My latest offering - an old Gaelic air written by John Cameron of Ballachulish in 1856 to counter the nostalgia he was feeling having left his native highland village to work in the big city of Glasgow. Hope it gives you a feeling of peace ath this time. I am playing this on Lowden guitar and my JK mandolin, and the pictures are from my own collection of photos I have taken over my many years of roaming Scotland's mountains and wild places. There is a clear view of Ben Nevis, our highest mountain, coming in at around 52 seconds at the top of the picture. I took the shot from the top of the Buchaille Etive Mhor at the entrance to Glencoe. This has always been one of my very favourite spots.
I love this tune, and you play a great version! ciao
Absolutely wonderful, this is definetly one of your best and one of my favourites. I used to play a version of this with words about the clearances, I will see if I can find it.
Thanks, both. It is indeed a beautiful air, as is another of his, Balluchulish Glen (Gleann Bhaile Chaoil). It again voices his sorrow at being away from his home. David, the song about the Clearances is "Hush, Hush".
Hmmmn, quite good, Mr. Kelly.
That's a wonderful arrangement, John! I also love this tune, and recorded a version several years ago, in 2014. Very different from yours, this one has layered tremolo harmonies: Two mandolins (Gibson Ajr and Mid-Mo), plus my Mid-Mo OM, all of which have already had a solo outing in my lockdown videos. We play this arrangement fairly frequently at our weekly mandolin get-togethers, as it's a great one for swapping parts between the players on every repeat, alternating between high melody/low harmony and vice versa. Martin
Lovely arrangement and fine playing, Martin. Your photos, many in the Glencoe area, are excellent, and so appropriate to the composer, as he came from the village of Ballachulish, just a few miles further north. I have actually stayed in the cottage at Lagangarbh and in the Barn behind it on a few occasions when climbing there. It is owned by the Scottish Mountaineering Club. Are the pictures your own?
Thanks, John! Yes, the photos were selected because they're from the home region of the composer, John Cameron. Not my own, I'm afraid: I haven't been to the Highlands in about twenty years, which is something I urgently need to remedy as I used to go quite frequently in the 1990s and have always loved it! Mind you, if flights don't resume I expect a third of the entire UK population to try to holiday in Scotland... Martin
Two rather different versions, but both a pleasure to listen to.
Very pretty John. Nicely done with the pics.
what a beautiful morning, kicked-off with these excellent renditions, essence of audible Scotland. Have fun everybody, I'll do no recording today, it's our 31st wedding anniversary.
John and Martin - very lovely tune and beautifully played and mixed. Something about those Scottish air's that really resonate with me? (Must be my Sottish heritage?) And gorgeous photos to accompany the music. Well done and thank you both for sharing. Bertam - congratulations!
Thanks, Ginny, Dennis and BH. Bertram, congratulations to you and Regina. Here's to the next 31!
Thanks for the comments! It's a great tune and I still like my arrangement, but my old recording from six years ago sounds a bit pedestrian to my ears now compared to John's rendition. I should probably try to re-record if I get around to it. Martin
Congratulations to Regina and Bertram! And many thanks to John and Martin for these beautiful videos.
Well played Martin, and you have some amazing images, I always wonder where you find the old drawings and paintings. And well done John, this has got to be the best yet, lots of texture and detail in the recording too. What did you think of the microphone? I find it doesn’t give a high signal, but the mid frequencies are good enough. I haven’t got a good enough sterio system nor ears to be able to tell. And what’s the dedicated tune for Bertram and Regina?
Happy Anniversary Bertram and Regina !!!! It's my bd tomorrow..but shhhhh.
Happy anniversary, Bertram and Regina! And happy birthday, Ginny!
Thanks lady and gents Happy birthday Ginny, and I won't tell
Two excellent versions of this tune from two centurys ago!
Here is my take on this one. Now, the transcription I had wanted me to end on the 'V' which was quite frustrating to my ear (we all want to resolve back to the 'I'). So here it is nonetheless.
