I used to hate the violin…
I’ve been told this countless times…
“ I thought I hated the violin, but that, was until I heard you play.“
It is as if people seems to either adore violin or they purely despise it. So many of my fans came to me after a show to tell me this exact sentence. I guess by nature, the violin is a flashy showy instrument that leaves no one indifferent. It is my pride to be able to “turn people over”, because quite honestly, to me, violin is everything. I loved it since childhood, and wish everyone could learn to love it a little more with every listen.
Lately, I am embracing more the violin sound by itself. I am doing some exploring and experiments with solo violin with and without effects in preparation for my upcoming albums. I am excited about the endless possibilities. Violin is such a versatile instrument. It has so much depth that even after so many years, I still feel that there is always something new to discover. Today I decided to share with you guys, one of these moments spent alone with my newest violin. Quite frankly it is the first non-official recording that I did with my Yamaha Electric 5 strings. I first recorded it to cheer up someone precious to me that was feeling kind of down at the moment. It is played in the form of a lullaby. The piece is from the soundtrack of the animated movie “Princess Mononoke”.
For some reasons, I always end up picturing my violins as males, and give them names lol. I named this one 張る (Haru), a name born from the Japanese kanji 張 (Gen) that means “Counter for strings”. It’s a Japanese violin, so I felt that a Japan inspired name befitted him. “Haru” also means spring. In writing, it has a different kanji, but the pronunciation is the same, so Haru’s name is in fact, a cute play on words. I am not too sure why exactly, but in my mind, that season and imagery fits him perfectly, as his sound is as pure and refreshing as a spring breeze.
When I hear it or as I play, I can somehow picture mysterious forests and other greeneries. Maybe Haru’s soul could be compared to one of a forest elf, you know, those wearing green clothes and loving nature and all… I can almost picture him training with a bow and arrows. Anyway, even though he likes to play mysterious, Haru will probably tell you more about him himself, in later emails. So I’ll leave it to him.
For now, I hope you enjoy our lullaby, and have sweet dreams…
Nika xxx
And if you haven’t watched Princess Mononoke yet, I strongly recommend it, as it is one of the best animated movie of all times.
Of course I prefer the original version as I understand Japanese, but the English version is also very well portrayed.
(English trailer)
