modeste

How I came to this music:My full name is Modeste Hugues Randramahitasoa.I grew up in Betroka, a town in the central southern part of Madagascar.The music I play is unique to the Betroka region of Madagascar where it's influenced by all the traditional sounds of the area together with some softer South African dance rhythms.When I was about 15 years old I heard a neighbor played the guitar and I loved the sounds so much, I new from that moment that the guitar was going to be part of my life forever, so I borrowed my neighbor's guitar and started to teach myself how to play. When he moved away, I had no money to buy a guitar of my own so I built one in a workshop at a local technique college where my father was a teacher. I used a fishing line for strings so it meant I had to hold the guitar very close to hear the sound, and even though it was difficult to play and out of tune I loved to try to recreate the natural sounds of the birds, insects and life in the village.I was also used to hearing my mother singing and this gave me the inspiration to persevere. It not take long before I began to take interest in other musical sounds especially those of the "marovany" a 24 strings traditional Malagasy instrument, which is box shaped and played like West African "kora". I eventually started to fuse the traditional rhythms and music of Betroka with many of the sounds that had to appealed to my senses.I have spent years soaked in the sounds of the bush, the bird, whistling of the shepherds in the hills and it this amazing pallet that I draw on when I play , and it is this place that I return to whenever I perform.Thank you. Modeste Hugues RandriamahitasoaI edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)