Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 76 to 100 of 116

Thread: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

  1. #76
    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 1996
    Location
    Norfolk, England
    Posts
    5,813

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Good stuff Aidan. I've been hitting the Howl at the Moon in Hoxton now and again, let me know if you're up for one in a couple weeks
    The Mandolin Archive
    my CDs
    "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead"

  2. The following members say thank you to danb for this post:


  3. #77

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Good to hear from you, Dan. I'll message you privately to see what we can arrange... Aidan

  4. #78

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    A quick update ... a sort of "almost the end of year" stocktake.

    I'm really pleased that my humble efforts to evangelise the cause of Irish music played on mandolin seem to be appreciated by many in the mandolin community. Both my website and YouTube channel seem to be well-used.

    Over the course of the last year to date, the videos at my YouTube channel have been viewed 50,056 times. That's probably very small beer indeed to professional influencers but to someone operating in what is essentially a niche within a niche, it proves that there's value in what I do and so it spurs me on to keep up the work.

    As far as the website is concerned, 8,162 visitors downloaded/viewed 46,953 separate resources. Again those sorts of figures keep me motivated!

    The downside of creating the tune learning resources for both my website and the YouTube channel is that I focus very much on tabbing out and playing individual tunes and of course the real heart of Irish trad is combining individual tunes into sets. So I've started to set a little time aside to record a few sets now and again. Here are three examples of recent sets that I've been playing and have decided to record.



    The Connaughtman's Rambles/Tiocfaidh Tú Abhaile Liom?



    The Teetotallers/The Virginia



    An Rogaire Dubh/Na Ceannabháin Bhána

    The last of these features tenor guitar and mandolin. I changed computer a while back and I hadn't been able to figure out how to overcome latency issues in order to create overdubs. However I persevered with the instructions a few days ago and have managed to make the necessary corrections to the settings of Audacity. So I'll likely make a few more such "duet" or even "trio" recordings in future.

    One final thing. A little while back I launched a feature on the website called an A to Z of Irish Traditional Music which was, in essence, a series of playlists many of which are collaborative ventures with musical acquaintances. See https://theirishmandolin.com/an-a-to...itional-music/ I'm very much still open to further collaborations so if anyone would like to participate, please get in touch!

    That's all for now...

    Thanks for reading.

    Aidan

  5. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Aidan Crossey For This Useful Post:


  6. #79

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    I thought I'd share a recently (as in 2 days ago!) composed tune with you. It's a 3/4 march in G Major which occurred to me as I was noodling around with a venerable 3/4 march associated with the O'Sullivan clan called The Eagle's Whistle. 3 versions of the tune in this video - mandolin solo, tenor guitar double-tracked and finally tenor guitar and mandolin together. Rough recordings but hopefully you'll get the gist. It's called The Hound's Gowl - which will be a term familiar to those members of the cafe who, like myself, were "rared" in the North of Ireland.



    Aidan

  7. #80

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Some time ago I came across John Cradden's superb website, http://TheCelticMandolin.co.uk Shortly afterwards John and I began a correspondence which has led to some interesting online collaborations. John has an ear - and an ability - for arranging and backing tunes which I simply don't and he offered to take some of my raw, solo mandolinery and add splashes of colour and detail which turn sketches into proper pictures...

    Recently John has been working with two of my solo sound files and he sent me through the following. I'm very pleased with the results and I hope you enjoy them as a sort of "New Year's" gift.

    John has said that he may revisit both at some stage, time and energy permitting (he's an incredibly busy man!), so who knows, I may have alternative versions to share further down the line.

    Anyhow, here we go.

    Nell Fee's - a 3-part polka which I was captivated by when I first heard it. Lilies Of The Field - a reel which I was introduced to by Michael Gregory (who will be well known to many who frequent this forum) and which has since become one of my favourite tunes. (Fittingly, I play the reel on a mandolin which Michael made, his G&O #34 which he generously gifted to me about a year ago...)




  8. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Aidan Crossey For This Useful Post:


  9. #81

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    A few days ago I composed a polka - The Bottomless Well - and put together a video on my YouTube channel which sort of captures its gestation and eventual delivery...



    Aidan

  10. The following members say thank you to Aidan Crossey for this post:


  11. #82

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    It’s been a while since I’ve updated here.

