When The Saints Swing Low
In my program "Proper Music" for solo guitar, I create multiple layers of sound by utilizing a variety of stomp pedals and real time
sampling devices. For the purpose of a spacious stereo effect, I run two separate amplifiers and almost every composition requires a different type of guitar. It's great fun to do, but at the
same time a lot of equipment to handle.
The conception of "When The Saints Swing Low" is to play plain, genuine melodies.
Most of the tunes on this album are African American Spirituals. Some of them I've known since childhood when I first started playing
the guitar, others I discovered during my research for appropriate material.
A few of the songs gravitate towards the folk and blues genre, and there is a transcription of a German hymn for bottleneck guitar. I
deliberately elaborated the arrangements in an artless and rudimentary fashion to retain as much latitude as possible for the improvisations.
The only original composition I wrote for this album is "Intro". Since I was strumming quite hard when recording "Intro", the 6th string
slightly drops down towards the end of the track.
Aspiration for imperfection?
Günter Horn