Da Slockit Light in winter and summer

[soloduet]

Even if I think that the first one is more in the mood of the tune I wanted to try 2 different accompaniments for the same melody on the Hayden/Wicki keyboard: a simple bass line and alternate bass and chords (Oum-Pah):

 

 

[Little John]

Interesting contrast. Thanks for sharing these. It's good to try these things, but I agree the "winter" version seems more in keeping with the tune.

[John Adey]

3 hours ago, Little John said:

Interesting contrast. Thanks for sharing these. It's good to try these things, but I agree the "winter" version seems more in keeping with the tune.

Agreed.

[David Barnert]

I also agree. In the summer version, one almost hears the lights coming back on ?.

 

One has to ask: To what degree is the difference between the two versions due to the calendar?

 

FWIW, here’s my version, also on a Hayden. I recorded it in May (2015). Does that make it a spring version? The notes of the accompaniment are perhaps more like the summer version, while the tempo is more like the winter version.

Edited September 24, 2018 by David Barnert

[soloduet]

Hi David, thanks for posting this beautiful version and I really feel the spring spirit in your rendition. So while you ask the question you make the demonstration that the calendar could have an influence on the way that we play a tune. If somebody feels like posting an autumn version it would be great!

[Daniel Hersh]

I agree that the winter version is much closer to the original (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5JBSu5tqY&t=2m47s ) and I do like it better than the summer one, but I also appreciate the summer version because it never would have occurred to me to play the tune that way.

 

[Don Taylor]

9 hours ago, Daniel Hersh said:

it never would have occurred to me to play the tune that way

Yes, quite an 'ear opener'. 

 

Like everybody else I liked the winter version better but I wondered if that was because I was familiar with that arrangement and knew the background to the tune.  I played both of Didie's recordings for my wife, who does not know the tune or about Tom Anderson's reason for writing it, and asked her which she liked the best.  Emphatically, the summer version with its happy, danceable tempo.

 

Both versions are played beautifully.

[ritonmousquetaire]

I agree that the first one is more in the spirit of the tune - but I'm a oom-pah fan, and you sure made a great work with the oom-pah bass in this one! Alternating basses, short "walking" bass... That sounds great!

 

Maybe you could start playing some accordion tunes that would fit this kind of left-hand work very well? My favorite accordionist in this matter is V. Marceau (who also had a great right hand), maybe some of his tunes could fit on a concertina...

[John Wild]

1 hour ago, Don Taylor said:

 about Tom Anderson's reason for writing it

Quote from the book Ringing Strings:

"I was coming out of Eshaness in late January 1969, the time was after 11pm and as I looked back at the top of the hill leading out of the district, I saw so few lights compared to what I remembered when I was young. As I watched, the lights started going out one by one. That, coupled with the recent death of my late wife, made me think of the old word "slockit", meaning, a light that has gone out, and I think that was what inspired the tune."

[tona]

Bravo for the winter version! This tune has effectively a very notalgic mood...  However it makes me remember this recording I did with my brother some years ago. Oum-pah summer style + ukulélé...

 

 

[Little John]

And, bizarrely, it works. In a rather joyous way!

 

LJ

[soloduet]

@Tona: maybe it was after I listened to your hot summer version that I began to play with the oom-pah accompaniment on this tune. Thank you for showing this different way!

 

@Riton: to make a link with another of your threads if you are a oom-pah fan then you need such an overlap on the duet in order to make the chords on LH. Thank you for the information about the musette tunes and I'd like to play it. Can you play the accompaniment on your ukulele?

[ritonmousquetaire]

12 hours ago, soloduet said:

@Riton: to make a link with another of your threads if you are a oom-pah fan then you need such an overlap on the duet in order to make the chords on LH. Thank you for the information about the musette tunes and I'd like to play it. Can you play the accompaniment on your ukulele?

The accompaniment for which piece? I've got to say that I haven't had much time to practice these past months, I should play a little bit more...

[tona]

Thanks Soloduet. You made me want to try a winter version too!.. 

 

 

[David Barnert]

On 10/4/2018 at 3:12 AM, tona said:

Thanks Soloduet. You made me want to try a winter version too!.. 

 

Wow. There’s so much there that I’ve never tried or even heard on a concertina. The “when troubles melt like lemon drops” inner voice that isn’t afraid to sing a I chord while the melody is singing a IV chord, for instance.

 

I have to listen to it a few more times!

[soloduet]

Wow, I love this one with a mix of autumn feelings and the sound of the instrument is the best! 

[tona]

Thanks David and Soloduet!

Soloduet, your counter-point is so brilliant that it is difficult to forget your arrangement and play something different... I had to find an other way to develop this beautiful melody... And yes I have a great instrument made by Dipper family..

 

PS I don’t know how to reduce size of police on my phone.. Sorry for that...

Edited October 6, 2018 by tona

[ritonmousquetaire]

Tona, that's an amazing version! With these basses and counter-melodies, you almost sound like a string quartet. It seems that this tune fits the duet extremely well - the version JeffLeff recorded a few years ago also comes to mind. Forgive me if I already asked you this, but what's the range of your instrument?

 

Now, with all the talents there are on this website, you guys should start to publish some of your arrangements!