Willow’s Edge

  1. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Here’s one of the tunes they played at Broadstairs Music Festival. It’s the name of the dance, so I’m not sure if the title is correct, probably not…

    Maybe one of you gents or ladies or others would know?


    https://youtu.be/S9pFpfPqP3k
  2. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Beautiful tune, Simon. I hope that is the name, I like it. Did you import the birds or did you just drop bread crumbs along your journey.Did you do the video, it's very smooth. Maybe you bought a drone ! That would be cool. Regardless, a well played lovely melody. I am trying to be present in the moment. I have had such an awful week with my father passing away on Friday. I will have a post coming up as a tribute, John has been with me all along, and helped with the music and the tribulations of dealing with four moronic brothers. Have a good day. I think I could use a walk in those woods right about now.
  3. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    I’m really sorry to hear about your father Ginny, I hope the music from our group will be a comfort.
    Yes, a tribute would be nice, I’m looking forward to hearing that. I know already that it will be beautiful!

    -I’m available if there is to be a group effort later on

    My kindest condolences Ginny.
  4. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    I too, like Ginny, was wondering if you had taken the video clips yourself, Simon and if you used a drone? The new Zoom recorder (if this is what you used for this one) has a very high quality of recording.
  5. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Great sound, playing and video, Simon!
  6. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Thanks John and Christian.
    About Willow’s Edge, I should, as an ‘artiste’ say that the work just appeared as in a dream and came into being of its own volition.

    But no, here I deconstruct it in an attempt to help my fellow SAWers.
    I used an octave mandolin and acoustic /electric guitar. The drums were on an app called DrumJam where you have to tap on a screen, if you tap high the tone goes high etc. And the drone in E was inevitable.
    The recording was all done on an H6 Zoom recorder, mandolin first (no click track), guitar dubbed, then drum dubbed, then pre-recorded drone and birdsong added in BandLab.
    The resulting BandLab audio file was then glued to a free stock vid of forests. I then edited the vid transitions to give a smoother, 'wonderfully dream-like' feeling.


    Two issues with the images. The birds don’t match their natural habitat nor time of day, and it’s a bit drone-like.
  7. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    It's all for the greater good, Simon. Welcome to Video production ..it can be fun.
  8. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Fun to hear from you Ginny.
  9. Jess L.
    Jess L.
    Very good, Simon! The drone sound is cool too, fits the melody.

    Ginny, sorry to hear about your father. Yes, music will help, at least it's always helped me through rough times. I once spent a solid year playing nothing but modal tunes (fiddle/banjo tunes, which is the only thing I used to play) because the eerie modal vibe matched my mood and helped me to express things (in ways that words could not) and that allowed me to muddle through until better times. Years later, when my own father passed away, I was kept busy (and distracted from sadness) by my newfound role of defending my mom from opportunist 'vultures' who would drive out to the place and try to finagle their way into making my mom believe that such-and-such item actually belonged to them and that my dad had just been storing it for them (one or two, yeah, but most were lies just to try to get free stuff). Cars, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, a vast collection of musical instruments and old 78 recordings and obsolete rifles and Corvair parts (!) and 1940s/50s radio tubes (for the UK contingent here, it's my understanding they're called "valves" instead of tubes) still in their original unopened boxes - nope, I'd seen most of that stuff around there for decades and I knew who it belonged to, and it sure as heck wasn't some stranger popping in from the city trying to act all friendly to con a new widow. Anyway, point being, distractions are good, whether unwanted distractions or something more pleasant like music.
  10. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Thanks Jess, sorry to hear that your experiences with your father passing were difficult. Time heals (they say)

