Improvisations

This piece is played on the electric mandolin (a five-string Mandoblaster) with minimal effects (compression and reverb). The gentle quietude of the piece suggested something ethereal; this picture of Maitreya Buddha (the next Buddha), seemed perfect to accompany the music. The 30-foot statue of the Maitreya Buddha is in the Thiksey monastery in Ladakh, India. I tuned the mandolin to CGDAE and used a scale based on the overtone series of the note C (C, D, E, F#, G, A, Bb, C). The opening harmonics outline the notes in the series. -William Bradbury