Let's hear you play your favourite Christmas Carol

[crisscross]

Hany's post gave me the idea to create a thread , were everyone who wishes can post a recording or video of himself playing his favourite christmas carol.
I'm gonna begin with the German Weihnachtslied "Leise rieselt der Schnee", wich is in 6/8.
Could have called it "Air on the D-String" because I used nothing else.;)
https://soundcloud.com/tele1310/leise-rieselt-der-schnee
I recorded this with my The Loar A-mandolin and my Recording King parlor guitar, so no need for Santa to ruin himself;)

[Martin Jonas]

Hi crisscross,

Check out the long-running Christmas thread in the Song-A-Week social group -- we've been posting our recordings of Christmas songs there at this time of year since 2009. Currently on 189 postings:

Link (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/group.php?discussionid=1085&do=discuss)

Martin

[crisscross]

Thanks Martin !

[rubydubyr]

127841127843My daughter and I are going to play Jolly Old St Nicholas, and possibly some others when she comes. In "Jolly", I'll play the melody on mandolin, she will play the harmony on mandolin, and then she's going to add herself playing the guitar with a chord base to it. Here's the music and a midi of how the mandolins will sound.
(music score starts on 2nd pg of the pdf) And there IS a pdf there, you prob can't really see it cause One Note puts an almost blank page first when I export to pdf.......

[journeybear]

OK, this is from two years ago, when my neighbor and I were playing duo gigs as - brace yourself for the incredibly innovative name - Neighbors. Took a little time to throw together a version of an old warhorse, in an instrumental rearrangement/deconstruction/destruction. I think we got it mostly right. Note my impeccable stage craft. My favorite part is the end - not just because there is finally relief from the cause of pain, but my final chord. When in doubt, hit that sixth chord. Makes everything so groovy! :cool:

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I know it's not technically a Christmas carol, but I hope it fits the spirit, if not the letter, of the thread. :)

[rubydubyr]

OK, this is from two years ago, when my neighbor and I were playing duo gigs as - brace yourself for the incredibly innovative name - Neighbors.

:))

Great rendition of Jingle Bell Rock! My daughter and I want to learn that also, I doubt ours will be quite that embellished and accomplished though :)

[journeybear]

Fortunately, the young and handsome rhythm guitar player is up front while the broken-down old - I mean, unassuming, brilliant yet humble mandolinist is playing lead in the background. So most of the guitar chords ought to be able to be read by someone who understands such things. ;)

[Kowboy]

Bravo journeybear!

[billkilpatrick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeMvrbmRS28

[Hany Hayek]

Nice idea crisscross. Thanks for sharing your Carol.

Beautiful song Bill. Thanks for sharing.

Here is Silent Night, Mandolin and Keyboard. May this Christmas brings us all happiness


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEh2SJ9BLEo

[mandotim1955]

Free MP3 download of my band doing Jingle Bells here.... https://www.facebook.com/slipperyhill/app_6452028673

[Ted Eschliman]

Bill Bussmann, Old Wave 4-string guitar-bodied mandola (CGDA)
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[sgarrity]

One of my favorites.

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[crisscross]

Nice carols so far, thank you all, though honestly speaking, I'm a little disappointed that our friend Rudy didn't show up yet. But there's still some days left, so not all hope is lost, that he won't poke his red nose into these premises.;)

Another of my favourite carols is the french "Les anges dans nos campagnes". I played it on my mando-tuned uke, let the angels sing in swing eights and added some grassy doublestops.https://soundcloud.com/tele1310/les-anges-dans-nos-campagnes

[bratsche]

This is the "video Christmas card" that's going out from our home this year. I've never done anything quite as complex as this before, but it was inspired (in part) by comments from my brother, when I lamented not having funds to send out cards or gifts this year, told me, "We've all got enough stuff! Why don't you do something creative, instead?" So that got my wheels turning, and I figured it's time to do my most ambitious video yet.

