For my Tune of the Month you get two tunes for the price of one! It's a strathspey and reel set in honour of two modern pioneers of the Scottish mandolin, Dagger Gordon and Kevin MacLeod. They have put the Scottish mandolin on the map, and I humbly dedicate these two new compositions to them. You can download PDFs and MP3 from my website.
Great pair of tunes Nigel, and thanks for posting them. What a great tribute to two very inspirational characters.
Dagger is right though - your own hard work through your fantastic website and the host of tuition and publications you offer is certainly worthy of mention when discussing Scottish mandolin!
Many thanks Nigel, though I fail to see quite what you think I have done to deserve this! But delighted to have a tune and will now endeavour to learn and play. I agree entirely with the guys above - your archive is amazingly useful!
Well played Kevin! Nigel's tunes are very well crafted and the Sobell sounds great. A few months ago you initiated a thread on Sobell mandolins and I wrote to say that I had just sold an early mandolin (1976) I commissioned from Stefan. Your playing reminds me of how much I miss that instrument. In any event, lovely tunes well played.
Thanks Jim, my brother in law Tim Jones, a fine Scottish mandolinist, got hold of a 1978 8 string cedar Sobell a couple of years back, and it is in the older build style configuration compared to my small bodied spruce topped 1983 one. Stefan must have done a major redesign at some point then, a big change in the neck angle, more refined detailing and a different soundbox construction, as far as I can see from comparing mine and Tims - the two styles. They both have the distinctive Sobell sound, and Dagger's is more like mine in style, but with the warmer cedar topped tone, compared with the slightly edgier bell like spruce Sobell tone. They are all lovely, just different, and there doesn't seem to be many around. His later maple bodied ones are a bit more bright in sound to my ear, but probably project more overall. They look beautiful, as he always has superb woods, and immaculate build quality
It would be fun to hear Dagger's take on these tunes, perhaps he'll drop up a video or soundfile?
What you get up to in Coigach on a sunny day in the summer, Dagger and Donnie MacDonald know the area well too. Music is off a soon to be released new cd of mine, this is a duet with Alec Finn and a bit of Luke Plumb near the end....
Great to see the Fame on the water after all the work Ali Beag put into getting her seaworthy - and what a day to choose - absolutely glorious - nowhere quite like the Summer Isles on a day like that.
Good company, a fine boat and grand music - a welcome antidote to a busy day.
Don't look too closely at the rigging Tim, we'd swapped the mast over for a Douglas Fir original, then Ken jury rigged the whole thing, but Ali forgot last years ropes, but it was too nice not to try a sail! A bit like being a passenger in an old Hispano-Suiza or something!
The Scottish Mandolinists
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks