This week's winner is Carloan's Receipt for Drinking. It's a tune by O'carolan. I took an unplanned trip and am posting from my phone, so I would appreciate some member posting some links!
Here's ABC's from the Session: X: 1 T: Carolan's Receipt Z: Atanos S: https://thesession.org/tunes/1493#setting1493 R: reel M: 4/4 L: 1/8 K: Gmaj |g>f | edcB cBAG | E2 G>A G2 g>f | edcB cBcd | e2 AB A2 Bc | dBde d2 ef | g2 fe d2 BA | BAGE AGED | E2 GA G2 || Bc | dBde dBAG | EFGA G2 Bc | dBde d2 Bd | e4 e3 g | G2 G/2A/2B A2 AB/2c/2 | B2 c/2d/2e d3 d | efgf edBd | e4 e2 ga | babg agae | gfgd edcB | cBcd efgf | edeB A4 | BcBA G2 eg | dgBA G3 A | BAGE AGED | E2 GA G2 || Here's a link to a pdf version with chords:https://app.box.com/s/00xaokon9bscb71642uy07cj3796gpjz Here's my video: Here's a really nice version: Here's one on mandora:
Thanks, David!!
Bravo, David!
Solo mandolin recording of another beautiful O'Carolan tune.
Lovely versions by David and dustyamps. I haven’t posted anything of my own here in ages, but here’s an attempt. Bob Michel Near Philly
Nicely done Bob, that Breedlove sounds really crisp and clean, excellent backup as well.
Very enjoyable versions all!
Great versions, all. I especially enjoyed the Helen Marshall version on the Yamaha. Lovely sound and a superb player.
It’s indeed a joy to listen to all versions. I worked on the version provided in O’Neill’s Music for Ireland. It’s recognizable the same tune but differs in some phrases. I was crazy enough to play all ornamentations like printed. As a consequence you hear a gap when I shift in an upper position to play an embellishment – not very professional. This documentary task is done. Now I can work on my own version.
these all sound great !
Two further fine versions, Frithjof and Bob. My offering is in a slower tempo, influenced I am sure by that fine nylon-string guitar version. Also, whisky needs to be enjoyed slowly! I recorded this one using a Tascam DR-05 alongside the camcorder then I loaded the Tascam file into Reaper and added the guitar track, rendering the mix as an mp3. Impressed with the quality of the Tascam recorder when compared to my usual condenser mics set-up.
John, that's a nice performance and a nice recording. Both parts present their own challenges.
John Kelly, you've achieved the impossible and nearly miraculous task of playing rubato (hope I'm using the right word for the variable-speed parts) in a way that (FWIW) I actually like. The way you play it, it all just flows together great, and the nicely-done slow-downs don't sound annoying or awkward. I admit I ordinarily have a bias against rubato because I'm so accustomed to straight-on-the-beat dance tunes where the tempo isn't variable, and ordinarily any slowdowns are just going to mess with the beat and interfere with one's foot-tapping ability, but your playing might make me revise my opinion of such things. Guess it all just depends on the player and how they handle their interpretation of the tune. In any case, very nice!
Thanks, both. Re the rubato feel, JT, and the difference between this and strict tempo playing; I am heavily influenced by all the Scottish tunes that are such a big part of our repertoire over here. We have very strict time tunes for dancing (jigs, reels, Strathspeys to name but three), especially for those dances which are part of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society and are very different in feel and execution from those dances we might call Ceilidh Dancing. Pipe tunes, especially the various marches in 2/4, 6/8, 4/4 and so on, are also played at a fixed tempo; makes marching in step and in time a bit easier! Interestingly, pipers will tend to play those tunes at a slower tempo than when the tunes are adopted as dance tunes by ceilidh bands. One of the fun moments at our weekly session is when we have pipers there (Scottish small pipes) and the fiddlers and others will raise the tempo! From the world of the Slow Air and from the great fiddle traditions we have so many marvellous tunes and composers, and with the slow air the tempo becomes more fluid and gives the player a lot of scope to put his/her feel to the tune. I remember a very fine fiddle player saying to me that playing a slow air was the musical equivalent of telling a story - the bare words are the notes and the narrator has to put in the phrasing, with the subtle speed changes and other vocal devices and inflections, to bring the story alive. This pearl of wisdom has always stuck with me. Thanks again for kind comments.
