2019-02 Tune of the Month The Wind That Shakes the Barley

  1. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    The Tune of the Month for February 2019 is "The Wind That Shakes the Barley Reel". Thesession.org gives 15 settings for tune in ABC and notation, plus many more ABC texts if you scroll down through the comments. (https://thesession.org/tunes/116) Some of those versions appear to me to be a different tune, but what do I know about it? The tune appears to be quite popular in the Irish music realm but it also appears to be originally Scottish. Just call it Celtic.

    The Song A Week thread for The Wind That Shakes the Barley is found by clicking this link. There are quite a few videos in the SAW thread, most of which have broken links. Tomorrow I will attempt to post corrected links here for the busted ones.

    I understand that in session play, this tune gets played REALLY fast. But I have heard it played as background music in a movie (can't remember which) where it was presented as a lilting romantic tune that was quite lovely. Thank goodness, because lilting is plenty fast for me.
  2. Sleet
    Sleet
    I'm looking forward to playing around with this tune. I know it, and like it, so I just have to figure out how to mandolinize it.
  3. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Here is a list of all the videos submitted to the Song-A-Week thread for "The Wind That Shakes The Barley". The submitter's name will have an asterisk if I can play the video on my computer directly from the post. Note that some are in .flv format (Adobe Flash Video). This format is capable of being a vehicle for malware. It is up to you if you want to enable Adobe Flash.

    Mandfred Hacker* -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnHDry6VDOg
    David Hansen -- video removed
    Michael Wolf 1 -- http://www.youtube.com/v/zrWV8zFh-IA (requires adobe flash)
    Michael Wolf 2 -- http://www.youtube.com/v/IeSn7RfUrLg (requires adobe flash)
    Old Sausage* -- https://youtu.be/6pSTceRfq-A
    Bertram Henze* -- https://youtu.be/qNJ3nABF34c
    chrisblack -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyRq2dstwo (requires adobe flash)
    Tom Tax -- https://youtu.be/uXRk3FMS6UM
    Chris Travers* -- https://vimeo.com/8411378
    HddnKat -- http://www.youtube.com/v/o5rbXL0NxLc (requires adobe flash)
    Jill McAuley -- video removed
    Eddie Sheehy* -- https://www.youtube.com/v/UigI5CSJ3Ko (requires adobe flash)
    Kyle Baker -- video removed
    Celtic Dude* -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdjeS9ODgQk
    Barbara Shultz* -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TY7VkWuSRA
    Martin Whitehead* -- https://youtu.be/xrRprjkMjI4
    gortnamona -- video removed
    Mike Floorstand* -- https://youtu.be/Txxpbl0iHT0
    James Rankine* -- https://youtu.be/ZrrKUjI9ixI
  4. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Here are two versions from YouTube. I picked the first one because it looks to me like the artist is playing one of those truly Irish mandolins -- a Michael Kelly:



    And the second one shows some pretty darn good (IMHO) backup work with the mandolin that does not include any "chops". In addition, it features the uillean pipes, which I truly believe I have never seen or heard up close before:

  5. maudlin mandolin
    maudlin mandolin

    This version is from Dan Mozell's "Incomplete Celtic Mandolin" book. No triplets, only a pulloff for ornamentation.
    By the way the link to the SAW thread does not seem to work.
  6. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Good job, mm. I know February is a short month, but that was quick. What are you going to work on for the rest of the month? You really have to stretch on that 19" scale length; you seem to be reaching everything well. The instrument seems ideal for Celtic tunes.

    Thanks for the heads up on the bad link. I fixed it I think.
  7. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    By the way, I just learned that uillean is pronounced 'illun' or maybe 'illyun' .

    and pipes is pronounced like 'pipes'.
  8. bbcee
    bbcee
    Here's my go at this - I found it hard to get that "bounce" to the rhythm.

    After trying a bunch of different tunes, I finally combined it with an Appalachian tune called "Flatwoods". Hard to get the stretches on mandola, and not sure if it's actually a good match - you tell me. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

  9. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    I don't know if they "go together" or not for others but they sound just fine together to me. It's an interesting combination. I am unfamiliar with "Flatwoods" -- a very interesting statement and response thing going on about an octave apart. Reminds me (slightly) of a Gene Messer fiddletune, maybe French-Canadian, called "Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman" or some such.

    The tempo you chose is what I was getting at with the 'lilting' comment, but the lower register was a pleasant surprise. I have heard TWTSTB played so fast that I was seriously considering recording it as fast as possible, then playing it back at 1.5x tempo and doing a screen grab of that and making it my contribution, tongue firmly in cheek.

    That sounded quite nice on the mandola. Good job. And you get extra credit for getting two tunes up to snuff.
  10. Sleet
    Sleet
    You found a nice bounce, bbcee. I hadn't heard Flatwoods before. I like your rendition a lot. It sounds right at home on your mandola.
  11. Sleet
    Sleet
    Curse you, little red camera light. Some day I will thwart your insidious ability to tangle my fingers. Today, it must be conceded, is not that day. But I'm out of patience and out of month - therefore
  12. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    You did great, Sleet, I think you're well on your way to whipping that little red light into submission.

    Bruce, I like your penchant for making medleys. Those two go together beautifully, I really enjoyed hearing them and the second tune was a welcome addition. And maudlin, you're getting the feel for that longneck, keep it coming!
  13. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    My webcam has a blue light. And I swear that it must be some kind of semi-successful military experiment.

    1. Your little red light must not be as strong as my little blue light because when it finally induced a problem you were still able to recover and keep going. That sounds a bit backhanded, but it's not. It bothers the heck out of me when I can't recover and I have to start over. And it bothers the heck out me that when the blue light is on, it looks and sounds like I have never heard the tune before and I am sight reading.

    2. Nice crisp notes. Good left hand.

    3. Nice tone from that mandolin. Mellow. I like that.

    I'm on the west coast, so I have a few more hours to get something recorded all the way through.
  14. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Here goes.



    This one was my least bad maybe. So here it is despite the hokey tag ending. All the other maybies are in the Recycle Bin already. At least the bear is still smiling.
  15. Sleet
    Sleet
    Nice job, Henry. Well paced, crisp and lively. The barley is well shaken.
  16. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    But not stirred.
  17. bbcee
    bbcee
    Nice job, Sleet, that mandolin sounds perfect for this type of tune, and I liked your melodic choices. This tune seemed to inspire red light fever in everyone, more than other tunes of the month.

    Henry, you're like a racehorse out of the gate! Great tempo, and staying in it as well, and as always, a good choice of versions. I love the wind intro & outro.
  18. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Thanks Sleet and bbcee. Now its on to Roanoke. oh boy
  19. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    Henry, as usual, I’ve commented at HonketyHank.com. Great job.
Results 1 to 19 of 19