Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 26 to 50 of 73

Thread: John Goodin mandolin duets

  1. #26
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Another entry in my occasional series of recordings of John Goodin's mandolin duos. As posted by John in his Bates thread (here), he has put a whole batch of new and old duos on his blog over the past couple of weeks, all with PDF scores and his own MP3 recordings. Here is my interpretation of two of them.

    This is a set of two waltzes, both originally published in John's book "Midwestern Mandolin Duos". Bighorn River Sunset also appears in Don Julin's book "Mandolin For Dummies". John has kindly posted the scores for both tunes free on his blog:

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/Bighornduet.pdf
    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/Goslingsduo.pdf

    Although the two tunes were posted separately by John, they go together well with Goslings as a coda/trio part to Bighorn River Sunset.

    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin (x2)
    VIntage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin

  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Martin Jonas For This Useful Post:


  3. #27
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Martin, these are nicely done. I really like the combination, I'll use that idea myself. Plus the slide show is fun, very nice transition from sunset to geese!

    John G.

  4. The following members say thank you to John Goodin for this post:


  5. #28
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    It's been a few months again since my last recording of a John Goodin tune.

    I stumbled across this one this afternoon as a solo mandolin piece in a printout of John's tunes that I made some years ago and really liked the tune. To my delight, I then found out that John had added a harmony part since I made my printout, so I obviously had to record it.

    John Goodin (2008): "Alice's Garden"

    This is a waltz written by John in 2008, with harmony part added in 2015. The score is available for free on his blog:

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2015/AlicesGardenduet.pdf

    For my recording of this tune I have used my Mid-Missouri flattop and my vintage Gibson Ajr -- the Mid-Mo starts on the lead with the Gibson on harmony, swapping around for the repeat of the tune.

    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    I went with Alice In Wonderland artwork for the visuals, although I suspect this may not have been John's inspiration for the title.

    Martin

  6. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Martin Jonas For This Useful Post:


  7. #29
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Martin, thanks once again for making a fine recording of one of my tunes. As usual I also enjoyed your choice of images.

    Having said that, you are correct in your suspicion that the tune is unrelated to Mr. Dodgson's young friend. When we moved to Iowa decades ago we would often pass an abandoned vegetable stand on the west side of Highway 51, very near the border with Minnesota. "Alice's Garden" was painted on the sign. Later I met some people who knew and had fond memories of Alice and her quality vegetables.

    On second thought, though, I suppose that our local Alice may have been named after Lewis Carroll's character. I imagine many Alices have been named in that manner.

    I'm always honored to have you playing one of my tunes.

    John G.

  8. The following members say thank you to John Goodin for this post:


  9. #30
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    John Goodin (2017): Grey Sunny Sunday

    This is a waltz with an interesting triplet rhythm that John wrote (or at least published) earlier this year -- the score and John's own (fabulous) recording is at his blog at:

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/Gr...undayplusH.pdf
    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/GreySunnySunday.mp3

    For my own recording, I've kept pretty close to John's arrangement (although my triplets aren't as crisp as his) -- I don't normally listen to his before I try to figure a tune out for myself, but in this instance I wanted to get a better grip on the feel of the tune first. Starting on mandolin melody and tenor guitar, with a second mandolin playing the harmony line on the repeats.

    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin (x2)
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin

  10. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Martin Jonas For This Useful Post:


  11. #31
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Another two entries in my occasional series of John's mandolin duets. To my shame I have only just realised that not only has John managed to upload a new original tune to his blog every single week throughout 2017, but pretty much all of these 52 tunes come with a separate harmony part for duet playing. So, I'll have some catching up to do. I'm looking through this wonderful batch of tunes and have recorded two early favourites, both waltzes:

    1) If Only Now

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/IfOnlyNow-H.pdf



    2) September Waltz

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/SeptemberWaltz.pdf



    Same instrumentation for both tunes:

    1921 Gibson Ajr mandolin (x2)
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar

    Martin

  12. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Martin Jonas For This Useful Post:


  13. #32
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Martin, these are very nicely done. I'm always honored when you choose to play some of my pieces. I especially enjoyed what I think was the tenor guitar taking the melody midway through If Only Now.