    I’ve recently overhauled the “about this site” section of my website which is now much more comprehensive than previously. Check it out at https://theirishmandolin.com/about-this-site/ The intention is to give an insight into my musical, ahem, “journey”, the impetus to create the website in the first place and its subsequent evolution.

    Those of you familiar with my website and associated YouTube channel will be aware that my output focuses on tune learning resources – mandolin tab, sheet music and recordings of the tune in question. However in recent months I’ve found it increasingly difficult to make acoustic recordings. There are a number of significant issues to deal with… 1) I live in a flat surrounded by others who are increasingly working from home and there are many “day-to-day” sounds which leak through from one flat to another which aren’t a major issue except that microphones tend to emphasise them. 2) I live under the flight path to Heathrow just at the point at which planes begin their final descent and the noise as they drop the landing gear, etc can sometimes be very intrusive indeed. 3) A few weeks ago, someone several doors away commissioned some building work which, again, was very audible on acoustic recordings. 4) And finally my downstairs neighbour has begun work on the demolition of a former jerry-built extension and its replacement with a “proper” extension – a project which will take 3-4 months.

    All of the above was causing me to despair of easily being able to make acoustic recordings again for some considerable time and would thus cause my work rate to slow down considerably. And so I decided that I would invest in a “cheap as chips” electric mandolin (Revelation “Jaguar”) and use it as my primary recording instrument at least until the major building work downstairs has been completed. I can record direct to my computer and no matter how much extraneous noise is going on around me, it doesn’t transfer to the sound file. I’m very pleased that this has allowed me to continue to plough my way through my lengthy “to do” list and indeed the results have been so pleasing that I’m considering upgrading the electric mandolin to a more serious weapon…

    You may have seen elsewhere on this forum that http://www.tunesource.net now features a number of my YouTube videos and the looping and slow-down functionality which TuneSource feature should significantly add to their value as learning tools…

    Finally, for the moment, I’m working on Volume 5 of The Irish Mandolin tunebook which I hope to be able to publish in the next few weeks.

    At the time of writing I’m recovering from a case of COVID which completely floored me for a week or so. It’s left me feeling distinctly below par. But thankfully it hasn’t dented my enthusiasm for the tunes!

    Until the next update, stay well and keep in touch.

    Aidan

  12. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Aidan Crossey For This Useful Post:


  13. #83

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Every six months or so I like to run some stats on how my website and YouTube channel are performing. Maintaining both is a lot of hard work and sometimes - in dark moments - I ask myself whether all of the effort is worthwhile. Thankfully these statistics are quite persuasive in making the case for keeping on keeping on...

    Here are the statistics for my website for May 2022.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20220501 website statistics 1 May 2022.png 
Views:	94 
Size:	169.0 KB 
ID:	200905

    And here are the statistics for my YouTube channel for May 2022.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20220501 youtube channel statistics 1 May 2022.png 
Views:	84 
Size:	216.8 KB 
ID:	200907

    Interestingly I had an email from a friend a few days ago who felt that my "output" was more heavily weighted towards jigs than reel and that in his experience, since reels tend to predominate in sessions, perhaps I should start to focus more on reels in future. Hmm... I kind of wish I was that organised. When I sit down to make tune learning materials for my website and YouTube channel my usual approach is simply to skim through my (very lengthy) "to do list" and my eye will light on this or that tune which I've been meaning to tab out and record. That could be a reel, a jig, a hornpipe - whatever. And that will then lead me on to thinking about this or that other tune which may be related or may be a mirror opposite or just some random spark. And some days I'm just in a mood for playing hornpipes or jigs (or, indeed, reels for that matter). I suppose one of the pleasures of doing what I do is that no-one tells me what to do; I set my own agenda. (Having said that, I occasionally get the odd "request" from people to tab out and play a particular tune or - as has happened recently - to record a couple of tunes VEEEEEERY slowly so that they can hopefully play along more easily than with the current recording. When people are polite and well-meaning, who can resist? Not me, for sure...)

