Lindisfarne (waltz)

  1. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    This is a waltz written by Northumbrian piper Matt Seattle, which I am playing on my 1921 Gibson A-Jr mandolin. My version is in C major, which I got from a French session tunebook which is no longer online. However, a very similar transcription in D major is at:

    https://thesession.org/tunes/18058

    I haven't uploaded video footage of me playing for a while (synching multitrack audio to the video is a pain), but with everybody stuck in their homes we can do with any face-to-face contact we're getting!



    Martin
  2. John Kelly
    John Kelly
    So unusual to hear you playing only one instrument, Martin, though from the background you will not run out of instruments for some time. Nice solo effort.
  3. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    I remember the days when Martin only played one instrument...oh god am I that old?
  4. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, John and Ginny. My first actual video since about 2012, since when the quality of webcams has improved a lot. The instruments hanging on the wall behind me are (left to right) my Suzuki mandocello, two German waldzithers and a French Gelas-type mandolin. My other instruments are in the cases below them.

    Lindisfarne is an interesting tune in that it's tempting to start it too fast and then fall apart at the semi-quaver runs in the B part. After some false starts, I settled on pretty much the same tempo as the composer himself used on the pipes (link).

    Martin
  5. Ginny Aitchison
    Ginny Aitchison
    Martin...where do you live. I often think of bowlbacks of being used more by Europeans..but somehow I thought you were in the USA.
  6. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Hi Ginny -- not in the USA, I'm afraid. I'm originally German but moved to the UK in the early 90s and now live in North Wales.

    No bowlback in the video, by the way. The instruments hanging on the wall are all flatbacks. There are three bowlback in their cases, but I don't think you can make them out in the video.

    Martin
  7. Christian DP
    Christian DP
    Nice playing, great sound!
  8. Frithjof
    Frithjof
    Amazing clean picking, Martin.
    Nice attic you have.
  9. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Christian and Frithjof. I deliberately played this tune without tremolo to get the great chiming sustain of the Gibson across. With such a slow and sparse tune, clean picking is crucial as there is no room for mistakes or buzzy notes as they just stand out.

    Martin
  10. Gelsenbury
    Gelsenbury
    I want a music room like that! Thank you for the good idea to emulate face-to-face contact as far as possible.
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