The Marino Waltz

  1. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    This waltz was written by John Sheahan of The Dubliners and recorded by me on my Embergher bowlback with tenor guitar backup. As proved by the thumbnail image, Sheahan at one stage also played bowlbacks...

    I have already recorded and uploaded two other tunes written by Sheahan over the past few weeks ("Autumn in Paris" and "The Marino Casino", which is a different tune from this one), but the Marino Waltz is his most popular original tune. It was released as a solo single in Ireland and reached #4 in the pop charts, and instantly became one of the favourite session waltzes in Ireland.

    My recording is based on a transcription by the Ottawa Ceili Band at:

    http://www.alfwarnock.info/ocb/waltz03.pdf

    Instruments:

    1915 Luigi Embergher mandolin
    Ozark tenor guitar



    Martin
  2. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    As promised in my recent posting of John Sheahan's "Autumn in Paris", here is a new recording of his most famous original tune, The Marino Waltz.

    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin
  3. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Lovely Martin - I've always loved the Marino Waltz - even when Bord na Móna here used it in adverts for their peat briquettes in the late '80's it still didn't sour the tune for me (the way that can sometimes happen when something is associated with advertising), it just made me love it even more!
  4. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Beautiful recording, Martin. Thanks for the link to sheet music in your former post.
  5. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Jill and Frithjof. Some tunes just bring a smile to your face when you play them, and this is one of them.

    I've just looked up another John Sheahan waltz, Flowers of Normandy, so I may try this next -- this is not one I have recorded previously.

    Martin
  6. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    A lovely tune, Martin. New to me and one I really enjoyed listening to. I have had a look at the notation and think I will have to add this one to my growing list of tunes to try. Thanks for your very fine recording.
  7. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks to Martin for posting this tune and providing link to the notation.
    My version is on mandolin, guitar and bass guitar, tune played twice through, with harmony part I wrote added second time around. Two chord tracks in the mix - one on guitar and the other on mandolin.

    Pictures from recent foray into the Bishop's Glen near my home. We have been remarkably snow-free this winter so far in our little corner of Argyll, unlike Ginny out there in Ontario!

    I have been playing about with the video editing software which is hidden away in the Photos app supplied with Windows 10. It is fine for this sort of posting though I will revert to my usual software for next postings. Much less control over things like titles. fades and other effects, but very useful for basic video creation.

  8. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    That sounds fabulous -- thanks, John! I particularly like the delicate tone of your mandolins, on melody and the chords, and the depth of the bass. A very sophisticated recording!

    Martin
  9. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    That’s a beautiful recording, John. I also like your complex arrangement.
    The Video-editor of Windows 10 allows an easy (fast) way to make a video but with some limits. It works decent for single track recordings and is a good tool to start with.
  10. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, Martin and Frithjof. I really like those John Sheahan compositions you have been posting, Martin. They are such fine pieces of music.
    Frithjof, I found I was working "back to front" from my usual video editing techniques. Where I am doing a scenic video rather than one where I appear playing on screen I place the recorded audio into the video editor timeline first, then arrange the visual material around the sound. With the Windows Editor I had to put the pictures in first then add my sound track. The sound is then set to the combined length of the pictures, and this meant that the sound file was cut off as it was longer (3 minutes 19 seconds) than the visuals. I then had to adjust the individual pictures to get to a combined length of 3:19!
  11. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Such a lovely version John!
  12. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, Jill. Your support is highly valued.
  13. Michael Romkey
    Michael Romkey
    Very nice, John! What tips can you share on coming up with melody parts?
  14. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, Mike. As far as adding parts, the bass line I kept to the bare minimum, using mainly the root of the chord on beat 1 of each bar, or shared notes such as using a B against both G major and B minor. Where I have more than 1 bass note in a bar, as at the end of a section or transition between A and B parts, I will use common notes, i.e. in the bar with the G major chord have a G as a 2-beat note then a B, then in bar 2 (B Minor chord) have that B followed by a D.

