With five Grammy Award-winning albums to his credit, Daniel Ho has now embraced the roles of author and publisher.

In his newly published book, “;Colorful Sounds,”; Ho lays out the “;harmony concept”; he's used in his writing for more than 20 years. Another book, “;na 'ikena,”; co-written with his songwriting partner, Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman, documents stories behind the songs from last year's Grammy Award winner “;'ikena”; and its follow-up, “;He Nani.”;

“;Colorful Sounds”; is a straightforward instructional book with a CD that provides examples of the principles in practice. In “;na 'ikena”; Ho and Stillman include a section in which they respond to the perennial critics of Ho's work as a writer, recording artist, producer and Grammy Award-winner.

Ho was in California and Stillman in Michigan when we reached out to them. Both responded, but since Ho has always been self-effacing about his work and reluctant to respond to personal attacks, he let Stillman respond in depth.

Star-Bulletin: Daniel, why did you decide to go into publishing at this point in time?

Daniel Ho: I often receive requests for sheet music of my original songs. Songbooks like “;na 'ikena,”; which contain the songs on the “;'ikena”; and “;He Nani”; CDs, allow the music to be sung and played rather than just heard.

I have (also) accumulated a lot of musical concepts and methods that I believe have served me well, and I wanted to share these for many years.

SB: Why was it important to you two to do the additional book, “;na 'ikena”;?

AMY STILLMAN: Our collaboration has had an organic quality, as we got to know each other's strengths and aspirations. With every song, our visions broadened. We both knew that the musical scores only contained part of the story. So when Daniel first proposed gathering the scores into a book, I immediately seized on the opportunity to add in other dimensions—not only the stories in the mele, but also stories about our proc-esses, as well.

SB: Amy, you've researched the history of Hawaiian music in printed sheet music form from the 19th century onward. How does “;na 'ikena”; fit in?

AS: Any reader is going to see immediately that “;na 'ikena”; is not your typical songbook. First of all, the music scores contain an incredible level of detail. They document what was actually played. Second, the commentary is very important, because we are very careful about situating our songs relative to the stream of tradition. We have taken artistic license. But we have always been mindful of how and why. It was important for us to say so.

SB: There are two schools in Hawaiian music. In one, music is learned by ear and passed on that way. In the other, music is written and performers are able to read. How big is the market for sheet music?

AS: Hawaiians have a long history of musical literacy, starting from the 1820s when the missionaries taught notation. Since the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s, musical illiteracy has been worn as a badge of pride. Learning music “;by ear”; is perfectly sufficient when songs use only three or four chords. But an inability to read notation becomes a limitation when songs venture farther afield, musically speaking.

SB: In “;na 'ikena”; you address the attacks on Daniel personally regarding the compilation albums and “;'ikena.”; What concerns do the critics seem to have?

AS: Daniel has observed that the attacks have been directed at both Tia (Carrere, co-performer on “;'ikena”;) and himself, and marvels that I seem to be surrounded by some kind of invisible force field. It is easy to see how both Daniel and Tia are easy targets—neither is native Hawaiian, neither resides in Hawaii currently and neither is a regular presence on the Hawaii entertainment scene. ... What is tragic is when that mindset is used to justify refusing to even listen to the work.

SB: There doesn't seem to be much awareness in some circles that “;'ikena”; and “;He Nani”; consisted entirely of newly written Hawaiian-language music.

AS: There has been much dialogue that attempts to draw boundaries around Hawaiian music. However, the compulsion to define what Hawaiian music is inevitably ends up being divisive. I think there needs to be dialogue about why the boundaries of Hawaiian music are being so vigilantly policed.