Musaa ja lehvaa

Much of the day - just playing and writing music... In the evening I recorded my parts for a Mep/JoukoT-song - three, four tracks of percussion, bass and woodwinds are done. Now only singing is missing. (Earlier, some weeks ago, Jouko did his acoustic guitar...) - There is a date set for vocals to come true...

Later in the evening - a movie. Sini and I watched 300 ... The whole was an ugly bloodshed and - I'd say irrevalent, non-historical - legend, sort of...

Juha H.

After sunset. View from Toompea - Tallinn, Estonia. (Juha H.)

Laululava

Lauluvaljak, Tallinn, Estonia. Last time we, Sini and I were here there were a bit more people than just the two of us. A couple of years ago "we" were some 80000 and Metallica. (Juha H. ; photo:Sini)

Pasunapelimannit ja matkaan

Pasunapelimannit rehearsed today. Almost all music we played was strictly folk music and composed locally. There are some gigs coming.

Tomorrow Sini and I'll travel to Tallinn, Estonia. So no blogging for a couple of days.

Juha H.

Juhlintaa

Today me, my family and some twenty relatives had a party. We celebrated my mother's 70th birthday. (The real date is next tuesday. But it's more comfortable to do the partying during the weekend.) All and everything was very nice and happy.

Later at home Sini and I listened/watched to some CDs/DVDs we acquired today... First it was Nick Cave and his CD The Boatman's Call. The whole was a surprise! I've never listened to any much of his music. Well, he is a poet for real. Simple meaningful music!Then there was Rush and Hemipheres which I already knew is a good album. Next was the time for some DVDs... J.J. Cale makes simple music, makes it well and has somehow touched me for so long. Maybe it's the way he uses shakers and other so soft percussion instruments...

Everything today was so fine and good. I've actually been smily for most of the day - even though I had only some two, three hours for my music - to play flute and domra...

Now - some more DVD-music - Frank Zappa and Does Music Belong In Music...

Juha H.

Sunset. - Rest of the evening I just recorded percussion instruments. Fun is fun. (Juha H.)

Kuun pimennys

Early this morning there was Lunar Eclipse to be seen. But alas - thick cloud cover prevented watching it for the most of Finland. I was awake anyways. But no photos of the spectacle. Mere dark clouds are dull and boring to look at. Luckily there is only some twenty years to wait for the next one...

Most of the evening I just played flute and Stratocaster.

Juha H.

Big foot was here. (Juha H.)

Little harbour of Suolahti seen from the Lake Keitele while snow falling slowly. (Juha H.)

Gnarled old pines on the beach. (Juha H.)

Sini in the forest. (Juha H.)

7:30 am. (Juha H.)

Oksa

While trekking today I found the above twig on the icy cover of one local lake. Lonely, lonely wind blown away... - Later in the evening I listened to some music - Dave Greenslade's Cactus Choir LP - and tried to write some poetry... (Juha H.)

Myrsky

Finally I had the time to mix one more composition of my own. Now Myrsky (=Storm) is ready and bounced to Disk. Last weekend Sini sang it and J-V played some fine guitar solos to go with the music. The whole is a love song, stormy one. And the poem was written by Katri Vala some seventy years ago...

Half moon and bitingly cold wind blowing outside.

Juha H.

Waiting for Summer. (Juha H.)

Yamaha

Above Yamaha Clavinova - more than 20 years old and still working pretty well. And Yamaha Wx5 - more than 10 years and still going strong. (Juha H.)

Sumuisen illan musiikkia

JoukoT was here. I recorded him playing four more guitar tracks. - And now's the time to send him some Mp3s.

Outside - very foggy. Time to play domra.

Juha H.

Kurja keli

Miserable weather. - Most of the day just for music. J-V visited and recorded some guitar solos. I recorded Sini singing a couple of songs. And in the evening mixing of JoukoT/MEP songs. (Juha H.)

Musaa ja jotain runon tapaista

This morning I didn't wake up early. It was almost nine o'clock when I opened my eyes... Why it was so? Last night I stayed up very late and listened to music of Bela Bartok and Witold Lutoslawski . They are/were masters of Modern Classical music ... And while listening to some of their orchestral works I tried to write some poetry... Words scribbled on paper... Today I composed one of the poems I wrote last night... Later this Spring when I'm done with the Katri Vala-project - which I've been doing for some months now - I'll create something totally my own, once again - with Sini singing. Thank you very much!!

I've always liked classical music. When I was young, well a youngster anyways, I got very interested in Modern Classical music
... Today I like for example Bach, Haydn... and Modern Classical Music...

Thinking and composing my own thing wasn't all I did today. Many hours I did spend doing my best with the mixing of JoukoT/MEP-songs. This was very nice, too.

Juha H.

Kuvaa ja musaa

Right now - Jordan Rudess is playing a weird instrument - Continuum on Dream Theater DVD Score. Strangely fantastic! Rudess is possibly the greatest hero of this wonderful band, well at least for me. And Continuum is a very different instrument. So nice. And now Rudess plays table steel guitar...

Earlier this evening Sini and I watched a movie - Flags of our fathers. Thanks once again Clint Eastwood. It was a sadly beautiful story - if a war movie can ever be described with such words. Anyways the whole was much more than mere shooting, killing and dying. - Some weeks ago we watched the story of Iwo Jima from the Japanese side. Then it was the same kind of thanks for Clint Eastwood. Both sides of a hard battle...

Now mister Rudess plays his massive and almost ancient Moog synthesizer.

Juha H.

Something strange seen - unknown light glimpsing through the clouds... (Juha H.)

Blondi

All evening I worked recording different instruments into Pro Tools. One more JoukoT/MEP song is taking its shape. It's actually MEP's song - JoukoT has only arranged it. This time I don't know how the lyrics go because I've never heard or seen them. But the name of the whole is Blondi (= Blonde). MEP is blonde and the story must have something to do with this coincidence...

Juha H.

Bow of a wooden barge - waiting summer and open waters. (Juha H.)

Snowing. (Juha H.)

Sini and an old wooden barge. (Juha H.)

Jouko T ja MEP

Saturday and a lots of snow.

JoukoT and MEP were here. Recording, recording music. MEP sang EIGHT songs. Wow! Now it seems that the next thing to do is me mixing of them all. Nice work ahead.

And later in the evening it was once again time to - listen/watch Dream Theater. Wow, one of the most incredibly wonderful bands ever...

Juha H.

Viikonloppu ja Saksisiskot

Weekend is here. Well, it seems that most of it is for music and that's very good.

Earlier today I listened to Scissor Sisters and their CD Ta-Dah. Unashamed PoPmUsic. Somehow I like what they do. It's a mixture of Soul, Disco, Modern Pop and catchy melodies with a twist... Nice anyways.

Juha H.