OK, here we are at the third installment of revisiting past poll winners! This discussion has been dormant since 2011! I hope that means its a new one for most of you, and we will see a lot of contributions!
Last Sunday I played a concert in our living room for friends, family and shared it. This great tune was on the list and so it’s ready to send. Thanks for watching.
Bernd, again your video link seems not to work!
John, I can see and hear it on my tablet. Don’t know what’s wrong. Here is the link to you tube. https://youtu.be/UbYkdBfIKXU My channel is: merryblacksmith Hope that helps. Bernd
Oops I’ve got a problem with it too, I live in France. Maybe it’s a privilege/permissions issue on YouTube? First one was fine.
I think it's an embedding issue - I can't see Bernd's video in this thread, but I can see them on his channel. When using the "YOUTUBE" button, you need to enter only the 11-character video ID, not the entire URL. In your case that's "UbYkdBfIKXU". That's different from other method of embedding, using the "VIDEO" button. See if this works (Bernd's video, not mine): Martin
Thanks Martin
Nice one, Bernd. Thanks for posting, Martin. That YouTube individual url can be a real pest for folk who have not grasped that it needs to be abridged as you point out.
Very nicely played Bernd. (I ran into the same problem when trying to post a video here recently.)
This was one of the first few tunes I had learned on the mandolin a few years ago and thought I could really play it fast. My brother in law, who is a fantastic fiddle player and I were jamming at a family get together, and I launched into this - at a very up-tempo pace for me, and was feeling rather proud, and then my brother in law asked, "where's the triplets?" Kind of took the air right out of my sails! I have been trying and trying to get up to speed with them darn things, but playing them fast and getting started and stopped when you are supposed to seems to be beyond my ability's Anyway, here is a slowed down version with lots of errors and tinny sounding E strings, but with my attempt at throwing in triplets.
That's an excellent effort, BH. The triplets certainly add to the tune. Here is my octave version, again recorded on Sanyo camcorder and Tascam DR-05. The only processing was to convert the Tascam wav file to mp3 to compress the size of the file for uploading, and topping and tailing the video clip to remove the switching on and off of the camera! The opening chord is again to help me sync camcorder sound with the Tascam mp3. I deleted the camcorder sound track. I set the camcorder to give me a monochrome film for a change.
Good work, everyone! You're all obviously making good use of the enforced time indoors.
Good work everybody! Good to see John going the CBOM route -- I'm taking this one step further... This is one of the first tunes I tried when I picked up the mandolin, but I haven't played it for at least a decade, and wasn't yet participating when it originally came up in the SAW group. I've recorded the tune on mandocello to see how this works -- it's not an obvious instrument for Irish jigs. I'm using the tune variant with the B part an octave lower, to stay in the mandocello range. Suzuki MC-815 mandocello Martin
Thanks guys. John - nice, and love the tone on your octave - I've been kind of keeping my eye out for a nice used one due to the lower register. Martin - very nice, and great sounding instrument. I intended to purchase a mandocello for several months, ever since I started learning the Bach Cello Suites on the mandolin - and saw/heard a video of Mike Marshall playing the prelude to Suite 1 - until I actually tried to play one! They are monsters I tried a couple out at Fiddlers Green in Austin Texas while visiting my son, and I got to admit - they are way harder to play than I had imagined. So, I bought a 47 Gibson tenor guitar instead
That mandocello can certainly handle the low end, Martin. Interesting octave drop there on the B part.
Bernd rocking along! John too, BH, how long do I have to practice my triplets?! And Martin that Mandocello is amazing. Does the attic shake when you play that? Great versions guys.
Gave it my best shot...
Thanks for the comments! Bad Habbits: As I said on my other recent mandocello clip (March of the King of Laois), this is a relatively short-scale mandocello, which is a bit more manageable than most. There are certain compromises on the low C string, but this tune doesn't go that low. John: I saw a reference in an online transcription of the tune that the B part can be played an octave lower as a variation, so I decided to do it that way. Otherwise, the highest note in the B part would have been at fret 14 on the top course and my 'cello position playing isn't quite up to doing the shifts at jig tempo. Martin
This is indeed a rough one, folks :-) This is my first time experimenting with recording a 2-track side-by-side video, AND, I only learned this song today. Ooof! Interesting lesson learned? If you are reading music off your computer screen while you record a video of your playing, you are likely to spend a fair amount of time in the video with your mouth hanging slightly open. :-) This all fits though, with a general theme I am fostering in my life: Don't wait until it (whatever "it" is at the moment) is perfect, or you will never share anything. Be awkward, be vulnerable, and share the journey from the first rough start through the next 100 iterations to something you never could have predicted. Something you never would have reached if you waited to start sharing.
