Ethnopiper & BusinessControlled
Home Recording, Ney Flute, Electronic Music, Folk Music, Ethnomusicology
This is a short video clip from the “introduction” of a 30 minute composition I made for a live performance at Bloc+ this coming Thursday (18th April), in Glasgow UK.
The intro piece is performed with 5 loopers and an mpc one before it transitions into polyphony and rhythms. The video I made using Resolume and Fimora.
I have been looking for alternatives for a while to the multinational platforms such as youtube to post my videos and audio content. It has been difficult, as the smaller platforms have either been bought up by google or FB or other such giants, which practice such cut throat competition via their advertisements and strict policing; or they were not compatible to post/embed on here… the blog.
Over the years I have dealt a lot with Archive.org, not for uploading or presenting my work, but for looking at videos, music and for getting old software for my 32bit music project.
I dont know much about them except that they are linked to a lot of libraries in the US, Canada and elsewhere. I know from practise that they have a lot of info that is not available elsewhere, and I have been grateful for that, so I can explore my various musical projects.
I decided to upload a few test pieces and see if it embeds well here, and although it is not “showy” or “in your face” like other formats, it is possible to do, so I will be posting things from there and elsewhere… and hopefully getting away from the arrogance of YT.
I am against advertisements that cut through your viewing experience, and I think YT has gone beyond reason.
For audio, although I liked audiomack for its “on the edge” hip hop and Rap music, it has also signed various contracts and it is no longer the “on the edge” platform that it once was. Also a recent viewing of my blogs showed that the links have been cut, without reason, and I was not told about this. They have been restored, but it was a lot of work.
Frankly I am bored with all this monopolising, and being forced to watch advertisements that I am not in the least interested in (are you listening WordPress? No, i guess not).
There is nothing perfect, and I am not looking for perfection, but I do require a limit to all these advertisements, and I think WordPress is not as bad as others. But I am looking into platforms that have no advertisements at all… o happy days.
Here is the new page via Archive.org. This test recording is the new podcast that I did a few days ago regarding an electronic music composition, that I am currently working on.
Podcast no. 1
Here is a music video that was composed in Sweden in 2023
Video of my Electronic music Composition
Here is a video of a Tutorial on connecting instruments to a DAW (quite and old video)
I will be playing at Bloc+ in the centre of Glasgow on the 18th April at 9pm. just got the flier for it !
Flier for Bloc+ at the Noise Box Event.
Noise Box is an experimental/electronic/modular etc. event, once a month. It will be the 2nd time I have played there, and it will be the 2nd time I have written a piece for it… New compositions are hard going… I am no good at deadlines! But it will be a mix of different genres…. loopers, synths, text, FX etc. partly improvised and partly fixed.
Here is the 2nd Podcast on my Bloc+ composition, in Glasgow on the 18th April.
I have scrapped the old project, and started with a new composition using the Boss RC505 mkii Looper. By using this a whole new life came possible.
Here is the 2nd recording/Podcast about the new musical direction using the Looper.
I thought to document a process, a thought, and workflow process, as I compose my new piece for a gig that is happening on the 18th April, in Bloc+, Glasgow, UK.
It will be partly a blog, but also an audio diary so I can explain the sounds, and say things that would take ages to write. Ideally it would be a video diary, but looking at synths while I explain things is a bit like watching paint dry, say it in a photo… saying it audio.
It is not the very beginning of the dairy, as I have been composing this piece for 3 weeks now (2-3 weeks). But it is more of a diary of “work in progress”, more of the changes (more about development, success and failings) as the final piece will probably be on the 18th April (hopefully not a few minutes before I go on!)
(Podcast No.1 The music at the beginning and the end are my composition experiments relating to this blog)
The info I got for the gig is that I “have 30 minutes… play what you want”. 30 minutes! and already it has been 3 weeks of trials, error and experiment. Often I would get up early morning start working things out by 10am and basically work though until 11pm or later. I don’t know why it takes so long? Is this normal? When I look at youtube I see people playing things effortlessly…
Even now the set up of instruments have changed from 3 weeks ago. The SQ1 (bottom left) sequencer, the keyboard, and the SP404mkii (Right) has gone. More instruments have been added, namely a Volca Bass and the Volca Modular (bottom Right), there might be more or there might be less before I am finished.
