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Thread: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

  1. #1

    Default A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    A friend who follows my YouTube output suggested that I might like to post some of my work in this part of the forum. I hope that sits OK with people. I thought I'd post a few of my recent compositions here. I host a lot of tune learning videos at my YouTube channel but clearly my own compositions are the most personal to me...

    I'll start off with a reel in A Dorian which I composed and recorded yesterday which I call "Dan Molloy's". It's dedicated to two fellow enthusiasts of traditional Irish music played on the mandolin (and other mando-family instruments). It's set out in three versions - my G&O #34 A Style mandolin, my Kentucky KM1000 F Style mandolin and my Ashbury AT-40 tenor guitar.

    Your thoughts on this and other tunes which will follow are very welcome...

    Aidan

    Last edited by Aidan Crossey; May-09-2021 at 12:59am. Reason: embed video

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  3. #2

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    The following hornpipe in G Major is set out in two versions. Tenor guitar and mandolin.

    The title refers to the area on the southern shores of Lough Neagh where I grew up, also known as The Montiaighs or The Montiaghs. (Pronouned “mon-chees” and an anglicisation of the original Irish name “Mona Tí”, literally “home of the peat”.) The Montiaghs comprises a number of “townlands” which are named after the oak forests which used to cover this part of County Armagh (“doire” in Irish, which becomes “derry” when anglicised is the term for an oak wood). So, I lived in Derrymacash (“McCash’s Oak Wood”) just up the way from Derryadd (“High Oak Wood”) and a few miles from Derrytrasna (“The Oak Wood At The Crossroads”) and so on… Derryloiste, Derrycrow, Derryinver and Derrytagh make up the remainder of Seven Derries.


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  5. #3

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Miss Benson's Fancy - a jig in D Major - is dedicated to my partner's friend of many years, one of the warmest, most generous and supportive individuals I;ve had the pleasure to meet in my time on the planet...


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  7. #4

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    The Kindness Of Strangers is a mazurka which I wrote as a thank you to the many people from various corners of the world who have contacted me since I began work on my website and associated YouTube channel to offer their support and encouragement. Much appreciated, folks!


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  9. #5

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Michael Gregory's is a tune I wrote as a thank you to a person with whom many who frequent the mandoverse will be familiar. One of life's true gentlemen, Michael gifted me one of the mandolins which he has built over the years (G&O #34) which is practically welded to me!

    Here's a version played on tenor guitar.



    Here's a version played on octave mandola.



    And here's a version played by John Cradden (celticmandolin.co.uk), arranged for several parts. I was very chuffed that John saw some merit in the tune and took the time to arrange it so nicely. Thanks, John!


  10. #6

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    One of the tunes which I hold most dear is A Tune For Fee, dedicated to my partner who is, objectively, one of the warmest, kindest and most beautiful people I've had the pleasure to meet and subjectively - the same!

    Here's a version on octave mandola.



    Here's a "mandolin duet" version.



    And here's a version on tenor guitar.


  11. #7

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    And finally for this morning, a little "portmanteau" of tunes played on my domra which I put together a few days ago, featuring a number of my own compositions (Miss Benson's Fancy, The Kindness Of Strangers, The Seven Derries and The Tiny Butler) and a set of traditional reels (The Lilies Of The Field/Craig's Pipes).


  12. #8
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Great stuff Aidan - I envy how prolific you are in your writing of original tunes - to date I've managed to write a single original tune, a jig that I actually wrote on the 6 string guitar first of all instruments!
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
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    my Youtube channel

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  14. #9

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    That's very kind of you to say, Jill. A few observations. 1) It's just the way my mind works... I become fascinated with a single phrase and then my brain just takes itself off into some sort of hunt for a way of turning that phrase into a tune. 2) Quantity doesn't always equal quality - and quality is what counts. So your single original jig might be worth a couple of dozen of my efforts. 3) Having said that, a friend of mine once said "quantity is no guarantee of quality but quantity has a quality of its own". I'm still trying to figure out the hidden depths in that... (and no, said friend was neither Confucius nor Flann O'Brien - although I suspect he's read everything by the latter). 4) I'd trade a good-sized portion of my compositions for a smidge of your right-hand technique. So maybe that makes us even in the envy stakes.

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  16. #10

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Oops... I messed up in #6 above. Here's the OM version of "A Tune For Fee".


