bread machine

Some say it's called "Quiero ser tu sombra" (wanna be your shadow), apparently by Hector Quattromanos and Zulema Alcayaga but this tune has been claimed by many people. Thanks to a fellow YouTube user who did some research, we now know that the tune I play is in fact traditional. It's such a great piece - I love the slinkiness of it (if that's not a word, it is now). The Paraguayan harp is amazing - the sound on this recording is just noise-reduced, no other audio treatment - you can hear the sparkly treble and deep bass. The harp has guitar-type tuners (machine heads) which can be a bit fiddly near the middle of the harp, where it curves inwards. You hardly have to touch the strings to make it work - and when you play loud, the strings have the characteristic "twang" which you can use for special effects. I bought it at the Stamford Harp Festival and there's a rolled-up banknote in the end of the harp at the top - I can't get it out so who knows what it's worth! Apparently people would put banknotes in between the strings or into the top, as a tip. If you're a harpist, you might spot that the strings don't follow the conventional colours because Paraguayan harps have the C string in blue, and the F string in red, the reverse of other harps. I'm playing it in my annex, which was a bakery serving the local houses, built around 1790 - that's the bread oven in the stone wall behind me. This is another of my late-night recordings, and it's the first complete take - so there's ...