Rumi S. Hatt

Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar

This site contains details about my solo project. For information (in German) about my band projects, touring dates, studio work, etc., please visit rumishatt.ch.

Details - CD "nistar"

This CD was released in 2016 on the Swiss Narrenschiff Music Label. It consists of 10 solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar pieces.
This CD took form after a church concert in a meditation service, when two elderly ladies came to me, independently from each other. They both said something in the vein of "If you would sit next to my bed every evening, I wouldn't have to take sleeping medication". The minister said that this is quite a statement, since these two women were using quite some drugs against pain, for sleep, etc. I wept at the bus station, deeply moved. Since it is not realistic to sit at those two beds every night and play, the decision was clear to make this CD instead. May it serve!

buy "Rumi S. Hatt - nistar"

The Tunes

Saint Joy's Way

The Flowers of Theresienstadt

Chinese Water Garden

Song For Dad

nistar

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

Sleepy Maggie

Rise Up Larry

Desert Flower

So Long I Love You

Background, Guitars, Tunings

1 - Saint Joy's Way

This is a tune about a wonderful Being. And her crow.

Tuning: E A D G B D, Guitar: Goodall RJC


2 - The Flowers of Theresienstadt

This is the first "real" fingerstyle tune I wrote when I was around twenty years old, and it is obviously influenced by Michael Hedges and Pierre Bensusan, but already shows my love for complex intertwined melody lines.
For whatever reason, it happened that I spent my 18th birthday at the concentration camp in Theresienstadt near Prague. I found this place to be a very good place to meditate about the strength of man. I didn't feel two kinds of human beings there, there was only one energy, and it was strong.
After that experience, I was moved to write a tune about Theresienstadt as a place that is not associated with that camp, hence the image of flowers. It also refers to the souls who spent some time there, in challenging situations that no doubt also left room for heartfelt moments no one knows about today.

Tuning: D A D G A D, Guitar: Martin CS-D18-12 - thank you, Christoph, for this wonderful guitar!


3 - Chinese Water Garden

The first part of this tune was written long ago, but it took many years until the rest found its way to it. I played this tune for the first time during one of those meditation church services mentioned above, and the topic for the meditation was "Water". Thank you, Rolf, for holding these meditation church services!

Tuning: D A D G A D, Guitar: McIlroy A 25


4 - Song for Dad

This, as you might have guessed, is dedicated to my father. I wrote it when I was about 24, and my father went through a challenging time. Even though it sounds rather simple, I find this tune to be very difficult to play right.

Tuning: E A D G B E, Guitar: Goodall RJC


5 - nistar

nistar means hidden in old Hebrew. The jewish mystics said that the name Esther comes from the word nistar. The Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention God. But it is obvious that He is working through Esther. So nistar is an expression of the fact that God can work great Wonders through Beings who are open for Him.

Tuning: E A D G B E, Guitar: Lakewood A 32


6 - Christmas Comes But Once a Year

This is a traditional Christmas fiddle tune from the Shetland Islands, way up north between Scotland and Scandinavia.

Tuning: D G D G Bb D, Guitar: Martin CS-21-11


7 - Sleepy Maggie

This is an Irish fiddle tune that was originally written in the unusual key of B minor. I transposed it to G minor, due to guitar tuning reasons. The original tune has nothing sleepy in it, my rendering has slightly more relation to the title.

Tuning: D G D G Bb D, Guitar: Martin CS-21-11


8 - Rise Up Larry

This Irish traditional tune had a strange name, especially considering its lovely melody. Traditional music often gets changed along its way through the centuries, so I took the liberty to change the title to something a bit more uplifting. It even has a connection to the old title, it's kind of the next step. I learned this tune from the wonderful fiddle playing of Martin Hayes.

Tuning: D G D G A D, Guitar: Martin CS-21-11


9 - Desert Flower

I wrote this tune for my mother, while on a long spiritual retreat in the Arizona desert.

Tuning: D A D G A D, Guitar: Lowden O 10


10 - So Long I Love You

This tune somehow reminded me of situations where you feel it is time to leave, simply because it's time to move on, and not because you're fed up with the place, situation, or people you leave behind. Hence the title. Years later, it turned out that this tune is a good tune to finish the CD. It wasn't planned that this is now like a farewell to the listener, but I don't mind.

Tuning: D A D G A D, Guitar: Goodall RJC



Studio Equipment used

Microphones: Sanken CU44X, Milab VM44, Wagner / Neumann U47w, Josephson C715, Microtech Gefell MK202 / MV221, Microtech Gefell MV 692 modified by Andreas Grosser, RTF M58 capsules, Josephson C700S.

Microphone Preamplifiers: NPNG Quad, Pueblo Audio.

Analog-to-Digital Converters: Euphonix AM713.

Equalizer: DMG Audio Equilibrium. Limiter: Fab Filter Pro-L.

Reverbs: Sony DRE-S777, Kurzweil KSP-8, Roland SRV-330, Lexicon PCM 70, Lexicon 480L, Lexicon M200, TC Electronic M6000, u-he Protoverb, Acon Digital Reverberate.

Recorded, Mixed & Mastered at Pilgrim Studio (www.pilgrimstudio.ch) by Rumi S. Hatt.