This is the number 2, I’ll post 1 and 3 another time (and place). First warm day of the year and the whole week looks good… Fred Pidgeon:https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation...geon%27s_Polka (1880-1970) https://youtu.be/Hc7kj6_9i6Q Here’s the complete notation, TAB and chords for Fred’s Nos. 1,2 and 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lbu4h5bjpf...C%203.pdf?dl=0
This is fun, Simon. I like it. Pardon me, since this has probably been discussed before, but how do you record outdoors? I have to huddle within inches of the mike to cut ambient noise, but you insouciantly make lovely sounds outdoors. Is there a crew out of camera shot with sound booms and those furry things they put on mikes?
Thanks Richard. There’s a Zoom H6 in front of me but it’s in a hole about a foot deep in the ground. I did need the furry cover because the wind picked up a bit. The microphone is even more directional in this location. It just picks up birds in the trees above and aircraft (every five minutes).
Thanks Simon - I've just learned what a Zoom H6 is. Presumably you consult the airline timetables and only record pieces that last less than five minutes.
That aircraft story reminds me of outdoor sessions I attended outside a pub near an airport where every 10 minutes a small craft (B737 or A320) would pass overhead for landing (just like they used to do for the the old Hong Kong Kai Tak airport). I imagined the captain's announcements "fold up your tables, put the backrests of your seats in an upright position and applaude to the Irish session on your left"...
Re Richard's comment about camera and sound crew out of shot in those outdoor videos, Simon, I am assuming that you actually start and stop the H6 and your camera yourself, then get settled in to your chosen location and play the tune then do a bit of post-processing at home to remove the start and finish? The sound quality you get is really good in the finished article and I assume that you delete the sound track on your camera and just use the Zoom H6 audio track. However you do it, you get really good results.
Yes John I think that’s about it. I switch on the audio recorder, then I switch on the camera, then I do a bit of warmup, just messing around, then I record the tune. After about the fifth time round I will have played it as I like it. So I stop, get up and switch off the audio recorder. I take note of the zoom audio track number, and then just before switching the camera off I say to the camera the audio track number, the name of the tune, and anything that I didn't like about the tune. (mistakes, Aircraft, loud aggressive birds, Wind, capo). Finally I press ‘like‘ on the specific video take that was good. During postproduction I work back from this ‘liked’ video. I line up the zoom audio to the video audio using the last note played in the track. Then I shift Zoom audio backwards in time very slightly to compensate for some sort of iPhone video or YouTube issue. In that way the audio is exactly in sync with the finger movements on the fretboard. Finally I delete the video audio (which incidentally has a very different feel because the camera microphone is further away, I actually quite like it) Oops, I forgot to say that I take the raw Zoom audio track and send it through the app. BandLab. It has an output called universal mastering, I've no idea what that does but I imagine it cleans everything up and increases the gain. My hearing is actually not good enough to know the difference!
Thanks Simon. That's fascinating and really instructive. As I feared, I am about a century behind in terms of recording technique.
Your technique certainly works well, Simon, and that Zoom H6 has been worth its cost to you I am sure. I was looking at a good YT review of the H6 earlier and it seems an amazingly versatile piece of kit. I did not realise its multitracking facilities were so advanced and were I not quite happy with my old laptop and REAPER setup I might well consider getting hold of one. Certainly away in advance of my wee Tascam in what it can offer.
I find this group to be a treasure trove of interesting information not just about the technique of playing but even sport and orange toothed rodents! I also learned that an H6 is not the 6th hole on a golf course. Rather it is a recording device with a furry cover but one quite unlike the hood of my parka . I doubt I’ll consider myself skilled enough in future to warrant improved recording devices beyond my iMac and the cheap condenser mike I use. Though the video has been improved by being now able to use my phone instead of the built in camera.
This was my first microphone, made a huge difference in sound quality, I used to attach it to the mobile phone with a 5 metre cable. Worked really well. https://www.amazon.com/BOYA-Universa.../dp/B06XWH97X8
Oh, I didn’t comment on Simon’s great playing. But from his video I got the impulse to learn this tune. I would like to play it out in the woods someday. The weather conditions in my vicinity are not very inviting for such activities, currently. I changed the key for the second through from G to C by simply using the lower set of strings. The accompaniment by Thuringian Waldzither delivered to less bass for my taste – therefore added a simple alternate bass on guitar. https://youtu.be/wJrh8Ur7QJ0
Great playing and a fine wee video, Frithjof. Very like recent weather conditions here.