This project has been on my back burner since just before last Christmastime, when I initially wrote the arrangement of my favorite carol, O Holy Night, for four different instruments. However, much of it was above my ability to play at that time, so I had to work on my chops - particularly with my smallish hands on the humongous Octave Mandolin, which is a converted Baby Taylor guitar. Also, I'm glad I waited another year, as I now have the beautiful mandola made by my friend John Weisberg, which is the absolute best I could ask for on this recording. Though my "studio" space was extremely tight (I ruined one take right near the end, by whacking my bow hand against the tray my ancient laptop sat on in the spare bedroom /instrument room /dressing room/ junk room/ take your pick!), I certainly had a lot of fun making it.

The arrangement features the Taylor GOM (sounding much like a guitar), my viola, my Mid-Missouri M-2 mandolin on the tremolos, and the Weisberg mandola. I make no apologies for the Christian slideshow that it accompanies (grinches don't have to click the play button!), for this is Christmastime, after all - nor for the 7.5 minute length, as I wanted to include all three verses. However, the arrangement is not repetitive, and if you don't stay tuned till the last verse, you'll miss the big mandola solo! ;) It's also got the HD option for viewing directly on the YouTube site.

Enjoy, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2JA22AwoY

bratsche

[Wayne Shelton]

This is my effort at playing Joy to the World on my Red Diamond Osborne replica and Taylor guitar. Recorded with Tascam-40 using Rode nt1 mic. This my first try at overdubbing using Audacity program.
Also my first try at attaching mp3..hope I get it all to work.

[JeffD]

When in doubt, hit that sixth chord. Makes everything so groovy!

Wonderful

[Gelsenbury]

That's a very moving multimedia performance there, bratsche. Thank you for sharing.

I have used the idea of musical Christmas cards for the past few years. This year I filmed a symbolic candle (much simpler imagery than yours) and played a set of tunes that is just as European as my family. Here are Je mets ma confiance, O come Emmanuel, and Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her.

(Previously posted on the song-a-week group)


http://youtu.be/hnbMBGiheWI

Merry Christmas, one and all!

[Martin Jonas]

I've been recording a number of my favourite Christmas tunes over the past couple of weeks, and have just organised them into a Youtube playlist (along with a few from previous years):

Christmas Mandolin playlist (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvv9CU8fhxr2B9MVzY5vwwoZP3jHUwW5m)

There are 15 songs in that playlist:

O du fröhliche
Süßer die Glocken nie klingen
Whispering Hope
Leise rieselt der Schnee
The First Noel
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
Joy To The World
Coventry Carol
Tochter Zion/Thine Be The Glory (Handel)
Maria durch ein Dornwald ging
O Come, Emmanuel
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Campanelle (V. Kioulaphides)
Christmas Chimes (V. Kioulaphides)
Adeste Fideles (Oh Come, All Ye Faithful)

Most of these have been previously linked individually in the Christmas thread (www.mandoliancafe.com/forum/group.php?discussionid=1085&pp=50&page=4&do=discuss) on the SAW Group.

Martin

[Jesse Harmon]

All of these videos are blocked and I am told I need a flash player, which I promptly install but it doesn't seem to make any difference, it is still blocked and I get the same reply, that I lack a flash player that I need. Any idea what is going on with this and what I should do to correct it.

[Don Grieser]

Here's a couple I recorded on mandolin, mandola and mandocello.

https://hillbillychambermusic.bandcamp.com/album/hillbilly-chamber-music-free-christmas-download

[Heymate]

My arrangement of In the Bleak Midwinter

https://soundcloud.com/richardmelhuish/in-the-bleak-midwinter-final

Another One. the Coventry Carol

https://soundcloud.com/richardmelhuish/the-coventry-carol

Gibson A 50 All recorded and mixed using Ableton Live 9~o)

[harper]

I am learning how to play and arrange melody chord tunes for mandolin. With your indulgence, I am posting my solo mandolin arrangement of Coventry Carol, the pdf sheet music and a (cold and lifeless) digitized file. In the meantime I am practicing and hope to be able to post a live recording by Christmas.