Simon, nice delivery. This has been a good revival tune. Lively performance there, Dylan. You are right about just going for it and not waiting till everything is perfect (whatever "perfect" means!) and your video delivery here is a great example of someone who is having a lot of fun.
Six contributions within the first two days … and I haven’t even locked for some sheet music.
Great vid Dylan, it looks like you’re practicing the tune. I usually don’t practice at all, I think it’s a waste of time. Have you tried playing any tunes before hearing them?
I like the percussion effects from Simon's workers. I have this song, John and I did it together..but am busy making face masks from you tube tutorials.
BH - I like the triplets, going to start working some of those in myself now that I saw you doing it. John - very nice work on the tune, and thank you for the encouragement! Simon - Thank you kindly - I did practice that tune, for over an hour! PER INSTRUMENT!!! Such dedication I have As to your vid, I like your flow, and I like the noises of life happening in the background - nicely done
Six fine versions of this well known tune!
Ginny you can use vacuum cleaner bags, the expensive material ones, you just strip off some of the layers, throw out the impermeable stuff. That’s what I do when I go out to a disco or a soccer match or when I get onto a Japanese train. No problem.
Dylan, thanks for the kind words, and a great video with a very appropriate comment about not waiting until 'it' is perfect Although I've been frequenting this site since 2014 and playing mandolin since 2015, I have only recently begun posting video's. Normally I will record and edit, record and edit, fix, record, etc. until I am so sick of the tune I just say the heck with it! Then last week I was struck with the realization that my playing is never going to be as good as I want it to - and then I thought - it's not like the IBMA is going to sue for impersonating a mandolin player - so here I am. Simon - nice job, and I luv the tone of your OM - you guys are really giving me a case of MAS, those deep resonate tones are great!
Wow, more good videos! This is a productive thread. Thanks to Simon for the left-hand study. The economy of movement is very interesting and something to which to aspire.
This has to be one of the most difficult tunes I’ve ever played. And I revisited it just recently, with a capo, so...
Nine more days.....
Only seven tunes left to do. I could do 7 English tunes, no problem!
Here's my go at it!! Irish Washerwoman
Clean picking. Here is your video:
Frithjof beat me to saying "clean picking." My exact thoughts.
Great jig picking, pluckinstrins! You even manage the place, where a g follows immediatly after a c on the same fret.
And nice triplets, too!
Nice to hear from you, fine, competent playing and very steady. Thanks. (Pre-adverted)
My late take on the tune. Recorded this afternoon on my G&O #34 mandolin. The setting is my own personal way with the tune. I'm not a fan of the "egg dgg|cgg B2B" run so I've tailored it a little. And some of the other phrases as well. My version in ABC is roughly as follows: X: 1 T: The Irish Washerwoman R: jig M: 6/8 L: 1/8 K: Gmaj ||:BGG DGG|BGB dcB|cAF DFA|cBc edc| BGG DGG|BGB dcB|cBc Adc|BGG G3:|| ||:gdB GBd|gdg bag|fdA DFA|fdf agf| ege ded|cdc B2B|cBc Adc|BGG G3:||
Aidan – you did some great recordings today. I prefer the tone of the G&O #34 but of course it isn’t fair to compare it with your new acquisition with old strings…
Nice wee variations on the usual phrases, Aidan, and a "sensible" pace that lets the melody come across well.
Very lyrical/melodic version there Aidan, nice, and at a tempo with triplets too.
@Frithjof... many thanks. I'd have to agree with you about the G&O. Best mandolin I've ever owned... Thanks to Michael Gregory for the umpteenth time for crafting such a superb instrument. @John... many thanks. I approached recording this tune with a certain amount of trepidation. For a tune which seems to feature in a lot of people's "beginner" lists, the Washerwoman is actually quite a hard jig to play well... @Simon... many thanks. I have tended in the past few years to avoid playing triplets, particularly in the tune learning videos which I post to YouTube where I aim to present the tunes in bare bones fashion in the hope that such an approach will make it easier for others to pick the tune up. But gradually they've been creeping back into my playing - hopefully in a manner that doesn't in the way of the melody.
