The SoupASonic

What in the horror world is this? -- Why, it's a picture of my brand new baby.
But what should we call it? That, my friends, is up to you - see below, and thank you!

This new baby is a 6-stringed acoustic instrument, made by the excellent Eric Aceto of Ithaca, NY. On its belly, it carries the strings of a viola (C-G-D-A), the violin (G-D-A-E) and a super-low string (F), one pitch higher than the bottom note of the guitar. Size-wise, it's taller than a violin but shorter than a viola, clocking in at 14 inches.

So what should we call it? I'd like to propose a baby-naming contest.
I'll be taking names in the comments below, until midnight Eastern Time (GMT -5) on February 29 May 31, 2008, at which point I'll put all of the entries up for a vote.
Winner will receive a signed copy of my debut CD, Vjola: World on Four Strings, and a signed copy of the upcoming CD release by Ljova & the Vjola Contraband, which will be ready in the late summer. You'll also have my eternal gratitude, which you can not (as yet) pawn on Ebay..

Possible suggestions already include:
-- mezzo violin
-- hexañola (or hexagnola)
-- viola da samba
-- six-e beast
-- the beast

To inspire and a-muse you, I'm including the first two recordings I made on the new instrument:
FRESH WOOD (download the mp3 here)

and JAM JEROME, an excerpt from a longer jam with the guitarist and composer Jerome Covington (download the mp3 here)


Want to see more pictures of the new instrument? Sure you do - head right this way.

Enjoy the music, and thank you for any input!

--Ljova (& Eric Aceto), pictured below

As innabar continues her Vox365 Project in the third day, she asks me for creative input. I politely decline. Recording material explicitly for remixing is like trying to craft scrap metal before throwing it away. Why should I have any input on someone else's scrap metal? One woman's out of tune note is another's nirvana, one broken phrase is another's disco loop. There is no reason for me to intervene -- my job is simply to press record, encode, and upload. That's probably another reason why I think that recording material for remixing is not terribly productive. Enjoyable, yes, but not terribly productive. You can say "Gah" and someone will find use for it; you can sing melodies, and someone will steal them.. but does it really help your growth as an artist? I'm not so sure.


On another note, enjoy a new piece I just recorded - a quasi-raga of sorts, definitely inspired by John Adams' Dharma at Big Sur to which I was listening earlier, at the gym. This new piece ("Fresh Wood 1") was recorded on my new instrument, about which I'll have a separate post in a day or two. Meanwhile, enjoy!