March 10, 2022

Inside the Soundscape: Alma and How She Got Her Name

Learn about the Peruvian instruments Novel Effect composer Eric Nielsen used during live recording sessions to create the soundscape you can enjoy with the picture book Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal.

The Ocarina in the photo above is actually made in Peru, and Novel Effect’s world class composer Eric Nielsen used it on three tracks in the soundscape for Alma and How She Got Her Name. He was excited to find it at his local folk music store – the first time he’d been back in an actual music store in over two years!

To prepare to compose the music for the soundscape he listened to a LOT of Música criolla, a popular music style of Peru, as well as other musical styles, old and new, from Peru, including Andean, Spanish and African roots Latin music styles.

Much of the guitar style used throughout the soundscape is inspired by the performer Oscar Aviles, and his contemporaries.

Eric went through at least five iterations of Alma’s theme before arriving at the one featured in the soundscape, which captured the most Peruvian sound he’s yet created.

The piece for Jose is inspired by Charango playing styles Eric spent time studying for this book as well. Not satisfied with his ability to pull of the typical fast strumming sound he turned to another technique of chord arpeggios and melody with more of a finger-picking style of playing this small ten-stringed instrument.

Concertina is another common Peruvian instrument, so in searching for an option, the instrument used in various cues including Alma’s theme is actually a sample of an old Bavarian concertina found in someone’s attic! It has a pretty authentic wheezy sound that could only come from the real thing.

The Peruvian harp, or diatonic harp, is also very close to a European style, but without the complex tuning mechanisms, and has a much more of percussive sound on the upper strings, using metal strings instead of gut. The instrument Eric has is a typical European harp, though he chose a playing style that is more percussive. In French this playing style is called “pres de la table”, meaning playing “near the table” or the soundboard of the instrument. Sofia’s theme is adapted from this with the Peruvian harp in mind – with a little more of a strum/arpeggiated feel to the upper notes to help soften it while still incorporating a more percussive plucking sound.