From left to right- zoom H8, MPC one, Crave
O Coast, Volca Modular
Volca FM, Volca Bass
I brought up a better speaker, it is not excellent but at least it has a better bass range than the small amp.
The podcast will describe more, the music at the beginning and the end is from my audio composition.
I have not been back to Praha in many years, possibly 10. I first went there in 1988 when it was Czechoslovensko. I loved my time in Czech, mainly in the region of Moravia. Recently I visited a friend in Bohemia and I spent my time in Pilsen. It was a lovely city, and I never visited the beer factory!
On my return to the UK I spent a day in Praha, and saw how much it had changed, even from 10 years ago. It could of been anywhere really, not very interesting with the same shops you can see in any big city in many parts of Europe. If it was not the Gothic architecture of the historical buildings it would be not worth going. Too many drunks from weekends away… a pity it turned out that way. Although it was enjoyable to see the diversity of the foreign visitors, to hear the multitude of languages and accents.
I found some graffiti art work which I liked, and I recorded some sounds that I will use in my concert next week, which I will transform into a audio back drop.
I thought to share the art work, which was in the centre of town, to the Czechs credit they had not been removed but kept as a sign that differences exist, not just aggressive capitalism. And I think the art work tells of the multi diverseness of the people who live there.
This piece started out as an experiment to try out my new “RC505 mkii Loop Station”. But it quickly became a piece in its own right, as the possibilities became apparent and it was too good to pass over. It is a new way of working and composing, layering musical textures on top of each other and “a little goes a long way”.
The text is a translation of the Persian poet “Hafiz”, the translation into English is not the best, and does not flow well in my opinion. But it is a start and I will hopefully find a better translation next time. The book I picked up in Pakistan a long time ago and I am using this books translation. So I am guessing it is a translation of a translation. I will be using the original next time.
I am playing a Turkish Mansur Ney, and using the RC505 ‘s many FXs.
My first tack on the sampler Sp404 mkii using various flutes, panpipes and a guitar. Adding FX from the SP is an easy process and you can get an interesting workflow with its layout. A new way of making a collage of sound.
Here are few photos from the Old Hairdressers gig, last week. It was a very good gig and a lot of very good comments and opinions I have received from people who saw it. It has been a very positive experience, and I would like to do more of that style of playing.
here are a few photos.
I will be performing at the Glad Cafe, in Glasgow, on the 23rd Feb. under the name of “MWAK” there will be a Turkish Ney along side a piano and Sax. As well as electronic instruments such as a Volca Modular, Sp404mkii sampler and a prepared guitar…. a nice mix of instruments and styles. I will be playing with 2 other people, which I am looking forward to, and makes a welcome change.
A new composition by BusinessControlled called “Delay Repay”. For those who do not live in the UK, this is what the National Rail companies say when your train has been delayed, with a bitter sweet pill of getting some money back from your delayed journey (not always the case though). This happens A LOT in the UK, and very often trains are cancelled for no reason. It all adds up to the rail network being a chaotic shambles.
Over the years since Covid, commuters have had to suffer strikes, disruptions, cancellations, floods washing out the lines, a bit of snow and the trains cancel at short notice, inadequate bus replacement, drivers strike, lack of staff, rude staff, suicides on the lines, things being thrown onto the tracks, subsidence of track, trees blown down onto tracks… the excuses for delayed and cancelled trains are legendary.
The video is filmed in Glasgow, and Glasgow’s weather is always reliable, which can not be said of the rail network!
Really pleased to be playing tonight in Central Glasgow at the Old Hairdressers. A self composed piece using spoken word, my volca modular, sp404 sampler and a few acoustic instrument, such as my Northumbrian Small pipes, the Swedish Sackpipa, the Turkish Ney and a few other things…. but it is the combination I am pleased about, mixing styles and instruments. A bit traditional and a bit modern.
I came across this poster on the front door of the Old Hairdressers last night. I was really pleased as 6 months ago I had barely done a gig in Glasgow and now I am playing at an established venue with a good reputation with a set up I am really pleased with.
Also I have 2 more gigs coming up , and writing new material for them.
