I cannot recall if I ever recorded this Venezuelan Merengue as a Venezuelan Cuatro Solo. And I'm far too lazy to go over the 300 and something videos to check it out. If I did it, I can tell it might not have been as good as it is now. Lately, I have been practicing this mash-up of Venezuelan Merengues. The mash-up starts with this piece by composer Luis Fraganchán.

In a time when staying in the north seems to be something of a whiff, this song is still relevant. El Norte es una Quimera is a reference to the idea of the American Dream and how some people would move to the United States to try their luck and fail. Some of those would come back to their motherland and brag about their good times. The song is a play on the ideas of exaggerating one's luck while being away. That is a far too common topic. And it is something that happens very often for people who travel to other countries. Not even talking about going up north.

It is written in the very complex time signature of 5/8. The tempo that is a nightmare to some musicians, but funny enough it is something that is used to teach people how to play their first songs in many of the instruments that are used in our traditional music.

That being said, this is also the kind of solo one would learn while threading the path of Soloist Venezuelan Cuatro. I still cannot recall ever playing it. However, this is my time to make amends with myself and upload a cover of the song. It is a short cover in the format AABB. I even went ahead and made an intro out of the final part of the chorus. And it works fine as an outro as well.

When the mash-up is ready, I will upload it too. For now, enjoy this short cover!

• Video 📹: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Capcut, Adobe Audition CS6.

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It's been a really long time since I recorded my last cover video. This does not mean that I will be publishing each week as I usually did, but it is another take into the whole idea of making this kind of content. Maybe a cover a month will be my thing. There's much to work until the decision is made.

Today, I bring you this Pasaje by Héctor Valero named "Río Caipe". The composer is a member of the musical group Raíces de Venezuela. This aggrupation is responsible for inspiring a whole generation of musicians in the country. They are also an academic reference to traditional Venezuelan music. They are an example of what happens when you get together regardless of geographic constrains. They did not live nearby each other and yet, they became successful musicians as a whole.

The piece makes reference to a riverbed that has run dry. If you look for the River Caipe nowadays, you will find out it does not exist. Pasajes a kind of composition that is quite similar to a waltz. The differences might be related to how the motif moves around the piece and also the tempo. Pasajes are like poems in Venezuelan music. It is a kind of composition that is very common in the plains. There is a plethora of them. The majority of these compositions are accompanied by lyrics. Some are sad and some are cheerful.

The mood of this particular piece is a sort of melancholy and reminiscence. It is said the composer wanted to capture something he recalled from his childhood playing in that river. If it is true, then the piece is a really amazing work of music.

I had play some of his other composition back when I was in college. Some of them are really hard. This is also hard. The harmony was driving me crazy. But it is nothing a lot of practice can solve. I hope you enjoy this cover!

• Video 📹: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Capcut, Adobe Audition CS6.

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Another cycle starts and we are fixated in Venezuelan Merengue. The traditional kind, not our version of the Dominican one. For this first week, I'm going with a piece by a composer from my hometown. To be more specific, the Siren, Butterfly, Trouble-maker and icon of traditional music, María Rodríguez.

I have already presented a piece by her in a previous cycle and also made one post in homage to her works. Today, the song is one of her most famous ones, Tremenda. This was another of the nickname she got during her lifetime. Why? Well, she was quite a character. Let's just summarize it by saying she was a handful of intensity. However, that is one feature that made her a beloved figure in public life and in art.

The song is just a reminder of that. It also has something that is very common in songs from places near the coast, a fast lyric line that sounds life a tongue twister. That was by far the most challenging part of the cover. Trying to recreate that line playing is quite a thing. Also trying to keep the melody in place with only one instrument and adding some other ornaments to make more interesting is another key component of this attempt to play this solo. Hopefully, the idea is there and is enjoyable.

Adding a reversed form to the end and making the ritardando so it sounds like a sort of ending was a nice choice to give it more depth. These traditional songs are not too complex in harmony. The hard part is to actually sing them. And for me, make my instrument sing them. Anyways, I added the original recording to the end of the post so you can check it out.

I hope you like my cover!

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Audition CS6, Capcut.

