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Hi everybody,

I've added a few new tunes on myspace :

 

http://www.myspace.com/erbaffdavid

 

#1 is a song from the great singer and poet Georges Brassens called "La cane de Jeane".

This song is very famous in France and I beleive that all french kids learn it at

school at some point. Recorded on the Wheatstone 40b.

 

#2 is a irish-french-belarus reel called "Farewell to chernobyl".

For those who want to learn more about the origin of the tune there is a 50-page discussion here :

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/767

 

#3 is an irish mazurka which I don't know the name. Surely someone here

will tell me about it. I recorded it with my stagi G/D ; i beleive it suits best its

range.

 

#4 is a attempt to record something with my ebony low whistle by Bleazey.

It is a couple of jigs. I forgot the title of the first. The second is "trip to Toronto".

 

There are also pictures of my instruments in the "photos" section.

 

I am not very good at recording and I am not very satisfied with any of these,

but it is the best I could do.

 

Any comment will be appreciated and please do not hesitate to leave a message

on myspace !

 

David

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Hi everybody,

I've added a few new tunes on myspace :

 

http://www.myspace.com/erbaffdavid

 

#1 is a song from the great singer and poet Georges Brassens called "La cane de Jeane".

This song is very famous in France and I beleive that all french kids learn it at

school at some point. Recorded on the Wheatstone 40b.

 

#2 is a irish-french-belarus reel called "Farewell to chernobyl".

For those who want to learn more about the origin of the tune there is a 50-page discussion here :

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/767

 

#3 is an irish mazurka which I don't know the name. Surely someone here

will tell me about it. I recorded it with my stagi G/D ; i beleive it suits best its

range.

 

#4 is a attempt to record something with my ebony low whistle by Bleazey.

It is a couple of jigs. I forgot the title of the first. The second is "trip to Toronto".

 

There are also pictures of my instruments in the "photos" section.

 

I am not very good at recording and I am not very satisfied with any of these,

but it is the best I could do.

 

Any comment will be appreciated and please do not hesitate to leave a message

on myspace !

 

David

Don't know about the rest, but "Fairwell to Chernobyl" is a bad joke.

There isi nothing French, nor "Belarus" in the endless arpeggio-like runs with no resolution. It doesn't work as a hommage as the tune is banal. It's an insult to all those dead in Chernobyl, all those victims of carelessness and disrespect for human lives. The area is still a ghost land and the whole thing is very real.

It's like submitting a happy polka in "English" style called "buy buy 9/11"

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I've added a few new tunes on myspace :

http://www.myspace.com/erbaffdavid

 

#2 is a irish-french-belarus reel called "Farewell to chernobyl".

For those who want to learn more about the origin of the tune there is a 50-page discussion here :

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/767

Don't know about the rest, but "Fairwell to Chernobyl" is a bad joke.

There isi nothing French, nor "Belarus" in the endless arpeggio-like runs with no resolution. It doesn't work as a hommage as the tune is banal. It's an insult to all those dead in Chernobyl, all those victims of carelessness and disrespect for human lives. The area is still a ghost land and the whole thing is very real.

It's like submitting a happy polka in "English" style called "buy buy 9/11"

Misha, the discussion on thesession.org is very long, so I hope we don't try to repeat it here.

 

Some people loved the tune, others disliked it. Nothing unusual there. At least a few of those who like it, though, are respected and popular performers (maybe not ones you like, though?), who have recorded the tune, helping its spread. You seem to say that you don't like it because it develops in a way that doesn't satisfy you. (You said "no resolution", so maybe you would say it fails to develop?) There are actually quite a few tunes in various traditions that similarly fail to "resolve", and those who play them have various ways of creating "resolution" when they end them. David does it with a slightly different ending the last time he plays the B part. Others might just add a tonic chord after the last measure of the last time through the B part, and yet others might choose to play an "extra" A part and end it there.

