Fine recording, Martin! I really enjoy the tenor guitar melody. but the mandolin parts also sound nice.
Fylde Signature Touchstone Mandolin Faith Parlour Guitar (Naked Mercury) I was inspired to learn this tune after hearing Sam Powers play it on Mandolin Mondays recently (#309). Obviously, Sam’s mandolin playing is much better than mine…but I like the tune and enjoyed playing it (even with a few minor mishaps).
Fine performance there, John. Lovely balance between guitar and mandolin.
Nicely done, John. A great tune I seemed to have missed all these years.
You let your mandolin sing with amazing tone, John.
Very nice, John -- great tone from both instruments, and clearly you have figured out how to do picture-in-picture multitracking, which I have been too lazy to learn for the past several years... This tune has been a favourite of mine for many years, and we play it fairly often with our rehearsal group, using Evelyn's arrangement which I have recorded in 2019 and posted in this thread. I should probably update that recording as it is a bit heavy on tremolo. Martin
The mandolin and the guitar go together well, optically and acoustically. You play this waltz with a nice swing, John.
Many thanks for the positive comments John, David, Frithjof, Martin and Christian. David - I can already hear the tune ringing from that Sobell. Martin - As I pretty much view everything on my iPad I haven't looked back at earlier versions in the thread. As regards the video editing (inserting one within another) it isn't difficult...I managed it! I therefore suggest you give it a try...the Christmas break provides the opportunity.
Beautiful groove, John! Roger Bucknall would be pleased with the music you play on his mandolin.
I also seemed to have missed this one all these years, and you really do it justice, John. Very nice.
Thanks Dennis - I think I’ll have to settle for being satisfied myself with the music I play on the Fylde mando…rather than wait for any comments from RB. Thank you bbcee - If I did it justice, I’m very happy.
Lovely version John W. You got a really nice sound here with the feeling this particular waltz, one I have on my to do list.
I've just recorded a new version of this old-time waltz, mellowing it down from my 2019 version earlier this this thread: I've slowed the tempo, played without tremolo and removed the second mandolin harmony to give the tune more air to breathe. Not necessarily better but a very different feel. Based on Evelyn's arrangement, which we play regularly with our group. 1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin Suzuki MC-815 mandocello Vintage Viaten tenor guitar https://youtu.be/9KtrvT98PY0 Martin
Thank you, Frank…I look forward to hearing your version in the future…no rush… A nice variation to the performance of the tune, Martin. BTW all…I need to test my initial observation…but I seem to be able to view older videos on my iPad….has anyone else experienced the same?
These are fine versions of a great tune. And yes, Mandolin Cafe has updated its YouTube embed code, and videos all work on iPad now - well done!
Here's a version played by a real owl
Amazing mandolin playing by the owl. I assume it learned a lot from its friend Bob. It’s fun to watch these animated characters in your videos, David.
Only a real owl could play that well…toy owls have their place, though.
Yes, it's amazing what he's able to accomplish with those feathers.
Great improvisational playing around the melody with a smooth tremolo, David.
Lovely tune and playing, David. I assume the bird is playing a bOWLback instrument here? Sorry, could not resist doing that!
What a hoot.
I’m sure he’ll appreciate the mandOWLin humour…
Whooo could doubt it?
Strange to see the animal up there on highland, they usually prefer the lOWLand. Fine playing ALL.
Sorry, readers, I feel responsible for starting all the hOWLers being perpetrated in this thread. Should be better by the New Year.
With enough whisky on Hogmanay: growl, drivel, fowl, shovel, trouble, ow! hobble...
I wanted to do something different with this tune but I wasn't successful. I forced myself to finish it today. When you spend a lot of time on something it's good dot the t's and cross the i's. Played on mandolin, concertina, tenor guitar, guitar, double bass and cello. My intonation on the cello is a bit wonky in parts but I'm not going to redo it now. So suffer!!
Nicely arranged and beautifully played. Your particular lineup of instruments is certainly unusual and very interesting, even to those of us here who have been listening to your music for years. Well done!
Man, nice harmony in that b part.
Four Davids for the price of one! Fine arrangement and your usual excellent playing and delivery.
Nicely done, David…despite the self criticism.
Great versions since John W. revived this great tune. I've had this Frankie Rodgers version in my study list for prob a couple years trying to figure out WHAT he's doin'! He has such a mysterious and dramatic feel, boy. But after JWs' post had me revisit , and with 2 more years of studying fiddlers, I figured some things out. So here's my attempt at Frankies', no relation, version. Oh, and for SAW info, the last chord was a total mistake, that was like trippin' over gold, so I left it. Thanks 4 Listen'n!
Frank, every time you play like this, it makes me feel bad... i can't find the right praise in my high praise box ... none is enough...
