Etude: Polyphonic Hocket

- , September 21, 2023

Polyphonic Hocket looks at two specific traditional Zimbabwean rhythms and splits them between pairs of marimba players. The people playing High 1 and Low 2 are facing each other and sharing a single rhythm on the bongos. The pair on High 2 and Low 1 are doing the same thing with a different rhythm.

Tags: Drums, Marimba, percussion

Soon Is All We Have

-Joel Laviolette , June 28, 2023

A song for a weekly songwriting group that I'm a part of. The prompt was "Get Well Soon". I like this one. It has David Lang type vibes to me. The chord progressions is loosely based on a phrase in a Bach Chorale I've been learning (aren't they all?).

Tags: Chamber Music, Classical, New Music, Vocals

Kufungira Matemai

-Joel Laviolette , June 22, 2023

I have been thinking about my teacher, mentor, and good friend Matemai who I have studied mbira with since 1998. He passed away in 2021 and this is a song based on the last mbira song I learned from him.

Tags: African, Drums, Full Band, Guitar, Mbira, Shona, Vocals, Zimbabwean

Album Leaf – Edvard Grieg Orchestration

-Joel Laviolette , November 4, 2021

A string orchestration of Edvard Grieg's "Album Leaf".

Tags: Classical, Orchestral, Strings

Starfire

-Joel Laviolette , July 31, 2020

A tribe is chanting somewhere in the forest. You can't tell from the sound if they are miles away or only over the next hill. In any case, the music will guide you safely to them.

Tags: African, Ambient, Contemplative, Cue, DJ, Downtempo, Drums, Electronic, Glitch, IDM, Lo-Fi, Mbira, Modular Synth, Pads, Rain, Sound Design

Icecream

-Joel Laviolette , July 19, 2019

Modular experimentation of changing perception over time.

Tags: Modular Synth, experimental, noise

Hollow Bells

-Joel Laviolette , May 17, 2019

The modular synth ricocheting it's FM beauty against modular percussion. Alien landscapes result

Tags: Ambient, Contemplative, Downtempo, Drums, Electronic, Generative, Lo-Fi, Modular Synth, No Vocals, Sound Design, Story, Wistful

Pärt Inspired

-Joel Laviolette , November 12, 2018

A Modular Synth piece inspired by Arvo Pärt's minimalist tintinnabuli technique.

Tags: Ambient, Contemplative, Cue, Downtempo, Electronic, Hans Zimmer, Lo-Fi, Modular Synth, Sound Design

Nostalgia

-Joel Laviolette , September 11, 2018

Beautiful piano and light strings set the mood for this forest scene.

Tags: Ambient, Contemplative, Cue, Downtempo, Drums, Electronic, Hans Zimmer, Lo-Fi, No Vocals, Orchestral, Sound Design, Strings, Timpani

Piano & Timpani

-Joel Laviolette , September 4, 2018

My first One Hour Composition exercise! Composed, registered and uploaded to the library in one hour!

Tags: Blues, Jazz, percussion, piano

Prerelease: In The Flow

-Rattletree , February 25, 2018

Coming soon on Ecstatic Wave Records! A half-step Indie Rock song about giving ourselves a break.

Tags: African, Aggressive, Contemplative, Dance, Distorted, Drums, Dubstep, Electronic, Full Band, Guitar, Sound Design, Story, Synth Heavy

Borrowed Names

-Joel Laviolette , February 3, 2018

A generative musical piece that explores the randomness in letter to pitch transformations and finding beauty in that randomness.

Tags: Ambient, Contemplative, Downtempo, Drums, Electronic, Generative, Lo-Fi, Modular Synth, No Vocals, Sound Design, Story, Wistful

Tsaba

-Mafaro Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, No Vocals, Shona, Sweat, World Music, Zimbabwean

Chemutengure

-Sevana Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, Shona, Sweat, Vocals, World Music, Zimbabwean

Buya iAfrica

-Mafaro Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, No Vocals, Shona, Sweat, World Music, Zimbabwean

Duduluza

-Sevana Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, No Vocals, Shona, Sweat, World Music, Zimbabwean

Dudu muDuri

-Sevana Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, Shona, Sweat, Vocals, World Music, Zimbabwean

Nhemamusasa

-Kupira Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, No Vocals, Shona, Sweat, World Music, Zimbabwean

Skokiaan

-Kupira Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, No Vocals, Shona, Sweat, World Music, Zimbabwean

Amaxoxo

-Kupira Marimba , October 22, 2016

Zimbabwean marimba from the 2016 Rattletree School of Marimba album "From Austin, With Love"

Tags: African, Dance, Full Band, High Energy, Jump, Marimba, Mbira, No Vocals, Shona, Sweat, World Music, Zimbabwean

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

-Rattletree , October 31, 2013

The original by Dead Or Alive twisted and brought to new places with the electonic marimbas of Rattletree!

Tags: Cover Song, Dance, Drums, Electronic, Full Band, Fun, Happy, High Energy, Sweat, Vocals

Midnight Taxi Driver

-MbiraMe , July 31, 2012

Fun and funky! The music that you'd hear when jumping into a Taxi cab in NY on a Friday night!

Tags: Berimbau, DJ, Funky, Goofy, Guitar, Hammond Organ, Happy, Jump, World Music

Om Shanti

-Joel Laviolette , July 31, 2012

An ambient soundscape that takes the listener on a downtempo journey.Audio sample taken from Guruji Patabi Jois doing the opening chant of Ashtanga Yoga.

Tags: Ambient, Contemplative, Downtempo, Field Recording, Foreign Language, Sound Design, Vocals, World Music, Yoga

The Earth Loves You

-Joel Laviolette , December 1, 2011

Intricate synths and a bass interweave with sound design elements and percussion in this contemplative piece.

Tags: Ambient, Contemplative, Downtempo, Drums, Full Band, Meditation, Odd Time Signature, Vocals, Wistful, World Music

Seems Like It’s Been So Long

-Joel Laviolette , April 11, 2011

A story of a man trying to find his way through the spirituality and ancient traditions of a music that he was drawn to.

Tags: Acoustic, African, Contemplative, Demo, Downtempo, Drums, Guitar, Lo-Fi, Odd Time Signature, Singer Songwriter, Story, Vocals, World Music

When The Levee Breaks

-Joel Laviolette , April 4, 2010

The old blues classic set to hypnotic matepe and distant-and somewhat scary-vocals

Tags: African, Cover Song, Distorted, Lo-Fi, Mbira, Odd Time Signature, Sound Design, Trance, Vocals, World Music

Standing Tall

-Joel Laviolette , January 11, 2009

Matepe music meets Zim-style Afrobeat. Recorded and originally released independently in 2009. Now available worldwide on Ecstatic Wave Records

Tags: African, Aggressive, Dance, Distorted, Drums, Full Band, Glitch, Guitar, Mbira, Shona, Vocals, Zimbabwean

In Her Smile

-Joel Laviolette , January 1, 2006

A song I wrote back in 2005. All brought about from a lunch with a stranger

Tags: Acoustic, Contemplative, Demo, Guitar, Lo-Fi, Singer Songwriter, Vocals