 

Similarly with "endless arpeggios". Arpeggios, even lots of them, are one of the many staple components of nearly all western music, including both anonymous Irish fiddle tunes and works of Baroque master composers. Bach used masses of arpeggios. And there's Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. So maybe you just don't like Michel's particular choice of chords to arpeggiate? Well, tastes differ. But we all know that. :)

 

The naming of tunes is a personal thing, and so are the emotional associations and reactions of other individuals to the words or phrases used. You seem to feel its "an insult" that Michel Ferry (the tune's composer) apparently doesn't (or at least didn't) share your feelings about the Chernobyl tragedy, or the sort of music that would be appropriate to associate with it. Well, Michel himself posted in the discussion on thesession.org:

When I began to compose tunes I chose titles in relation to the news (to remember the year), but I very quickly renounce this sordid way, it is too much horrible ! First, I gave it the name "Return to Tchernobyl" but after, English-speaking musicians recorded it with the title "Farewell to Tchernobyl" and I kept this name (in English, I prefer put trust in English-speaking people !).
Meanwhile, thesession.org member "Viking of Kiev" feels quite differently from you:
That is a GREAT tune! With no doubts!

The contents goes very well with the title!

When we play here in Ukraine (where Chernobyl is) people are about to cry. Us, too.

Thanks to Michel Ferry!

And here is a link to his group's version of the tune.

 

Yes, tastes differ. As for myself, whether played fast or slow, the tune doesn't make me think of either the Chernobyl tragedy or the surrounding region, but I have enjoyed contra dancing to it, without knowing it's name. :) And I do enjoy hearing the differet ways it is played.

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I was about to reply about the Chernobyl tune but Jim did that better than I would have done.

This tune seems very controversial. Some think it is great, some others strongly dislike it.

Taste is a personal matter. I also think that the fact that it is based on arpeggios has nothing

to see with the appreciation you may have. As Jim pointed out many pieces by Bethoveen, Bach, etc..

are also full of arpegios. Do you also dislike them ?

 

As for the title it is surely striking the imagination. Is it an insult or a tribute ? Your answer may strongly

depend upon wether you like or dislike the tune...

 

At least I hope your appreciation is not based only on my (poor) interpretation.

The one by the Ukrainian band indicated by Jim is much better.

 

David

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I tried to get on facebook and it said I needed Adobe Flash.. Will it cost me and why can't you use te other media players around. I'm very new to this technology so it's not a disingenuous question. And I don't know how to get those funny smiley faces up! :(

You shouldn't have to pay anything. None of the Adobe players cost anything to install. There are two that are industry standards. Yes there are quite a few different players out there. Each format is competing saying theirs is the best.

 

One is called Shockwave player:

http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

 

and the other is Flash player:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/?promoid=DINSO

 

Thanks

Leo

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Blimey, must have hit something right! That's how my kids learn. I'm always scared of crashing the computer , which is what always happened when I first touched the things in the 60s! That's why I ignored them, other than as electronic typewriters until recently upon retirement

 

 

I wouldn't mind betting that you still have a wind-up gramophone at home, Mike! ;) Of Course, our concertinas predate anything modern. :)

 

Chris

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I was about to reply about the Chernobyl tune but Jim did that better than I would have done.

This tune seems very controversial. Some think it is great, some others strongly dislike it.

Taste is a personal matter. I also think that the fact that it is based on arpeggios has nothing

to see with the appreciation you may have. As Jim pointed out many pieces by Bethoveen, Bach, etc..

are also full of arpegios. Do you also dislike them ?

 

As for the title it is surely striking the imagination. Is it an insult or a tribute ? Your answer may strongly

depend upon wether you like or dislike the tune...

 

At least I hope your appreciation is not based only on my (poor) interpretation.

The one by the Ukrainian band indicated by Jim is much better.

 

David

 

I actually quite liked the way the "Ukrainian Band" played it. Seems to me their interest was drawn by the name, they learned it and liked the unusual feel of (popular, but not common) Irish-esque sound of it. So they rendered it in a proper manner. After that rendition I take back my accusations.

