This is the end ! The end of a long project… (let us know your thoughts under the video & share it if you enjoyed it!)
The full project consists of 2 versions of the song, a street art project, a video project and a digital art book (you can download it for free here https://mailchi.mp/a3049984bfa6/7ltzs84w13 – if you do so and enjoy it, please consider donating to honour the time we put into this creative project via http://www.paypal.me/astrakan).
You can download the 2 versions of this song as part of a single edition on Bandcamp here
The download will come with the full colour art book from the project, with lyrics, translations, facts about the song and the concept of Gwerz, thoughts about creativity, dreams and sacrifice.
The other version with vocal pitch lines (!) can be seen/listened to here:
To donate and support our projects http://www.paypal.me/astrakan any amount small or big can make a huge difference to us.
Original paintings available for sale, 333€ for the Triple Goddess triptych, on Simone’s online art shop (payment via PayPal, but you don’t need an account). Better individual pics coming when the light allows for it ;). The triptych is created so that each side portraits can be switched and still create only one painting.
Tableaux originaux disponibles, 333€ pour le triptyque Triple Déesse, dans la boutique en ligne de Simone (paiement par Paypal mais un compte n’est pas nécessaire). Dès que la lumière le permettra nous posterons des meilleures photos. Le triptyque est créé de façon à ce que les parties gauches et droites puissent s’inverser tout en conservant son unité (voir photos)
Size 40*30cm (approx 15*12 in), original mixed media on cardboard (needs to be framed).
Dimensions 40*30 cm (env. 15*12 in), œuvres originales sur “cardboard” (carton renforcé pour mixed media).
Almost nothing to add ! Just watch it, share it, leave us your comments, and get to practice the song with the lyrics included on YouTube. You can switch from Breton to English or even French, you have them included in the info section too. If you want a nice layout version, we’ll send you one for the purchase of the digital version of the song on Bandcamp (after your purchase, we’ll email you the PDF that include lyrics+translations+basic scores+facts+stories) On Pay What You Want option with a small minimum of 1€ to cover Bandcamp/Paypal expenses – if you’re been enjoying our artistic proposals, it might be an opportunity to support our future projects!
Voilà, on a presque rien à ajouter ! Vous n’avez plus qu’à regarder, partager, commenter et chanter avec nous le texte qui est aussi sur YouTube. Vous pouvez passer de sous-titrage en breton au français, ou à l’anglais, ou suivre le texte en barre d’info. Si vous voulez une belle version, elle existe en PDF, et pour l’achat de la version numérique du titre sur Bandcamp, on vous envoie le PDF par mail contenant texte+traductions+histoires+partition basique. C’est en option “Pay what yoiu want” (payez ce que vous voulez) avec un minimum de 1€ qui couvre les frais de Bandcamp/Paypal. Si vous appréciez et suivez nos projets artistiques, c’est l’occasion de nous soutenir pour la sortie de futurs projets!
Music / song credits :
Tune : traditional / Jean Bernard and Jean-Marie Prima in 1928 (Brittany)
We’re happy we have completed this video project created for 2021 international women’s day on the request of http://www.facebook.com/ressurrectos (Beja, Portugal)!
Song, music and original lyrics in Kurdish & Arabic by Vedat Yıldırım · Selda Öztürk (Kardeş Türküler) found here : https://youtu.be/-3Fo_DaTFoM . Kardeş Türküler is a Turkish band we got to know and sometimes had the honour to perform with while living in Istanbul. We always enjoyed the joyful and powerful music as much as the multicultural message they convey, as they perform music from all traditions/languages from Turkey (including Turkish, Armenian, Arabic, Kurdish, Laz, etc)
The original song was written in Kurdish and Arabic, we got the Arabic final part adapted by our dear friend Sten Charbonneau into Breton with whom we wrote Inês album.
Materials include acrylics, aquarelles types of paints, natural pigments and made from coal and ashes, natural pigments from stones, collage elements, acrylic pens,… It was painted between end of February and 5th of March 2021.
STAGES of an ART EXPERIMENT
To donate and support our projects http://www.paypal.me/astrakan any amount small or big can make a huge difference to us.
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
Our project on the mysterious “protest song” collab is making progress, we’re almost done with the vocals and we’ll start the real editing phase tomorrow. In the meantime, and to keep you happy, we created this small music/art/video piece.
Notre projet de vidéo collaborative pour notre mystérieuse “protest song” avance, on termine les voix demain, et on attaque le gros du montage vidéo dans la foulée. En attendant, et sans aucune annonce on vous a préparé ce petit projet qui mêle musique/vidéo/art.
This song is one of the many variations on the same theme (Skolvan’s curse after his death, and his return to Earth to ask his mother for forgiveness). Researches suggest that Skolan would be Merlin, and the curse an allegory of the power fight between Christianity over the ancient pagan and Druidic traditions. Similar verses are found in Welsh, Scottish and Irish variations. We included the lyrics in the video with basic French and English translations. Let us know how you enjoy them, and if you do, subscribe and share !
