Christoph Pelgen

[RAc]

For those of you who aren't familiar with the name - Christoph is one of the corner stones of Balfolk music in Central Europe. He's a well read, versatile, humorous, warm and emphatic human being, plays pretty much every instrument known in the balfolk scene and is also an enormously productive tune writer. There are huge collections of his tunes available. He writes about them: "So my tunes can all be used free of charge and I would be pleased if they got played. You can do whatever you like with them, change them, find your own variations and harmonies. If you want to record one of my melodies, I simply request that you attribute it tom me and send me a copy of the CD."

 

I have recorded one of his tunes on my soundcloud collection:

 

soundcloud link

 

(of course including all the imperfections and shortcomings implied by my limited abilities as a musician).

 

It's a very witty tune, and pure fun to play!

 

And yes, there is a chord change I keep missing in the D part (in the repetiotin short before the rhythm change, there should be a Bb instead of a Gm). I know, but my fingers refuse to learn that... I keep working on it.

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by RAc

[Rich C R]

?

[wunks]

12 hours ago, RAc said:

 "So my tunes can all be used free of charge and I would be pleased if they got played. You can do whatever you like with them, change them, find your own variations and harmonies. If you want to record one of my melodies, I simply request that you attribute it tom me and send me a copy of the CD."

 

 

 

 

Bravo!

Edited March 4, 2019 by wunks

[wunks]

While my sentiments align with those above,  I sense a need for at least a minimal level of protection of attribution.  It seems a regular practice in the "industry" to use the promotional formula "such and such a tune" by "such and such a recording artist" to imply authorship.  "as played by" would be fine.  It seems to happen a lot with folk music of uncertain origins but I've seen it with contemporary tunes as well.  What would be a minimal protection for casual compositions ?  Does playing a tune on a site like this and declaring authorship help?  Given the sometimes cannibalistic nature of the Music/Money biota, I can envision facing legal action for playing one's own creations........?

[RAc]

I recorded another tune by Christoph:

 

Scottish Latino

 

I added a second voice and played all three tracks (melody w/ concertina, bass w/ concertina and rhythm guitar) myself. As the name implies, this is a Balfolk piece with a strong latin twist to it which I hope I could capture a little bit. Recorded with Holden #3 Crane duet.

 

Thanks for listening as usual!

 

P.S. I took wunks's point back to the other thread it was brought up in.

Edited May 17, 2019 by RAc

[RAc]

I've uploaded another tune written by Christoph:

 

https://soundcloud.com/rac-13/hannah-schottisch-christoph-pelgen

 

Unfortunately, this is not very well suited for diatonic instruments as it modulates between a minor and major key of the same name (G in this case). Christoph does that quite a bit. Played on my Holden#3 Crane duet.

 

I've been experimenting with diminshed chords on this one. I just found out about those recently. There is limited use to diminished chords in dance music, and there is always a danger of overusing them, but if applied moderately and tastefully, they can add a subtle and zesty flavor to a tune, similar to what herbs from the Provence can do to both ordinary and extraordinary dishes (now how's that for a metaphor? )

 

Stay healthy and keep on playing! It's one of the things that keeps me going in these unusual times...