Fine playing Frithjof, I was watching that fallen tree and wondering how you would negotiate it. Nice to see the great outdoors too, well done. And you motivated me to get out there and record a couple of tunes in the woods. Thanks.
Here’s the notation, TAB and chords for Fred’s Nos. 1,2 and 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lbu4h5bjpf...C%203.pdf?dl=0 -I’m guessing Richard will be the first to join us! But now I’ve written this, perhaps the odds will be different?
Ooh, Simon. Well, the sensible reply would be: I am putting the finishing touches to my migration video and until that is done I am learning no new tunes and only posting things that are already recorded. My actual reply... remains to be seen.
And I meant to also say that I really liked your version, Frithjof. It has real drive to it, which the rather repetitive tune needs in order to stay interesting.
I’ll see if I can record the third one tomorrow. It’s actually a set of English concertina tunes. I think there’s plenty of interest but it would come mainly from the interaction with their dance partners. I think trying to dance to the more elaborate melodies can make complex dances a bit cumbersome because of the disjunct between moves and melodic phrases.
Thanks John, Simon and Richard. As Simon says we find all three Fred Pidgeon’s tunes in Pail Hardy’s tune books: https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/pgh_session_tunebook.pdf or https://pghardy.net/tunebooks/pgh_se...book_paged.pdf
Nice!
Well here’s number 3… https://youtu.be/ha35o_W17So
Every time one step ahead, Simon! I’m still hoping to get the concertina right to join the party.
Lively wee tune, Simon, and really well played there. I like your multi-tracking on this.
Thanks Gents! Oh! for a concertina, Can’t wait to hear your version Frithjof. And there’s still number 1 to do? It’s a bass-player-improv session John, I just remembered the chords (only 4 of them) and played ‘alternating bass’ as it were, using the octave (a second time). A mandocello might have sounded good here. Perhaps the volume is a little high but it seems to pull the other instruments together and I’m looking for that drone or session-like clatter! Took a couple of over-dub takes to remember the positions of the shunting in the rhythm.
More fun stuff, Simon. I like how much is going on to maintain the interest in a simple tune. What was the composer's name, by the way? I forgot while I was watching the video.
Difficult to remember his name. Was it: Fred Avian? Fred Columbidae? Fred Fledgling? Fred Homing Pigeon? Fred Racing Pigeon? Fred Carrier Pigeon? Fred Domestic Pigeon? Fred Feral Pigeon? Fred Passenger Pigeon? Fred Dovecote? Fred Loft? Fred Flypen? Fred Nest Box? Fred Coop? Fred Pedigree? Fred Band Number? Fred Hatch? Fred Nestling? Fred Molt? Fred Primary Feathers? Fred Secondary Feathers? Fred Tertial Feathers? Fred Wing Coverts? Fred Tail Feathers? Fred Flight Muscles? Fred Crop? Fred Gizzard? Fred Proventriculus? Fred Cloaca? Fred Preen Gland? Fred Down Feathers? Fred Pigeon Milk? Fred Courtship Display? Fred Territory? Fred Pair Bond? Fred Brood Patch? Fred Incubation? Fred Hatching? Fred Parental Care? Fred Foraging? Fred Homing Instinct? Fred Navigation? Fred Compass Sense? Fred Sun Compass? Fred Magnetic Sense? Fred Orientation? Fred Migration? Fred Flying in Formation? Fred Flapping Flight? Fred Soaring Flight? Fred Gliding Flight? Fred Hovering? Or Fred Wing Tip Vortex?
Here’s Fred Pigeon’s #1 https://youtu.be/UflUfciBQdU
Nah, Simon, still can't remember. Your Number 1 is still being reviewed by the YouTube vetting committee.
I recorded two versions and unwisely uploaded the contraband version first. Now they’re both blocked. Coming soon! As a teaser I have to say that with a lot of hard work I managed to play this one in the style of Sir Bertram. Very happy with the result.
At 200 kph?
You did it, Simon!
Thanks Frithjof, but how long did I take? Anyway winter’s over! It was sooooo cold, haaaa! (Of course I hope you guys are warm).