    Thanks for your work,

    John G.

  14. #33
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Quote Originally Posted by John Goodin View Post
    Martin, these are very nicely done. I'm always honored when you choose to play some of my pieces. I especially enjoyed what I think was the tenor guitar taking the melody midway through If Only Now.
    Hi John,

    Thanks for the feedback, and of course the tunes -- it helps a lot to have harmony parts for all of them. Yes, the tenor guitar takes the melody halfway through If Only Now, with the lead mandolin dropping to rhythm -- it's a fairly short tune and I wanted some tonal variety as it repeats.

    I tend to gravitate to the waltzes as they're easier to get up to speed, but I'll try out some of the other types of tunes as well.

    Martin

  15. The following members say thank you to Martin Jonas for this post:


  16. #34
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Here is another of John's waltzes, written in May 2017 to celebrate his purchase of a vintage Gibson F4. John's score and his own recording are at:

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/OldGibson.pdf
    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/OldGibson.mp3

    John has written two separate harmony parts for this tune and his own recording starts with just melody and guitar backing, then adds first one and then the other harmony part as it builds. I've combined the parts a bit differently, using the first harmony part initially and switching to the second one on the repeat. I'm also playing the tune a bit slower than John, mainly because the final triplet phrase is a bit fiddly and I haven't got it up to speed yet.

    The photos chosen to go with the tune show my very own old Gibson, as played on the recording, along with some vintage Gibson catalogue pictures.

    1921 Gibson A-Jr mandolin (x2)
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin

  17. #35
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Martin, thanks again for sharing this recording and the great video. I've never met an A Jr. that I didn't like.

    John G.

  18. The following members say thank you to John Goodin for this post:


  19. #36
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Essex UK
    Posts
    1,066

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Thanks both of you.
    - Jeremy

    Wot no catchphrase?

  20. The following members say thank you to derbex for this post:


  21. #37
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    "Ten Easy Duos", Nos. 2 & 3

    Two more of John's 2017 tunes: These are two classical mandolin duos, Nos 2 and 3 in a projected series of ten. Despite the title, John has so far only written three of the ten duos -- I am looking forward to the next seven, if they're as good as these!

    The score is at John's site:

    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/TenEasyDuos-2.pdf
    http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2017/TenEasyDuos-3.pdf

    Whereas John's own recordings are on his Gibson, mine are on a vintage Italian bowlback, which gives a somewhat different feel to the tunes.

    1890s Umberto Ceccherini mandolin (x2)



    Martin

  22. #38
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Martin, thanks once again for airing these pieces out. Nicely played and wonderful image choices.

    I really thought I would write ten of these when I started. I suppose I should get back to that idea someday before too long.

    John G.

  23. #39
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Quote Originally Posted by John Goodin View Post
    Martin, thanks once again for airing these pieces out. Nicely played and wonderful image choices.

    I really thought I would write ten of these when I started. I suppose I should get back to that idea someday before too long.
    Thanks a lot, John. The two duets I have played are really very enjoyable, especially No. 3 (starting at 2:12 in my video), and I would certainly welcome having more duets of this nature.

    It's difficult to put a finger on it, but I have the impression that your composition style has evolved in interesting directions over the past several years, becoming simultaneously more rhythmically varied and more melodic (and "hummable") compared to the earlier tunes which tended to be more abstract. This is not a criticism of the earlier ones -- I'm a big fan of them, in particular St Francis/St Anthony which we play at least once a month with our group -- but your newer ones do have a distinctly different feel. I like it. Keeps it interesting to play around with them.

