Far From Home

  1. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    I learned this reel from Nigel Gatherer's web site. Nigel says: "Although this is regarded by many as a Shetland tune (and indeed it does have a Shetland flavour to it), I believe it is in fact Irish in origin."

    Tab/notation is at Nigel's site:

    Link

    As I had my F-style out today, that's what I used for this tune -- it works pretty well for Irish tunes and gives them a bit of a different feel than the Ajr or Mid-Mo:



    Martin
  2. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    I thought I should keep Martin's lonely recording company.

    The story is that Francis O'Neill learned this reel from a companion while they were herding sheep in the San Joaquin valley in California. This was when he was young man from Cork who had gone away to sea, rather than the eminent Chicago police chief and music collector of later legend. His own collections in the 1900s seem to be the earliest printed sources. It's unclear whether it already had this title or O'Neill named it to describe his own situation. (Or indeed whether he simply composed the tune himself.)

    As Nigel and Martin say, there doesn't seem to be evidence of any Shetland origin.

  3. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Missed this one when Martin posted away back in 2011, so thanks for reviving it, Richard. It is one of those tunes I know from hearing it in sessions but did not know the title.
    Interesting comparison between your slightly swung version and Martin's straighter feel. Each has its merits.
  4. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Lovely playing, Richard. Together with these old pictures.
    I assume, Martin will be inspired to make a new recording using his today’s skills.
  5. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    Thank you, John and Frithjof.

    I first recorded this for my migration video (for obvious reasons), where I played it unswung and faster. It was the recording that I least liked in the whole video, even at the time (ie not just the benefit of hindsight), hence my rerecording. Martin's slower straight version certainly works better than my original quick one.
  6. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    A very nice, gently swinging recording, Richard.
  7. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Two admirable performances Gents.
    Nice tune. The melody itself seems mostly Irish and then it has an accent, like a memory that has modulated.
  8. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    Thank you, Christian and Simon.
  9. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks to Richard for his lovely recording and for reviving my very old thread from 2011. I'm touched by Frithjof's trust that my skills are far advanced now -- I thought so as well, until I tried to play and record this tune again. I was pleased that muscle memory took over and the tune still felt very familiar 13 years later. Playing felt good, but when I listened back the recording was virtually identical to the way I had played it in 2011, which I now feel is both too slow and too four-square for an ideomatic Irish reel. So I ditched that recording and tried again the next day, this time making a conscious effort not to duplicate the previous tempo and phrasing but to speed up and emphasise the reel rhythm in 2 rather than 4 to the bar.

    I also used bouzouki accompaniment, which I am trying to get the hang of -- it adds a lot of energy and at the same time feel lighter than my usual tenor guitar rhythms. This is the result. I will leave it to others to decide whether it's an improvement over 2011.

    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    Troubadour Lionheart bouzouki (in GDAE)


    https://youtu.be/qADJ-8aFXLc

    Martin
  10. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    No problems Martin, enjoyable performance all the same. And for you, if it's what you wanted to achieve then great.

    I was thinking of the tunes I first learned that got imprinted with oddities during the beginner learning stage, I found it almost impossible to redeem them!
    In all benevolence and SAW friendship I would say that on this tune you've got the melodic phrasing tied up with classical-style rubato. A good hard session with an Irish-style drum machine will loosen it up, you basically play until you too tired to put any extra stuff in, you just play to a straight bodhran (sacrilege! )

    [A session of exercises with a very slow samba or salsa drum machine or any rhythm that has a lot of upbeats will also help]

    As a general rule in this genre (dear lurkers) rubato should never leave the measure. Let the fiddlers try to do that... with all the (beautiful) complications that arise.
    This tune is a good old down-to-earth foot-stomper.

    And thanks again Martin, it is a lovely tune.
  11. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Thanks for your recording, Martin. I enjoyed it.
  12. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Frithjof.

    Simon: I certainly wasn't consciously trying to play rubato, so any tempo variations would be a sign that I was pushing the tempo above what I was comfortable with for that tune. I do enjoy this tune, but reels aren't really my thing. Too many notes to fit into each beat.

    Martin
  13. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    Very nice, Martin. One reason I started playing reels with swing (ie dotted rather than straight) was the realization that one could play them fairly slowly that way and they still had plenty of forward movement (something Martin Hayes makes a habit of and perhaps the East Clare style in general). Paradoxically, I found it also helped me to play them faster if I chose to.
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