Noah Wilson Releases Debut CD - "Echoes of the Silent Within"

Noah with his hand-crafted electric sitar

Ready for something different?

Noah designed and built his dulcimer stand.
The dulcimer is a Grande Concertmaster,
built by Jerry Read Smith

Noah is a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist. This debut recording shows off the broad scope of his performing and composing skills as well as his proficiency in the recording arts. Echoes of the Silent Within is an all-original, groove-driven blend of unique instrumentation and world percussion with a subtle electronic feel. It features Noah's original compositions - flowing instrumentals that create a mood and will transport you to a different place.

Noah has always been drawn to the world of classical Indian music. His improvisational style syncs perfectly with the genre. He has studied under a guru, and has been performing sacred music since 2010 in a variety of settings, including kirtan, yoga classes, tea room meditations, and ecstatic dance explorations. He continues to study and practice the rich traditions of classical Indian music, incorporating the sounds and the philosophy into his own elaborate and expressive musical creations.

On this recording, Noah plays hammered dulcimer, electric sitar, dilruba, guitar, bass, and percussion. He contributes vocals from the kirtan tradition in his own voice, mixes in some natural environmental sounds, and adds just the right amount of electronic juice. He is joined by Taylor Johnson (tabla, dumbek), Victoria Bulostin (angelic vocals), Tom Cowan (tabla), Josh Newton (percussion), and Ashley Mott (vocals and loving support), whose performances enrich the lush layers of the work and lend authenticity to the experience.

Infused with energy that will fill you up without wearing you out, this is a soundtrack for all aspects of life! I predict this music will top your favorites list.

A bit about the instruments:

• The sitar is an instrument central to Indian classical music. Noah's is unique. He designed and built his own electric sitar. Anyone interested in knowing more about this fine handcrafted instrument should contact Noah.  He can answer your questions and will build one for you!
• The dilruba is half sitar and half sarangi. It has sitar-like frets and many sypathetic strings, but is played with a bow. Translation of its name is "robber of the heart". Its sound is blissful but not as powerful as the sarangi.
• The hammered dulcimer is the western version of the santoor, another traditional classical Indian instrument. Noah plays a 2000 Jerry Read Smith Grande Concertmaster hammered dulcimer.

Click here for a brief summary of Indian music

Noah plays a Jerry Read Smith Grand Concertmaster dulcimer.
Full disclosure:  Noah Wilson is my son!

"Echoes of the Silent Within" is available now for preview and purchase - in its entirety or as individual tracks - at cdbaby, the self proclaimed "best independent music store on the web!"

Go to www.cdbaby.com. Enter Noah Wilson in the search box. His cd is the first thing that comes up.

OR click here to link directly to Noah's cdbaby account 

OR ... pick up a copy from Sue Wilson

Cover art by Andrew Wilson Photography

Photos above taken at cd release party, Dobra Tea, Asheville, NC

Is is OK if the notes in the bass line don't match the chord progression?

This Saturday I'll be leading a group of experienced players in an all-day structured jam session. The goal is not to learn a bunch of new tunes. The goal is to practice a bunch of cool back up ideas.

We'll be focusing on chord progressions and experimenting with different rhythms.  Single notes, root arpeggios, open chords, compact patterns, drones, boom-chucks, down beats, off beats, snippets of harmony ... we intend to try it all! But right now I've got bass lines on my mind.

There are four basic ways for a bass line and a melody line to interrelate:

• contrary motion - movement in opposite directions
• parallel motion - movement in same direction and at same interval, e.g. parallel thirds or sixths
• similar motion - movement in same direction but at different intervals
• oblique motion - one line (usually the bass) sits on the same note while the other (the melody) moves up or down. Think 'drone'.

Bass lines are fun to play and add pizazz to a piece of music. They suggest movement, giving direction to a tune. There are a variety of ways to go about establishing a bass line, but the idea often intimidates players who are new to arranging and playing backup. Here's an easy way to get started:

• Know the key of the tune
• Play a descending scale that starts and ends on the root of the key.
• Believe it ... this works in a lot of tunes!

For example, consider the standard fiddle tune, "Whiskey Before Breakfast". It's typically played in the key of D. Try this in the last four measures of the B part. Go to the lowest D scale on your instrument. While someone else is playing the melody line, you play the D scale backwards ... | D - C# - | B - A - | G - F# | E - D - | ...single notes on beats 1 and 3. Notice the notes of the bass line are exactly the same as the notes of the melody line on beats 1 and 3. (You should be playing the bass line an octave below the melody.) This is a type of parallel motion. Two lines moving together on a unison note creates a powerful sound ... most effective in small doses.

