Tag : ryan larsen in berlin

http://youtu.be/cQo_noCsNlY

Collaborative project by ToTarTu featuring Street Musician David Bergfeldt.
ToTarTu is on a collaborative project to record the street musicians he finds in the city of Berlin.
Winter is fast approaching Berlin…and it’s getting cold.
Fortunately there are still the street musicians providing entertainment, some out in the open whilst some others are tucked away in small lanes/arcades that lead into coffee shops or theaters.
Hackescher Markt in Mitte, Berlin, is a very colourful area with many galleries, shops and restaurants.
And on one evening came the harmonic sounds of a guitarist and his voice…welcome David Bergfeldt.
After approaching David, he was happy to participate in ToTarTu’s Street Musician Project.
Subsequently, the recording was made on a cold evening in one small laneway…leading into a cosy cinema, located off Rosenthaler Strasse in Hackescher Markt.
The song was an opportunity to improvise some drums, strings, piano into what otherwise is already a beautiful song.
More music please David!
* Disclaimer – all work produced and posted is done so on an artistic basis and is there for the promotion of artists and musicians alike.

Location – Along the Berlin Wall by The River Spree, Berlin, near die Overbaumbrücke.
Date – Thursday, 22nd May, 2014
Time – 15.30h
This Street Musician is the dude! He was playing by the Berlin Wall on the old East Berlin Side of the River Spree. He was very funny. Unfortunately ToTarTu could only photograph the anonymous performer because ToTarTu was on a boat cruise and couldn’t stop. However, if you know him, tell him he is a Legend! And if he wants to work on a track please ask him to contact me!!

Collaborative project by ToTarTu featuring Street Musician, Nicka Kristian Donn.
ToTarTu is on a collaborative project to record the street musicians he finds in the city of Berlin.
Introducing Nicka Kristian Donn – what a performer!
Hermannplatz in Berlin is a busy port for shoppers and commuters with the U-Bahn running underneath.
And as the weather was getting colder late last year, with street performers somewhat thinning, Berlin was still lucky to have the sounds of Nicka ‘softly’ hammering away at his Dulcimer.
This instrument produces sounds much the same way as a piano with a (padded) hammer against the string.
I explained ToTarTu’s Berlin Project to Nicka and fortunately for ToTarTu, he was very happy to participate.
My recording of Nicka was made on the backdrop of a very busy intersection; it was quite intense.
ToTarTu’s electronic input into the musical piece picks up on this mood, as well as enhancing the hypnotising and cool performance by Nicka…another Champion Street Musician!
Unfortunately Nicka has no website nor contact details.
However, if we are lucky, we will see him and his fancy Dulcimer in Hermannplatz again this year!!
* Disclaimer – all work produced and posted is done so on an artistic basis and is there for the promotion of artists and musicians alike.

Collaborative project by ToTarTu featuring Street Musician Helmut, alias Klavier Helmut.
ToTarTu is on a collaborative project to record the street musicians he finds in the city of Berlin.
Alas, a piano in the street…was this a trick or a figment of the imagination or was there really a pianist playing in Kottbusser Damm near the canal?
Meet Helmut.
And his piano on wheels that he moves around the streets of Berlin during summer when “the birds are singing and the living is easy”, as written by George Gershwin in the aria “Summertime”.
After approaching Helmut and discussing ToTarTu’s music project, we recorded.
The recording went for five minutes and could of continued as Helmut was improvising and was moving to and back from certain songs and melodies.
As such, ToTarTu edited the version to be just over 2 minutes.
Some strings and new sounds were added.
Towards the end of the recording a pull between the sounds of the ivories and the electronic manifests. The introduction of the electronic in the piece is an attempt to show the old manifesting into the new.
Unfortunately, Helmut does not have a website.
However, he has had many recordings and interviews done and his story can be found when searching for Klavier Helmut on the Internet.
We look forward to seeing and hearing this Legend again this Summer!!
* Disclaimer – all work produced and posted is done so on an artistic basis and is there for the promotion of artists and musicians alike.