The skies, clouds and small lakes on the video were all filmed along February 2021 in different areas of our village Plougras.
Cette chanson est une des nombreuses variations sur le thème de Skolvan (ou le merci de l’âme), Skolvan revient après sa mort demander le pardon de sa mère pour ses forfaits. Skolvan pourrait être Merlin lui aussi maudit, et symboliser les luttes de pouvoir entre l’église chrétienne et l’ancienne religion druidique. Nous avons ajouté le texte dans les sous-titres, avec les traductions (libres) en anglais et en français.On a tous les deux eu beaucoup de plaisir à préparer ce projet. S’il vous touche et vous parle, n’hésitez pas à le partager (et surtout à vous abonner à notre chaîne YouTube!)
Les nuages, ciel et étangs ont tous été filmés au cours du mois de février 2021 sur notre commune (Plougras).
Golden skies / Neñvoù aour · original artwork by Simone Alves
The large original artwork is available for sale (mixed media on canvas, included collage, watercolours, acrylics, and natural pigments from ashes.). The edges are painted, so it can be hung as such without framing. Size: 73*100 cm (about 28.74*39.37 inches)
Le tableau original est disponible, il s’agit d’une œuvre mixed-media sur toile, qui inclue du collage, des peintures et encres aquarelles, des acryliques, des pigments naturels issus de plusieurs teintes de cendres, etc. Les bords sont peints, la toile peut être accrochée telle quelle même sans encadrement. Dimensions : 73*100cm.
Along our travels we certainly heard plenty of songs, and we started recording some of them that we entend to release as video projects for now. This one is in Turkish, from the Black Sea area close to Georgia, and actually the version we worked from initially was from the Georgian artist Lela Tsurtsumia.
Depuis le temps que nous voyageons pour écouter des chansons, il nous prend parfois l’envie de les enregistrer aussi, de se les approprier. Nous en avons plusieurs en cours, que nous allons pour le moment sortir sous forme de projets vidéos. Cette première chanson vient de la Mer Noire, à l’Est et pas très loin de la Géorgie, et elle est en Turc. La première version que nous avons entendu était celle de l’artiste géorgienne Lela Tsurtsumia.
The video expresses our love for summer in the Dnieper islands and is a celebration of its peaceful beauty and presence. We heard after the video was finished of a similar tradition at solstice time of crown flowers sent to the river – but it is *almost* a coincidence that our video is similar 😉 We’ll tell you more about it very soon in our next vlog.
Le vidéo est un ode à notre amour pour la beauté majestueuse du Dniepr et de ses îles au cœur de la ville de Kiev, que nous nous apprêtons à quitter. C’est lorsque nous l’avons terminée que l’on nous parlé de la tradition du Solstice d’été (Kupala) au cours de laquelle les jeunes filles confient leur couronne de fleurs au fleuve. C’est une coïncidence un peu magique, et on vous la raconte en détail très vite 🙂
This song is at the moment not available for sale or for download, but here are other ways to support our artistic explorations :
Ce titre n’est ni en vente ni téléchargeable, mais voici d’autres moyens de soutenir nos explorations musicales :
To donate and support our project http://www.paypal.me/astrakan any amount small or big can make a huge difference to us.
A few weeks ago, time had come for us to go to the east of France and get our prize from the Jotinette contest, which actually was a perfect excuse for us to go and meet musicians from this area ! Not only we met them and had great time there, we even recorded a demo for one of their bands called Hop Corner. They play traditionnal Irish folk music.
I thought it could be quite a challenge as well as a valuable experience to record and mix a band in an extremely acoustic setup (fiddle, irish flute, bouzouki/guitar), which is somehow far opposite from what I am used to do with Astrakan Project…
The recording studio, actually a nice room dedicated to music ! Look at this gorgeous wooden floor.
The recording was made “live”, with stage microphones, actually what was available in the house !
Sam & Zsófi, actually the landlords of this amazing house !
Julien & Sam.
It was actually a nice and extremely friendly recording session, followed by a couple of days mixing / mastering…
And this is what it sounds like, we hope you will like it as much as we do !
You can hear their full 5-track demo from their website, and it really worth it : http://hopcorner.fr/
Today, as I was working on a “gavotte” tune, that I hadn’t listened to for ages, I grabbed my fiddle and quickly recorded a couple of rounds of the tune. Then, I found an original recording in my database…
…and pasted it in my DAW in order to check if my tempo was right… And this is what I get !
The upper track is my fiddle recording, the lower one the original singer recording. Can you see how my tempo is exactly the same ??? Unfortunately, you won’t get a chance to hear my recording right now…but at least, you can see the tempo is right !! 😉
§Yann
Your friends might thank you for letting them know about our music !
![Erwanig ar Skolan · gwerz [ traditional mythological breton song ]](https://astrakanproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/skolvan-gwerz-merlin-mythology-breitany-breizh-bretagne-dead-can-dance.jpg?w=800&h=450&crop=1 "Erwanig ar Skolan · gwerz [ traditional mythological breton song ]")
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