Hier Encore

[StuartEstell]

An arrangement of "Hier Encore" from French duo Brigitte's album "À bouche que veux-tu?", played on Jeffries duet concertina. The arrangement is a work-in-progress, using elements of the original, as well as a the bassline from "Sidewalking" by the Jesus & Mary Chain.

 

I've been resurrecting my spoken French over the last few months, so it seemed like a good idea to have a go at learning some French songs. It's proved surprisingly tricky to stop pronunciation going haywire while wrestling with the good old Demented Typewriter. As it stabilises I'll add more detail.

Just as when singing a traditional song, I've stuck with the original gender of the song -- hence all adjectives are in the feminine.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBN9lXkQWcc

 

[adrian brown]

Well I like it Stuart - nice accompaniment, which gets quite hypnotic after a couple of minutes. Perhaps the balance is a bit concertina heavy? Obviously you could deal with this amplified, but acoustically I think you need to sing a bit louder or play a bit softer. If it's any consolation, I'm having exactly the same problem at the moment with a Cecil Sharp song arrangement.

 

Cheers,

 

Adrian

[StuartEstell]

Thanks Adrian. Absolutely -- balance is a perennial difficulty with fuller / more droney accompaniments. It doesn't help that I've not been playing as regularly as I might and this box in particular is quick to become grumpy and less responsive when not played regularly...

[adrian brown]

Oh, I thought I might have been the neighbours Stuart :-) I sometimes think my singing style has a lot to do with the fact that I mostly practice in the evenings, when most families are sitting down to their prime-time. If I've got the balance right, it should be the voice they complain about before the box...

 

Adrian

[StuartEstell]

Ha! No... our adjoinining neighbour plays Hammond organ so is most accommodating!

 

When the Jeff duet is well-exercised it'll respond at lower volumes, but it gets a bit stiff and needs a bit more welly when played less regularly. And if welly is applied it's more than a match for my voice even if I'm in full-on foghorn mode. The answer, as ever, is to play more!

 

I'd be interested if you find this, but I think small rooms don't help either, as the sound bounces all over the place and you can't rely so much on the voice projecting at ninety degrees to the box.