ORIGINS VOL.9: RONROCO & BOUZOUKI
The interplay between dual arpeggiators on unique, global instruments are what defines our ORIGINS series. This is no less true for the latest edition, ORIGINS VOL. 9: RONROCO & BOUZOUKI. At first glance, the Ronroco and the Bouzouki have a great number of similarities. As you lean in more closely, they cannot be more different. The Bouzouki from the Aegean and the Ronroco from Latin America come together to make an intriguing and interesting duet. In the ORIGINS library, the differences are played up to craft an unlimited number of beautiful and mystical rhythms and ambiences.
We found two highly acclaimed instrumentalists to work with us for the process. Sebastian Pecznik on the Ronroco and Gabriel Dib on the Bouzouki.
THE MAN BEHIND THE RONROCO
Sebastian Pecznik originally hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina, though we work with him out of his Berlin studio. “Sech”, as he goes by, first came to Europe to tour on solo guitar, when he fell in love with the Continent and decided to stay. “I went to Europe doing several tours,” he told us. “Trying to do everything, playing small radio stations, Philharmonics or concert halls to little cafes where they are making espresso while I was playing… when you come from Buenos Aires you need to pay for a big plane ticket… It was then that I fell in love with Europe.”
Sech got his big break when he was watching a show at the Berlin Philharmonic. Someone had noticed how he was keeping time like a conductor and invited him to a coffee. “I remember not having anything to thank him with for the coffee and I gave him a CD of mine. For me that meant a lot because that’s what I was selling after my concerts back then, trying to get money back for the plane ticket and to help my earnings… three months later I was in Andalusia playing concerts and I [got an email from him].”
The man was driving around the heiress of former famed composer Richard Wagner’s family. He wrote, “There was only one CD in my car and it was yours and she loved it and kept it. Now you realize my problem, I need more CDs!”
“I owe everything to this small little coincidence in my career,” Sech told us. “You know this quote: ‘Inspiration is great, but it better find you working.’ I work a lot but chance plays such a big role. You have to be there and you have to be willing to give your everything.”
It was Sech’s love for storytelling that first attracted him to music and brought him into creating tracks for trailers and documentaries. He had started work as a magician for the same reason. “I wanted to be a magician, but I realized that what I was into was the connection between music and stories. David Copperfield had these big musical numbers and I recognized that I was getting the same feeling when I was looking at Back to the Future, Rocky, or Lord of the Rings. The music was telling part of the story and when I started doing magic, creating these musical numbers to go along, I realized that it would be great if music could do this or that and I didn’t realize there was something in me wanting to be a composer.”
THE RONROCO: THE SOUND OF THE ANDES
The Ronroco is a larger version of the Andean stringed instrument Charango, sharing its fat neck and airy sound. It’s crafted with 10 nylon strings in five double courses. The lower courses are in unison and the highest are in octaves. The Ronroco that Sech played for us was custom made by the Argentinian luthier Jonathan Garabello.
“I think the Ronroco is a unique instrument that explains the immensity of the world,” Sech tells us. “But at the same time, it’s individual, small. You know how your story feels immense to you, because you’re the protagonist, but also you realize how miniscule you are, where there’s billions of years and billions and trillions of galaxies and what’s 100 years in that scope? But it’s you and your family that’s everything and this is something that the Ronroco is for me. It feels more personal than any other instrument.
“It’s more than an instrument for the big landscapes. We’ve all seen Babel, Brokeback Mountain, the Motorcycle Diaries, and there’s this tendency of using this instrument for landscapes… but it can be brought into so much more. I hope that people use it to write not just cinematic music, but to bring it into classical, neoclassical music. It will be fun to hear what new sounds appear. I would love to see that.”
ABOUT THE BOUZOUKI
The Bouzouki has a controversial beginning. There are endless arguments over whether its history is Turkish or Greek, but there’s one thing we can be sure of, it came to the forefront of the musical Greek rebetiko movement. It’s got a long-necked body with a flat top and fretted fingerboard. It was adapted by Greek luthiers at the turn of the 20th century to accommodate thicker, steel strings.
It’s those steel strings that really give the Bouzouki its characteristic twangy flavor, something you can really hear in the ORIGINS VOL. 9 library.
To help record the sounds for the Bouzouki, we contacted our regular collaborator, Gabriel Dib, a Brazilian multi-instrumentalist working out of Los Angeles. Gabriel regular plays with local bands and produces music for commercials, TV shows, and documentaries.
ABOUT THE LIBRARY
Our ORIGINS VOL. 9: RONROCO & BOUZOUKI expertly captures the essence of these two instruments. It brings them into your hands, channeling the gifted fingers of Sech and Gabriel, using either instrumentalist as a medium to bring your sounds to life. Create ethereal soundscapes, delicately picked arpeggiations, or powerful and striking strums with this beautiful duo.
We invite you to come and join Sebastian Pecznik and Gabriel Dib as they aid you in telling your story.
The Library will cost $69 / €69 and will be available with an introductory discount at $55 / €55 until August 30th, 2022.
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