John -I notice you have chosen to play all downstrokes and Ithink this has contributed to the smoothness of the sound.
All versions are nice, and I particularly enjoy learning about rubato and listening to that style (is it a 'style'?) played so lovely. It made the tune... feel right, I guess. Thank you, John Kelly.
I recorded this tune a few days ago, but have only just got around to uploading it. Looking for a good setting, I stumbled upon a corner of the Cafe website that I didn't know existed: Scott Tichenor's very own Carolan arrangements, in standard notation and mandolin tab: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ocarolan/ Very nice arrangements and presentation. The only slight niggle is that in the PDF for Carolan's Receipt, the note symbols on the first line are slightly shifted upwards, which makes them unreadable -- I had to use the tab instead. 1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin Vintage Viaten tenor guitar Pictures for my slide show are from County Kerry, mainly showing pub fronts (to go with the title of the tune). I enjoyed the other versions a lot, particularly John's and David's. Like many Carolan tunes, this is another that works in all sort of setting, slow or fast, each with a completely different feel. Martin
You spotted my economical pick action then, MM! I very often use only down strokes, especially on slower tunes, as they can give a more consistent and smoother sound, as you mention. Kay, all discussions on style or technique are very useful and we all pick up ideas from everyone else (one of the joys of this SAW group). I was at a workshop a week or so back and the two musicians running it were a fiddler and a guitarist/flautist. It was interesting to listen to the flute and have the fiddler suggest ways that the fiddle players could try to adapt the flute player's techniques. When the flautist was playing guitar both he and I had quite different ways of playing the suggested backings. Martin, fine playing as always and thanks too for the link to the Carolan material from Scott.
Awesome contributions on this by all! Another Slow Air - and a masterful rendering by John Kelly. The rubato playing of melody and accompaniment feels seamless, John. Thank you for that interpretation. I continue to practice Da Slockit Light slowly hoping to at least make an approach to that Slow Air feel that you render so well. I have a question, John, I'm not very knowledgeable about hardware, and don't get this reference: "Impressed with the quality of the Tascam recorder when compared to my usual condenser mics set-up." It seems to indicate that your "usual condenser mic set-up" is incompatible with a Tascam recorder? Did you run a different type of pickup into the Tascam? Trying to learn a bit about hardware here as well.
Hi Mark, and thanks for kind comments. Re the Tascam. It is a self-contained pocket-sized digital recorder with two stereo mics fitted to it, though it has the mini-jack input for another mic should I want to plug one in. I just use it straight from the box with its two built-in mics, and I can then upload the tracks from it into the computer for mixing, etc. It records in .wav and .mp3 format and the point I was making was that the recording quality I get from it, using the .wav form, is as good as the quality I get from my usual set-up, which is through an Edirol USB UA-25 which has two separate inputs, both of which have the ability to take condenser mics. Those mics give very good reproduction especially with acoustic instruments. The Edirol is connected to my laptop (still using Windows XP!) and I use Reaper as the recording software, which allows me to record a track, then play it back while listening to it on headphones and recording more tracks alongside the first one, so giving me multi-tracking facilities and the ability to mix the tracks, add effects and do things like stereo panning to separate the instruments (and lots more facilities I do not use). There are lots of different DAWs (digital audio workstations) available, one of the best-known being Audacity, which is a free dowload; many professional studios use Pro Tools and Cubase. Users of Apple computers have access to Garage Band among others. A warning - when you get into recording, it can really get a hold of you and siak up far too much of your time, but it is great fun!
John, thanks for that explanation. I've never used a Tascam nor even checked the specs on one; I've heard them mentioned a bit. I just rigged a clip-on AT PRO 35 last week to use for gigging with mandolin. I do have a DAW which I've only begun to meddle with a bit. It's the Ableton Lite software, and I have the Focusrite ScarlettSolo for an interface. I haven't tried the mic with that setup yet though. I've only tested it through my amp, and it sounds great for live amplified playing.
Here is my attempt. If I waited for perfection, I would never post anything. I am still working on this one.