Wma. files…. remember them? We used to download/Rip/convert/play etc in the old days only in this format, before mp3 came along. it was the easiest way to listen to music before mp3 or if you did not have a Mac. But they were not compatible with every device. Mp3 was good for playing in different media devices, Wav was too large… but I have a lot of recordings in WMA. and they are still used today… of course. but less so and they are still not compatible in a lot of DAWs and devices. As I recently found out when I tried to covert some old wma. files that I recorded decades ago. I tried Reaper, Cubase, Ableton, Logic pro X, even Audacity. Nothing worked. So I tried a demo version of the video editing software Filmora, and that did read them.
I was working on a Mac so I did not have access to Windows Media, but I did have an old copy of Filmora. The Mac was 10.13 so not very new, maybe a modern version of the above software can convert wma.? i did not know. But this is a workaround, and it worked ok for me in the end.
Have you ever finished a musical project, happy with the Mastering and have liked the sounds you have created, and then you wish to use those sounds in another project… but in a different way? I often do. Recently I have been taking a X-section from my tracks/stems and chopping them up in small parts (one shots) to be used in my drum samplers. I did this in previous projects and I was surprised how well it sounded when put against a drum vst. You can create some rich textures by layering these sounds next to each other.
The video explains how to do it, if you want to give it a go in your own workflow and DAW.
There has been 2 new additions to my hardware community, and already I have noticed a way in which I compose and make music.
The Edge is a drum machine, at its very basic level, but it being a semi modular synth it can also create rich textures to the drum loop. I have been mainly using it to make loops and then sample the results, but if one thinks of it as a synth and not only a drum machine then you can create live performances with its many functions. The patch bay at the top can control the different functions and it can be connected to another synth to add more functions.
This leads onto my other addition, the Boss/Roland RC505 Looper. I must admit I went a bit crazy here. I wanted a looper after seeing it perform while doing the Sound Bath performances, and I was just going to get a simple looper pedal for my acoustic instruments. But the more I looked into it the more interesting it became, with the possibilities of doing a whole performance based around the looper. So I went a bit crazy and bought something which does far more than I will probably need or use. It has a stack load of FX built in and with 5 loopers in one, I can use it like a multitrack recorder, utilizing its 5 looper tracks, even before I overdub and tracks.
I will be using the rc505 in an upcoming gig on the 24th Feb. So it will be a steep learning curve. I have been experimenting with the Turkish Ney, the Swedish Sackpipa, the Northumbrian Smallpipes, and the O Coast semi modular synth for the gig on the 26th Jan.
I have been working on a new composition for an up coming gig in Glasgow, on the 26th Jan. 2024. This time I am mixing styles, acoustic with electronic, samples and live playing. The performance is based loosely on traditional music and my memories of the people I have met while on my research trips. The gig is a fringe event running along side of the Celtic Connections, but it is far from playing traditional melodies, it is a new look at tradition and what is folk music.
I have called the performance “Traditional Connections” as stories/spoken word is connected by music, especially the bagpipes (Northumbrian Small Pipes, Spanish Gaita, Swedish Sackpipa) and as a solo performer I am mixing styles as the various stories are reveled. Mixed in the the bagpipes is a modular synth, Turkish Ney, Arabic kawwal, and the MPC One Sampler. Stories are told from Scotland, Russia, Spain, Belorussia, Tunisia and Turkey.
The performance lasts for about 30 minutes, but I feel I could of gone on for longer as there is so much to tell and express by using this combination of musical styles.
I am starting a Serato Users Group via Eventbrite. I am trying to connect with people who use the DJ software or DJ controllers, not only those who DJ but for those who use it as an instrument to make different kinds of music. It is an extremely creative tool.
Hopefully people will come along and talk about how they use it, and maybe share tips and tricks, with a performance slot at the end of the meeting. It would be good to connect with people once a month and give a platform to ideas and projects.
It is free, via Skype which is also free… the only thing it will cost is your time.
This has been the 2nd month I have been to the experimental session run by “GeoDynamics” in The Glad Cafe, Glasgow. The first time I went I took me small Volca FM Synth. I did not know how it would be, how it would be received or what would happen. But it went really well and I was made to feel really welcome and encouraged to play how I felt.