This idea often works throughout an entire A or B part of a fiddle tune. In fact, it will work throughout the entire B part of Whiskey Before Breakfast. Go ahead. Give it a try! (Hint: You'll be playing that backwards D scale twice.)

Now, I know somebody out there will be paying attention and will notice that when you apply this idea to a larger portion of a tune the notes in the bassline do not always jibe with the notes suggested by the chord progression. Yes, it's true. Sometimes a bass line will contain notes that don’t actually belong in the chord progression. It's an accepted exception. The bass line takes precedence. Those odd notes will have some relation to the chords!

So, the answer to the question is 'yes' ... it's ok if the bass line doesn't exactly 'fit' the chord progression. Go ahead ... experiment. Know the key. Start somewhere and MOVE, even for a few notes. Trust your ear. Have fun!

What's Your Angle?

People who know me might be surprised to see the angle at which I'm practicing this week.

Nobody told me how to set up my dulcimer when I started playing back in 1995. A Goldilocks approach seemed to make sense ... not too steep, not too flat ... just right! Then I began to experience neck and shoulder pain. I met Tina Gugeler at the Swannanoa Gathering in 1998. She was playing at an extremely steep angle. She suggested I give it a try. It didn't adversely affect my playing and it helped relax the tight muscles, so I continued in that style for many years.

The extreme angle was a topic of conversation. Some of you may remember the SG year that Wes Chappell, of No Strings Attached, grabbed a handful of Skittles (or was it cherry pits) and turned my strings and sound board into a game board! No damage done.

Fast forward to 2008. I met Dan Landrum, also at the Swannanoa Gathering. He was my teacher there for three years. He convinced me to try a more flat angle. It felt weird at first, but I continued to experiment back and forth over the years. Now I prefer a more moderate to flat angle, and as a result of all that mixing it up I find that I have a lot of flexibility when it comes to the position of the instrument.

For some pictured examples of extreme angles (including pics of Tina Gugeler and Dan Landrum) and more on the subject, read this blog post by Steve Eulberg:   Angle of Attack?

There's no right or wrong way. It's personal preference. I agree with Steve ... experiment!  Try different positions in different situations. Find out what works best for you. Let us know what you discover!

I Want to be a Musician!

Have you ever uttered these words? Either out loud or in the quiet of your own heart and mind and soul?

I said it out loud to my first dulcimer teacher. His response, "When will you be a musician?"

Oh, that was a good question! And in that moment I knew that the only answer was, "Now."

When those words burst out of my mouth in 1995 it was not a frivolous declaration. It was an expression of a heartfelt desire that had been simmering inside of me for a long time. I knew that music in general was something I needed in my life. As a youngster, I learned to play the piano. I was never very good at it, but I could sit and play for hours, losing all track of time ... a sure sign that I was on the right track.

When I first heard the hammered dulcimer at age 17 I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this instrument in particular was something I needed in my life. It grabbed ahold of me. I knew I had to play it! But there were so many excuses to keep me from doing it ... where would I get such an instrument? who would teach me to play it? what was that thing called, anyway? I didn't see or hear another one for years! I was sure there was a more "normal" instrument out there that would satisfy my itch.

It turns out that insistent little voice inside of me ... you will play that instrument ... would not be satisfied until I listened and took action.  Since joining the dulcimer community, I have met many players and have heard some form of my story over and over. For many of us, there's only one way to describe it .... playing the hammered dulcimer is our heart's delight.

Yet, we hesitate to call ourselves "musicians". What is keeping us back? I suspect it is fear ... fear that we are not good enough.

But what if we were to consider our heart's desire as a simple statement of who we already are? Let's change our vocabulary. "I AM a Musician!" Go ahead. Say it out loud. There's no judgement here. It's simply a statement of fact, a declaration of who you are at your core.

Now, there is another fact to consider, and it is this. There will always be somebody better skilled than you are on your instrument AND there will always be somebody who is less skilled than you are.

That's right. We are all on this big continuum, stretching from here to infinity ... each one of us making progress at our own speed. We raise the bar. We set goals. We practice. We plateau for a while. We have 'aha' moments. We move ahead again. There's always something to aspire to!

When will YOU be a musician? Put yourself on that continuum TODAY. I give you permission.

As an aside:  I have been practicing yoga intermittently all of my adult life. The yoga tradition offers a formula for realizing your heart's desires. For more on this deep subject, here's an article from Yoga International.  Inspired Intention