# Ritual, a piece for ethnic instruments and orchestra



## Herman Witkam (Jul 5, 2006)

http://www.herman-witkam.com/audio/ritual.mp3 (Click here to listen)


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## Scott Cairns (Jul 5, 2006)

Excellent work Herman. There's so much texture and life in those samples!

Bravo!


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## Niah (Jul 5, 2006)

This simply outstanding, quite an accomplishment really.

I love it how well you could capture that "Tan Dun sound" for the orchestra and how well it blends with the other ethnic instruments.

Well done indeed. :mrgreen:


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## choc0thrax (Jul 5, 2006)

So when are you going to sample that Duduk? :smile:


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## Ian Livingstone (Jul 6, 2006)

great stuff Herman as usual



choc0thrax @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> So when are you going to sample that Duduk? :smile:



put me down for a copy too - legato intervals, 4 layers + ornaments and slides too please 

Ian


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## zonobono (Jul 6, 2006)

only 4 layers? 8 at least!!!  


love 'ritual' very much, herman. great stuff!


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Jul 6, 2006)

Excellent, moving music, Herman! I also love your duduk work, and would kill for a sample set as well. Are you really only 21? Geez....... :shock: :wink:


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 6, 2006)

Thanks guys! The idea of a Duduk library is surely on the shelf, but all in good time. I intend to improve on my technique first.



Scott Cairns @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> Excellent work Herman. There's so much texture and life in those samples!
> 
> Bravo!



Thanks Scott - All ethnic instruments except for the Erhu are performed live btw.




Niah @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> This simply outstanding, quite an accomplishment really.
> 
> I love it how well you could capture that "Tan Dun sound" for the orchestra and how well it blends with the other ethnic instruments.
> 
> Well done indeed. :mrgreen:



Thanks Tiago! 

Tan Dun has always been one of my big inspirations for combining East-Asian instruments and orchestra. His piece 'The Map' especially captured that wonderful atmosphere.

I intend to develop this more in the future, learning new instruments, and improving on my playing techniques of the instruments I already play.


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 6, 2006)

Ned Bouhalassa @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> Excellent, moving music, Herman! I also love your duduk work, and would kill for a sample set as well. Are you really only 21? Geez....... :shock: :wink:



hehe - thanks Ned  I hope you are recovering well btw.


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## Colin O'Malley (Jul 6, 2006)

This sounds great Herman. I especially like where things end up in the last 30 seconds of the piece. 

Colin


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## Frederick Russ (Jul 6, 2006)

Great work Herman! Your playing has improved and I'm digging your sound design. Keep it up! (You could be a go-to studio musician for these ethnic styles as well as create a very cool sample library for composers.)


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## lux (Jul 6, 2006)

Very nice trip Herman. Ethnic instruments performance is great. The whole thing maybe could just be a bit more cohesive, but thats me.

Cool work
Luca


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 6, 2006)

Colin O'Malley @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> This sounds great Herman. I especially like where things end up in the last 30 seconds of the piece.
> 
> Colin


Thanks Colin, 
I wanted it to be a real finale, so I guess that worked :wink: 




Frederick Russ @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> Great work Herman! Your playing has improved and I'm digging your sound design. Keep it up! (You could be a go-to studio musician for these ethnic styles as well as create a very cool sample library for composers.)


Thanks Fred! Both sample development and ethnic instrument session playing are activities I will continue in the future. For the session playing I intend to build a website, containing pictures and examples of the instruments and performance styles.




lux @ Thu Jul 06 said:


> Very nice trip Herman. Ethnic instruments performance is great. The whole thing maybe could just be a bit more cohesive, but thats me.
> 
> Cool work
> Luca


Thanks Luca,

About the cohesion, I agree. That might be partly due to the concept I had in mind:

A gathering of a tribe on an empty field, where a ritual finds place, to challenge their gods. This is done by theatrical and musical performances of a highly spectecular nature (to them), but the gods are not impressed. They demand to see higher arts, to be satisfied. Then a woman stands up from the crowd. She cries out to the gods, about her lost child, which she holds the gods responsible for. The gods are again not impressed, and protest starts to stir up from the masses. The gods try to calm the people down, showing off their power throwing down lightning bolts on the villages, destroying the homes. The people obey in the end, and with permission of the gods they perform their final piece.


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 7, 2006)

Thanks Mike :wink:


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 8, 2006)

Thanks guys! I appreciate it :wink:


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## synergy543 (Jul 8, 2006)

Herman, I've enjoyed listening to your recent works. You're really developing a nice sound and your instruments are played with great expression and character. I assume these are not all sampled though? Interesting and colorful compositions too. Very inspiring!


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 9, 2006)

synergy543 @ Sat Jul 08 said:


> Herman, I've enjoyed listening to your recent works. You're really developing a nice sound and your instruments are played with great expression and character. I assume these are not all sampled though? Interesting and colorful compositions too. Very inspiring!



Thanks Greg! 

I paid a lot of attention to expression (dynamics and vibrato) during performance, and the free-reeds (Bawu/Hulusi) from China along with the Duduk are among the most expressive instruments in the world, for me. 

All ethnic instruments (Armenian Duduk & Shvi, Chinese Bawu, Hulusi, & Pipa, Japanese Shamisen, Indian Tabla, a little bit of Bass Native American flute, Turkish Davul drum and finger cymbals) except Chinese Erhu & Guzheng and grand monochord (during the Duduk part) are performed live by me. Choirs are a private set, percussion & brass are project SAM, and strings are Vienna Giga Symphony and a little bit of custom violins.


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## synergy543 (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks for the insight Herman. Any chance we might see of a Duduk library from you in the future? It would be great to have an in-depth library from a passionate performer.


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## Sid_Barnhoorn (Jul 10, 2006)

Herman, great work! I love this one!

Cheers,


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## FrozeN (Jul 10, 2006)

Herman Witkam @ Mon 10 Jul said:


> All ethnic instruments (Armenian Duduk & Shvi, Chinese Bawu, Hulusi, & Pipa, Japanese Shamisen, Indian Tabla, a little bit of Bass Native American flute, Turkish Davul drum and finger cymbals) except Chinese Erhu & Guzheng and grand monochord (during the Duduk part) are performed live by me.


 :!: 

I am gonna hire you when I write my next musical so we only need one musician to play like 253846123541 instruments! :lol: 

You really have superb musical sense.... well sorry I only listened to about 30 seconds, you know, not really my cup of tea for obvious reason :oops: .... but it does sound very nice, refined and authentic!

You should consider moving to, like, Taiwan or Korea to work. You are gonna pwn all Asian composers!!! At least I couldn't write something like this, shame on me.... :razz: 

Keep it up!

Cheers,
Frankie


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks for listening guys!



synergy543 @ Mon Jul 10 said:


> Thanks for the insight Herman. Any chance we might see of a Duduk library from you in the future? It would be great to have an in-depth library from a passionate performer.



That's definitely the plan. It's going to be very detailed at least, with hundreds of sustains, all with their own different envelopes and vibrato buildup...



FrozeN @ Mon Jul 10 said:


> You should consider moving to, like, Taiwan or Korea to work. You are gonna pwn all Asian composers!!! At least I couldn't write something like this, shame on me.... :razz:



hehe  I have seen some great South-Korean films lately, so it would be really cool to work with directors from there.


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## piernick (Jul 12, 2006)

Wow great,
on my iPod as well.

Piernicola


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## Herman Witkam (Jul 13, 2006)

piernick @ Wed Jul 12 said:


> Wow great,
> on my iPod as well.
> 
> Piernicola



Cool! :lol: Thanks, Piernicola :wink:


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