Mandolin, oud, and pictures

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/

So I got a little portable recorder for my birthday a couple months back, and decided to start documenting my mandolin whims.

Some of the tunes are mandolin/oud duets I play with a friend of mine, while others are me trying my hand at composing program music of sorts. For these songs, I tried to capture or recreate aspects of an image, with varying results (but always with a lot of mandolin!)

I've had a lot of fun recording this stuff so far, and I hope it's fun to listen to as well. I make no promises, though

(edit: I have a soft spot for Alptraum and Montmartre Climb)

[Nick Quig]

Very nice! those two instruments work perfectly together

[billkilpatrick]

fabulous - they complement each other very well. i play oud too but nowhere near as good as this - mega bravi!

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

Thanks guys, it really means a lot!

I'm usually super shy about sharing my/our music, especially to an audience like the 'cafe that will be able to pick out every mistake!

[Astro]

Dont feel shy. I recently posted a way rougher one than that. Folks are nice here.

Those were great pieces. The instruments work very well together. Good playing too.

The recording stuff is a real pain for me. Always a trade off between ease of recording and quality of it. But when you go for ease, at least you get a sketch down.

PS Great pics too.

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

Complete agree about recording. I can't count the number of times I've forgotten a good melody or idea because I didn't feel like setting up my old bulky four track.

This portable one is a godsend.

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/p...titled-farmers

We "finished" a new song today! This recording is just our first attempt (it's pretty rough around the edges), but hey, it's something.

Hope you guys like it!

[Fstpicker]

Pretty cool sound...they complement each other well. Love that style.

Jeff

[Astro]

Wow that was great ! I really enjoyed that.

Sounds like arabic hillbilly bellydancer music

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

Haha, "arabic hillbilly bellydancer music" is by far the most accurate description of our music I've heard. I'm glad you liked it!

Here's a solo song I recorded today. The cicadas were drowning me out this morning, so I decided to go with it.

http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/p...ll-gather-grow

[billkilpatrick]

it's the same tune you posted at the start - excellent, by the way - look forward to more.

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

it's the same tune you posted at the start - excellent, by the way - look forward to more.

Thanks! If you are talking about the oud/mando song, they aren't quite the same, but they came from the same writing session so there is probably some overlap.

edit: if you mean the solo one I just posted and Montmartre Climb, I totally hear that too. My goal for this one was to use a similar scale and technique, but have it ascend and grow in separate swirls like the cicada calls that were blasting through my windows this morning. I was thinking of tying them together as bookends with some sort of interlude in the middle.

[billkilpatrick]

work in progress - that's ok with me!

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

I recently found out that my friend, oud player, and, brother-in-tunes is moving down south at the end of the month. I'm pretty broken up about it. Over the last five or so years, people have come and gone in my musical life, but this one cuts deep.

We have one last show, Labor Day weekend, at an art festival in Delaware. He's bringing all his stuff with him, and after we play, we say our good byes he continues on to North Carolina.

We recorded part of a practice session for the show. I thought it was appropriate - some improvisations on themes we came up with when we started playing together years ago. (Sorry for the foot tapping sounds, we didn't know the mic was picking them up)

http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/p...-practice-take

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

Last song of the summer. http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/p...g-for-a-friend

Somehow we have to stretch these songs into a three hour set tomorrow. Wish us luck, we're gonna need it.

[mandobeater]

VERY cool!!! I dig it man. Maybe one day I will be there..

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

Here's a video from our show this weekend. It was a great setting for our last show of the summer, and only a few blocks from a beautiful beach on Fenwick Island. Easily one of the best weekends of my life.

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

I had off today, so of course it rained. I tried to make the most of it and recorded this little ditty.

http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/p...rain-interrupt

[catmandu2]

Thanks for the nice music J ... Sorry for the loss of your musical partnership. Of course, you never know what awaits you next in future partnerships...

Does (did) your erstwhile partner use various tunings when playing with you (in Western forms)? Or does he stick with one tuning...? I'm an oudist too, but it's one instrument I haven't delved into ensemble playing with

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

He actually has three ouds, each of a different type and in a different tuning. The one in the video above is his oldest oud, which I believe is in traditional arabic tuning (that's what he called it, anyway).

His newest oud is on loan from a friend. It's an Egyptian oud, and while I don't know the tuning exactly, I can say that we tended to play in E or A when he used it.

His other, and probably most played oud is in a tuning derived from an open guitar tuning he used from time to time. Again, I don't know it exactly, but the lowest string was a B, and I'm pretty sure the second and third courses were in unison.

I hoped that helped. I wish I knew more about it myself. Thanks for listening!

[catmandu2]

Well it certainly helps to have mutliples...especially for oud, which is kind of like OT banjo in that it customarily entails different tunings. I'm thinking of acquiring a third oud--but I'm trying to avoid it becoming OAS...like it has for 12-string guitars of which I keep several about in different tunings...or banjos...

The above piece, in C, works well in standard Arabic oud tuning--of which the top four string courses are ADGC -- the bottom courses are what are altered in various tunings--the top four remain the same

It's really different hearing oud in a major tonality. It's one instrument (and flamenco guitar) that I've never used for anything but a traditional approach--and the "minor" modalities

Nice--thank you. Any clips of you and he on the saz?

OAS killer:

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

I do have a saz clip...somewhere.

I'll try to dig it up. I know it's not on my recorder, but it might be on a video camera or his computer. I'll ask him about that, and for more details on the tunings, next time I talk to him.

p.s what in the world is that monstrosity!??!!@!

[catmandu2]

All the modern conveniences of plastic and electronics: http://www.elderly.com/new_instrumen...s/MULTIOUD.htm

[J. Galoshes Esq.]

http://catbirdseatmusic.tumblr.com/p...936441498/wwbd

Rhett (mr. oud man) was back in town tonight. We didn't have a lot of time to play, but we did manage to put together a little fiddle-tuney take on a Buddy Holly song.

It's nothing fancy, but it was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can do something more with it soon.