jan marmenout - fujara, ethnical instruments

About me:

As a young boy Jan was already fascinated by the sounds of some of the old world-heritage musical instruments. He left his hometown at the age of 19 and started to travel to Southern and Eastern Europe, where he spent some time with Gypsy families (Spain and Romania). As his interest in the old traditional world grew stronger, he left 'modernised' Europe and yearning to go deeper into the old roots of life and music, he ventured futher and went to Morroco, where he stayed one year and a half, mostly with the Berber people up in the middle Atlas mountains. Afterwards, he travelled to South America, where he also spent one year. He started his career as a percussionist, playing in different worldmusic bands. Later he discovered and started to play berimbau-didjeridoo-shawn's-Tibetan trumpets-conch-shells, jew's harp and different types of flutes( fujara,lira, North-Indian double flutes,other Balkan and Arabic flutes) ..." I never thought I could ever play some of these more melodic instruments, but i believe now it was a natural evolution. As a young boy already,hitting the skin of my drums, i always started to hear voices, flutes or other sounds, and these were very often connected with forms, colours, and images. I could go on playing for hours and the sound of my drums took me to far-away places and endless spaces. Only much later it became clear to me that the 'overtones' (harmonics) produced by the repetitive drumming were creating all these other melodic and rhythmic patterns. It was the humming sound of the drum producing a trance-like state into myself that made me see, feel and hear all these other things at the same time. I realised that everything in this unfolding universe is connected. 'Sound' is very mysterious and powerful and all these at 'first-sight' very different musical instruments,producing different sounds and coming from all parts of the world,are somehow mysteriously linked together. Jan Marmenout is a multi-instrumentalist (ethnical instruments), and a composer.


http://www.myspace.com/janmarmenout

As a band we are:

Me and Myself

Instruments:

Ethnic instruments: all kinds off percussion instruments, didgeridoo, Berimbau, Volcanic stones (litophones), Flutes: Fujara and overtone-flutes, native american flutes, Moroccan flutes (Lira, qasbah), Turkish Zurna, Singing Bowls, Monochord, Jew's harp, Conch-shells

Influences:

From all over the world

Homepage:

http://www.janmarmenout.be/

2nd Website:

http://www.myspace.com/slaberoie