Instrumentation: String Orchestra

Downloadable sample pages found at the link here.

Light Bathing began as an improvised fiddle accompaniment to a sunrise at the narrow isthmus on Bruny Island in Lutruwita/Tasmania. It has since developed into a raucous string orchestra meets djent-metal tune, and has been dubbed by Tasmanian folk royalty Steve Gadd “an ancient Breton Dance on steroids”. It is a five-part tune with a central solo section which includes sitar and progressive guitar influences, reimagined through the viola and double bass, with groove-based accompaniment drawn from guitar riffs. The solos are bookended with a tihai drawn from Hindustani classical music tradition, called by the soloists to indicate the end of their solo, and then responded to by the rest of the orchestra. The ending is rhythmic cadence that drops a beat with each repetition, inspired by a Carnatic classical music technique. The virtuosic and playful cello parts of Light Bathing were developed by cellist and improviser Robert Manley.