I was reminded of my B.A. in Contemporary Music, where we experimented on acoustic instruments. Synth were expensive then (1994) and even a small Volca would have been beyond my financial reach. Most of the students were composers and played orchestral instruments. I played bagpipes! But it fitted into what I was doing and it led me to microtonal music and Makam.
Playing Ney in the middle of an orchestra
The GeoDynamics were open to new sounds and freedom of playing. It was very refreshing to play this style after so long.
At the 2nd meeting I took along my Turkish Ney, this also blended in with what everyone else was doing too. It was so nice to play Turkish ney and not be bothered in what makam I was playing, if I was playing the rhythm right etc. just play and fit in with what is around.
I will be looking forward to the next meetings.
These days are busy with music…. wonderful. Today, I woke at 5am and I go and make some music. It is dark… winter in Scotland, no one is walking the streets, no cars; I open the curtains and I let the street lights come into the room. I open the laptop, I click on the Serato software…. and I activate the Roland DJ 505, my DJ controller.
Lights come to life… all lit up like a Christmas tree. I load the samples and I overlay them to the Roland drum machine. I create new beats and backing tracks by using samples I made myself the previous day at 6am on the “Edge” drum machine. It is all improvised, using rhythms and one shots to create something more structured and creative.
Reverbs, delays, flangers, echos… all contribute to the 909 or 808 sound, it sounds a bit metallic, a bit plastic… a bit 6am’ish.
I chop up a loop, an Edge rhythm… the beat-match from the 505 make the 2 tracks all lock together with the 808 drum rhythm, 3 rhythmic patterns all syncopating to produce a new 1 rhythmic track.
I load another sample and another… what seems like 5 minutes… 3 hours have passed. It is dawn, people are going to work, day light slowly comes over the houses. Time for a coffee…
More music, more samples and rhythms… time stands still but it also goes fast. It is 10am, I go and have a break… and listen to what I have created… not a bad morning’s work.
Friday’s Sound Bath gig went well at the Dream Machine… under the circumstances. A lot more people came to it than the previous month. I took more instruments to layer sounds, this time a Rabel Bow to bow the Tibetan Bowls, some flutes I bought in India, and some Skaduce from Lithuania that are made from a plant (like pan pipes). An ocarina from Sweden, a small hand made Lithuanian whistle, a Turkish ney and a Moroccan Nai. Also, a 3 hole flute that I made myself and a Turkish Mey (a duduk type instrument).
All these instruments I either bought in the country of origin or made myself, they have a history for me, they remind me of times, places and people; and it was very nice to play them to people, and who apparently got some benefit from it… as they came back for more.
The negative side of the evening was that the venue was over booked, so in the distance, a few rooms down another gig was taking place. The sound filtered through the walls, and although it was not too distracting it made me realise how it was not “music/sound” that filled our space, but silence… and we needed that silence for our music to work properly. It is a hard thing to achieve in todays society…. total silence. The hum of the lights, projectors etc. it all is amplified when one is being “mindful” and one is listening to the environment. I guess this is what John Cage meant to say in the compositions.
I would like to do more of this type of music, it is very liberating to layer sound and to play free style, to work with Craig who guided people through the meditations. I will post some videos when I get round to editing them.
I will be giving a free online class in the Turkish Ney, a introduction to the instrument and Turkish Classical music (sanat). You will learn a how to make a sound and how the ney fits into the Sanat repertoire. Go to the Eventbrite web site to read more about this event. To obtain your ticket please sign up to the eventbrite site. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-introduction-to-turkish-ney-and-turkish-classical-music-tickets-752434270157
or sign directly here..
I am giving a basic session Reaper (DAW) if any one you know is wanting to get started recording music come along to any, or all, of the 4 events listed… it is free.
Nostalgia… a great song by the Buzzcocks, but also it is something to do with old age! An imagined past… or if it is in the young “nostalgia for an age yet to come….” to quote from The Buzzcocks song; either way it something imagined.
Music we listen too is a sort of Reminisce… did we appreciate it the first time around? Probably not, perhaps we skipped over a lot of it… but 2nd time around, now that is a different matter.