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Coming back from my failed attempt of classifying to the finals of La Siembra del Cuatro. It is a bump in the road, but that just means I need to keep working on my playing. One of the judges was nice enough to share his evaluation with me. So, I have the key points to work on during this year until the next contest.

In another order of ideas, this is my last cover for this cycle. It is Merengue called "El Tramao". It was composed by Luis Laguna. This composer is known for some really interesting compositions and elevating this subgenre of music to another level of beauty.

This piece is a really nice one to practice how the movement of the right go. Since the melody isn't too hard and the chords repeat on some bars, there's enough time to try to learn how to make flourishes and other rhythmic ornaments. There are a few of these in my cover.

Learning this piece came also as part of a list of new songs to keep getting better at the instrument. However, this might change in favor of practicing some other things for my right hand so the covers get even better in the future and I can unlock the potential of the instrument. we shall see. If you don't see me participating in the forthcoming cycles, you can rest assured, I'm studying.

There's not more else to add. Even when it took a while to record for several reasons, I hope you like my cover!

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Audition CS6, Capcut.

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You might be wondering if you have listened to me playing this before. And you'd be absolutely right. This song was part of my entries for the first cycle of December. It isn't weird for me to revisit covers and try to make better versions. The reason for this particular one is simple, it is my entry video for the Festival La Siembra del Cuatro. This is the National Musical Festival that is all about playing the Venezuelan Cuatro.

The theme of this year's festival is Joropo. This is the genre that defines a lot of what Traditional Venezuelan Music is all about. However, they left out the common type of Joropo which is the one from the Plains. I guess this is just to see how do all the musicians that want to partake resolve this problem.

Also, I wanted to pick a piece by my teacher for this time. Since this is only one I actually know, I did my best to add the things that make the Joropo of my region its own thing. Easy enough, it is all about improvisations at the end of the main theme and another one to top it off. You have listened to some of this before if you are a regular in my videos.

Anyways, getting to this version took me 176 tries. You can guess why I didn't record something different for the Hive Music Festival. After so many attempts, one cannot play properly. And the only thing going through my mind is this piece. Besides, you get to see my performance for the festival before anyone else. That is a neat thing!

I hope you like my cover!

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Audition CS6, Capcut.

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Another cycle, another opportunity to make some other recordings. I want to start this post by addressing a mistake on my last recording, There are some missing bars in the first portion of the piece. Listening to it again, I found out I forgot an entire section. The worst part is that I didn't even remember how it went. Now, I do, but that ship has sailed. These are common mistakes that happen when you have to rely on memory for so many things.

On this first performance for the cycle, I will start by this piece by Otilio Galindez named Caramba. I can't exactly name the genre of the piece, but I think it is in 5/8 which will put it in the Merengue Venezolano box.

It is a composition that has a simple beauty. The most interesting part are generally the lyrics, but I don't sing, so will have to look for those in the interpretation of the song I dropped in the lower part of the post.

Songs like this are a nice way to get some rest from the general tough things I force myself to play for this recordings. It is also a nice time to keep on the theme of easy covers since I'm preparing for a festival. The hours of practice for a single theme need to be addressed and no effort can be wasted; or actually, there's no extra effort to put into more and more practice.

I hope you enjoy this cover. It was an interesting one without a doubt.

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Audition CS6, Capcut.

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To finish with my covers for this cycle of performances, I wanted to change the rhythm and go to another tango I learned recently. It is a composition by some different musician. Its lyrics were written by Enrique Santos Discépolo; its music, composed by Mariano Mores. It is a tango named "Uno".

When I started to venture into the idea of playing tangos on the Venezuelan Cuatro, this was one of the examples given by my teacher. Of course, my reaction to listening to it was of complete and utter awe. And also, as if I was listening to a Chinese native speaker telling my the instruction on how to disarm a bomb. However, all the time learning and practicing has paid off and today, I can play this song.

It also comes as a nice closure to another cycle of the Hive Music Festival. This might be one where I take some rest and go get ready for a new opening of the festival La Siembra del Cuatro. We shall see how it goes.

