Chris Drinkwater Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 This follows on from a topic about Irish Traditional Music played on the English concertina and my attempts at learning and playing a couple of tunes I heard and liked a while back. Though admittedly not a great fan of ITM, I occasionally went to a local Irish session, some years ago and learned a couple of tunes I liked. These were Out on the Ocean and the more recent Calliope House, written by Dave Richardson of Boys of the Lough. On this recording, I play Out on the Ocean slower to start with and play it again at the end of Calliope House, quite a bit faster for a change/challenge! Comments welcome. https://soundcloud.com/aeolaman/out-on-the-ocean-calliope-house Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Swett Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 I love these tunes Chris. I play them both on my EC. Indeed, I'm off to a jam in about five minutes and will request these when it is my turn to choose. The people I play with often pair Calliope House with Morrison's Jig -- Morrisons first, then Calliope. The shift seemed very awkward to me at first, but it's pretty fabulous when it works. Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Drinkwater Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Only just seen your reply, Sarah. Thanks for your comments. I don't know Morrison's Jig very well. I'll have to check this pairing out. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 https://soundcloud.com/aeolaman/out-on-the-ocean-calliope-house Chris Out on the Ocean and the more recent Calliope House, written by Dave Richardson of Boys of the Lough. On this recording, I play Out on the Ocean slower to start with and play it again at the end of Calliope House, quite a bit faster for a change/challenge! Comments welcome. Only just spotted this. Nicely played. But I get really obsessive about Out on the Ocean so here's something to try. Many people I know play the tune just as you do. Even some of the Irish greats play it the same way. But to me and many others, the internal logic of the tune is a little different. So this is an alternative, not in any way a correction. I'm referring to the second half/turn/B music. It starts with efe edB (or ege edB) played twice. A very similar "phrase" follows but starting two semi-tones down - ded dBA. Play this twice too then finish the part. But on the repeat, introduce a lovely surprise by going up to the top g (ded def|gfe dBA). By going up to the top g both times, you ruin the surprise/variation. It's played this way here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq1ZfUw0G5E (You'll find lots of examples of your way too!) People do the same thing with Inis Oirr, incidentally. Hope that helps Signed the tune police!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I'm referring to the second half/turn/B music. It starts with efe edB (or ege edB) played twice. A very similar "phrase" follows but starting two semi-tones down - ded dBA. Play this twice too then finish the part. But on the repeat, introduce a lovely surprise by going up to the top g (ded def|gfe dBA). By going up to the top g both times, you ruin the surprise/variation. It's played this way here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq1ZfUw0G5E (You'll find lots of examples of your way too!) That's funny because I thought the high ending of Out on the Ocean was actually the standard way of playing it, I don't remember hearing it differently! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 https://soundcloud.com/aeolaman/out-on-the-ocean-calliope-house Chris Out on the Ocean and the more recent Calliope House, written by Dave Richardson of Boys of the Lough. On this recording, I play Out on the Ocean slower to start with and play it again at the end of Calliope House, quite a bit faster for a change/challenge! Comments welcome. Only just spotted this. Nicely played. But I get really obsessive about Out on the Ocean so here's something to try. Many people I know play the tune just as you do. Even some of the Irish greats play it the same way. But to me and many others, the internal logic of the tune is a little different. So this is an alternative, not in any way a correction. I'm referring to the second half/turn/B music. It starts with efe edB (or ege edB) played twice. A very similar "phrase" follows but starting two semi-tones down - ded dBA. Play this twice too then finish the part. But on the repeat, introduce a lovely surprise by going up to the top g (ded def|gfe dBA). By going up to the top g both times, you ruin the surprise/variation. It's played this way here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq1ZfUw0G5E (You'll find lots of examples of your way too!) People do the same thing with Inis Oirr, incidentally. Hope that helps Signed the tune police!!! That's a big issue with our big open contra dance band. We play Out on the Ocean a lot, and most of the fiddlers play the unauthorized version. I agree the original version of the B, with the two halves of the section slightly different, is much better. But in our case, fighting this is a losing battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I don't see anything wrong with two surprises in the B part! Does one version pre-date the other, or perhaps a variation through the folk process or personal preference? I recently had a most depressing moment with this wonderful tune - playing in a session at the foot of a Hawaiian volcano with salt spray almost splashing the musicians, but with a dead monotone delivery from the group that made the tune completely dead in the water. I know it's hard to beat Hoover the Dog's brilliant version - but this is fantastic tune that can really "surprise" if you let it! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I'm referring to the second half/turn/B music. It starts with efe edB (or ege edB) played twice. A very similar "phrase" follows but starting two semi-tones down - ded dBA. Play this twice too then finish the part. But on the repeat, introduce a lovely surprise by going up to the top g (ded def|gfe dBA). By going up to the top g both times, you ruin the surprise/variation. It's played this way here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq1ZfUw0G5E (You'll find lots of examples of your way too!) That's funny because I thought the high ending of Out on the Ocean was actually the standard way of playing it, I don't remember hearing it differently! Same here. And there are other tunes which I learned up to 40 years ago that I find are now commonly played in "simplified" form. Some of those, like this one, "used to" show differences between first and second times through the B part, a distinction which seems to have been lost in the session culture. Oh, and I don't consider them "surprises", but inherent parts of the "taste" of the tunes. That's funny because I thought the high ending of Out on the Ocean was actually the standard way of playing it, I don't remember hearing it differently! Oops! I just re-read that, and now I'm wondering whether you're saying that you're used to playing "the high ending" both times through the B, rather than only the second time through, which is how I learned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Drinkwater Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 https://soundcloud.com/aeolaman/out-on-the-ocean-calliope-house Chris Out on the Ocean and the more recent Calliope House, written by Dave Richardson of Boys of the Lough. On this recording, I play Out on the Ocean slower to start with and play it again at the end of Calliope House, quite a bit faster for a change/challenge! Comments welcome. Only just spotted this. Nicely played. But I get really obsessive about Out on the Ocean so here's something to try. Many people I know play the tune just as you do. Even some of the Irish greats play it the same way. But to me and many others, the internal logic of the tune is a little different. So this is an alternative, not in any way a correction. I'm referring to the second half/turn/B music. It starts with efe edB (or ege edB) played twice. A very similar "phrase" follows but starting two semi-tones down - ded dBA. Play this twice too then finish the part. But on the repeat, introduce a lovely surprise by going up to the top g (ded def|gfe dBA). By going up to the top g both times, you ruin the surprise/variation. It's played this way here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq1ZfUw0G5E (You'll find lots of examples of your way too!) People do the same thing with Inis Oirr, incidentally. Hope that helps Signed the tune police!!! Thanks, Chas. Interesting. I had no idea about variations, surprise or otherwise with this tune! The version I play on my recording, is exactly, or near enough, the way I heard it played at the session I used to go to. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now