@pluckinstrings - this is a different Mist Covered Mountain from the one John started the thread with. The jig you're playing was written by Junior Crehan. You might want to add that information to your YouTube video description so that the composer gets credit, otherwise one of two things may happen 1) YouTube takes your video down for copyright infringement or 2) Some folks will go round giving "thumbs down" on trad tune videos that have neglected to credit the composer. Here's the SAW thread for this jig: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/g...e=1&do=discuss
Nice take, Jason (noting Jill’s comment….).
As Jill says above, Jason, your offering is Mist on the Mountain, a great Irish jig. You play it really well here.
@Jill - Thank you for your feedback! Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. The one slightly frustrating thing I have found is that a lot of these tunes have a long history and some even have multiple names. So when I come across a transcription online, I'm kind of at the mercy of what I have been provided. I would be happy to give credit where credit is due, but in this particular instance, nothing was provided. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to track down that information.
I believe this is one of my favourites, with the beautiful sedate and Scottish sounding plucking on the octave John. I love the interweaving of the instruments and the slightly timid, wondrous, magnanimous feeling. Great playing too Martin, a full production with your usual flair for tone. And fine playing Bruce, though certainly a different rhythm when compared to the others in the thread.
I like the guitar accompaniment in this jig, fine mandolin playing too, Bruce.
@pluckinstrings - do you use www.thesession.org at all? If you look up a tune in their tune section not only is there notation and ABC's for the tune there's also lots of information about the tune in the comment section accompanying it - usually if a tune isn't in the public domain and has a known composer, someone will list that information there, very handy resource. The other cool thing is that there are a variety of settings of the tune and an option to play a midi file of it so you can both hear if you like that particular setting and, in cases where multiple tunes share the same name, you can check to see if the one you've looked up is actually the one you were searching for - very handy when trying to find a Paddy Fahey tune for example, since they're all just called "Paddy Fahey's"
Simon, thanks for your comments above, especially the "slightly timid, wondrous, magnanimous feeling" you got while listening! I am still examining that concept. I wonder if the pictures added to it? As for Bruce's different rhythm you mention - he was playing a different tune with a similar name.
It’s the pictures of Scotland, I get all emotional. Sorry I’m confused John, are you saying that some of the tunes on this thread have a completely different feeling?
Hi Simon. Aye, we are blessed with some beautiful places in Scotland. Both my version and Martin's are of John Cameron's lovely slow air Chi Mi Na Morbheanna (The Mist-covered Mountains) and Jason's tune is the Irish jig Mist on the Mountain, so very different feeling to the two tunes.
Hi all, this is my version. Simpler than John's version. I hope I haven't ruined it too much.
Very enjoyable Pierpaolo, reminds me of the Tyrol Mountains.
Very nice, Pierpaolo -- I like the texture added by your additional instruments as they come in. I have also revisited this tune over the weekend. Same arrangement by Suzanne Higgins as my previous recording in 2014, but this time without tremolo, relying solely on the natural sustain of my three instruments: OM, mandocello and mandolin. Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin Suzuki MC-815 mandocello https://youtu.be/77LUCYM24oM Martin
Lovely version, Pierpaolo. The deep resonant drones are amazing in your arrangement, then that bass drum or bodhran throbs its way in to the mix! Is that it in the photo? Beautiful ending too as you phase things out slowly. Martin, it was well worth your revisit, and I especially liked the lack of tremolo in this new recording. Your various instruments are all clear in the mix and come together well in this latest performance. It sounds more Scottish to me, but I am biased, as you will imagine.
Thank you. John, yes, the drum is the one in the picture.
Amazing recordings by Pierpaolo and Martin.
Pierpaolo, how nice to hear something played by you again, it's always a pleasant experience!
Very nice Martin, I like that slightly extended medieval rhythm. Well done.
