Already as a child music fascinated me – learning to play the piano intrigued me a lot. But the thought of enduring classical lessons given by an old, strict lady made me change my mind. At the age of 12, however, I gained access to an old piano of a school in Santiago. From that moment onward, I started playing for hours and hours and also wrote my first compositions. Ever since, music has been my companion and my way to relax.
As time passed I learned to play more instruments and studied audio engineering and music at the university. Nevertheless, I decided to choose software as my preferred field of work when I went to Germany at the age of 24. During the last couple of years in Chile and as a student in Hamburg I played a lot of jazz genres and composed own songs. Because I wanted to preserve my artistic freedom and the intimate character of my relationship with music I dismissed a career as a musician.
From 2006 on I felt the increasing desire to compose own songs in a more systematical way and most importantly to record them. This is how I started planning and creating my first album. I called it “Back to the Roots” because I incorporated my south american roots in the music. I finished working on it in march 2009.
This album “Zen Child” unites the different genres and influences that I came across during my stay in Germany and the recent trips to Chile. I experienced a lot in Germany, met a lot of fascinating people, worked a lot and became the opportunity to grow. This record is my way of expressing the gratitude that I feel for this time.
The name “Zen Child” represents a child’s fascination of the unknown phenomenon “life” that awaits it. Music is the best way for me to process and illustrate this captivation and to share it with others.
The instruments were played and recorded by myself. These are:
• Piano Roland RD700GX, piano and strings
• Quena in G, a classical bamboo flute from the Andes, used in „Amigos“
• Quenacho in D and in C, a lower bamboo flute, as in „Amanecer“
• Bansuri in C, Indian transverse bamboo flute, appears in „San Pedro de Atacama“ and „Morena“
• Hand drum
• Tambourine
• Maracas
• Guitar Yamaha APX-7, acoustic guitar with metal strings
• Yamaha 1:8 guitar, small acoustic guitar with nylon strings
• Fretless bass, my „old“ and beloved bass guitar that I rebuilt it can be heard inter alia in “Zen Child”
• Bass guitar with 5 strings, used e.g. in „Fuego“
For the technically interested: Logic 9 was used as a recording software in addition to an audio interface by Apogee to which microphones or instruments with pickups were connected. Thus allowing working on the computer with digital recordings. The recording resolution was 24bit with a sample rate of 48 or rather 96KHz: Meaning that the sound signal is measured 48.000 or rather 96.000 times per second and the measuring result is saved with a resolution of 24bit. In the end, the files were converted to CD quality (16bit and 44,1 KHz). Sebastian Hinrichsen mastered the album in his homestudio (Mac computer).
Photos used (all from Chile):
Desierto de Atacama, north region
Tatio, north at 4.300 m altitude
Petrohue (2 photos), south
Valle de la Luna, north, 2.800 m. altitude
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