Jump to content

A Bizarre Concertina Gig #2


Recommended Posts

Back in October 2015 I posted about a concertina gig where I played wearing a velcro motion capture suit for a mysterious production company.

 

 

The NDA they made me sign applied only until the release of the product. So now, almost four years later,  it’s out. You may well have seen ads for the video game called Red Dead Redemption II.

 

Simon Pearson is the bit character who plays concertina in the game. He’s the camp cook and part of his back story is that he served for a time in the Navy. You can see him (me, the actor and the animators) singing sea songs around the outlaw campfire. The playing looks quite real. check it out here at:

 

Yankee Ship 4:29
Goodbye Fare Ye Well 15:26

Red Dead Redemption II Campfire songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCq7TCGlAw4

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's excellent, I had no idea they got an actual concertina player for motion capture.

 

Did you record the audio as well or was that done by someone else?

 

I'm trying to get a hold of the full version of the song in the video below, but I guess I will have to wait for the release of the game soundtrack.

 

Great job!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Timv,


Yes, the movements of my head, arms, shoulders, fingers and the concertina itself are reflected in the performance. The concertina audio is all me, no phony accordions here. When Pearson sings, that audio is the actor only, Jim by name.

 

Jim and I would sit around a marker on the floor (the “camp fire”) with our velcro mocap suits on and perform the song a few times. We had almost no rehearsal. Jim had a fake concertina prop, two wooden boards with a foam rubber bellows and rope hand straps. He would mimic my movements while he sang. I was told that the animators would merge our mocap data later in the studio along with the audio. Amazing studio magic creates a lifelike performance.

 

If you can find any other Pearson clips, I would love to see them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like this one with the instrumental at the end. Catch that morris jig feel with the delayed third beat to promote dancer loft? And how about the gold tooling reflecting the firelight?

 

 

Edited by Jody Kruskal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The actual Jefferies 38 that I was playing in the recording session had plain bellows with no bellows papers or gold tooling. The animators certainly did their homework and Pearson is playing a very fancy English made Anglo with all the trimmings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Jody Kruskal said:

 The concertina audio is all me, no phony accordions here.

 

I really like that. I was scouring the internet to get the information about who played the concertina. I found a list of musicians that made the soundtrack and couldn't find the concertina listed anywhere. There was only one mention of an accordion, and I feared that that was what's played here.

Great work!

 

6 hours ago, Jody Kruskal said:

If you can find any other Pearson clips, I would love to see them.

 

I also found this version of Home, Dearie, Home, which is really nice as well.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great!  According to Wikipedia, "Red Dead Redemption 2 broke several records and had the second-biggest launch in the history of entertainment, generating $725 million in sales from its opening weekend and shipping over 24 million copies in retail."  If I may ask, do you get royalties or something like them, or were you paid a flat fee?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congratulations - it's funny actually, because I supervised the two guys who implemented the physically based animation for characters in that game - technology we (at NaturalMotion) called "Euphoria". 

 

I guess that means if it's possible to shoot the character whilst he's playing the concertina, I'd have to take some responsibility for that. English vs Anglo :) 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is fantastic! Glad they went to so much effort to make the concertina look and sound realistic. Just those small details... I wonder if this will cause a surge in people taking up the concertina?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Microsoft's "Sea of Thieves".

 

It's exciting that two of the most popular online games about pirates and cowboys both feature the concertina - probably the best PR concertinas have had in years.

 

And who knows, they could very lead to an unexpected and very welcomed renaissance!

 

Gary

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here from "Sea of Thieves" is the ABC to "Becalmed" .....

 

X:1

T:Becalmed from "Sea of Thieves."

C:A computer game for pirates!! – Composed by Robin Beanland & transcribed by Josh McGraw.

M:3/4

L:1/8

K:Gmaj

"Becalmed"A,2 | D4E2 | F4A2 | G4FE | F4A2 | G2F3E | F4D2 | (B,6 | B,4) D2 | A,4D2 | F4A2 | B4A2 |!

(F4F)A | B4A2 | F4D2 | (E6 | E2)z2EF | G6 | (F4F)D | B,2(D4 | D6) | G6 | F4D2 | (E6 | E4)A,2 |!

D4E2 | F4A2 | B4A2 | (F4F)D | E2F2G2 | F3G/F/E2 | (D6 | D4) FA | d2^c2A2 | F2(A4 | A6 |!

A4)FA | GFE2D2 | B,2(A,4 | A,6) | (A,4A,)A, | D2D3E | F3G/F/E2 | (D6 | D4)A2 | d4d2 |!

B2A3G | (A6 | A4)A2 | d4d2 | ef/e/d2^c2 | (d6 | d4)FA | B2A2F2 | E2(D4 | D4)FA | GFE2D2|!

B,2(A,4 | A,4A,)A, | (D4D)E | F3G/F/E2 | (D6 | !>(![D6A6] | [D6F6])!>)!| d6 | z4zF/G/ | (A4A)G/F/ | E2A,2D2 |!

(D6 | D4D)F/G/ | (A4A)G/F/ | E2A,2(D2 | D6 | !>(!D4 D)F/G/ | (A4A)G/F/ | E2A,2D2 | (D6 | D6 | D6 | D6) !>)! |]!

 

Available on U-tube of course!!

 

Here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVE_7GG3xQM&frags=pl%2Cwn

 

or here ; www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t8TFGTAAoU&frags=pl%2Cwn

 

regards

Jake

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That would be Robin Beanland, composer and musical director of Rare, Ltd. (the company that created "Sea of Thieves").

 

And he did it all on a wheezy little 1860's Wheatstone or Lachenal EC, seen here with the music to "Grogg Mayles" which he so kindly allowed me to include in Pirate Songs for Concertina.

 

Somewhere there's a video talking about how they selected concertina and hurdy gurdy for the soundtrack, but the exact link eludes me at the moment.

 

Gary

Robin-Beanland.jpg

GroggMayles-Beanland.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/18/2019 at 11:33 PM, gcoover said:

Somewhere there's a video talking about how they selected concertina and hurdy gurdy for the soundtrack, but the exact link eludes me at the moment.

 

Here is the video where they talk a little about the choice of instruments.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry for the slight necro-post but does anyone have any information of that particular version of Goodbye Fare The Well in the video? I've been slowly drawn in by it and would love to be able to play/sing it but can't find any lyrics/dots online anywhere for it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...