ToTarTu is on a collaborative project to record the street musicians he finds in the city of Berlin.
One late evening ToTarTu heard some melodies being played by a saxophone and jumped on his bike to find out exactly where the sound was emanating from.
He was lucky to find the Saxophonist, Roman Liva, as he had already stopped playing about three minutes before ToTarTu arrived; he was making his way up Bürknerstrasse in Neukölln to another venue.
This collaborative project by ToTarTu is short and simple, with instruments added around the saxophone.
After introducing ToTarTu and the project Roman unleashed this little toe tapping number and the recording was made.
ToTarTu imagined that the Saxophone piece could be like a short simple concert performed by a couple of musicians and that being the case, and keeping the Saxophone central, accompanied only with percussion like instruments and drums.
Roman was happy and upbeat so the electronic sound and percussion was added being mindful of the saxophone phrasing and used to enhance the mystery song and give it a little drama and swing.
Unfortunately, Roman does not have a website nor contact details. However, he will certainly be playing out the front of some bar or restaurant somewhere in Berlin when the weather is warm!
* Disclaimer – all work produced and posted is done so on an artistic basis and is there for the promotion of artists and musicians alike.

Collaborative project by ToTarTu featuring Street Musician Seban Bebe and Vocalist/Composer, Denis Chevallier (http://www.denis-chevallier.fr/):
ToTarTu is on a Berlin project to record the street musicians he finds in the city of Berlin.
On one late Summer afternoon on the canals in Berlin, Maybachufer to be exact, ToTarTu could hear the familiar sounds of a trumpet coming closer.
Before long, the Trumpet Player was performing out the front of the bar/restaurant where ToTarTu was enjoying the rhythm of the city. Not to miss out on such an opportunity, ToTarTu asked Seban if he would like to be part of the Street Musician Project…and we have the result above.
Seban performed “When The Saints Go Marching In”. The piece is an American gospel hymn according to Wikipedia. The precise origins of the song are not known. Though it originated as a Christian hymn it is often played by jazz bands.
Unfortunately Seban does not have a website nor contact details. He is a roaming street musician who walks the streets and plays numbers to people out the front of restaurants. Computers and mobile phones do not interest him.
ToTarTu was also very lucky to meet Denis Chevallier who is a composer from Paris.
Monsieur Chevallier is a gifted harpsichordist and pianist, and sings very well.
And sometimes whilst having time out from his busy schedule in Paris writing music and performing in concerts, you can find him singing in bars in Berlin.
Although Denis is not a street musician, ToTarTu was fortunate to have his input and participation in the project.
He improvised some vocals inspired from the gospel song, imitating in some places the original melody and giving a more polyphonic twist to the piece.
If you listen closely you will hear some words of the song sung in French.
ToTarTu has added the electronic sounds giving the piece yet another twist.
The “When the Saints Go Marching In” collaborative project has been a lot of fun.
The trumpet playing by Seban, with the vocals by Denis and, the electronica input by ToTarTu has created a unique different interpretation of the jazz piece.
If you are lucky enough, you will hear Seban playing this summer in Berlin…and as you soak up the cool city vibes you may well hum along in French to Seban’s next brass number!
For further information on Denis Chevallier, please visit his website – http://www.denis-chevallier.fr.
* Disclaimer – all work produced and posted is done so on an artistic basis and is there for the promotion of artists and musicians alike.

ToTarTu is going to Berlin in August to soak up the creative music culture of this hip, cool city.

I know this much about the city as I was in Berlin in November, 2010 and had my own personal experience there.  That said, I am going back to live there for a while.

Some standouts for me were the people. Whether I was just lucky I’m not sure, but I met some really down to earth cool people.  Berliners, for me, are uber friendly.

The trains I found were nostalgic holding a charm that always made me think of what it would have been like the decade after post WWII.  No idea whether these trains were the same but my mind would drift down to the east and west Berlin days.  Really thought provoking.

Plus the trains made my friend from Sweden, Elizabeth, and I, famous for Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame as we managed to feature in the Berliner Morgenpost when they ran an article about the train system actually not working for a few hours due to some fault.  We were interviewed and my response to what we thought about the trains being down was “we love Berlin anway”.

I was leaving Berlin the morning after this interview and as I was boarding my plane I grabbed every newspaper available as I was not sure which paper was running the story.

Half way through my flight to Charles De Gaulle airport I found my name and the article!  Made my trip!  The article was framed when I returned to Melbourne and hung proudly on my wall!!

Happy days 🙂