    In other news, my journey into electric mandolinery continues as does extensive work on my downstairs neighbour's flat. Without the ability to record direct to my PC in this way, I would have had to curtail significantly my "missionary work" (as one of my Twitter pals recently described it). Indeed I have now upgraded my mandolin to an Epiphone Mandobird VIII. It's a considerable improvement in many ways on the Revelation Jaguar mandolin which I was using up until I got my hands on the Mandobird. However both mandolins seem to have a weak e string and no amount of fiddling with string height and with amp settings in GarageBand seems to compensate. (Except, that is, if I use lots of "punky/"metal" effects in which case the strings tend to growl fairly evenly. I'm not averse to using such effects from time to time. I come from a punk rock background and have a real fondness for dirty, aggressive string instrument sounds. But everything in its place and apart from the odd moment of madness I tend to favour very clean amp settings for recording Irish music.)

    And finally for today's update, I have just recently finished compiling Volume 5 of The Irish Mandolin Tunebook. Each of these outings is a labour of love. I forget between times just how gruelling it can be to pull together 100 tunes, index them, create hyperlinks etc etc etc. But the feedback from those who have found the tunebooks useful in their playing makes all that effort worthwhile.

    That's it for now. For the day that's in it, I'll just finish off this update with a hornpipe which I recorded on 1 May 2021. It's called The First Of May. How topical is that?!

    Aidan


  14. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Aidan Crossey For This Useful Post:


  15. #84

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    From time to time I get a chance to play virtual long-distance mandolin duets with some of my online friends. I was delighted to be able to make the recording below with John Williamson who takes the lead on his Fylde Signature Touchstone, playing The Hare In The Corn with your truly adding a splash of my Epiphone Mandobird VIII electric mandolin...


  16. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Aidan Crossey For This Useful Post:


  17. #85
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Ardnadam, Argyll, Scotland
    Posts
    2,277

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Nice collaboration, Aidan, and a good way of demonstrating the different tones of the acoustic and electric mandos.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

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


  19. #86

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Time for an update on the usage of my website and its associated YouTube channel. I sometimes wonder if the amount of time and effort which I put into maintaining both of these is worth it. That's especially been the case over the past few months when I've been feeling quite unwell - a blood disorder which is being treated and which, hopefully, will be sorted out before long. It's left me feeling very listless - constantly "running on empty" - and in those circumstances it's very easy to doubt oneself.

    Anyway, I take heart from these stats. It would appear that there's plenty of life in the old dogs yet and the sense of purpose which I get from watching both continue to be well-used is a tonic.

    Those 'cafe regulars who visit my site occasionally may have noticed that I've had to reconfigure my "learn some tunes" section. My initial idea was to have all the tabs and sound files available on one page but the size of the page grew a little too unwieldy and every time I attempted an update of this very large page, it was rejected. And so I've had to split this section out into four separate pages - albeit with a single "landing page". I hope this doesn't detract from the site for people.

    Anyway. I'll draw a line here. Energy levels aren't up to gaunching on at great length.

    Thanks very much to those of you who have supported these efforts for the past few years. Much appreciated!

    Aidan

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Website stats November 2022 PNG.png 
Views:	83 
Size:	174.2 KB 
ID:	204021

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	YouTube channel stats November 2022 PNG.png 
Views:	60 
Size:	217.5 KB 
ID:	204022

  20. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Aidan Crossey For This Useful Post:


  21. #87
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    East Concord, NY 14055
    Posts
    256

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Aiden, I believe many of us can relate to your health issues. Some days it is just one foot in front of the other that gets you to the finish line. To keep plugging on will be the best medicine.
    Whatever works best for you on your site will continue to be wonderful for us who visit it. A tremendous resource, thank you!!

  22. The following members say thank you to Steve Mead for this post:

    MikeyG 

  23. #88
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Invergordon,Scotland
    Posts
    2,858

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    I'm sorry you haven't been well, Aidan.

    "Anyway, I take heart from these stats. It would appear that there's plenty of life in the old dogs yet and the sense of purpose which I get from watching both continue to be well-used is a tonic."

    That's good to hear.

    Meanwhile life in the Scottish Highlands is fine. Still playing my mandolin!

    Kind regards

    Dagger
    David A. Gordon

  24. #89

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mead View Post
    Aiden, I believe many of us can relate to your health issues. Some days it is just one foot in front of the other that gets you to the finish line. To keep plugging on will be the best medicine.
    Whatever works best for you on your site will continue to be wonderful for us who visit it. A tremendous resource, thank you!!
    Thanks, Steve. Kind words. And heartening. Aidan

  25. #90

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Quote Originally Posted by Dagger Gordon View Post
    I'm sorry you haven't been well, Aidan.

