This past week, I worked on a beautiful composition by the gifted musician, Ólafur Arnalds. The piece is entitled “Saman,” from an Icelandic word meaning “together.” Ólafur is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. He incorporates strings and prepared piano with loops and natural field recordings to develop a singular sound that might, if you have to use labels, be described as ambient/atmospheric or simply, contemplative. He has composed original film scores for such TV series as “Broadchurch,” and for the Apple TV series “Defending Jacob.” To me, his music is expansive, soulful, and transcendent in nature. Great background for contemplative walks and silent prayer.

This song is part of his 2018 album: “re:member.” I have taken the basic piano arrangement and adapted it for the classical guitar. The guitar does not have a pedal mechanism as a piano to lengthen the time of sustained notes, so I chose fingerings that could best take advantage of fixed fingers and open strings. The original key is in C minor, but I think it works well in B minor with a capo on the second fret.

This video includes camera angles that show my home studio where I study, practice, and produce the performance videos I create for this web-site and YouTube channel. As an aging boomer, I am amazed by the advancement of pro-audio video and recording gear and how with a bit of determination and time, one can develop some very decent results.  Hope you enjoy it.

You can download my arrangement here.