Hey guys. I was just wondering if any of you really, really enjoy uncommon settings of tunes. For instance, I can't get enough of The Merry Blacksmith as a hornpipe with lots of swing. Anyone have any other suggestions as such?
What I really love are settings of tunes with interesting variations. Not just the kind of massive variations you hear in Bonnie Kate or the Mason's Apron, but the sort of interesting "micro improvisations" that are the hallmark of a good player like Kevin Burke. Those interesting little changes from one repeat to the next.
But what is an uncommon setting anyway. A wise man once said "What's normal changes every 10 years and every 100 miles."
Harry Bradley often records uncommon settings of well-known tunes, referring to the older-generations of musicians or experimenting by himself.
I don't think it's a good idea to start off with our own original settings of starndard tunes in the session, but how boring to play exactly the same version of a tune all the time!
The Atholl Highlanders as a reel, perhaps? I'm not condoning such practices, but I played with a band in Latvia for two years and we used to play the Atholl Highlanders as a jig, then a reel, then a jig again. Okay, I confess, it was my idea - I was 23 (old enough to know better, I know), and had only been playing trad a couple of years.
Incidentally - and this may not have been quite the intended topic of this thread - putting jigs in to reel rhythm, reel into jig into hornpipe and so on, is one of the processes responsible for the evolution of tunes in the Irish (and other) musical tradition. Compare:
The Lark in the Morning/The Bucks of Oranmore
Pay the Reckoning/Miss McCleod's
Bímís ag Ól's ag Pógadh na mBan (jig)/Sean Reid's (reel)
The Trip Over the Mountain (air/waltz)/The Shaskeen (reel)
Uncommon settings of tunes
Uncommon settings of tunes
Hey guys. I was just wondering if any of you really, really enjoy uncommon settings of tunes. For instance, I can't get enough of The Merry Blacksmith as a hornpipe with lots of swing. Anyone have any other suggestions as such?
# Posted on November 10th 2004 by sifudave54
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
Try that old chestnut of a hornpipe "Harvest Home" as a super-quick reel... I find it imminently satisfying...
# Posted on November 10th 2004 by bestcraic
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
Old Blind Dogs do the song Boys of Bedlam along with The Rights of Man played in strict 4/4 reel time.
On the ohter hand, almost all reels sound good when played with a bit of a lilt or swing. Kind of like hornpipe-lite.
- Mick
# Posted on November 10th 2004 by Craymcla
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
The Bucks as a jig, strathspey and/or lancer. Preferably switching the meter as you switch parts.
How bouts the kesh jig played backwards and upside down? (The tune or yerself - you decide!)
I normally charge for these kinds of nuggets o' inspiration, but today I'm feeling charitable and ever-so-slightly frisky.
# Posted on November 10th 2004 by _Steph_
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
We play the Pig Town Fling with The Merry Blacksmith. The Red Haired Boy too can have a lot of swing too.
Sue
# Posted on November 10th 2004 by Susie-Lee
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
i can't count how many keys i've heard the star of munster in... but its very interesting to hear!!
# Posted on November 11th 2004 by picking up that fiddle
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
The Kerfunten, attacked with a sharp pair of scissors, makes a nice slip-jig. I prefer it to the original, as a matter of fact.
# Posted on November 11th 2004 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
What I really love are settings of tunes with interesting variations. Not just the kind of massive variations you hear in Bonnie Kate or the Mason's Apron, but the sort of interesting "micro improvisations" that are the hallmark of a good player like Kevin Burke. Those interesting little changes from one repeat to the next.
But what is an uncommon setting anyway. A wise man once said "What's normal changes every 10 years and every 100 miles."
# Posted on November 11th 2004 by kris
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
Harry Bradley often records uncommon settings of well-known tunes, referring to the older-generations of musicians or experimenting by himself.
I don't think it's a good idea to start off with our own original settings of starndard tunes in the session, but how boring to play exactly the same version of a tune all the time!
# Posted on November 11th 2004 by slainte
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
The snowy path as a mazurka is really good
# Posted on November 11th 2004 by snowyowl
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
The Atholl Highlanders as a reel, perhaps? I'm not condoning such practices, but I played with a band in Latvia for two years and we used to play the Atholl Highlanders as a jig, then a reel, then a jig again. Okay, I confess, it was my idea - I was 23 (old enough to know better, I know), and had only been playing trad a couple of years.
# Posted on November 12th 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
Incidentally - and this may not have been quite the intended topic of this thread - putting jigs in to reel rhythm, reel into jig into hornpipe and so on, is one of the processes responsible for the evolution of tunes in the Irish (and other) musical tradition. Compare:
The Lark in the Morning/The Bucks of Oranmore
Pay the Reckoning/Miss McCleod's
Bímís ag Ól's ag Pógadh na mBan (jig)/Sean Reid's (reel)
The Trip Over the Mountain (air/waltz)/The Shaskeen (reel)
and, of course, The Collier's Jig and Reel.
# Posted on November 12th 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Uncommon settings of tunes
If you repeat the last three notes of every bar in "The Butterfly",it makes a good slide.
# Posted on March 1st 2003 by dafydd