    "Anyway, I take heart from these stats. It would appear that there's plenty of life in the old dogs yet and the sense of purpose which I get from watching both continue to be well-used is a tonic."

    That's good to hear.

    Meanwhile life in the Scottish Highlands is fine. Still playing my mandolin!

    Kind regards

    Dagger
    Thanks, Dagger. Good to hear that you're still at the mandolin. I caught your recent (well, not so recent now; time flies!) appearance on David Benedict's weekly mandolin showcase. Very nice it was, too! Aidan

  26. The following members say thank you to Aidan Crossey for this post:


  27. #91

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    A recent new feature on my YouTube channel. I've begun to use the "Community" feature as a means of sharing info and creating some conversation with visitors to my channel.

    See https://www.youtube.com/c/TheIrishMandolin/community

    One of the polls which I'm running there asks about people's preferences for learning tunes. I've been criticised by some of my "seasoned" traditional musician friends for including tablature on my website and YouTube channel as some musicians find tablature to be "spoon-feeding" and reckon that people should learn tunes by ear (for preference) or from sheet music as a fallback. Hmmm. I'm very wary of *should* and *must* when it comes to learning music and therefore I include tablature alongside sheet music and a recording as an alternative way into the tunes for people. Judging by the results so far of this small and very unscientific self-selected sample there is a demand for tab alongside the other two options. But it would be great to have a few more views.

    If you don't want to leaf through the other posts in my Community section, you can go direct to the poll in question here https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx5cd...3ffMYCfd2eggom

    Many thanks.

    Aidan

  28. #92

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    I think, there is not the one method that is the holy gral. Different people have different needs or even opportunities.
    I have - for example - not very much chances to join sessions for learning tunes by ear here in my area in Germany. Learning "by ear" is hard just from online videos. So the tabs are very very helpful for me. Others may prefer other methods but there are so many people with different opportunities, talents, knowledge etc out there. I assume a lot of them appreciate your work with the tabs the way I do. Thanks a million for that!

  29. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Michael Snief For This Useful Post:


  30. #93

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Snief View Post
    I think, there is not the one method that is the holy gral. Different people have different needs or even opportunities.
    I have - for example - not very much chances to join sessions for learning tunes by ear here in my area in Germany. Learning "by ear" is hard just from online videos. So the tabs are very very helpful for me. Others may prefer other methods but there are so many people with different opportunities, talents, knowledge etc out there. I assume a lot of them appreciate your work with the tabs the way I do. Thanks a million for that!
    Thank you for that, Michael. Much appreciated. Aidan

  31. The following members say thank you to Aidan Crossey for this post:


  32. #94
    Registered User Ed McGarrigle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Fox River Grove, IL
    Posts
    157

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	227D8A4E-98B9-43C5-8FF9-CF1FB7961811.jpg 
Views:	67 
Size:	554.7 KB 
ID:	204180In my youth, long before electronic tuners, my initial frustration with playing guitar was simply getting tuned-up by ear. A big part of many failed attempts to learn was probably lack of confidence in my ear: hearing and finding notes, chord changes and such. Sometimes, I still feel guilty about not being able to tune by ear and wish I could play by ear but at as a continuing beginner at age 68, I wonder if that ship has sailed. I am able to recognize when a wrong note is struck and doesn’t fit in a melody and listen to a recording and find a right note with the help of The Amazing Slow Downer and tab when I have made a mistake writing out the notes from my Zoom lessons. And since I don’t read the dots what I do is take a tune written written in tab and substitute the note for the fret number. So, instead of fret numbers on the staff/ tab paper I write the notes. So this helps me learn the fretboard and after a bit of practice transcribing from tab to notes is fairly easy
    So, while the above isn’t from your collection it’s just a sample of how I use tab and what I have done with tab from The Irish Mandolin website.
    Aidan, once again, thank-you and first and foremost, be well!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	image.jpg 
Views:	105 
Size:	521.4 KB 
ID:	204178   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	6542DF9C-8F8A-41E9-BEAF-D13CAC94CFD3.jpg 
Views:	94 
Size:	589.8 KB 
ID:	204179  
    Last edited by Ed McGarrigle; Nov-11-2022 at 7:29am. Reason: Inept posting photo

  33. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Ed McGarrigle For This Useful Post:


  34. #95

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    That's an interesting approach Ed and if it works for you, then good stuff. I was able to follow the tune perfectly well from your transcription...