I like to create something new with something old. I am also guilty of reminiscing… a musical history with the books I read, the instruments I play, the music I research. Was punk music that liberating? Was Turkish music that mystical? Was Classical music that elitist? mmmmm well, maybe it was for Classical music !!!
But the glorified past of a Punk gig… no, they were chaotic and often had a crap sound. I watched this gig (in the video) with these thoughts in my head. I enjoyed their music, a good sound, and an audience what was not out of their heads on glue ! They were enjoying themselves, not trying to kill one another. Times change.
The music I played is based around the Turkish ney (trying to demystify the mysticism, i guess). Playing secular music…. tut tut…. and with nasty electronic music in the background…. but the ney ends up fading away under a shroud of reverb… is it music? to me, yes. Improvisation on an acoustic instrument with an a-tonal electronic music mashed together to create what? Nostalgia? I hope not. I will remember the first time around…. thank you very much.
Leading on from the success of our last performance, we are repeating the performance of the acoustic improvisation “Sound Bath”. I way of chilling out and relaxing to the sounds of acoustic music.
Using gongs, singing bowls, hand made whistles and flutes, Turkish Ney, Duduk, harp etc. we are hoping to create a soundscape to relax to and even sleep !!
There will be a guided meditation between 2 performances, and a chance to get a tea/coffee when entering. If you are in the Glasgow area, 3rd November, come and have a listen, free entry.
a short extract from last months performance.
I have been to a few gigs lately, and although there has never been any trouble, I often wonder how easily it is to cause trouble. A few years ago in Glasgow, there was a scene of people lacing strangers drinks in nightclubs, then it was injecting people… for no reason at all (no theft, rape etc.) they just did it…
When I was watching these bands I was always aware of how easily it could be done, people having a good time, they forget about their drinks or what they are doing.
So I made this video, a distorted view… from the person who has been laced. Blurred vision, seeing the world revolve… not in a nice way.
I had my drink laced once when I was a teenager, I did not know what had happened until the next morning. I knew the person who did it as well. It makes you aware… of the place we live in.
The final line up of next weeks Box of Noise event is out. I am playing first…. get it over with eh? I hope all goes well as there are 7 acts performing and it can be chaos with so many wires and synths lying around.
My set up is simple. the Mpc One is the brains connecting everything together via midi, going out to 3 volcas (FM, Sampler, Bass) and a Crave.
The Mpc One has 2 tracks of percussion with midi controlling the home made samples (it is amazing how a guitar can be a drum kit !!). The Mpc also has 1 virtual synth track and vocal sample track. The theme of the text is Opium Consumption… which could me a metaphor for drug taking in general in regard to pain relief, or other types of drugs like consumerism.
The style of the 20 minute piece is more melodic than rhythmic, not techno but more ambient… at 142 bpm !! and I am using harmonies as rhythmic percussion, Counterpoint and syncopated stabs.
5 small compositions make up one 20 minute piece, all synths go to my Zoom H8 mic, which I am using as a mixing deck which has a small amount of compression and plate reverb. This sends a stereo mix to the P.A.
I have altered the composition a few times, but in the end you have to say “stop” and just perform it. Here is an old version of the piece recorded 2 weeks ago. The only difference is the intro section.
I have been experimenting recently with acoustic instruments and electronic samples, that i make myself. It is a style that has interested me in a long while, mixing Trad music and experimental music. Once you have got a feel for sampling, electronic music and improvisation then it is only natural that I mix that style with acoustic instruments… ethnopiper and BusinessControlled, combined.
The Turkish ney is made for improvisation and A-tonal music, it is a non fixed pitch instrument and somehow it goes well with the precise tonality of a synth, but it is these 2 textures that compliment each other. Once you have come accustomed to the non-pitched tonality then you can fee yourself from rhythm and “playing in tune” and then the “game is afoot”
The video was taken at Bloc+, in Glasgow. It was supposed to be our anniversary and we went there to have a meal, but a punk band was in full set and we watched that instead… well, i thought it was a good night !!
After many decades, BusinessControlled is performing live at Bloc+, a bar/restaurant in the centre of Glasgow, UK. The event is a showcase for many acts playing electronic music under the title of “Noise Box”, a monthly night of techno and experimental music.