Very nice version Frank
Two beautiful versions by David and Frank.
A most enjoyable version, Frank. I like your individual touches and embellishments throughout your playing.
I behold much beauty in the performances of David and Frank. Well done guys, also nice to learn interesting techniques. Thanks!
Well worth waiting for, Frank.
Well worth all the suffering, David. Frank, a very cool version. Very innovative.
This is an interesting tune, and everyone is putting their own stamp on it. I enjoy all the recent submissions, in which you all set a very high standard for quality. In many ways, Frank's version is perhaps the most like this one, apparently from the composer of the piece: https://youtu.be/B2IwkS4xHIc When I first heard this, it sounded to me like a different melody altogether. This is because I had first encountered this tune in the slower, mellow-to-sad versions that seem to have been adopted by more recent artists. Consequently, the sheet music available on the web doesn't correspond entirely to any of the recorded versions I know. It's a relatively recent composition by a known composer, but seems to have undergone the "folk process" of aural transmission, interpretation and reinvention already. I'm learning this tune at the moment, trying to combine the joyfulness of the original with the nice melodic variations of subsequent versions. Who knows whether I'll get to the end of that journey!
Thanks Guys! And thanks Dennis for posting Frankies' version. As you can hear mine is a copy of his, I wish it was my arrangement. But it begs the question, why, do all the tabs and music out there have it so different. IMHO this arrangement is what makes it really unique as pretty aggressive waltz, with a " Native American" or "Jumbalya" style rythum.
A good question, and I think perhaps the reason is that it became part of a different canon when it was included on Altan's "Another Sky" CD in the year 2000, and was probably mutated by others along the way. Thile and Daves' version is different again. In the liner notes to Altan's CD the writer of the tune is listed as "Trad." Of course, this could be an ordinary mistake.
I like both new versions played by SAW members, David's multiinstrumentalist approach as well as Frank's mandolin virtuoso abilities,
What a hoot ! Great tune by all. David H was practicing social distancing by letting only one person sit in the row of four chairs at one time.
Great rendition of Frankie's triplets and phrasing, Frank! And of course the two David's each have played the tune with their usual inimitable style -- great work! Yes, this is something that has struck me ever since I first played the tune, many years ago: we have a great recording by the actual writer of the tune, but pretty much all subsequent recording decide to take the tune somewhere else completely. I said as much in my 2019 posting on the first page of this thread: "The various transcriptions online vary a lot. Evelyn's is quite a bit different to the version Criss has recorded -- the tempo and phrasing in my version is more or less in line with Jay and Molly's recording (just not as good). Thile's version is much slower, whereas Frankie Rodgers' original recording is very fast indeed (and differs in many other respects from all the subsequent covers)." For the recording I made last week, I went slower and more mellow than my 2019 version, but listening to Frank made me feel that maybe I should have gone to other way. I just did a quick run through of the same arrangement (by Evelyn) but taking it at the faster speed. I haven't decided yet which I prefer, so for now this has been uploaded here on the Cafe only, not on Youtube -- the take needs some more work, I think. Comments welcome as to whether this works! <Removed -- need to record that again...> Note that while this has a lot of triplets, they are quite different from those used by Frankie Rodgers -- they are Evelyn's take on what Jay Ungar and Molly Mason played in their version as linked above. Martin
David, that Altan version really has something going for it. Maybe my Celtic genes are swaying me towards it? Jerry Douglas's dobro is such a great addition to the arrangement too. Martin. there seems to be a slight mismatch in the sync between your melody and the rhythm in this version you have posted - the two seem not to sit easily together?
Thanks, John. Yes, I think you're right. The rhythm didn't sound right when I mixed it yesterday, which is why I didn't put the faster take on Youtube but only here on the Cafe. I think I have now figured out why: my triplets are too long and leak into the next beat. With my current method of recording, the pulse in the lead playing must be perfect as the accompaniment is added afterwards. In this case, my bars are nice and even but in each bar with a triplet the second note doesn't quite start on the second beat and it goes wonky. It's because I learned the tune (and the triplets) at a slower tempo and have to re-learn them. I may or may not try again today -- if not, my slow take from last week sounds OK, I think. Martin
Martin, is it that you are not able to listen to your currently recorded tracks over headphones while laying down a new track? I never seem to see you wearing headphones and I always marvel at how you can do so many tracks on a tune that way.
Hi David. I only use the headphones for the additional tracks that are overdubbed later -- the melody track is recorded "blind", without click track, and that is what you seen me playing in the video. I changed to this system about 18 months ago (when I restarted posting videos of myself instead of slide shows) as I found that the click track is too rigid. My new way produces more musical videos in most instances, but it only works if the timing of the lead track is perfect. Sometimes I only find it that it wasn't when I try to fit an accompaniment over it. Martin
