World Music: Mexico

"Mexico", music by Davide C. Marney.

Mexico is a place I've always wanted to visit, especially the more rural parts of the country with its beautiful mountains, tropical rain forests, and coastlines. To me, Mexico is a land of vibrant colors and warmth, a unique combination of both bright style and a laid-back culture. Come visit the Mexico of my imagination!

Production Notes

Instrumentation: Synthology Ivory II sampled piano, VSCO2 Chamber Orchestra sampled harp
Performed by: Davide Marney
Recorded: July, 2018

This piece is part of a world music project that I've been mulling for many years. What I'd like to do is visit a place (or imagine visiting, as in this case) and stay long enough to be able to write a piece of music that expresses the feelings it evokes. The sense of place has a deep influence on me. I like nothing more than traveling on long, winding trips through countryside and small towns, getting a feel for the lay of the land and the way of its people.

The heart of this piece is a travelling, syncopated rhythm pattern, which I take from the Spanish language. Spanish has a rolling lilt to it, like water tumbling down a hillside to my ears. It's a bit unpredictable, a bit irregular, but never-ending. This I try to capture by combining a steady, but syncopated bass line with a light, happy melody that shifts its point of syncopation mid-phrase.

I imagine myself sitting in the shade of a typical afternoon in rural Mexico, enjoying a quiet siesta. Brightly-colored birds drink from the community fountain. I can hear the sound of a far-off guitar playing in the background, and the soft, unbroken mummer of Spanish being spoken in the cafe.

Credits

Photo: "Mexico" by Nick Kenrick is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Music: "Mexico" by Davide C. Marney. Copyright 2018, Davide C. Marney. All rights reserved.