TUOMAS ROUNAKARI Forced to Postpone Release of “Bear Awakener” Due Covid-19, Unveils First Album Teaser!
Violinist, composer, ethnomusicologist TUOMAS ROUNAKARI is forced to postpone the release of “Bear Awakener”, due to the ongoing pandemic and its effects. But to shorten the wait, he has revealed the first album teaser, some feelings from his studio days with Verde in January 2022.
Tuomas stated:
“Disappointed to announce that our release of the Bear Awakener album will be postponed. Not sure exactly for how many weeks, but hopefully it will be shipped everywhere during April. The reason is the obvious one – Covid-19 and its many effects from long queues in printing to unpredictable shipping times. It has hit our team members directly too, but all are well and in good shape by now.
The digital version including the digital booklet is already final. Releasing that before the physical copies simply feels wrong given the nature of this album. I hope to make up this delay with a few more videos around the topic during March.
And for starters! Verde did this little teaser from our studio session for you! We were too busy to actually film anything properly, but this does transfer some of our feelings.
Hear the sound of the violin with raw-gut-strings on two different songs!”
Enjoy the album teaser at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC1vrvbg9uE
“This is music that gods are listening to” said Pekko Käppi after having listened through the freshly finished mastered tracks.
“Bear Awakener” was recorded, mixed and mastered at the Verde Studio with the gear-wizard Mika Rintala. None of his modular synthesizers were used. All of the equipment used in recording was built by Mika – microphones, pre-amps, EQ and even the mixing console and electrostatic monitors. Bear Awakener has 11 tracks and 43min in total.
New release date will be announced soon.
Previously, Tuomas unveiled three Episodes for “Bear Awakener” and its backgrounds and meanings.
In case you missed, watch the episodes here:
Episode 1 – https://youtu.be/abn5U0cm0Do
Episode 2 – https://youtu.be/0SfDwa6Cyc4
Episode 3 – https://youtu.be/YO88nezHrJw
What is “Bear Awakener”?
The name Bear Awakener comes from specific songs sung in order to awaken the bear. This album dives deep into the bear myths and is designed to re-awaken or cherish anyones connection with this mythical entity.
The myth of a bear’s origin is identical among the Finns and the indigenous Khanty and Mansi people. Both cultures run ceremonial Bear feasts that last several days. Many songs, dances and plays are performed in honor of the bear. Tuomas Rounakari has studied the bear feast songs of all of these cultures. There are thousands of verses containing bear related myths in the vast archives of Finland and the tradition is now returning among the Khanty and Mansi.
TUOMAS ROUNAKARI is an internationally acclaimed violinist, composer and ethnomusicologist from Finland. He is a one-man-band blending violin, vocals and stomping with ankle-bells. In his performance he enters various trance-states. In this album he will also be playing a traditional Khanty instrument called Ning-juh.
Tuomas is inspired by different forms of dialogue; man and nature, the seen and the unseen world, ancient and future. His first solo album Shamanviolin was a result of ethnomusicological studies of the earliest 20th century wax-cylinder recordings from Siberia. These studies have also led to many collaborations with indigenous artists. He is one of the few artists who have actually returned their art to native communities for evaluation and development.
Enjoy online concert from Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 2020. Shamanviolin at Pauanne is a full-length online concert produced by the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 2020. The concert was filmed at the magical Pauanne where a community of folk musicians and folk healers used to live in the 1980’s. All buildings are fully hand made with many mythological decorations. This Shamanviolin concert ends with lament melodies in a burnt down sauna. The magic and unique beauty of this place is still strong. A perfect environment for my music.
Watch here and sign up to his newsletter at https://rounakari.com/watch-full-video-for-free/
Also watch
-Tuomas’ performance video, a throwback to Tokyo 2017, from the materials of ‘Live in Japan’ documentary by Kimmo Kuusniemi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g718diJlW1s
-‘Farewell of Kamas People’ – https://youtu.be/oV16Qipd0MQ
-‘Langetus’ – https://youtu.be/HVsU7PTqqHY
More information at
TUOMAS ROUNAKARI: www.rounakari.com | www.facebook.com/shamanviolin
Subscribe on YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliVnARlDv2Y3ykBo_YFlRA
MANAGEMENT: https://www.facebook.com/SplitScreenManagement | http://www.splitscreenproduction.com
