Pase el agoa

  1. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    I've always loved this 16th-century Galician folk song. Here I'm trying out an arrangement in four voices while practising my cornamuse. The mandolin content is that the octave mandola takes the bass part with some rather medieval harmonies.

  2. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Dennis -- very medieval harmonies!

    I do like that tune as well. Here is a very old recording of my youthful self playing it on solo mandolin, almost a decade ago:



    Martin
  3. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Nice playing Dennis, this really sounds as I imagine it would be in the sixteenth century, really authentic.
    And Martin too, nice to see the different versions.
  4. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    I found a happy video of this song with a man playing a little 10-string instrument, great singing and some dancing. The Catalan/English/German lyrics are shown in the comment area.
  5. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Loved listening to these two. Not quite sure what instruments Dennis is playing but as Simon says..it sounds very 16th century.
  6. Brian560
    Brian560
    Both interesting versions. The cornamuse is a brash sounding instrument and certainly appropriate for the time period. I suspect we will be hearing more of that instrument in the future. Quite the contrast to Martins melodic version. I do like the sound of that Big muddy.
  7. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    Like Brian, I find the contrast between the two versions and the instruments used very interesting. Martin's has a less "Medieval" feel (though I am not sure exactly what that means) and those harmonies on Dennis's version take some time to get the ear accustomed to them.
  8. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    I wouldn't call it brash, but the cornamuse certainly has a striking sound. It's less loud than a shawm or Rauschpfeife, which is why I bought it. The challenge is to get the air pressure just right to achieve the correct pitch, and I'm aware that I'm not there yet. It's not the easiest instrument to play.



    I've played the cornamuse before on "Schwäbisch", also in this group. The video above shows how it's done properly: This is actually the man who made my instrument.

    Mandolin content: I played around with the octave mandola part some more today and belatedly spotted an issue with my original recording. I may do another version, perhaps with more mandolin.
  9. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Here's the new version. It has more mandolin in it, too!

    Don't worry, I won't make a habit of posting successive drafts here. But I thought I'd leave the first version up since some of you have already commented on it and it permits a comparison with the second recording.



    Soprano: Fylde Touchstone Walnut mandolin, Blue Moon octave mandola, GT Instruments cornamuse, Clarke tin whistle
    Alto: cornamuse
    Tenor: whistle
    Bass and chords: octave mandola

    The tenor part is funny - it has just two notes and seems to be there just for harmony. You'll barely hear it.

    The pictures are from the Provence and from here in Kent.
  10. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    This is probably my favourite tune that you’ve done Dennis. You’ve given it a very real 400 years ago feel.
    It’s easy to imagine each instrument played by a different person and each of them in a small communal group.

    It’s like a painting.
    Well done for persevering in this style in order to achieve what I guess you had already imagined.
  11. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    A good mix and use of the different instruments, Dennis. A softer sound than the Soundcloud version you posted first in this thread.
  12. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Yes, that maybe it John.
    How do you get that sound Dennis? It’s like being in a tavern.
    At one stage I considered using the chatter in a pub as a background for a tune.
    -like adding seagulls and sea shore on soundtracks.
  13. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    I really like this new version, Dennis. Sounds somewhat originally.
  14. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Thank you for the kind words! The unusual mandolin sound in the first few bars happened by serendipity and can't be reproduced. Basically, I had an earlier mandolin part with drones, in which I didn't think the melody came out clearly enough. So I recorded another mandolin part over it, just playing the melody line. While I was doing this, the rain started and made a lot of noise in my conservatory/music room. The noise reduction feature in Audacity made the track usable, but left a little sound of raindrops and a slightly other-worldly mandolin sound. I liked it so much that I kept it in the recording - after all, the title and lyrics mention water.

    Using pub chatter as a sound effect is a great idea, Simon. I like music with sound effects. The atmosphere really makes a difference.
  15. Brian560
    Brian560
    I like that version Dennis. I also think the cornamuse sits better in the mix. It is a bit mellowed so that you can hear the other instruments. All of the instruments and your arrangement works well. Interesting that Simon should mention pub sounds, I had just recorded my local coffee shop . Most times the background noise is annoying with digital recordings. The software leaves weird artifacts to many ambient sounds and those annoying sounds always crop up at the worst times. I miss the hissing of cassette tapes and the crackling of vinyl.
  16. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    I look forward to hearing that coffee shop recording, Brian! Thank you for your comments, I agree that the later mix is better.
  17. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    That re-take sounds very nice, Dennis -- well done!

    When it comes to pub sounds, the gold standard is the 1992 CD "Music At Matt Molloy's", recorded live at his pub in Westport, Co. Mayo, to capture a pub session feeling. Wonderful album, and the background pub noises, glasses clinking and chat at the bar adds a lot to the feel. There are three full tracks as preview on Matt's site: Link. Great version of "Kilkelly"!

    Martin
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