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For all the dialects except Tagalog, I had a "coach"-a friend or family member who speaks that dialect fluently. I listened to recordings as well.
Richard Ickard is a true master of the guitar. If you can shout out a thing or two about Richard, what would you say?
Richard is indeed a world-class guitarist, a fine arranger and composer. He arranged most of the songs on "My Harana." We have one original song-the last track on the album called "Labis." Richard has exquisite taste in music and this is one of the reasons it is pleasurable to collaborate with him. We have been collaborating for three years now.
He is also very creative and plays many instruments. He is originally from Davao but now lives in Los Angeles with his family. Richard is 100 percent Filipino and has made our country proud by releasing an album of classic Philippine music on an international classical label called Naxos Records two years ago.
Tell us about recording "Minamahal, Sinasamba" with Mon David. If both of you were still single, would you open your window if Mon was the one serenading you in your house?
"Minamahal, Sinasamba" is typically sung solo but Mon thought it would make a fine duet. He came up with a haunting arrangement.
Which lady would not open her windows to Mon after hearing him sing? And yes, I will ask him to sing more!
You, Richard and Michael Konik came up with a spare, striking arrangement to "Pamulinawen."
We have been presenting this kind of music to performing arts presenters at various art conferences in the US and the response has been tremendous. One of the standout is always "Pamulinawen." Michael and I came up with the spare arrangement and the idea of using kulintang, which Richard played with such great taste. We also used the kutiyapi on this track.
Which track is your personal favorite?
Every piece on this album is special to me because the research for this project took about six months. I wanted to make sure we covered as many regions as possible but with songs that really speak to me. I had to ask assistance for translations of these tunes so I can interpret them with integrity. We have many great harana songs but I could only record 12.
If I had to choose one, it would have to be our original harana song, "Labis (Too Much)." I wrote the lyrics and Richard came up with the beautiful melody. I believe that this modern harana song embodies the ultimate romantic love story.
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