This is a tune I picked up recently from colleagues at the Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop, which is based in Strachur in Cowal (my home area here in Scotland). It was composed by Ayrshire fiddler Alistair McCulloch in honour of the opening of the new Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh, in 2004. Played on octave mandolin, mandolin (my newly-built cedar-top) and guitar. https://soundcloud.com/user9128887/the-new-dawning
Absolutely lovely, John.
That's beautiful, John. It sounds almost like a harp at times. I really like the mellow and refined tone of the new guitar. So are you taking up fiddle at the workshop you mentioned? How fun.
What David said. There's the wide sweep of the melody I love in Scottish tunes, and there is a little girl's musical box in the backing.
Thanks, all. It is a really lovely tune, David. I have been learning the fiddle, Marcy, and find it the most frustrating instrument I've ever tried, on two counts: it has no frets and it needs a bow to get the notes out of it! The little girl's musical box Bertram mentions (and Marcy talks of harp sounds) is a mandolin track of chords and I think it worked quite well on this tune.
John, That was really lovely. Your new mando sounds great. Nice clean, clear tone. I'll have to give this tune a go. I immediately thought it would sound great on fiddle so I am pleased to hear you are taking the dastardly fiddle on as a challenge. I am slowly getting some fiddle form back. My intonation still wanders and my bowing gets erratic. Sometimes I think all the picking I do on mando is detrimental to my bowing... So best of luck with it!! David - on first hearing this tune I could hear your concertina, bowed bass, and mando in there somewhere. I hope to hear a version from you soon. Marcy - I'd love to hear more of your fiddle!!
Yet another great tune from John Kelly and well played on great sounding instruments too!
Congratulations on picking up the fiddle, John. I’m looking forward to hearing it. You certainly hit on my two biggest frustrations with the thing. I commiserate completely!
Really lovely John. I thought cedar was supposed to give a dark sound but the mandolin sounds like it is ringing like a bell. I know recorded sound and real life is very different though.
Your comment re the cedar top is a valid one, James. This mandolin has a deeper body than I usually have built - it's 65mm at the deepest, which is as deep as I'd build my octaves usually, and this has an effect on the tone, but again you'd think it might deepen it. The strings are D'Addario 10s rather than 11s. The recording was done clean and the only Fx were a bit of compression on the guitar track and a stereo widening effect on the whole mix. All instruments were recorded to their own tracks using only one condenser microphone and tracks were panned as follows: Octave in centre, mandolin melody 25% Right, mandolin chords 40% Right and guitar 40% Left. As you mentioned on another tune thread, James, the speakers you listen on and even the program you use to listen through the computer affect the sound you hear. All my tunes sound different to me when played on the Microsoft Player as opposed to the other media players I have on the computer.
The New Dawning by Scottish fiddler Alistair McCulloch. John Kelly and I did this together a while ago but I never got a chance to use Hilary James' time lapse animation which she made for me and it still amazes me. You might recall Hilary from the duo of Hilary and her husband Simon Mayor - incredibly talented and popular musicians in the UK. I thank you all for your patience and well wishes as I recuperate from both a dog attack that caused some serious old lady injuries (hip/knee/back) only to then having to go to a skin cancer clinic to tackle that specific problem. It seemed my physical and mental health had to take precedence over posting tunes - but I was always listening to you and giving thumbs up. Sorry for the long rant....hope you are all well.
Beautiful music and video! So glad your better! Mandolinist's are tough people.
Wonderful playing and video, Ginny. And all the best wishes for your health!
Sweet! Nice to hear you Ginny.
dog attack? Of all the banes of life the least you deserved is an incompetent dog owner coming your way. Good to see you're better.
Bertram, you’re saying a competent canine would have planned the attack differently?
Glad you have reached the stage of being active in the SAW Group again, Ginny, and hope all goes well from now on. I have of course enjoyed our regular emails during the past several months when you have been below par. Welcome back. As we are the only two to have featured this tune and my version was only on my now-defunct Soundcloud page, here is our video version from back in September 2018 on YouTube with the pictures of the Scottish Parliament buildings. Interesting to hear if the totally different visual content of the two can affect the listeners' perception of the tune!
THANK YOU to everyone. Please know I did my best to keep up with the listening and 'liking' parts but didn't have the energy for so many comments. I am still being treated for a femur that has not healed from the dog incident - and skin lesions from skin cancer which runs in my family in a big way - 3 siblings and two parents all have or had skin cancer. The dog is a good dog, it's the owner who is responsible. She now walks the large dog on a leash - not that it helps much. Thanks everyone. Especially John who perked me up when I was down and I was down a lot. Although the drugs were pretty cool.
I'm very sorry to hear of your recent happenings, Ginny! That is a lot to take on. I'm happy that you are seemingly on the mend though. You have certainly been missed!!!
Simon, in such cases, often the dog is indeed more competent than the owner, I'm afraid. You never know who walks who. But being the leader of the pack can be more than a dog can handle, in terms of diplomatic communication (bites first, asks questions later).
One good tune deserves another. Dog? I want a pet rabbit! https://thesession.org/tunes/14734
Ginny, it’s great that you’re back and on the mend - you’ve been missed. And a thumbs up to you both on a lovely tune!
Thanks, Bruce. We had fun with the one tune and two videos.
I don't like dogs. I do like this tune. But, most importantly, how did you get Hilary James to make pictures for you? Your absence from the forum and mine seem to have been roughly congruent, so I had no idea this was going on. I hope you're healing and taking it easy.
Though my absence from the group was only three weeks I missed this nice tune with the fine playing of both of you, Ginny and John. Great to get a time lapse animation like this from Hilary James. Many thanks, Ginny, for sharing it with us. I’m sad to learn about that brutal dog attack that happened to you, Ginny, and the following health problems. I wish you a good recovery as soon as possible!
Yes really looking forward to hearing more tunes Ginny. I enjoy seeing your vids too.
Thanks, Frithjof.
Thank you for the kind words, I really do appreciate it. I am still recovering from the dog, and then found out I had some skin cancer lesions right on my face of all places ! They have been blasted away for now with check ups every three months. Some days I felt like I just couldn't win.
I dedicate the next video to Ginny and John and hope they will cosset us with more fine music:
Just checking the SAW Group before heading out to our Thursday evening session, Christian, and found your video. Lovely rendition of this fine tune and your visual background enhances it so much. Great job. Now, might just resurrect this one at the session tonight!
Nice dedication, Christian…and it wouldn’t surprise me if Ginny & John are working on something currently…??? Agree with John K, you’ve provided a lovely rendition.
Thank you. Great rendition CC. Hope this song gets more traction, it is a nice tune. John W. - keep your eyes/ears alert after the weekend. mwahaha.
Beautiful playing, Christian!
It's a good idea to pay tribute to our Ginny & John duo, which has become such an institution of the Song-a-Week group. Always something to look forward to. But your tribute recording is just as good, with its beautiful tone and very clean picking.