In the midst of practice and some other things, this week I heard the best joke one could told a student. After we were done with something for the class, my teacher turns to me and tells me about my progress and some other things. However, he added something that made me laugh a lot. He said this (I'm translating his words) "you're a good player. Otherwise, I wouldn't be teaching you". And I found this hilarious. He also asked me not to go around mentioning this, but it is too good a joke not to do it.

Anyway, this has been a lot of babbler from me. I hope you enjoy this cover!

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Audition CS6, Capcut.

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There are some songs that make you proud of being from a specific region. That may be the case in some other countries as well. The song for my cover of this week is all about that. I'm talking about the piece Oriente Es Otro Color by Venezuelan Composer, Henry Martínez. I chose this song for my entry of this week since I think I haven't played a piece by this composer for as long as I have been publishing covers in Hive. That sound crazy!

Anyways, this is my entry for this first round of a new cycle of the Hive Music Festival. This song is all about some of the most beautiful things the east of the country has to offer to all who live there and people who come to visit. It talks about the northeast to be exact. There are mentions of the beach and sea and the beautiful skies in the coast.

There's a subtlety in the composition that is always present regardless of the version. And the piece is just that subtle beauty. It is also a Merengue Venezolana a genre of our traditional music that used to be seen as something of low quality until some composer like Henry Martínez, Luis Laguna, among others created a plethora of beautiful pieces to make it truly beautiful. Now, the genre has both the rhythm and the amazing songs to be its own thing.

The arrangement for this piece is in the key of B minor. It is isn't the most flashy version. For that you ought to go to a key like E minor to add more strumming to it. However, I think such a song deserves being treated like the piece of silk it is and have some arpeggios thrown here and there to keep its subtle beauty present.

I have added another version I like a lot. It reunites some titans of Venezuelan Music in an amazing cover of this beautiful song. With no more to say, I hope you enjoy this cover!

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Auditio CS6, Capcut.

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Time close these rounds of the Hive Music Festival. For my entry of this week, I have this waltz by Venezuelan composer, Otilio Galindez. He has some really nice compositions. Most of what I have listened to is on the sad side. This one is also kind of sad, but it a beautiful piece.

It follows some common standards of music having a very clear motif being disclosed at the beginning of the piece. Then, it uses the final bit of the first part as a bridge to reconnect to the beginning.

In my arrangement, there are no more repetition than having the verse once time and using the same ending twice to go to the end of the piece. The intro is also a new part based on the melody but in a higher octave and descending. I think it gives it a nice touch.

This song is also one of those weird instances of music that mentions the seasons in an area where there are no seasons at all. However, I have heard that some people talk about the rain season as a sort of winter. It makes no actual sense. But to each their own.

I'll leave a link to one of the versions I like the most. It is a cover by the singer Fabiola Jose. Her voice captures the essence of solemn beauty present in Otilio's composition. It is also a recording with a really good sound quality.

I hope you like my cover and maybe the wind in the recording doesn't bother you too much. It's been a windy afternoon.

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Auditio CS6, Capcut.

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Our run to rescue Donovan gets us to the Cathedral of Ilden. We are so close to the Tear, that it looks like it's just around the corner. However, we will be chasing after Armina. She's the flying monster that took the Shadeless after our fight. We also have a timer to beat. And of course, the run won't be easy. Debris falls from everywhere and some of the sections have monsters we need to defeat to keep moving. The rest of the way is shown by some glowing points where Briar uses her acrobatics to move forward to the next platform.

Once we are near Armina, we'll try to reach for Donovan, but she will kick us and prevent our rescue. We finish that section of platforming by going up a flight of stairs into the entrance of the Cathedral. We know what's up next.

No more running and teasing. We are fighting this transcended form of Armina now known as Nemesis. This boss has a variety of attacks. First, we can summon some spheres that can hurt us if we don't use our blue field. She slashes with her talons and claws. She can also summon waves of energy from the grow. The other attacks is a swooping strike while going towards us.

But that's just one phase. She can also take to the sky and we'll have to jump some platforms and avoid debris to get to her. Attacking while she's on the sky makes her go down. Then, she has a shield phase. The shield breaks with the read field. While she's protected, her attacks are the blue spheres and energy surges. Tough battle indeed.