    Martin

  24. The following members say thank you to Martin Jonas for this post:


  25. #40
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Thanks to Martin's encouragement I got around to recording Easy Duo no. 5 the other day. I've had the piece finished for a while but just didn't get around to recording it.

    There's a minor train wreck at around the 45 second mark. I point this out to elicit your sympathy. I plead a short recording window and beautiful weather outside that made me disinclined to work at lining the two parts up digitally or re-recording the whole thing. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it.

    You can hear my recording at this link: http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2018/TenEasyDuos-5.mp3

    Or, you can find it and the sheet music at my So Many Tunes blog post here:
    https://somanytunes.blogspot.com/201...duos-no-5.html

    John G.

  26. The following members say thank you to John Goodin for this post:


  27. #41
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Indepndence OR
    Posts
    637

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Love your tunes, John; hoping OMO might do one I purchased. Still hoping for a solo mandocello piece: Why don't you write a nice new work for your A and secretly (don't tell CMSA!) transcribe it into a nice K2 bass clef? I would be our dirty little secret!
    Jim

  28. The following members say thank you to Jim Imhoff for this post:


  29. #42
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Quote Originally Posted by John Goodin View Post
    There's a minor train wreck at around the 45 second mark. I point this out to elicit your sympathy. I plead a short recording window and beautiful weather outside that made me disinclined to work at lining the two parts up digitally or re-recording the whole thing. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it.

    You can hear my recording at this link: http://www.mandotopia.com/smt2018/TenEasyDuos-5.mp3
    I especially like John's work because we share the same initials. I kind of like that train wreck — very interesting polyrhythms at that point. Maybe that would be a good title for another composition using that: "Minor Train Wreck". Yes, feel free: you can dedicate it to JG.
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  30. The following members say thank you to Jim Garber for this post:


  31. #43
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Quote Originally Posted by John Goodin View Post
    Thanks to Martin's encouragement I got around to recording Easy Duo no. 5 the other day. I've had the piece finished for a while but just didn't get around to recording it.
    Many thanks, John! I didn't meant to gently hint...

    I've just had a quick stab at sight-reading. Nice, but not as easy as it looks at first sight -- the passage around your "minor train wreck" (I like Jim's suggestion of making a composition out of that) is decidely tricky, mainly because the phrases don't go to where my fingers want to take them.

    I'll stick with it until I get it right!

    Martin

  32. The following members say thank you to Martin Jonas for this post:


  33. #44
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Jonas View Post
    I'll stick with it until I get it right!
    Right or not, here is my recording of Easy Duo No. 5. As with Nos. 2 and 3, I have again used my Ceccherini bowlback. I like the effect of the slow crotchet triplets -- it's like the tune is taking a deep breath.



    All images by Grant Wood, the painter of "American Gothic" and an Iowa native.

    Martin

  34. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Martin Jonas For This Useful Post:


  35. #45

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Hi Martin & John,

    Interesting duets and nice to hear the music played.

    I'd like to add to this thread that I recently found some extra sources for the English "guittar" from the 1750s which also mention the mandolin as an alternative.

    The first is from John Walsh, from 1757 (same as Oswald) and is called "Forty Select Duets". You can read more about them on my blog. It even uses the same spelling in the title page as Oswald ("mandelin").

    Unfortunately, no music, as this is held in the British Library where you have to pay to publish music you find. (If there are some donations I'm tempted to publish them, in my usual modus operandi of an urtext and modern edition.)

    I'll likely post about another guittar/mandolin print from 1759 soon.

    Kind regards
    Pieter

  36. #46
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Decorah, Iowa
    Posts
    758

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Martin, thanks once again for your recordings of my stuff. I also enjoyed the Grant Wood slide show (where I live, in the "driftless" region of northeast Iowa, the land is quite different but most of Iowa really does look the way Grant Wood pictured it) and I note that you skillfully avoided any train wrecks in the middle of the piece.

