"Lil`u E" - Slack Key in the Living Room

"Lili`u E" is an enduring classic of Hawaiian music, popular for hula both kahiko and `auana, as a chant or a song, and as a slack key instrumental. The song has an interesting history indeed, originally written for Princess Kina`u. When Queen Lili`uokalani was elected to the throne composer Antone Kaoʻo modified his chant to honor her. Some years later John Kaulia wrote a melody for the existing lyrics, giving us the two versions we enjoy today.

Ledward has recorded "Lili`u E" several times as an instrumental. Other artists doing instrumental versions include Cyril Pahinui, Leonard Kwan, and Ozzie Kotani. The version we are doing in this duet is inspired by his arrangement on his "The Legend" CD. We are both playing in taropatch open G tuning (D G D G B D) from lowest pitch to highest. Folks who have watched other videos from our living room might notice that we have rearranged slightly.

The audio for this recording was captured using a pair of Shure KSM141 mics in cardioid configuration and connected to a Zoom F6 recorder using their 32 bit float WAV format. The audio was adjusted for level in REAPER then the video was edited in Edius. No reverb or other effects were used except for a bit of EQ. The video was recorded with a pair of Panasonic Lumix GH4 cameras.