World Trance Americana ~ Live in Boston The traditional Moroccan hajhuj; an electro-acoustic integration of elements of Sufi, Gnawa, and psychedelic trance music drawing on Americana styled lyrics and melodies. The Hajhuj: Electrified and Amplified For any technical musicophile, the hajhuj is an instrument I brought back from Morocco that is used in Gnawa music, a ritual music of the Sahara. It's a bit like a bass banjo; it's got three strings, one of which is the short drone string, and they're made of gut. The front is made of hide, usually goat skin, and the back is rounded wood. The neck is tubular and has no frets, and is originally only tied on to the head with leather straps. My first adjustment was to have tuning pegs installed, which required some creative thinking because the drone string is attached to the neck in the middle of the three strings, so a peg there was impossible. We decided to put it at the foot of the body, below the sound hole. The next thing was to find a good way to amplify this wise old acoustic instrument. After a few failed attempts, I found the K&K cello dual transducer worked best, with one placed inside the sound hole and the other in the center of the bridge. I ended up putting electrical tape along the wires leading to the quarter inch plug because they pickup noise. What's the difference? Emerge vs Pleasant Stay Hotel Some of the tracks on Emerge also appeared on the 12" vinyl record, Pleasant Stay Hotel (2009). Emerge is a live recording after working the songs up with Kyle on drums.