A Case For Hawaiian Steel Music

Dave Boothroyd · Post by **Dave Boothroyd** » 15 Jan 2006 3:35 am

I was asked by an aromatherapist to provide some relaxation music for her clients.
Naturally I went for the 70BPM, gentle waves, Hawaiian melody lines approach.
I got all the tracks recorded, roughed out a mix, then thought I should just give it a listen all the way through to make sure there were no problems.
I woke up two hours later with the imprints of the faders all over the side of my face.
I guess it was pretty effective!

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Cheers!
Dave

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 15 Jan 2006 5:46 am

Don, thats Andy Iona playing Whispering Lullaby ...

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Derrick Mau · Post by **Derrick Mau** » 15 Jan 2006 7:33 am

That's Andy Iona on the steel alright. Not bad at all for someone who had lost his thumb, but I still prefer David Kelii's version. More smoothness and feeling.
This was David's signature song.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 15 Jan 2006 11:08 am

Mr. Clarke wrote that this particular CD ... Vol 6 ... contains the first recordings made where Andy Iona was playing the steel guitar ...

Whispering Lullaby was one of these ...

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Don Kona Woods · Post by **Don Kona Woods** » 15 Jan 2006 4:56 pm

Ricks says,

Don, thats Andy Iona playing Whispering Lullaby ..

Wally says, that is Andy Iona.

Don says,

I believe that this is David Kelii playing

We are on occasions wrong in order to develop the virtue of humility.

I am now in the process of developing humility.

Thank you Rick and Wally because if it were not for you I would not be developing all of this humility now.

At least the voicing sounds alot like David Kelii.

Aloha,
Don

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 15 Jan 2006 5:32 pm

Sorry Don ... didn't mean to start a "humility cascade" ...

When Mitch posed the initial question ...

Who is performing and what year was it recorded?

I felt obliged to reply ...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>That's Andy Iona ... off Andy Iona Vol 6 ...

According to Bruce Clarke's liner notes ... 1936. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since I was the one who posted the song ...

I too, really enjoy David K.'s version ... as I do that entire album.

Bought it from Tom Bradshaw ... at the same time I was buyin' up every JB album I could get my hands on.

Another LP that I "scored" during that huntin' and gatherin' period ... that I really enjoy ... is Rudy Wairata's Lovely Hula Girl.

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[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 16 January 2006 at 02:53 AM.]

Ted Lowe Jr · Post by **Ted Lowe Jr** » 16 Jan 2006 7:25 pm

Maybe we should rename this topic "Songs to be avoided while operating heavy machinery or driving!"

Jason Schofield · Post by **Jason Schofield** » 16 Jan 2006 8:21 pm

I made a playlist on my MP3 player with about 150 hawaiian steel tunes. I put it on shuffle and use it to fall asleep to everynight. It's amazing.

Dan Peterson · Post by **Dan Peterson** » 17 Jan 2006 9:38 am

I too am now falling asleep (and waking) to Hawaiian steel music of MY choice

(some of Roy Thompson, Kay Das and other of our generous, talented forumites) posted here as mp3's. I downloaded and burned a cd about 30 minutes long, that goes in a 'christmas present 'CD alarm/&/awake' player, courtesy of my wife. It's a mellow and relaxing way to end or start a day. I update cd's as new mp3's are posted here. Puts me in Maui every morning..(well ALMOST every morning..

dan

PS. I also burned one for the car..beats 'breaking news' and most music on the radio! Aloha![This message was edited by Dan Peterson on 17 January 2006 at 09:45 AM.]

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 17 Jan 2006 8:12 pm

I think that simply song is just amazing because it has what I call "Garlic" to it. It's slow but has alot of tension and release produced by a number of things, but mostly Sol's vibrato and phrasing which contrasts perfectly with the other guys.

Jesse, what you describe is how I describe music. I know one guy who knows pretty much everything there is to know about theory, and is an amazing player (into metal, which I don't like much, but I can appreciate his technical ability). He puts together these highly technical and complicated songs, and his recordings and playing are technically perfect, but do nothing for me on any emotional level. It almost sounds programmed, and reminds me of the old Wendy/Walter Carlos "Switched On Bach" recordings of the late 60's (which I can't stand).

I'd much rather have my music with garlic any day. You hit it on the head about phrasing. A grade schooler can read Shakespeare, but he's going to phrase those sentences a lot different than Olivier. To me, the heart of music lies within all that "wasted" space between the notes.

My .02, anyway...

TJW

Don Kona Woods · Post by **Don Kona Woods** » 18 Jan 2006 12:07 am

A FURTHER CASE FOR HAWAIIAN STEEL GUITAR MUSIC

We can also listen to Hawaiian steel guitar and be stimulated by it. That would be the Beta state. You can analyze, process, dissect it as a facet of that state.

Again, we can use Hawaiian steel music to go to sleep as many of you have discovered.

When we are enjoying the Hawaiian Steel Guitar we are experiencing a bridging capacity between our conscious and unconscious/superconscious minds, with a detached awareness, which is called alpha state. Practically speaking when we completely relax, we shift into Alpha waves. Our right brain then thinks in pictures and sounds that are not bound by human language. These waves are relaxed yet alert. Many performers, artists, and athletes consciously or unconsciously put themselves into Alpha state to achieve their inspiration and best performance.

When we fall asleep our brain shifts gears and our brainwaves begin slowing down.
We start at Beta then go down to Alpha, Theta and then Delta state.

Some of my drinking friends may or may not understand that alcohol interferes with normal sleep cycles by moving one too rapidly to the Delta state. However one may feel initially he is an alpha state with a drink, but that perception is based on the effects of alcohol. It is a figment of the imagination.

This post is an attempt to stimulate your pure minds. Or move you to a Beta state.

Aloha,
Don