New Hayden YouTube Video

[Boney]

Comments welcome...trying a bagpipe duet inspired arrangement with a drone. Very sensitive things, these concertinas, so touchy...I hope my mistakes are instructive at least:

 

[m3838]

Comments welcome...trying a bagpipe duet inspired arrangement with a drone. Very sensitive things, these concertinas, so touchy...I hope my mistakes are instructive at least:

 

 

I'd say you may drop first part, where you only played melody. Especially the sound of high reeds simply doesn't justify been exposed for so long. Contrary, because the balance between left and right of your concertina seems to be so good, showing it off is beneficial. In general, I think traditional concertina is not well suited for solo melody compared to most other instruments: bagpipes, accordions, flutes etc. with their rich overtones. But with duet one can easily remedy such a handicap, as clearly shown in second part of your playing. I did see some glitches, but I didn't really care. It's a nice tune, great accompaniment.

Another note, watch your face.

I think you did very good job.

[Daniel Hersh]

Comments welcome...trying a bagpipe duet inspired arrangement with a drone. Very sensitive things, these concertinas, so touchy...I hope my mistakes are instructive at least:

 

 

Very nice! It's good to see a new video from you. Did you produce the drone by holding down the low D with your left little finger throughout the tune?

[Boney]

Yep, I held down the low D with my little finger.

 

I do apologize for my tongue wandering about. That tends to happen when I'm absorbed in listening and playing. It's one reason why recording video is useful, I can spot things like that.

 

Personally, I like the solo melody part. If nothing else, it gives a nice contrast, I think. And it gives me a very "exposed" setting to work on dynamics, subtle ornamentation, and the like. I guess I'd agree the first half doesn't highlight the capabilities of a duet concertina, but I hope the beauty of the melody shines through anyway. What do other folks think?

 

And I have to admit I "cheated" when it comes to the balance of the left vs. right side...I put the microphone on the right side, which of course de-emphasizes the left a bit (but maybe not as much as you'd think).

[m3838]

And I have to admit I "cheated" when it comes to the balance of the left vs. right side...I put the microphone on the right side

Ah, I see. But have you tried to play melody on the left side with right side low drone instead?

[Chris Drinkwater]

Well, the tune was composed originally for the fiddle by Tom Anderson and I have a lovely recording of him playing it in a duet with Aly Bain, another fine Shetland fiddler. I also have heard the Kathryn Tickell bagpipe version but I personally prefer to hear this beautiful and haunting tune just being played as a stand alone melody, without any chordal or drone accompaniment, as Tom does on his fiddle, and that's the way I play it on my EC. That said, I think your initial playing of the melody only, Jeff, is nice by itself, and provides a nice lead into your playing it a second time in which you experiment with chords and a drone and which does work to some extent.

 

Chris

[David Barnert]

Personally, I like the solo melody part. If nothing else, it gives a nice contrast, I think. And it gives me a very "exposed" setting to work on dynamics, subtle ornamentation, and the like. I guess I'd agree the first half doesn't highlight the capabilities of a duet concertina, but I hope the beauty of the melody shines through anyway. What do other folks think?

Perhaps a nice compromise might have been to play only the first 8 bars (A1) as unaccompanied melody, as Danny Chapman does with "Rosline Castle"

on an English Concertina.