“Lainetel loodud” (Created on the Waves) is Triinu’s debut album for 12-string Estonian kannel. The music is rooted in traditional melodies and shaped through motif-based improvisation, where each piece emerges in the moment without written notation – guided instead by listening, direction and presence.

The album was recorded during a one-day session at University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Accademy Music House, capturing the music as it naturally unfolded. One track includes a later-added recording of soft footsteps, enhancing the sense of space and intimacy. The title refers to the time Triinu spent studying at the Sibelius Academy, travelling frequently by ferry across the Baltic Sea – a period of reflection, mapping her musical language and bringing the material into a cohesive whole.

Triinu acts as performer, arranger and mediator. Her improvisations grow from long-term exploration and analysis of traditional motifs, which she describes as “shelves” of variations, drawn upon intuitively in each performance.
“Lainetel loodud” presents tradition as a living, breathing practice – music that moves, listens and responds in the present moment.

In the moment of performance, Triinu steps in front of this shelf and chooses which variation will sound at that time. The intention and initial idea of the piece are reflected in the music and guide these choices. Each piece has its own shelf – its own world and internal logic – within which movement takes place during performance.

Variations appear on the shelf in several ways:
– through analytical listening and reflection (what could be done, what might be possible, what a traditional musician may have done, which direction to take, what the aim is, how something has been done),
– through systematic practice,
– through emotion and dynamics,
– through playing techniques and the tuning of the instrument.