In Umeå Meets Umeå archival recordings of the older Swedish Västerbottnian dialects are transformed into newly written, and at the same time, ancient music. A previously undiscovered artistic legacy sees the light of day.
Percussionist Petter Berndalen has turned the prevailing standards of how to play drums upside down. He has created his completely unique playing style by studying Swedish folk music and its solo players and applying every little musical detail to his drumming.
An important part of his work is how central aspects of melody, such as hierarchical form and phrasing, melodic contour, ornamentation, etc. can be represented on an instrument such as percussion where precise pitches and transitions are not possible.
In his work Umeå Meets Umeå, Petter has done the same thing again. But the other way around.
Instead of translating violin playing to drumming, this time he has chiseled out melodies, phrasing, tonalities and rhythmic structures from archival recordings of the older Västerbottnian dialects.
In December 2023, the album begins to be released and will be released part by part in a series of digital releases.
First up is the song “Bygdeå” which will be released on December 1st.
Cast:
Petter Berndalen, composer, percussion, animoog, OP-1
Torbjörn Näsbom, violin & nyckelharpa
Mats Öberg, keyboards
Jimmy Ågren, guitar
Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra
Karl-Johan Ankarblom, orchestral arrangement, conducting
Pelle Henricsson, recording Tonteknik
Johannes Oscarsson, recording Norrlandsoperan
Petter Berndalen, mixing Playing With Music
Claes Persson, mastering CRP Recordings