You get a really nice bounce and dancing rhythm, Simon, that I fear I haven't achieved in my offering. Devon is such a lovely part of the world. If I wanted to be pedantic (which I usually do), at least one of the landmarks pictured is in Dorset. But perhaps there's an irredentist movement seeking to annex Durdle Door to Devon. I play all three pieces in the conventional order. I have included a bakery demonstration at no additional cost, in honour of Fred Pidgeon's chosen profession. I am aware that the denizens of deepest Devon probably had little call for flatbreads in the 1950s, but that happened to be what I was making last night. Also, I bet Fred never had to make bread with one hand while holding his iPhone in the other. I set up the video a bit differently this time, but I still can't make it look as though I am having fun playing. But I am, honestly. I have had a lifetime of people saying to me "Cheer up, it may never happen," but of course it often does. One other thing for those considering playing these: they are real earworms. I can't get them out of my head.
Thank you, Simon and Richard! These are nice tunes and videos.
Nice playing and nice video ideas, Richard. And good to bring in the banjo for No. 3. I could imagine a great version by you too, Dennis.
Fine, competent playing Richard, and nice to see the flat bread being made. I understand what you’re saying about Devon, I think even just fifty years ago leaving your home county to travel to another one was quite an adventure. I remember some local people I knew who would constantly explain the behaviour of a girl we knew by saying, ‘she’s from Norfolk’, which I thought, on returning from Germany was very strange. (I always had a southern counties spoken accent). Times change.
Thank you, all three. I had to include the breadmaking to relieve the monotony of watching me for three minutes. Simon, I've been visiting Devon very frequently for those 50 years. We used to rent a cottage regularly and the old couple next door (by old I mean, to start with, considerably younger than I am now) exemplified precisely what you are saying, Simon. They barely left the village, let alone the county, even though he had spent several years in North Africa during the war (which I suspect put them off "abroad"). Now, my daughter and her family live there and almost no one in her village seems to be Devon-born. Upsides and downsides, obviously.
No. 3 got a concertina part as announced above. Octave mandolin, mandolin and guitar are the other instruments. To get some video footage I had a nice stroll through our local riparian or alluvial forest, the Leipziger Auenwald, yesterday at noon. The ramson or bear’s garlic comes out neatly and covers the forest floor more and more. https://youtu.be/nM8k1gBghmQ
Oh, I really like this, Frithjof. The concertina works perfectly and the whole ensemble is done beautifully. The video could almost be the Otter Valley, Fred Pidgeon country. Bear's garlic is also known as cow's leek because cattle love to eat it. Apparently, dairy farmers in Devon have had milk rejected because it tastes of garlic (which sounds rather nice to me), so Fred Pidgeon connections all round.
Beautiful playing, everything Frithjof! I really like your calm concertina playing, nice atmosphere with the sustained notes and gives the tune a character. And thanks for 'riparian', another word replete with images of grasses and reeds that I’d forgotten.
Beautiful playing, everything Frithjof! I really like your calm concertina playing, nice atmosphere with the sustained notes and gives the tune a character. And thanks for 'riparian', another word replete with images of grasses and reeds that I’d forgotten. Is Cow’s leek like ciboulette, Richard? I used to eat that with goat cheese, spinach and pasta (though not too much! )
Ciboulette is chives in English. Cow's leek, wild garlic or bear's garlic is known as ail sauvage, ail d'ours or ramson in French. Somehow it all makes sense. I didn't know about garlic-flavoured milk, though. In the north of France, there's this thing about chicory in coffee. Imagine garlic milk taking that to a whole new level! Frithjof, you're getting so good at concertina! It's a great addition to the tune, and goes well with the sound of your mandolin.
Thanks Richard, Simon and Dennis!
For a change I played No. 1 on my Eastman 815v one time through without any accompaniment. Thus, I have done all three Fred Pidgeon tunes. https://youtu.be/BWIVLR4Iu-4
Nice steady picking on the Eastman, Frithjof…the solo melody works for me.
Ha, I almost understood everything! Nice warm, rolling rhythm and fine playing Frithjof. Danke!
Super, Frithjof. Sometimes solo is best.
Thanks John W., Simon and Richard.
The pigeons have come home to roost, Frithjof! Fine deliveries as always.