    (And by sheer coincidence, Junior Crehan's Hornpipe is nearing the top of my list for recording and the fact that you've shared your take on it is a prompt to me to bump it up the list!)

    Aidan

  35. #96
    Registered User Ed McGarrigle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2020
    Location
    Fox River Grove, IL
    Posts
    157

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Aidan,
    Well, it’s helped me to learn the fretboard— at least in the first position which I suppose is all I will ever need. Referring back to your start of the tab vs by ear discussion
    and the way things “should” be done, “Should” implies a moral imperative. I’m for substituting “could” for “should” most of the time.
    As for the above version, that’s the version taught me by my teacher Randy Gosa at the Milwaukee Irish Fest School of Music. I look forward to hearing your take on the tune as yours are usually a little different from the ones I’m taught, which just makes things a little more interesting

    Ed

  36. The following members say thank you to Ed McGarrigle for this post:


  37. #97
    Unfamous String Buster Beanzy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Cornwall & London
    Posts
    2,920
    Blog Entries
    5

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    As people say, each to their own.

    But it got me musing about how there's one thing that rankles me a bit with tablature and that's its current presentation across the mandolin publishing world.
    Whereas in a fiddle tune book, with just the dots, you get the business presented in as compact and cohesive manner as you can, once TABs are added to the same page for mandolin books, the whole thing explodes into a visual mess.
    The interspersing of alternate lines is useful as a comparison aid, illustration of complex cross-picking patterns, or as a comparison for those trying to transition from tab to dots.
    However for anyone committed to using one ot the other, it's just a waste of space and more clutter having the other one interwoven on the page.
    I wonder whether an alternate page approach (dots/TAB) might be better?
    From a hard copy perspective, my preference would be to be able to buy tunes in the format I want & not pay for the waste paper & printing of other formats that mean more page turns. Again giving people the 'each to their own' option of not having to work around (or pay for) the alternative shoe-horned into the pages.
    As a dot reader I get around this by not buying books that include both & buying fiddle books.
    In Irish trad there are scads of options for the dot readers, as well as software defined solutions (abc readers) which offer either or options, so it's not like we're stuck.
    However it does mean that people like me don't really engage with those resources doing the interlaced presentation thing.
    That's possibly a good thing, as I spend too much on books anyway.

    Keep up the good work there Aidan & hope you're back on top form again soon.
    Eoin



    "Forget that anyone is listening to you and always listen to yourself" - Fryderyk Chopin

  38. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Beanzy For This Useful Post:


  39. #98

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Hi Ed...

    I've posted a version of The Stack Of Rye (Junior Crehan's) to my YouTube channel today. Interested to know how you think it compares to the version which you were taught. (Judging by your transcription above, it's pretty close?)



    Aidan

  40. #99
    Registered User Tim N's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    169

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    The Irish Mandolin comes up regularly on my Youtube feed. Although I can't remember how that started, it's certainly an awesome resourse, which I only very occassionally use, but which could easily become a full time occupation given time! Every now and then a tune really stands out - recently it was The Exile. Thank you that this resource exists. I feel that I barely begin to avail myself of its riches.
    "What's that funny guitar thing..?"

  41. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Tim N For This Useful Post:


  42. #100

    Default Re: Update on "The Irish Mandolin" - and other stories

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim N View Post
    The Irish Mandolin comes up regularly on my Youtube feed. Although I can't remember how that started, it's certainly an awesome resourse, which I only very occassionally use, but which could easily become a full time occupation given time! Every now and then a tune really stands out - recently it was The Exile. Thank you that this resource exists. I feel that I barely begin to avail myself of its riches.
    Lovely words, Tim, and much appreciated. It's a resource to be dipped into as and when you wish. I have no plans to step away from either the website or the YouTube channel and for as long as I am able I'll continue to maintain both as a means of making tunes from the Irish musical tradition available and accessible to mandolinists everywhere...

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

    Tim N 

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
  •