Drents Diep

My first written instrumental tune is called "Drents Diep" after a little river in our neighbourhood in Holland. official it's called "Drentsche Diep". Maybe I have to rename it later, I didn't know that.. (Wikipedia does)
Just writing down a couple of chords, record them and try a bunch of licks and you have a tune. This is so funny, I can reccomend everyone to try it. Maybe my tunes get more interesting "as times draw near".. feel free to use my tunes...How nice it would be to hear a nicer version of my own tunes..

You can find the sheet music on my weblog luurtieful.blogspot.com

I love this tune! I have to learn this. It has that 'lonesome' & 'haunting' sound I really enjoy. Great job, Sir!!
I have written a few myself but need to copyright them.

I love the mandolin duet at the end. That's another great tune. I also like your description of song writing. You definitely make it sound fun.

I am still puzzled by the intricate first-person plot of the video - does the hero survive in the end?

The music is just as relaxed as the land - reminds me of something I discussed with myself recently: they say Holland has no mountains. But in mountain ranges, people keep climbing the tops for a free view of the horizon. You don't need that in Holland, because the mountain tops are everywhere - it's the valleys that are missing.

You've got a good point there Bertram, but to be honest I think we've got only valleys since we're all below sealevel in our country. I better not try to think about that when I'm composing. Then my tunes wouldn't be that relaxed

Isn't a little boy supposed to hold his finger to the hole in the dyke?

Lovely little tune! Very nicely played and recorded too.
It reminds me of some of the tunes on Norman and Nancy Blake's "Natasha's Waltz", especially when the harmony part comes in at 1:37!

That's the beauty of a tune you've composed yourself -- you can name it anything you want. I used some online translation software to translate 'diep' and surprisingly it said the English word is "deep". So the title could be Drent's Deep. It made me wonder about the story. Did our hero Drent, throw something into this river? His girlfriend? Maybe he drowned by accident or maybe he threw himself in after his girlfriend. Nice tune whatever the backstory... (maybe I'm reading too much into the title!!!)

Your explanation makes it definitely more interesting Michael, but It's really just the name of a river (Deep is Dutch for any kind of waterway) in a part of Holland called Drenthe... I think Drenthe is the most beautiful part of Holland

What a pity, no murder ballad (involving an overdose of bessen jenever, maybe?); it could have been the most dramatic legend since Ritskemooi (Rixt van het Oerd) of Ameland...

I got a enthousiast about writing all my own tunes down on sheet with the free musescore software. This is one of my first tunes you can find the sheet music at my new luurtieful blogspot

Lovely tune, and thanks for the sheetmusic!

Hendrik,

I have always very much liked this tune since you first posted it. I was intending to learn it by ear but never got around to it so thanks for posting the notation. I am thoroughly enjoying playing it. Not being as comfortable in the key of C on the fiddle as I am in other keys I thought I would change the key and also write some harmony bits for an arrangement. I like writing with abc notation using EasyABC so here is the abc for your tune:

X:1
T:Drents Diep
C: Hendrik Luurtsema
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:C
|:"Am"cBAG A2 AA | GE G2 A4 | ED C2 "G" D2 DD | EG E2 D4 | d2 dd d2 dd | dB A2 G4 |
"F" cBAG AGED | CB,C2 "Am" A,4 :| |: "G" G2 GG Bc d2 | fe d2 G4 | "F" FA c2 c2 dc |
AF D2 C4 | "G" G2 GG Bc d2 | fe d2 G4 | "F" cBAG AGED | CB, C2 "AM" A,4:|

After moving the key around I concluded that it really sounds best in the key of C as you wrote it. It's funny how different keys can affect the sound of a tune... Also, I need practice in C on the fiddle so I am working on that. I hope to post something with this tune when I come up with something worthwhile. I still need to figure out what you were doing 'up the neck', that part is wonderful as well!!

That would be something Bob! I can't hardly wait... Btw. the "up the neck" part was a little improvisation. If find the time I will write it down..

Thanks for a cool tune, Luurtie! I've already run through it a couple of times and it is fun to play. I also previously printed your Koetze Tibbe which I have also enjoyed playing. Thanks for your generosity and sharing.

Definitely a tune that makes one imagine. Thanks. Great tune .

Hendrik, here's what I came up with. I tried improvising up the neck but kept wandering too far off the tune so settled for a partial reenactment of the tune an octave higher. The video starts off around my home on a foggy morning. The terrain here is quite flat, reminiscent of Holland, but then we go for a hike in a rugged area an hour's drive away. I thought this would provide a connection to both Holland and your Drents Diep.

Great work Bob... I love the fidlle in it. You defenitely have your own sound. What a beautiful landscape in your neighbourhood! If you ever decide to write some little tunes yourself it must help inspire you ...

Thanks Hendrik. My problem with trying to write tunes or even just improvising over tunes I know is remembering what I did. I might be able to play it a few times but 5 minutes later it is gone... Often, I don't even know what I did when I did it.