I hope a better mandolinist than I will play this and post a recording.
:mandosmiley:
Merry Christmas,
Evelyn

[billkilpatrick]

more yuletide than xmasy - from pogo ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKiPl_bH7XY

[Dobe]

Well, it's not me but I intend to learn it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT4LtK1prO0

[journeybear]

Thanks for that, bill. I've been doing some research on that. So far I've gotten the first two verses. Seen references to more, but your version is the first time I've heard the third. :mandosmiley:

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BTW, Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross took a run at this:
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[Rob Beck]

This is a version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen that I recorded last year. I was hoping to record something new for this year, but I appear to be running out of time! ;)

https://soundcloud.com/rob-beck-5/god-rest-ye-merry-gentlemen

[Rob Beck]

Here's a couple I recorded on mandolin, mandola and mandocello.

https://hillbillychambermusic.bandcamp.com/album/hillbilly-chamber-music-free-christmas-download

That sounds very professional and accomplished Don, thanks for posting it :)

[Bill Clements]

What a hoot, Bill!
I enjoyed both your videos in this thread immensely!
Merry Xmas and thanks for the smiles.

[billkilpatrick]

[QUOTE=journeybear;1354568]Thanks for that, bill. I've been doing some research on that. So far I've gotten the first two verses. Seen references to more, but your version is the first time I've heard the third"

complete lyrics were somewhere on the net - can't remember where.

the drifter's "dreaming of a white xmas" version on "home alone" is also a favorite.

[journeybear]

complete lyrics were somewhere on the net - can't remember where.

Could it have been ... at the Mandolin Café? :confused: Well, it is now. :grin: I mean, I found them, posted them above (image #8), and found versions with the second verse sung, but you included the third verse, the first time I've heard it. Breaking new ground here, pushing the envelope, onward and upward! :mandosmiley:

[Manfred Hacker]

My musical wishes for those who don't watch the postings in the SAW Group:

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[Hany Hayek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfuLOUzIRZA&feature=youtu.be

[Tom Smart]

Here's my company's online holiday greeting. The music in the video is something I recorded four years ago on a Zoom as a "thank you" and "miss you" to my co-workers in Chicago (I work remotely in Salt Lake). It was never intended to be heard outside the office, but one thing led to another and it got used in this year's "card" that goes out to our clients instead of what probably would have been some generic techno music. Hope you enjoy it--misremembered melody, clams and all. Happy holidays!

http://www.symmetrimarketing.com/holiday2014

[mlinkins]

I love Christmas music, so I love this thread. The variety of styles and interpretations is great. I enjoyed all the postings. I love Bill's "Dear Santa"! Here is my contribution (not one piece, but rather two intertwined carols)...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZa8Eug1_eg

[Burk]

Please be kind now :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1OhbWim2XY

[crisscross]

Thanks for your recordings, I enjoyed them all. The only thing I have left to offer are my meagre attempts at clawhammering "Joy to the World". But on a day like this, I'm sure you even indulge in such blatant heresy;)https://soundcloud.com/tele1310/joy-to-the-world

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL CAFE MEMBERS

[rubydubyr]

May I show my ignorance by asking what claw hammering is? And Merry Christmas to you also :)

[crisscross]

Clawhammer is a certain way to play the banjo. Unlike me this guy knows how to do it properly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThHxsdofXi0

[mlinkins]

Thanks, Chriscross, for starting what has been, for me, the most enjoyable thread I've seen on the Cafe. I love your clawhammer and guitar version of Joy to the World...really sweet sound and arrangement. Nicely done. I also tried some different techniques on Joy to the World. Here is my attempt using cross-picking and an alternate tuning: DGAD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49IvSABrNAs

[crisscross]

Very nice arrangement with the melody on the lower strings.:)

[crisscross]

No reindeer lovers around? So it was up to me. Recorded in record time while waiting for Santa. Very shoddily played, just for completeness' sake: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer:mandosmiley:https://soundcloud.com/tele1310/rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer

[Elliot Luber]

Here's my abbreviated version of Jinglebell Rock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExNM2WotuPU

[journeybear]

And now, for something (maybe not) completely different ... A little Christmas cheer on a sunny day in Key West - a medley of some favorites, done in what I think of as acoustic thrash style, warts, clams, and all. I actually had to tone it down a little; it was getting too sloppy, even for me. :whistling: Enjoy! :mandosmiley:


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[Londy]

Wow Bill that was a really great tune. Wonderful job!