When she's around half her health bar, she'll pass out. Now, her shadow takes control of her body. The shadow uses mirror images that we'll have to attack until we discover the real one. And this process repeats several times until we attack the body enough for Armina to take back control.

The final stage is an enraged state in which all attacks become more fierce and random. She overwhelmed us so much that two of the revives were necessary to finally put an end to this enemy. In the end, it is her shadow who ends up delivering the final blow. A fitting end for two personalities that despised each other so much!

Her crystal is left behind and we absorb it unlocking some extra memories from the rebirth of Briar and Lute as Chimeras.

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: taken by me with OBS Studio and Screenshots from my laptop.

• GIFs 🖼️: created with Capcut.

• Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.

• Editing 🎬: by me, made with Capcut.

• Music 🎶🎵: Legends, Music by Lightyeartraxx from Pixabay, copyright-free music.

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To follow up with the romantic theme of my performances, I brought this bolero I didn't know until recently. It is a song named La Barca. It was composed by Roberto Cantoral, a Mexican composer. The first to record this piece was the group Los Tres Caballeros.

It is a sad song. The lyrics refer to the departure of a loved one and the hope they might come back. The boat referenced in the title is the main image of the whole composition.

This bolero has an interesting melody that makes these tough jumps from some of the same chords but in a different inversion. It was a bit tricky to learn at the beginning. However, once I got the gist of the jumps, it became easier. The intro is one of my favorite parts as it combines all the elements of the whole composition into one good riff.

The idea behind the song come because my teacher got me to learn it and he didn't remember the actual name of it. I had to do some research in order to dig the truth. Of course, we went over the usual thing about not knowing the composer. People would say this is a song by Luis Miguel or even Jose Jose. And I totally get it. They are two famous singers who have recorded this piece. That made the whole idea of finding the truth a bit more difficult but not impossible.

Here's my cover! I hope you enjoy it!

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Auditio CS6, Capcut.

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Our trip up on the elevator won't be a smooth ride. This one counts for the cursed elevator ride. Through the ascension we will face different hordes of enemies. Each time we defeat one of them, some debris will fall on the platform making it smaller. Once there's no way for the thing to go up it will inevitably fall down and we'll have to make a jump for our lives.

We're in the search for Donovan. He might be the key to all of this problem. And fortunately, we will find him soon. However, it won't be a pleasant reunion. You see we are not meeting with the Shadeless in complete control of his body. This time we will meet his Shade, Maria. She is controlling Donovan and making him face us.

It will be a more difficult fight than last time. Maria can throw projectiles and cast a shield to protect Donovan. It makes the whole fight more challenging. In the midst of it, we will find out the truth about them. Donovan and Maria are father and daughter. Something that feels weird even by the game standards. She holds a grudge towards her father and the Order for doing this to her. And she wants revenge!

The can also tap into the Transcendent powers. And that makes them even more powerful. Nonetheless, the most important thing Lute figures out is that they are the monster we have been chasing all this time. Somehow, they can return to their Chimera form and hold their power. It seems Maria doesn't like that though and wants to wreck Havoc all around.

When we defeat them and Donovan subdues Maria again, we can learn the truth about this whole incident. It turns out Dugal sent Donovan in the carriage carrying the relic to the Ilden Cathedral. They reacted with the other relic in the place causing them to Transcend and create the tear. This whole thing has been a machination of the Order of the Ashen Blade, but why? We won't get far with our answers as the other Chimera comes flying and takes Donovan with her. She taunts us to follow and find out more about what's going on.

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: taken by me with OBS Studio and Screenshots from my laptop.

• GIFs 🖼️: created with Capcut.

• Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.

• Editing 🎬: by me, made with Capcut.

• Music 🎶🎵: Legends, Music by Lightyeartraxx from Pixabay, copyright-free music.

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Starting off this new cycle of performances, I recalled I never recorded the over famous tango sung by Carlos Gardel. I'm talking about the lovely piece known as El Día Que Me Quieras. The first time I listened to this amazing song was on the voice of Simón Díaz in his record Tangos y Boleros. I gotta say that Gardel's voice wasn't helped by the technology of his times. A recording with modern technology might have made his amazing register shine out.