    Here’s the TAB:
    X:1
    T:Willow’s Edge ?
    N:Tabbed by SimonDS
    L: 1/8
    M:4/4
    K: D
    |:"Em"e4 dcB2|e2dc"A"A4|"Em"EFGA B2E2|"D"FGFD "Em"E4:|
    |"Em"E2 BA B2E2|"A"EDEF GAF2|G2 "D"BA B2e2|"Em"d2 cB A4|
    "Em"E2 BA B2E2|"A"EDEF GAF2|"G"G2A2B2e2|"D"FGFD "Em"E4||
    W:https://youtu.be/wdZAtMTJl6Q
    W:Played to a dance: Willow’s Edge at Broadstairs Folk Week August 2022
  11. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Very meditative, Simon, and don't we all need some sanctuary to roam every now and then.
    Sorry to hear about your loss, Ginny, and may you overcome the "separating siblings" phase that seems to be inevitable in these cases (I have seen it happen a couple of times).
  12. Simon DS
    Simon DS
  13. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Thanks for posting and tabbing this, Simon. It's a good tune, and your arrangement brings out the best in it. Coincidentally, a few hours before I saw this video, your earlier recordings inspired me to record some nature sounds near my office, to use at some point in the future. Folk music works particularly well outdoors, right?

    It's unlucky that you couldn't make it to the festival in the end, but this cool video makes up for it.
  14. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Many thanks Dennis I appreciate you’re insightful comments. I’ve started a thread on the Broadstairs Folk Festival basically as a ‘Covid’s over let’s get outside’ initiative.
    Hopefully people will post more info, or news and vids of other festivals. Nice for the people who can’t afford the present gas prices or people who are still sick/afraid to go out.
    Do you have any vids of workshops?
  15. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Ginny, condolences to you.

    Simon, that's a lovely tune, fine playing and video with the bird song. Last year when we were experiencing extreme drought here, all the birds disappeared from our area. I would go outside and on walks, and there would be a couple of ravens flying around but no songbirds. It was eerily silent, like the end of the world. This year we are having rains almost every day and the birds are back. So nice to hear them.
  16. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Sorry Simon, I won't make it to any workshops this year. They tend to happen in the mornings, and this year I'm on cover duty at work during that time.
  17. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Ginny, my late condolences to you.

    After a hike through the Austrian Alps today I played some tunes for recreation.
    No birds, no drums... Only me and my mandolin.
    Not so danceable like Simon's great recording but it worked great for recreation.



    https://youtu.be/upJJWXpe-Qg
  18. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    That looks like a lot of fun, Frithjof! Did you carry your mandolin throughout the hike? You seem to be doing all the right things for relaxation and connection with nature, which is great to see and hear.
  19. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Frithjof, your video is a lovely representation of a man totally at peace with himself and his world. A big tonic for all of us and you play it really well, as usual.
  20. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Always a pleasure to see and hear you playing mandolin Frithjof.
    You look relaxed.
    -well with the thin air at 5 or 6 thousand feet I'm sure I would have been too relaxed to even pick up the mandolin!

    Dennis, I know it's a big debate. I'd add that nuclear power plants, pesticides and gas refineries are all part of Nature. They're just not the part of Nature that human physiology deals with very well.
  21. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    No birds and drums, Frithjof, but at least there seems to be some water flowing (or was it potatoes frying in the pan?). Very refreshing overall impression, and the bandana made me expect Captain Jack Sparrow to wander casually into the scene at any moment
  22. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    My favorite mandolin on a mountain tour? I hope you took good care of it, Frithjof. Beautifully played for the wooden hut!
  23. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    So many nice words - thanks all!

    If the wether is good for hiking I hike the whole day. Therefore, I don't find the time for mandolin playing.
    I was willing to take the instrument with me for at least one hike this week. Only the wether forecast predicted rain every day. Fortunatly it rained in the night most time. But who knows?!
    Though I do my hiking of 1000 m / 2500 feet up and down, then have a coffee, take my mandolin and look for a nice, quiet place were I can relax.

    I placed my smartphone on an improvised stand to record video and audio without additional gear. The volume of the recording is a little low by this reason.
  24. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    It occurred to me some days later why the volume of the recording was so low.

    I used inadvertently the main camera of my smartphone. Thus, the built-in micros looked (listened) to the other site. My mistake.
  25. Don Grieser
    Don Grieser
    Frithjof, wonderful video. Nothing like some mando playing after a good hike. Fine playing! Enjoyed it!
  26. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    I’ve done that too using the camera mic accidentally Frithjof but if there’s very little ambient sound in a wide open space then you can increase the gain on the camera audio and get some surprisingly good results. A bit like over-saturating a photo, and the audience knows that 'reality' wasn’t like that but goes along with the narrative.
  27. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks, Don.

    Simon – It may work sometimes.
  28. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    There’s always hope.
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