Hive Music Festival | Week, 127 round 1 | "Tremenda" by María Rodrpiguez

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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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