The version I'm familiar with is amazing. Unfortunately, it isn't around in the internet. Maybe it is on some of the streaming services. I don't know.

This song was another of the missing recordings for last year. I learned it during my 6-weeks vacation from the Hive Music Festival. It was an interesting decision from my teacher when he went over this song in a class. It made me remember it was in the list of solos I wanted to learn. And so we did. It is easier than the other tangos I have already recorded. And the difference shows. However, it is actually even more beautiful. The others are melancholic and that their charm. This tango has the added benefit of being about something lovely. It isn't a surprise since you can translate its tile to on the day you fall in love with me. It is a list of the things that would happen on such a day. All of them are quite interesting.

I have been playing it for quite some time for myself and once for my girlfriend, @octocel. Speaking of which, this cover is dedicated to her. Because this is the kind of song you would dedicate to someone you really like. Besides, I also hope she likes this recording a lot.

And you my listener, have a great day and enjoy the music. You can show this version to someone you like as well. Maybe, you'll get some brownie points. It is worth a try.

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Auditio CS6, Capcut.

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After escaping our demise by the claws of a possessed, we are still inside of the crumbling monastery. However, we are not being followed by the monster. We need to press on to find Layton and learn what are his motives to collaborate with the Order of the Ashen Blade.

The path ahead is full of enemies. Previous bosses have become regular enemies. Eidolons and else are on our path. More possessed from the small size to the extra large are in our way. The traps that block our powers are more common. Just what we need, another spike on difficulty!

Pressing on, we find Layton and he reveals that he's been working as a spy in the Order, monitoring the doings of Dugal (the chief of the organization). It seems Dugal's intentions are what created this tear in Ilden. His motif seems to be related on bringing forth the Soulstice of Souls. This event would let Chaos itself come back from the Veil. We can't have that. It is imperative we close this thing and bring everything to normal.

In our path, the enemy that's been stalking us will make an entrance. Now, it will be time to face it and its heads. Each one of those things give it a different ability. What's more, we need to defeat each head as if it were its own possessed being by staggering the body and then defeating the wraiths that come out of it. It is a lot of work, but finishing off the enemy grants us its entry in the Bestiary. This is a Chorus. That's a fitting name for an enemy with many heads.

More enemies are in our path. However, we end our entry by arriving and unlocking something that looks like a big elevator. Will our ride of this thing be safe or will it be full of enemies?

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: taken by me with OBS Studio and Screenshots from my laptop.

• GIFs 🖼️: created with Capcut.

• Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.

• Editing 🎬: by me, made with Capcut.

• Music 🎶🎵: Legends, Music by Lightyeartraxx from Pixabay, copyright-free music.

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To end this cycle of performances, I have a story for you. When I was still at college, I spent a lot of time with a friend called José. He is an amazing musician who now lives in Switzerland and also teaches over there. Once when we were talking about doing something towards the end of the career, we mentioned taking part into the the singing festival. This one is called La Voz Universitara. People take part in this festival and there are rounds for each college. Then, there are regional finals. Then, a national one.

Unfortunately, when we were finishing our studies at UDO, the festival stopped for some years. Those were some really tough times. And we never got to participate in the festival. I wouldn't have done it. My singing voice needs a lot of work. However, my friend is also a good singer. He has a very nice bass voice. Long story short, this was the song he said he was going to sing if he had the chance of getting into the festival.

The name of the song is Mi Tierra. It refers to our hometown, Cumaná. It has some beautiful images about the city and also some other lovely verses. The version we have always known is the one sung by the legendary Simón Díaz with the group La Rondalla Venezolana. It is quite a treat. I'm leaving the link below so you can listen to that version.

By the end of last year, my teacher told me we were learning this song. I had fond memories of my friend and those years of college. We had a sort of competition going on. He wanted to be the Valedictorian for our graduation. However, I was the one to ace this title by a high difference of scores. But that's another story.

This cover is dedicated to my friend José, the musician from Cumaná living in Switzerland.

• Photos and Video 📹 📷: Redmi Note 13

• Thumbnail 🖼️: Canva.

• Editing 🎬: Adobe Auditio CS6, Capcut.

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