On the arpeggio: it's not the arpeggio nor scales that makes music what it is. It's the idea behind the melody. The tune itself, let's be frank, is not distinguishable from thousands of it's likes. It's not even a tune, it's just some passages, that are replaceable at will. The Ukrainian band added their own idea to it. As for Bach's arpeggios, I was surprised to hear Glenn Gould claiming that Mozart was not a great composer. Because lots of his compositions are in fact, simply arpeggio runs. Lots of classical composers just filled the pages with these, and such music, though pleasant, is not memorable. It's an elevator music. But it has it's place. Often in elevators (where else?), but sometimes can be put to serious work, be it tribute to Chernobyl (what a strange way to name a tune, after the news), or folk dancing.

I think polar opinions originate in very serious name of the ordinary tune. I bet if you post that "Buy buy 9/11" polka, it will have the same impact. Or "Hitler's medley" or popular Klezmer tunes may, in fact, cause some Klezmer Band make a wonderful piece (it's a bit stretched example, but it gets my point across - unexpected impact is due to clever (though may be not intended) publicity trick).

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Blimey, must have hit something right! That's how my kids learn. I'm always scared of crashing the computer , which is what always happened when I first touched the things in the 60s! That's why I ignored them, other than as electronic typewriters until recently upon retirement

 

Does that mean you suceeded by yourself with installing flash ?

Glad to to see that you were able to learn something to your computer

(yes, it is this way, not the opposite !)

 

Hope you enjoyed the tunes.

David

Edited by david fabre
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#3 is an irish mazurka which I don't know the name. Surely someone here

will tell me about it. I recorded it with my stagi G/D ; i beleive it suits best its

range.

 

Wow, weblore is a funny thing. # 3 is about as Irish as Kung Pao chicken, and it's not a mazurka either. It's called the Flatbush Waltz and was written by Andy Statman, a New York based Klezmer musician, in the late '70's.

 

Mark Gilston

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#3 is an irish mazurka which I don't know the name. Surely someone here

will tell me about it. I recorded it with my stagi G/D ; i beleive it suits best its

range.

 

Wow, weblore is a funny thing. # 3 is about as Irish as Kung Pao chicken, and it's not a mazurka either. It's called the Flatbush Waltz and was written by Andy Statman, a New York based Klezmer musician, in the late '70's.

 

Mark Gilston

 

Thanks for indicating the title and the origin.

I first heard it while touring around ireland, but you are wright that it does not sound irish at all.

I also saw people dance it as a mazurka but it can certainly work equally well as a waltz.

David

 

NB just for curiosity, and to improve my english vocabulary, can you explain the word "weblore" ?

Edited by david fabre
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#3 is an irish mazurka which I don't know the name. Surely someone here will tell me about it. I recorded it with my stagi G/D ; i beleive it suits best its range.

Wow, weblore is a funny thing. # 3 is about as Irish as Kung Pao chicken, and it's not a mazurka either. It's called the Flatbush Waltz and was written by Andy Statman, a New York based Klezmer musician, in the late '70's.

Flatbush, for those who don't know, is a major Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn is one of the five "boroughs" that comprise New York City.

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NB just for curiosity, and to improve my english vocabulary, can you explain the word "weblore" ?

 

"weblore" refers to folklore (stories, urban legends, mythology, erroneous beliefs) which is generated from people putting things on the internet that they think they know but are usually wrong.

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David: Nice playing. I liked the Crested Hens tune and Farewell to Chernobyl. I especially liked your arrangement of Chernobyl which I have been playing for years on mandolin at Contradances. I thought it breathed new life into the tune. As far as the controversy over the title, whenever I hear the tune I think about the Chernobyl disaster. If everybody thought about the disaster for only a short time who hears this tune, then it is politically as well as musically valuable. When Prokofiev premiered a new sonata, he was booed off the stage. In response he came out and played the whole thing over again. Squeeze on. All the best Charlie

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David I too really liked your rendition of "Farewell to Chernobyl", it's a tough tune on the concertina and you managed quite well. I like this tune a lot, not my typical trad tune but it joins the shetland tune "The Anvil" in the "arpegio filled but great tunes" repertoire :-)

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