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  18. #11

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Nice tunes!

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  20. #12

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Thanks, catmandu2. Very much appreciated. Aidan

  21. #13

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Two most-recent originals...

    The Pagoda - a reel in D Major.



    The Innocents' Jig - in G Major


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  23. #14
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    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Tune for Fee is lovely, Aidan. Here is my cover (also my first foray into tinkering with my own harmony parts).
    Fylde Single Malt Mandolin
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  25. #15

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Thank you Shawn. That is a very sympathetic and sensitive treatment. Thanks again. Aidan

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  27. #16

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    I thought I'd share a recently (as in 2 days ago!) composed tune with you. It's a 3/4 march in G Major which occurred to me as I was noodling around with a venerable 3/4 march associated with the O'Sullivan clan called The Eagle's Whistle. 3 versions of the tune in this video - mandolin solo, tenor guitar double-tracked and finally tenor guitar and mandolin together. Rough recordings but hopefully you'll get the gist. It's called The Hound's Gowl - which will be a term familiar to those members of the cafe who, like myself, were "rared" in the North of Ireland.


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  29. #17
    Registered User Cary Fagan's Avatar
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    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Lovely. I'm wondering, Adrian, which of the mandolins you've recorded with you prefer. There's this one, the custom oval hole (I forget the builder's name), the Kentucky, the Eastman....
    Cary Fagan

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  31. #18

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Hi Cary...

    Well, both the Eastman MD304 and the Kentucky KM-1000 have left the building... Like most mandolinists, I have congenital MAS. However my funds are somewhat limited and therefore I have to operate a one-in, one-out policy. Otherwise I'd be reduced to living in the street. :-)

    So my current stable comprises:

    A G&O #34 mandolin, kindly gifted to me by the maker - Michael Gregory. It is my instrument of choice for everything apart from recording. Reason for that is that is a LOUD mandolin. I live in a flat above a downstairs neighbour and I have to be careful playing the G&O because (apparently) it's quite audible below. (Not that she's complained, as such - she's merely mentioned it in passing. But it doesn't do to take liberties when we live in such close proximity.) And so I tend only to play it in earnest when she's not around. However since she now works from home, the occasions when she's not around are much fewer than when she was working 5 days a week in her office...

    A Paris Swing Macaferri mandolin. I heard a fellow musician play one of these at a session a few years ago and I was very impressed with the tone. They are no longer being manufactured and so when one came up for sale on eBay several months ago, I leapt at the chance to get my mitts on it. Much quieter than the G&O #34 but with a bassiness which I really like. And I can use it to practice and record without annoying my downstairs neighbour...

    A one-off mandolin built by Matt Falder. I've been able to find out very little about the maker and the mandolin. It's clearly been a "no money spared" project. However it has developed an issue whereby the A course of strings and - to a lesser extent - the e course have started to "zing". (Sorry - I'm not very technical so that's the best way I can describe it...) I have asked a local luthier whose work I admire if he would have a look at it to see if if he can diagnose the cause of the problem and if he can perhaps come up with a cure. He's quite busy at the moment and it may well be early next year before he has a chance to look at it but I'm hopeful that he'll be able to come up with a fix and then the Falder will start appearing on a few more recordings...

    An Ashbury AT-40 tenor guitar. A really cheap-as-chips, bottom-of-the-range instrument. But it sounded to me much more pleasant than the few other tenor guitars which were available for sale within my price range on the day I went "tenor shopping". It required a little bit of setting up by the luthier who I mention above and it's been a constant companion ever since.

    A "no-brand" tenor banjo. I bought this from a friend who assembled it from several different banjos he had acquired over the years "for parts". It's a short scale, 17-fret banjo, with a particularly mellow (for a banjo!) tone. I only keep it hand for occasional trips to sessions, when heavy artillery is required to be heard amongst the numerous fiddles, accordions and pipes...

    Finally a Soviet-era Ukrainian 4-string domra. A curiosity piece, really. But I've made a few recordings with it.

    Hope that helps answer the question. Probably too much information. Sorry in advance, if so...

    Aidan

  32. #19

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    A highly impressive body of original work! The playing is highly refined: super clean with good expression; and the instruments all sound great! Very well done, sir.

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  34. #20

    Default Re: A few recent original tunes by Aidan Crossey...

    Thank you, Paul. That's very kind of you and very much appreciated. Aidan

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