythms, soft harmonies and seductive melodies. In a word, something "mellotronic."

Now, historians of electronic instruments will tell you that the Mellotron was a tape-based, polyphonic, sample-playback keyboard, developed in England in the early 1960s. The instrument achieved classic status for its key role in popular albums by the Moody Blues and the Beatles, and brought violin, cello, brass, flute and choir sounds to innumerable albums from the Progressive Rock era.

These days, every laptop can be a sampler, the original Mellotron sound is a menu choice, and the orchestration of electronic music is open to all. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we revisit the romantic/contemplative side of ambient electronica, on a program called MELLOTRONIC. Music is by PATRICK O'HEARN, LUDOVICO EINAUDI, THIERRY DAVID, CRAIG PADILLA, MICHELE IPPOLITO, and FRANK STEINER, JR.

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What looks like an elegant flying saucer, sounds like a more melodious cousin of the steel pan drum, and is the first new musical instrument of the 21st century?

Give up? It’s the latest member of the idiophone family, the hang — spelled h-a-n-g and pronounced "hong."

Invented in Bern, Switzerland in 2000 by veteran steel pan makers FELIX ROHNER and SABINA SCHÄRER, hang means "hand" in the Bernese Swiss German dialect. After several generations of intense development, it's become a highly refined instrument tuned to a pentatonic minor scale and played…with the hands.

The hang has become something of a phenomenon among the worldwide community of resonant percussionists, and you're about to hear why. On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we ride the warm, harmonic tones of the hang on a delightfully hypnotic journey called HANG GLIDING. (Sorry, couldn't resist).

Music is by ALAN TOWER from ?MUSIC FOR ANIMALS; the centerpiece of the program is three extended contemplative improvisations for hang, electric guitar and loops by Sicilian-born musician LAURA INSERRA and ambient guitarist DARREN GIBBS, from MUSICAL INCENSE, VOLUMES ONE and TWO; and at the end of our journey, music for multiple steel pans and steel pan and dilruba (an Indian stringed instrument) by Germany's gift to contemplative world music, STEPHAN MICUS — from TO THE EVENING CHILD.

A rhythmelodic journey for resonant steel: HANG GLIDING…on this edition…of Hearts of Space.

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