    Harmony parts are created in much the same way, picking notes from the relevant chord to create what are often arpeggio patterns. In the first bar of the Marino Waltz, played over a G Major chord, the notes are high G, D and B descending (crotchet, dotted crotchet then quaver) and I repeated this rhythmic pattern but used B, G and lower D as my notes. In the second bar, played over a B Minor chord, the melody has low F#minim then B crotchet and I used three crotchets - low B, D and F#. I would use the US terminology for note values but cannot create quarter and eighth symbols here! As well as listening, I also like to look at the part when I have written it out just to see how it looks in the notation. I am looking for nice flowing patterns with rising or descending lines. This is one reason I much prefer standard notation to TAB. In standard notation you can actually see the direction a tune is going in; I sometimes amuse myself by joining the dots on a score with a pencil to see how the pattern rises and falls!

    This, I must caution, is probably not the way a proper arranger who has a lot of knowledge of harmony theory would work, so please take everything above as just one person's flawed way of working - is this my legal disclaimer, I wonder?
  15. Pierpaolo S.
    Pierpaolo S.
    Beautiful recordings, John and Martin.
  16. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Thanks, Pierpaolo. Martin has alerted us to some very fine Sheahan tunes in his last few posts.
  17. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Another beauty John ! When I use Finale I get both tabs and notation and I like that. I have learned to read two lines at once. Plus I can play around with the key signature and find one that suits my mandolin - or my ears. I'm currently working on another Lightfoot song and am trying to be creative, like John, and not play to the exact beat spewed out by the midi file or the metronome. When collaborating this is harder to do as you try and match the other person - I'll see how it goes.
  18. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Absolutely fantastic, John!
  19. dustyamps
    dustyamps
    My version of The Marino Waltz played on my 1917 A4.
  20. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Fine solo version, Dustyamps. I love all the pictures of John Sheahan and the other Dubliners that you have used in your video. A very fitting tribute to some great musicians.
  21. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Lovely wistful, melancholic, flowing version, thanks.

    Sorry I seem to have missed this one, thanks all.
  22. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Very nice solo, David. Clear and bright - and good pics.
  23. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Great to hear to your clean picking again, David. The slide show is a treasure for itself.
  24. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    I like all four versions of this beautiful waltz, but if I had to declare a winner, which I Thank God don't have to, it would be Martin playing his Embergher.
    But SAW is no competion, so a big Bravo!! to everyone.
  25. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    During my hiking vacation in the Austrian Alps around Lech am Arlberg I enjoyed sitting on the pasture and playing mandolin for recreation in the afternoon.

    Because my smartphone recorded plenty of wind noise, I decided to cut away some nice parts of the video with the wind blowing too terrible.
    I did the recording of bouzouki and guitar at home. The same with the mandolin in the repeat.



    Edited: Same video with just a little less noisy stream at the end.
  26. Frankdolin
    Frankdolin
    Sounds good Frithjof! Really clever editing. And again I want to be There!
  27. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Me too!
  28. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Very nice, Frithjof. I enjoyed all parts of this waltz. We all have a lot of traveling destinations to make next year. Better save some money now ! I have three or four on my list so far - and this is one of them.
  29. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks Frank and Ginny!

    Meanwhile I became aware that the little stream on the end of the video is as noisy as a waterfall though the music is drowned out. At least at some smartphones.
    Therefore, I edited the audio of this particular video recording in Audacity. Hope it is more enjoyable now on all devices.
  30. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    What a fine video, Frithjof. Lovely editing and the music suits the visuals so well. I remember passing through the Austrian Alps en route for the Dolomites away back about 1972. We were heading there to do some rock climbing in the Sella and Vajolet areas.
  31. dustyamps
    dustyamps
    Nice recording and video, thanks for sharing.
  32. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    What a great video, Frithjof! My favourite mandolin from the SAW-group plays a wonderful waltz in beautiful surroundings. I just had to try it myself:
  33. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks John, David and Christian.

    John – I did hiking and skiing in these regions of South Tirol several times. That’s a lovely landscape as well.
    Christian – Great tremolo version with a nice introduction and ending.

    Jill McAuley did a great recording on a tenor guitar in 2011.
  34. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Wow! I hope I live long enough to play like you guys!
  35. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Musicians make the best holiday videos! That was a real pleasure.
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