    Pieter, I was delighted to read of your discoveries and very excited to learn that the word "mandelin" appears on the title page of the Walsh publication. Scholarship is a wonderful thing and you are doing excellent work.

    Of course I would love to see the music itself and I have a suggestion regarding funding. The CMSA (Classical Mandolin Society of America) has a grant program and I think it would be worth your time to apply for money to acquire the permissions from the British Library and publish this music. Here is the link to information about the program:
    https://classicalmandolinsociety.org...-scholarships/

    I see that there is an April 1 deadline for application but I think you could make a case for an exception based on your recent discovery. I would be happy to write an enthusiastic letter in support of such a project to the members of the Grant Committee.

    You can contact me with a private message or via email if you have any questions.

    (Just by chance, yesterday I was finishing up a new piece for 3 mandolins and octave mandolin. I had just changed the title over the weekend to "James Oswald on the Ohio.")

    John G.

  37. The following members say thank you to John Goodin for this post:


  38. #47
    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    6,431

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Quote Originally Posted by happyfanaticsalsero View Post
    The first is from John Walsh, from 1757 (same as Oswald) and is called "Forty Select Duets". You can read more about them on my blog. It even uses the same spelling in the title page as Oswald ("mandelin").
    Hi Pieter,

    Very exciting -- I hope John's suggestion of getting a CMSA grant works out and we can get to see these duets.

    I was aware of Walsh as a publisher but not these duets. Looking online, I have now come across a reference to them on page 53 of this online monograph:

    http://www.justanothertune.com/TheGu...n1753-1800.pdf

    This one confirms the same title as Pieter, i.e. "for two Guitars, Mandelins or Cittars". However, they also quote an advert that appeared in the Public Advertiser which used the spelling "for two Guittars or Mandavines".

    "Mandavines" sounds nicely organic: how's this year's Mandavine crop?

    Martin

  39. The following members say thank you to Martin Jonas for this post:


  40. #48

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Thanks for your suggestion about the grant! I think the Walsh volume deserves to be published, so I will apply. My usual modus operandi is to publish online and for free, and normally having both an urtext edition as well as a modern edition (which is more readable for today's musicians). Likely the cost isn't too big, especially for an online free edition. I'll check with the BL about the exact cost.

    FYI - there is more coming up soon. For some of these volumes I have been able to arrange publication rights, for some the libraries ask money so I might yet have to apply for the grant more than once. (Considering I have been able to find about 26 mandolin related prints prior to 1850 previously unknown or thought lost.)

  41. The following members say thank you to happyfanaticsalsero for this post:


  42. #49

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    FYI - next article published. Next to Walsh's print Forty Select Duets (London, 1757) and the well-known one by Oswald, Eighteen Divertimentos (London, 1757) I also discovered a print by Santo Lapis (Miss Mayer, London, 1759) which has the mandolin listed as an alternative. The book seems to contain vocal music where the voice can be played by the English "guittar" (everything in C major key) or, or course, the mandolin. One instrumental piece (Preludio) is clearly for English guittar. Same situation as it's held in the same library - so at the moment cannot yet share the music.
    https://www.vantichelen.name/2018/06...g-the-1750s-2/

    I have a couple more volumes which link the mandolin and the English guittar I will publish about, but my following blog posts will be about continental mandolin volumes from the 1750s-1760s I discovered.

  43. The following members say thank you to happyfanaticsalsero for this post:


  44. #50

    Default Re: John Goodin mandolin duets

    Good news. The British Library has granted me a license to publish and in my circumstances even waved the fee.

    I'm finishing another edition of a mandolin related print first, but I will publish an urtext and modern edition of the Walsh duets soon. Another week or so might be enough to finish the Walsh editions, but depending on how busy I am at work it might take a bit longer.

    I'll keep you posted on this thread, but I think I'll also put it on a separate one so I don't keep polluting this thread.

  45. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to happyfanaticsalsero For This Useful Post:


Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •