Week #55 ~ Chief O'Neill's Favorite (hornpipe)

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  1. Eddie Sheehy
    Very nice Barb.
  2. Susanne
    Susanne
    Lovely playing, Barbara!!!!!!!!!
  3. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Very bouncy banjo version there Barb, just like it should be!
    BTW in case you were searching for them - I know where your glasses are ...
  4. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Well played on both instruments, Barbara. Nice smooth triplets there.
  5. Ptarmi
    Ptarmi
    Room for one more? .... I think I see a space up at the back!

  6. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Love those slow and easy hammer-ons.
  7. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    So nicely played sir! I really enjoyed that!
  8. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Lovely playing, Ptarmi. You demonstrate the importance to play at a tempo you are comfortable with and which allows all the triplets and other ornaments to be properly executed.
  9. Toycona
    Toycona
    Here's my take on this one too...
  10. Bernd Bannach
    Bernd Bannach
    Here comes my late entry with Chief O' Neill. It is an all time favourite of mine, from the very first moment when I heard Barney Mc Kenna play it on a bowlback mandolin.
    Here played on my Weber Sage Octavemandolin.
    Bernd

  11. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Some great ornamentations in this Bernd. Great sound too from your Weber octave.
  12. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Looks like you're getting more smiling power out of the Sage than the Octar - plenty of sound from that tiny body.
    Barney McKenna's version has also been my reference, and it is clearly audible in your rendition, triplets and all - Barney would be proud.
  13. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    That makes me want to revisit this one, Bernd. Really great job.
  14. Mike O'Connell
    Mike O'Connell
    Here's my first try at posting. Thanks to Michael P. for sending the step by step instructions.


    http://soundcloud.com/mike-oconnell/...eills-favorite
  15. Bernd Bannach
    Bernd Bannach
    John, Bertram and Marcelyn thanks for listening and your kind words. Bertram I own the octar since around five month and th sage around six years, so it is a lot more familiar to me. And since playing the octar too, it seems to be much smaller than it was before octartime.
    Mike fine played but a bit short or I did something wrong.
    Bernd
  16. Jill McAuley
    Jill McAuley
    Lovely version there Bernd and the Sage sounds awesome!

    Couldn't get Mike's soundcloud clip to load...
  17. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    I got it after a couple of tries, Jill. Maybe because it is so newly uploaded. Funnily enough I could not get on to SoundCloud at all for a while last night, but fine today.
  18. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    Excellent, Mike. Your guitar playing is perfect for the arrangement.
  19. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    There is something hyper-hornpipey in your rhythm, Mike, such a happyhopping tippytapping cosiness that makes the sun come out at night. I need to get me some of that. Teaches us that the right groove makes speed dispensable.
  20. Mike O'Connell
    Mike O'Connell
    Bernd, Jill, John, Marcelyn, Bertram, et al. - As I mentioned, this is my first posting and in fact one of my first experiments with garageband. I realize the tune is short, just A-B. My immediate goal is to post AA-BB (as long as it’s fairly easy on the ears). If that works I may be able to double that and go for broke. Bertram, the “hyper-hornpipey” may be indicative of spending yet another winter in Southern California. I spent fourteen winters in Germany so I know that you will be hopping and tapping before long. Thank you all for listening and for your kind and encouraging words.
  21. Rob Fowler
    Rob Fowler
    Ok...now it's really time for me to learn this one. Way to revive this thread with such style!
  22. etteM
    etteM
    you were ment to see the fretboard, but i missed it:D I donīt like playing hornpipes for some reason, strange beat.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWTAiHRg-PE
  23. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    That's one hell of a loud metronome, Mette - exactly what I am looking for. What metronome is that?
  24. Susanne
    Susanne
    Nice playing, Mette, I'll have to start re-learning this tune too. It's too good for not being played around here.
  25. etteM
    etteM
    its my cat metronome:D says wittner, made in germany, but yesss... barbara gave me a link somewhere on the forum thats easier to use, but sometimes it helps me a little looking at the eh pin thats moving for some reason.. and it has a bow - tie on it too:D as you can see it doesnīt really help that its loud, i donīt listen to it. I think ill just have it ticking in the background until it gets too irritating to ignore.
  26. peddyrmac
    peddyrmac
    The new tenor keeps insisting I learn new tunes, whilst the mandolin sits in the corner and gets minimal playing time at the minute. I promise the next tume I post will be back on the mandolin...unless it has history on a banjo

    Bizarelly, Barney mcKenna, king of the tenor banjo, played this tune on a mandolin in many live Dubliners performances.
  27. OldSausage
    OldSausage
    That banjo really suits you, peddyr, I can see why you're drawn to it, it really sounds great for your style and approach. I'm no connoisseur of banjo tone, but it sounds to me like you've got it.
  28. sgarrity
    sgarrity
    That sounds great on the banjo. What kind is it?
  29. peddyrmac
    peddyrmac
    Its a Ģ500ish Grafton Clipper short scale tenor with a white lady tone ring and a compact little resonator on the back. I bought it second hand (nearly mint condition) from andybanjo.com
  30. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    You and the tenor banjo are developing quite a fond relationship, peddyr! Great sound and fine playing.
  31. Aidan Crossey
    Aidan Crossey
    My take on this tune, recorded this morning on my Falder mandolin, coming up.

    There's a lot of debate about the F naturals in the firstborn of the second part of this tune. There are those who sneer at them and argue that the original version of the tune was played with F sharps in their place and they call the version with F naturals "Barney McKenna's"... I really don't like the way the tune sounds with F sharps in that bar, so me and Barney are on the same page.



    And, our of interest, during the summer I spent a few hours one pleasant evening on his home turf having a chat and few pints with Jeremy Keith, founder and webmaestro at thesession.org Sadly we didn't have any tunes together. However subsequently, I "duetted" virtually with Jeremy by ripping the soundtrack off a video he had made of his version of The Chief's on bouzouki and I added a mandolin track (and an uilleann pipe drone in D) on top. The video below captures our "duet" (or trio if you count the drone...).

  32. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    This was inspired by Simon's explanation of how he did his outdoor recording. Bear with me...

    It had not occurred to me that I could record simultaneously on Garageband and Quicktime, my free software of choice, and then sync the audio to the video. I know I'm a bit slow.

    So this one is my first attempt. I am working on this for my project on music and Irish and Scottish migration (trailed on the Celtic music thread). This isn't final - still a bit rough round the edges and I'll rerecord it for the migration video, but I was feeling pleased with my technological mastery, so thought I would post it anyway. And I managed to find the old thread this time.

  33. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Great stuff there, Richard. Fine playing and a good Irish feel to it. The recording bug certainly bites if you are not careful. I can while away hours playing about with multitracking and trying to outdo myself. Sometimes it even works.
    I imagine Chief O'Neill will feature in your Irish/Scottish diaspora when you produce it. And then there were so many Irish soldiers served in The Seventh Cavalry under General Custer. And the Scots are another whole chapter to themselves.
  34. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    Thank you, John. It's a great tune - one of my favourites too.

    Yes, Chief O'Neill features in some detail, which is why I am recording this one (and probably a couple of others related to the O'Neill family). I will use the influence this particular Irish American had on Irish music as an illustration of the way diasporas work in both directions. I have a short reference to Garryowen and the Seventh Cavalry. But I'm not sure it will make the final cut, as I have too much material, of course.

    I find the Scottish diaspora fascinating and I have pulled together a lot of material, much of which won't make it in. The local gentry where I now live were the Magruders - relatively rare Scots who supported the American revolutionaries and stayed put here. Slave-owners, of course. There is actually a community of freed slaves about a mile from here, established just after the Civil War, with the name Scotland. I have managed to discover why they called it that.
  35. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Is that a cliff-hanger, or have I missed an explanation in the text?

    Regarding the mandolin content: That's a really lovely arrangement, and if the final version is even better, I'm looking forward to it already. The guitar does a great job at holding it all together.

    Thank you also for reviving this thread with all the other great recordings. I'm learning this tune at the moment (coincidentally), so this will help.
  36. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Dennis, Richard is involved in creating a programme about the Irish and Scottish influences on migration. He has a thread over on the Celtic Music section of the forum. We just sort of meandered down that winding lane as this particular thread was unravelling.

    It is always a welcome aspect of those SAW threads that we can diverge from the tune in so many ways and yet keep up some semblance of relevance.

    Looking forward to your version of the Chief's Favourite when you have it ready.
  37. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    Thank you, Dennis. Likewise, I look forward to hearing yours. It's a great tune.

    It was intended to be a cliff-hanger, requiring you to sit through about the first 30 minutes of my production to find the answer. But since it isn't that exciting, I'll tell you that they stole a sign from the neighbouring Magruder property (where some, presumably, had been slaves) and stuck it at the entrance to their community. Street names now reflect the Scottish theme - Inverness, Muirfield etc.
  38. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Thank you, Richard. For me, no cliff-hanger was needed. My mind was and is made up about watching your film when it's ready. I have a professional and personal interest in history, and if there's also some mandolin content that's another box ticked.

