And how 'bout that boat going by, eh? Nice.

May 24, 2015 8:30 PM

Friends, once again, here is yet more proof that one string is all you need.
posted by flapjax at midnite (28 comments total)

Sleeping in is giving in
No matter what the time is
Sleeping in is giving in
So lift those heavy eyelids
Every time you close your eyes
Lies lies!
posted by Buckt at 8:43 PM on May 24, 2015 [5 favorites]

The video description says: "For all inquiries please contact [e-mail]", .lv being the domain for Latvia.

Latvia finished in Sixth Place at Eurovision the other day... this dude might've moved them up to Fifth or better...
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:45 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is nice and catchy. I love how he has to extend his arm an extra foot to go what would be two frets from the 4th to the 5th scale degrees.
posted by umbú at 9:05 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

What a cool instrument and a talented musician! Wish I knew what he's saying - I hope it's a happy song.
posted by ashbury at 9:08 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Until we find someone who speaks Chichewa (and everyone seems to agree this is what the song is in), a little internet sleuthing has led me to this Reddit comment:

Just translated it with my husband, if you see my post history you'll see I was in Malawi.

Lyrics:

I want to tell you my fellow friends I want to say everything I want to preach everything today I want to preach everything today

You Malawians, I'm so confused today To see young girls starting having sex Walking around as prostitutes The little girls as of now they have kids They have families I'm confused where Malawi is going

I want to preach everything today I want to tell you today Everything I'm confused about What I'm seeing in Malawi

To see the pastor yesterday, drunk at the bar Drinking instead of preaching I see the pastors wife today, she is a prostitute.
........
You guys have no idea the kind of stories he's talking about. Basically he's sad and confused about the morals in Malawi and what's happening.

posted by teponaztli at 9:22 PM on May 24, 2015 [2 favorites]

Oh, I thought it was going to be this.
posted by gwint at 9:33 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also from the reddit translation comments comes this:.
posted by carping demon at 10:57 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

omg that's so great i almost can't believe its real.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 11:01 PM on May 24, 2015

This looks like the original youtube -- looks like the Latvian guy ripped it off. You might want to ask to have the link swapped out, flapjax?
posted by tavella at 11:48 PM on May 24, 2015 [2 favorites]

Brushy One String - Chicken in The Corn
posted by straight at 12:03 AM on May 25, 2015

> You might want to ask to have the link swapped out, flapjax?

I had written a common on the strange acoustics in the video that were making the string's second position sound lower than open, but tavella's video doesn't have that; it's an artifact of the bad screencap used in the OP.
posted by ardgedee at 3:59 AM on May 25, 2015

And a fun bit of obscure American one-string music: The Ski-a-delics.
posted by ardgedee at 4:02 AM on May 25, 2015

My Chichewa is super rusty, but from the snatches I'm able to pick up--"little girls with children of their own," and so forth--the above translation seems plausible.
posted by duffell at 4:36 AM on May 25, 2015

Tavella, thanks so much for finding the original link, and for posting. I am sending a note to the mods requesting that it be swapped.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:54 AM on May 25, 2015

Mod note: Okay, switched for the original link.
posted by taz (staff) at 5:59 AM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

This video shows more of what is going on, too: different camera angles, and all that.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:00 AM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks, taz.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:00 AM on May 25, 2015

This is so awesome.
posted by lmfsilva at 6:10 AM on May 25, 2015

Oh wow! I guess this works on the same principle as the Vietnamese Đàn bầu; playing on the harmonics and adjusting the string tension to be able to hit pretty much any note in a range of a couple octaves.

One string really is all you need!
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:26 AM on May 25, 2015

One string, and nary more than those three notes: Gaspar Nali is on MySpace with a remix of the above-linked Abale Ndikum plus three more songs.
posted by progosk at 9:04 AM on May 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Wow! Great stuff.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:23 AM on May 25, 2015

No problem, flapjax! It's an awesome find, thanks for posting it.
posted by tavella at 11:56 AM on May 25, 2015

Well, one string, four chords, and the truth.
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:00 PM on May 25, 2015

It kind of sounds like a song by The Strokes. What awesome summer music!
posted by wenestvedt at 1:57 PM on May 25, 2015

And Buckt, you are right -- it does remind me a lot of Rebellion (Lies).
posted by tavella at 2:04 PM on May 25, 2015

This was great. Amazingly that one string made me think of New Order.
posted by Roger Dodger at 2:17 PM on May 25, 2015

Saw this on Facebook about the same time you posted it.

As a capoeirista, immediately it reminded me of the berimbau, as a percussive stringed instrument.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:34 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

And he seems to be using something equivalent to a 'Dobrão' which is a coin or coin-shaped object used to change the pitch of a berimbau, and which also gives either a scratchy sound (if held lightly against the string) or a clear tone. He's doing it the scratchy way all the time.

Impossible to see in the video, but it might be a small stone or anything, but the scratchiness is unmistakeable, and not unintentional.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:45 AM on May 28, 2015