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Any Gordon Duncan fans here? I've started to arrange a whole load of his tunes for mandolin and bass, but this is probably his most famous tune. This arrangement is partly improvised and I admit is a bit rough around the edges. Still, I wanted to show off my vintage Old Wave 10 string featured here. I'm still getting used to it. Beautiful to play, but, that top string is very temperamental and I keep breaking strings. Broke 3 trying to record this this afternoon!!!!
https://youtu.be/lDwrivqWBSM
Nice!
Yeah, my fiddler S.O. hangs out with pipers, so I've been drawn into some Duncan tunes. :)
One of the pipers at a local session plays "Ian Green of Greentrax" so I've been working on that one lately, but haven't got the whole thing down. It's a tricky tune... deceptively simple in the first two parts, and then the third part goes nuts with a pattern of repetitive climbing notes that isn't "logical," and just has to be burned into muscle memory. Here's a link to Gary West doing it on smallpipes (I didn't post the full video embed because it's pipes, not mandolin, just check it out if you're interested):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZT1X_njjsA
I've played it a few times with the piper at the session, but until now I've been "ghosting" that third part, and I really should get it down. Next up will probably be Duncan's "The High Drive," because they play that one around here too. Not too hard, but a bunch of parts to memorize.
Gordon was a very fine and innovative piper, Robbie, and his tunes are in demand up here in Scotland among many players. A lot of the young musicians are adding GD tunes to their repertoires, and not just pipers but fiddlers and other instrumentalists. They can sound great on whistles as well.
Your arrangement and playing of this one does you great credit and you have prompted me to go and dust down my copy and get it up to scratch again - we often play Sleeping tune and the Famous Baravan at our Thursday evening sessions, often with a very good flute player. Thanks for posting.
Really good, well done. Harmonics on the bass are a lovely light touch.
Thank you everyone for the lovely comments.
I have this mad idea to do an EP of my Gordon Duncan arrangements. So far I have:
Zeto the Bubbleman, arranged for 3 basses (yes, you read that correctly!)
Pressed for Time and the Ramnee Ceilidh
High Drive
Alex's Haircut and Blow my Chanter, for mandolin ensemble.
There is so much humour in Gordon's music, amazing really as he was such a troubled soul.
Robbie
That is an absolutely wonderful tune- going to add it to my list of tunes to arrange. Thank you :)Quote:
Originally Posted by foldedpath
Somehow I found Duncan's tunes shortly after I began playing my mandolin. I've had a copy of Sleeping Tune from Nigel Gatherer's website as well as this one from mandolintab.net
http://www.mandolintab.net/tabs.php?...0Tune&id=08166
FWIW...I never really spent time listening to Irish, Scottish music until I found this place. Now I'm trying to learn as many as I can. Great stuff!!