IN THE RAIN SHADOW
A Letter to Listeners:
In The Rain Shadow takes its inspiration mostly from moving to the high desert (California’s Owens Valley) in late 2020.
I have always lived at sea level in or near a major city. Although the mountains – mostly California’s Sierra – have always been a respite and a home away from home, home was the city – the people, the air, the culture, the food, the thriving human energy.
COVID changed everything. It deepened the joy I’ve always known as part of the experience of being in a beautiful place – a place with far fewer people, thinner, crisper air, and a different kind of energy born of being closer and more subservient to the natural environment.
We live literally in the rain shadow, which is a meteorological term meaning on the sheltered side of a mountain range where there is less precipitation because of the wind patterns. Most of the titles on this recording are taken from geological or meteorological features we experience daily. They are intended to reflect this new appreciation for the opportunity to absorb the wonders of living in the rain shadow. It is humbling, awesome, peaceful, thrilling, tranquil and beautiful.
Thanks for listening!
— Mark Vickness
Rupak (for Ty)
Rupak is a seven-beat rhythmic pattern used in classical Indian ragas. It is divided 3+2+2. My exposure to (and love for) the raga tradition dates back to college. That Indian musicians commonly improvised over complex rhythmic patterns consisting of 7, 10, or 13 beats, and much more vastly expanded my musical horizons. In this piece, the melodic instruments play parts written to define the seven-beat pattern. Ty compiled the tabla solo that begins about halfway through (based on a composition by the legendary Alla Rakha).
On the Cliffs of Mohr
A piece inspired by a day hiking the Cliffs of Mohr on the west coast of Ireland with my family. I have always loved most everything Irish. We were lucky to spend a week in Ireland in 2019 before the pandemic. We soaked up a lot of traditional Irish music. The day we hiked the cliffs was a gorgeous, joyous day. We left all the tourists behind after walking about a mile and had this magical place all to ourselves for the rest of the day. The piece is divided into two sections. The first is a long classical trio (English Horn, Violin, and Cello) followed by a fast Irish-infused 12/8 romp for the whole group.
Stillness (for Will)
My son is every bit the passionate music lover I was at his age. He loves a remarkably broad spectrum of music, and I cherish our cross-generational sharing. One of the genres he discovered on his own is ambient music. It was his reminding me of music by composers such as Brian Eno and Harold Budd that rekindled my own love of this music. There is also a certain kind of stillness that is unique to the high desert when the weather is calm. Eyes closed, you can feel the vastness. These things combined to inspire this piece.
In The Rain Shadow
Many of my compositions begin with guitar improvisation. Throughout the pandemic, I often played guitar to try to get some solace, some comfort from the isolation. One day, I started playing the chord progression that begins this piece. The guitar is tuned very low, and the chord voicings make use of a lot of unisons played between strings, which produces a kind of hypnotic sound due to the sympathetic resonance generated (this is how Indian string instruments get that resonant sound). I recorded those first eight bars and then the violin melody, which comes in second. Once I had those elements recorded, the rest of the piece was completed in a few hours (which is extremely rare for me). I think of this piece as a musical hug intended as a peaceful moment of quiet reflection, something we are lucky to experience living in the rain shadow.
NOTES ON THE PIECES:
CREDITS:
All pieces composed by Mark Vickness
Performed by MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected)
Matt Renzi – oboe, English horn, saxophone
Mads Tolling – violin
Joseph Hebert – cello
Dan Feiszli – upright and electric bass
Ty Burhoe – tabla
MB Gordy – percussion
Mark Vickness – guitar
Produced by Mark Vickness and Dan Feiszli
Recorded and mixed by Dan Feiszli at:
What’s For Lunch Recording, El Cerrito, CA and 25th Street Recording, Oakland, CA
Mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME
Video produced by Mark Heim, Maximum Flavor Media, San Francisco, CA
Cover art by Brian Judd & CD design by Sara Glaser