That is a fine version, Brian, with clean picking. Might I suggest that you work on left hand fingers, to try to keep your fingers closer to the fingerboard after each note? You seem to lift them very high off the board and this means you have further to come back from each time - I am a "lazy" player and try to move as little as possible (see MM's comments above re my pick direction!). Good sound from your mandolin too!
John, thanks for the advice. I have noticed that other people have much less movement when fretting , that also might help with those occasional dead notes. The recording angst also is presenting a few problems, but I am still working on it !
You are not alone with the recording jitters, Brian. It is sometimes called the Flashing Red Light Syndrome - you play a tune several times over, getting it pretty much perfect, then you decide to switch on the recorder and suddenly you are all thumbs and the notes do not come out as you want and you can even forget a tune you have fully commited to memory earlier. Remember that the postings you see here from many of us are the umpteenth take after scrapping the previous ones because of errors. As you say, the answer is to keep working on it.
Another late entry from me, after lurking (and practicing) for weeks. Thanks for the many good examples, especially David, Bob and John. I have used John K's rubato approach and tried to play a harmony note on every other beat or so.
Rubato rules, Manfred! Lovely version and the double stop harmonies work well in your arrangement.
Well done, Manfred!
that is a nice version Manfred. very well played
Sounds good, Manfred!
Thanks for all the kind words, guys. Brian, after almost 150 videos I still have the recording jitters syndrome sometimes. I don't know how many times I made a mistake in the first bar of this recording after playing it error-free many times without the recording light. But you will see that it gets better with time.
That's a nice sweet version, Manfred!
Very pleasant version Manfred - liked the double stops. Here is my attempt with guitar backing.
I discovered another distinguished thread here when I went to post. But no one seems to have related the story behind the tune (at least apocryphally). O'Carolan was told by his doctor that if he didn't give up drinking whiskey he would die. O'Carolan wisely sought a second opinion from his friend Dr John Stafford, who was clearly a credit to the medical profession. Stafford said that he would write him a prescription (or receipt) for whiskey, if Carolan would write him a tune. And here it is. As you can see, my whisk(e)y prescription is also in need of a refill.
You play fine, even with the bottles almst empty.
Richard, as well as playing the tune, thank you for the storey behind it. Good luck stocking up.
Good to revive this thread after more then five years with such a nice recording.
Hard times are nearly over Richard Great playing, nice tone as usual.
Thank you all. Not sure of the basis for hard times being over, Simon, except that you were just visiting the other thread. And of course these O'Carolan anecdotes are almost certainly untrue, but whatever. Christian, think how much better I might play if the bottles were full.
A fine revival of this great tune, Richard. Almost six years have elapsed since the thread was active. Another one I had forgotten about in the intervening years. Your version (and your illustrations) are both very enjoyable.
You are very kind, John. My own opinion is that the illustrations are the more enjoyable.
Oh I didn't mean anything by that Richard. Apologies if that's how it sounded. I was just talking about the transition to wines when the hard alcohol runs out. (Often I write things here on MC that later I'd prefer to remove or edit when I suddenly become aware of some other meaning!)
Simon, no need to apologize. I didn't take it badly at all - I apologize for a reply that sounded a bit sharp. Actually, I was just amused that I had followed you over here from the "hard times" thread when it was probably still in both our heads. But I still haven't replenished my whisky supply.
We have at least two threads of this tune, but this seems to be the more active one. I enjoyed these recordings and was struck by the variety. A lively tempo would make sense given Carolan's elation at being allowed to drink whiskey again, but I've always thought of this as a slow tune. As usual, I felt inspired by one of my mandolin heroes - Robin Bullock on his "Majesty and Magic" album - although my version sounds nothing like his.
Good addition to the thread, Dennis. With interesting guest contributions from your collection of instruments.
I tried to get some duduk in there, but couldn't find the notes of the G scale!
A really different imagining of this beautiful piece, Dennis, and I think it works perfectly.
Sounds beautiful, Dennis, the slower tempo suits the tune.
Lovely relaxed summer feeling, Dennis and the slow stately tempo too. Is that shiver a tremolo in the background? Love it! I checked the mug chords - you didn't play any G7 chords in there. The duduk would have been nice too but I like the way you've played it with more pure tones.
