The Good Ship Planet

  1. dustyamps
    dustyamps
    From O'Neill's Music of Ireland. I find it difficult to learn tunes just from the sheet music but I always find fun ones like this.
  2. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    I was just about to start a new thread when I noticed that we do already have one for this tune.

    "The Good Ship Planet" is a traditional Irish air in jig time which appears in O'Neill's "Music Of Ireland", where it is #435. My recording is based on a setting by Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni in her wonderful "Evelyn's Big Book for Mandolins for the year 2015". I play it twice through on tenor guitar, first with accompaniment on second tenor guitar, then with mandocello and mandolin harmonies added.

    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar (x2)
    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin (high harmony)
    Suzuki MC-815 mandocello (low harmony)


    https://youtu.be/MIhpadHevZk

    Evelyn describes it as an air, and her arrangement lends itself to that. I note that it's listed as a jig at The Session. The ABC they have is very similar to Evelyn's melody part, except that she has transposed it down to F from the original G:

    X: 2
    T: Good Ship Planet
    R: jig
    M: 6/8
    L: 1/8
    K: Gmaj
    E/F/|:G>AF G>EF|GAB d>Bd|efe d>BA|GF{A}G B2 F|
    ~G3 {A}G>EF|G>AB dBd|efe dBG|1 {ABc}A>GG G2 E/F/:|2 {AB}AGG G2 G/A/||
    |:B>cB gag|fed e>dA|B>AG {A}GFE|{F}E>FG/A/ B2 E/F/|
    GAF GEF|G>AB dBd|e>fe dBG|1 A>GG G2 G/A/:|2 A>G{A}G G3||

    Martin
  3. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    A fine recording of Evelyn’s arrangement, Martin. The chosen instruments sound very well together.
  4. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    That's a very nice melody! It works at the slower speed. Not all jigs are fast, anyway. I'm sure the boundaries are fluid.
  5. David Hansen
    David Hansen
    Thanks to Dusty and Martin for playing this tune. I was really impressed by the sound of Martin's tenor guitar I had to try it on my own. Played on a Fletcher tenor guitar GDAE, a Wheatstone English concertina, a Santa Cruz OM guitar and a StringWorks cello. The supporting players only appear in still frames because it takes too much time to edit four separate videos.

  6. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    That's certainly a fast response, David! I decided to learn this tune after hearing Martin play it, and suddenly your video appeared! That concertina really knows how to tell a good story.
  7. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Oh, yes! Great storytelling by both lead instruments faithful supported by bass and guitar.
  8. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks for your kind words, Frithjof and Dennis -- it's a really nice tune, and I'm not sure why it isn't better known. Intriguing title, somehow a Gaia/SciFi vibe to it, despite it appearing in O'Neill's more than a century ago.

    David: wonderful recording, and I'm glad to have given the inspiration for you getting the tenor and concertina out!

    Martin
  9. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Two nice versions. David is very inventive with his videos. Sometimes they involve hats, sometimes ghosts or magical musical chairs, it's like a box of cracker jacks, you never know what you'll get. But it's always worth it.
  10. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Well played both. The earth can be seen as a ship Martin, albeit a vessel that’s happily adrift.
    And thanks for the quick response David, you motivated me to get on up the mountain and record some tunes in relative tranquility.
  11. John W.
    John W.
    Great versions, both Martin and David.
  12. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    I had such high hopes for this tune and all the others I've been working on. But the good ship planet is in trouble, and who knows whether we can get it into calmer waters? It's a time to take responsibility, but also to be grateful for the good ship on which we travel.


    https://youtu.be/NgaCXsc9Du4
  13. Simon DS
    Simon DS
    Leading the way Dennis. Yay! Losts for words, beautiful. Nostalgic and timeless feeling, past and future.
  14. bbcee
    bbcee
    Beautifully played, Dennis. Your mando's tone exactly matches the feel of the melody. Nice video work as well.
  15. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    A fine job, Dennis. It is a lovely tune. Good to see you posting again.
  16. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Responsibility, yes, we need that. But responsibility takes brains, and those have always been in short supply. Too many thinking "did the planet ever care for me?", mistaking the "powers that be" for the planet.
    Am I the only one hearing traces of "Both Sides the Tweed" in the melody?
  17. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    A very nice video with fine music, Dennis!
  18. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    Thank you all for those nice comments! It's interesting, what you said ... I seem to fall into some musical moods more easily than others, and this particular mandolin does indeed sound mellow quite naturally. I'll do some thinking about what I can do with that.

    I hadn't noticed a similarity with "Both sides the Tweed", but you've reminded me there of something I also wanted to record!
  19. Frankdolin
    Frankdolin
    That was really real Dennis. Love your peaceful vibe while you enjoy playing!
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