As a long time fan of the original Dune movie, and the first few books of the series by Frank Herbert, I am surprised at myself for taking this long to do this.
I must confess: I am not a fan of the new movies. I don’t like the changes to the story, I don’t like the visual aesthetics, and I am not impressed by certain casting choices. However I cannot say it’s not impressive the amount of work that has gone into making it all onto the big screen, least of which is the soundtrack and it’s textures and overall tonality.
I’ve been on the sidelines for awhile ever since I got covid (3 times no less) and generally had given up on putting together anything like this, since the amount of work involved, with my cognitive state usually means I will abandon the project midway. However I decided this was worth pulling myself together for. The original version features both Guthrie Govan on a sustainiac distorted guitar, Loire Cotler’s haunting vocals (I have to admit I had never heard of her before), and the unique and monstrously talented Pedro Eustache. Eustache alone is probably most responsible for almost everyone who isn’t Armenian knowing & wanting to play the duduk since he’s famous performance alongside Yanni went viral on Youtube many years ago.
Pedro’s tone and phrasing is incredibly fluid, unique, and distinct, and trying to emulate his playing, is a nightmare for almost anyone who isn’t a complete master. I realize as of today, I’ve had my Duduk’s since 2009-2010, so that’s a whopping 16 odd years.. and in all honesty I don’t think I could even come close to resembling his masterful playing style.
Rather than imitate, I decided to do my best at making a version somewhere between the original, the amazing life performance by Arsen Petrovyan, and something which had a more “oriental” sci-fi vibe, and this is what I ended up with. I am actually tempted to revisit the old Toto score for Lynch’s version and see how it would fare being played on a Duduk.
Until then, thanks for stopping by, I hope the sounds of the winds through the desert sky don’t blow so hard they frazzle your speakers!
Peace & much love,
DFZ