[rubydubyr]

Loved it JourneyBear! :)

[Bertram Henze]

That's a cool Santa, Steve. At last it has been revealed where Santa goes for holidays after a hard night's chimney-sweep, and what he does for recreation :cool:

[journeybear]

Ho Ho Ho!!! :))

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[Kowboy]

Merry Christmas to you as well JB. Man I had to listen to this twice and I just loved it. I'm thinking that a jam w/ you is killer.
And now, for something (maybe not) completely different ... A little Christmas cheer on a sunny day in Key West - a medley of some favorites, done in what I think of as acoustic thrash style, warts, clams, and all. I actually had to tone it down a little; it was getting too sloppy, even for me. :whistling: Enjoy! :mandosmiley:


riIAY4eWW8M

[journeybear]

It can be. Few survive unscathed. Dave Reiner - brave soul - is made of sturdy stuff (you'd have to be, to oversee Fiddle Hell every year), and has survived two get-togethers. We're planning to go for the hat trick tomorrow, with his immensely talented son Andy on fiddle. He's good friends with Sam Grisman, so it's very cool to be two degrees of separation when he's around. :mandosmiley:

Sorry to learn you subjected yourself to so much auditory torture. There is a lot of room for improvement in this. I took four complete passes at it - I mean, I took a bunch of passes and got all the way through four times - and selected the one with the fewest errors. No idea why it was giving me so much trouble. It's probably a good thing I ran out of light. :whistling:

[Austin Bob]

A little snippet from our Christmas Day Mass celebration:

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[journeybear]

Had a very nice visit with the Reiners today, all too brief as usual. And everyone survived, possibly because we stayed very civil, and kept to old-timey and rag. Andy had to catch a a plane, and only had a brief time, but we got five songs out of him. He is an excellent fiddler, and his new five-string violin is a great sounding instrument. Then Dave and his other son Eric (piano) and I played for the better part of an hour. It's always a lot of fun to play with people who have some serious chops. It pushes you to strive to achieve more than self-motivation does. I'm blanking on the name of what I thought was the stand out piece, something like "Red Rag." Another was one of Dave's compositions, "Buttered Side Down," which I said was fittingly in a minor key. ;) This inspired to reach into my personal way back machine for my Western swing tune, "Grove Street Rag," which I hadn't played in ages, and I had to run through it to remember it. It's smooth but a little tricky, but they picked it up pretty quickly. All in all, it was a good time, and I look forward to their next visit. Oh, and sorry - we didn't do any Christmas songs. :whistling:

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In case you don't know who's who, he's the good-looking one. ;)

[rubydubyr]

"Last edited by journeybear; Today at 2:07am. Reason: trouble with photo - tried to kill camera, almost killed computer "

:))

[Cheryl Watson]

Here's me playing mandolin and guitar on "In the Bleak Midwinter."...

https://soundcloud.com/cheryl-j-watson/in-the-bleak-midwinter-1

[mlinkins]

Really beautiful rendition of In the Bleak Midwinter. Gorgeous sound and arrangement. Thanks for sharing.

[Manfred Hacker]

Thank you so much for this beautiful rendition, Cheryl. I did not know this melody. Will find the sheet music right away and learn it.

[Bogle]

Love it, Cheryl....pulling some great tone there, too!!!

[Gabriel J. Ferrer]

Here's a brief rendition of the melody of "Joy to the World" on my Kentucky Electric Mandolin:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz6eHnyRMSM