    There's every chance that your production will be ready sooner than my recording of this tune! I seem to have backlogs in all areas of my life. Will this ever stop?
  39. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    The mandolin you play for the first minute of the video sounds very nice, is this a flattop?
    A very interesting video, Richard!
  40. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    What a wonderful tune! Lovely playing too Richard, I really like the atmosphere, the images and especially the banjo. Nice.
  41. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    I like this sweet and light mandolin sound, Richard, but then the change to the tenor banjo is interesting too.
  42. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    Thank you all, very much.

    Christian, yes the mandolin is a flattop made by Howard Morris.

    Dennis, I'm glad the migration thing is of interest. I'm afraid the answer to getting more time is retirement (which I'm guessing is a long way off for you). I never longed for retirement at all, and probably would have kept going if not for the pandemic disrupting normal work practices. Now I am so glad not to have work commitments.
  43. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    I would second your comments on retirement, Richard, though it is amazing how the new-found free time can so quickly be eaten up with all sorts of ploys and activities. I retired in 2003 after 35 years of teaching English; although I really enjoyed my teaching (all done in the one school, Dunoon Grammar) I have never regretted my new status. As Buzz Lightyear would say, "To infinity and beyond" - but at a gentle pace!
  44. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    It's a bit sad, John, that we have to give up jobs that we enjoy to make space in life for other things. However, I don't for a moment regret doing so and I echo your comment about tasks and activities expanding to fit the available time. I retired imagining that it would give me time to finish a book I was working on (on the history of that Scottish colony, Malawi) and to begin writing another. I have not even opened my files in a year. But I spend a couple of hours practicing my music before breakfast and that has been transformative.
  45. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    A story I'll never forget: The owner of a tea shop in Germany was serving me and apologised to a couple in their late 60s or early 70s waiting for their turn. Their answer: "Don't worry, we're the only retired people who have time." It created a nice moment where all of us laughed together, and it rang so true!
  46. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Interesting coincidence in your post above re Scotland and Malawi, Richard. There has been a news item on funding given by the Scottish Government to Malawi to help with flood prevention measures needed as a result of "loss and damage caused by climate change". At the COP26 Climate Change summit in Glasgow in 2021 it committed Ģ2M with a further Ģ2M to follow. At COP27 in Egypt in November of 2022 other world powers finally greed to follow this example.

    There is a dental practice here in Dunoon which does a lot of work in Malawi and the staff have gone out there on several occasions to set up mobile dental clinics. They acquire old vehicles which they convert to mobile dental surgeries for use in Malawi.
  47. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    I am really pleased to hear that, John. My sense is that many Malawians still treasure that Scottish connection. And I was a bit wrong to call it a Scottish colony - most of the bad things about colonialism there can be attributed to the British state, not Scots. Many Scots were active in the anti-colonial movement and one of my acquaintance went on to become a government minister after independence - before resigning on principle over the introduction of detention without trial. I also knew a couple of Church of Scotland ministers who were very active in working against the Banda dictatorship. So, I feel that Malawi has generally done well by Scots.

    It is a beautiful country, by the way, with parts of it reminiscent of the Highlands (hotter, minus midges, but plus mosquitoes).
  48. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Let’s hear some Malawi tunes Richard. I’ve heard some great songs, played on open-tuned guitars.
  49. Richard Carver
    Richard Carver
    A perfectly reasonable request, Simon, but I'm afraid in more than 40 years of regular travel in Africa (and living there for a while) I didn't pick up more than one or two tunes. A retirement project, perhaps...
  50. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Richard I seem to remember from years ago, there is an .abc file that’s sailing around on the internet with Malawi tunes, I’ll have a search.


    Ok, so this is one with my guitar, capoIII. It’s my first ever flat-picking tune recorded here on guitar.
    Octave mandolin follows as best it could with capo on third fret as well.
    Tune is in F major instead of D major because the guitar has a first fret buzz.

    Interesting that I couldn’t get a real stomp going, the guitar I suppose, or maybe because the eighth note per measure ratio is extremely high on this tune -almost 100% which tends to flatten out the rhythm a bit.

    I’ve been trying other tunes on guitar today too, I really like the feel of the string tension and capo at fifth fret, it gives the pick a bounce and makes playing tunes (some tunes) much faster. There’s a lot more space on the guitar fretboard but if you miss a string then the ‘false’ note is often part of the right arpeggio. That’s if you play from chord roots, (ie. keep one bar-finger down on two strings at all times!) I ’ll have to try this on the octave.


    https://youtu.be/uFsMLiUeHPY
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