BusinessControlled is a solo project from the 1980s, it involves my own compositions, played live, before the songs/music was incorporated into a band, were it took on a different style.
In the 80s it was simply an acoustic guitar and vocals… a Billy Bragg before Billy Bragg !! But later it evolved into other styles and music. After a few decades of not playing electronic music live (I was involved with ethnomusicology) I am able to play again. This time using various synths and hardware electronic instrument (not a laptop or DAW).
There will be a few acts in one night, and it will be an interesting evening and I am very pleased to play and be amongst it all.
I will be performing this friday (29th Sept) at the Dream Machine, Glasgow. free entry. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/experimental-mindfulness-soundbath-tickets-727068941777
I have been going to the Glitch Club for a few weeks now, trying to spark into life my dead electrical gear. The organizer of the Glitch Club and I are putting on a musical event. It is all to do with relaxation and mindfulness. It will be a night of acoustic instruments… gongs, ney, Tibetan Bowls, Rain sticks etc.
The talk at the minute is FX boxes, too few … too many? How to use them and what to use. The Dream Machine has its own PA, with quadrophonic sound, so the sound will be special, it is about getting the balance right.
I hope this will be a start to something more frequent in the future, a nice change from the synths and electronic music. I could do with some relaxation myself !!
I composed this piece for a concert I will be giving on the 19th October, 2023. In Glasgow’s “Bloc+” a club/bar in the city centre. The event wanted a piece under 25 minutes in length, so instead of mixing and matching a few melodies into 1, I wrote this piece using one piece of midi.
The text is from “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater” by Thomas De Quincey. He lived in Cumbria in the 1840s (a county in the NE of England, where I am also from), his book is an insight into taking opium when it was legal commerce, a bit like buying a beer today.
I know of a few people who took opium, and know of a few people who takes hashish as a way of relieving pain, it seems these plants can help a lot of people who are struggling with day to day illnesses, illnesses that the medical profession can not relieve.
I am not an advocate for selling illegal or legal drugs… I am an advocate of pain relief. People should not be suffering where there is relief from that suffering, it is as simple as that. Only when the pain has subsided can a person logically talk about the pros and cons… of drug taking.
The music is a snapshot in time, I have already changed and adapted certain parameters since recording that video a few days ago, and I am sure it will change again before the 19th of Oct. That is the beauty of it, the structure stays the same but the sound is never the same, each time one plays it is it different, never constant. I like that, it is live and it is original. I learn about the instrument/s each time I play it.
The style of music is not very “gritty” it is a clean sounding piece, but if I am writing a type of counterpoint, then I let the melody/harmony do the talking… I do not need the gritty texture to make it interesting. I find this way of writing very interesting and surprising.
The music was recorded live using the Zoom H8 mic, then I added a plate reverb in post production using Reaper DAW. The instruments are: Crave, MPC One, Volca Sampler, Volca FM, Volca Bass.
New A4’s came from the printers for my revamped “Strangled Growth” CD, it is getting a project in itself, with new ideas and styles. This time I am making a double CD out of the cassette recording, which is longer and with added tracks. The single CD was reduced in length, some one asked me to have the original version on CD.
Another year of Piping Live is over. 2007 was the first time we went and we have been going there each year. This year was different though. After the pandemic and after the death of my mother I felt I could just sit back and listen to the music, but Piping Live was different also this year, and I think it left the whole festival going in a new direction.
By looking at the program for 2023 (paper copies had to be bought this year, Going Green was the message, along side reusable plastic beer cups) I was struck by the lack of International artists, was this partly to do with brexit? Funding? peoples lack of will to come across? who knows, but in previous years there was, on average, 2 international acts everyday in the big tent, The Street Cafe. This year, there was one act (from Estonia) in the whole week, that’s excluding the Irish musicians (Northern Ireland) and the Breton band (who were performing in the Worlds). The Estonians were here only to represent their piping and were not part of the Band championship on the Green. There were pipe bands from Australia, Canada, USA etc. but I am talking about the non-big band competitors.
We used to go to Piping Live for the International acts, there was such an eclectic mix of styles and instruments. I like the Scots bagpipe, so I was not disappointed in this years festival but by not having the large International element did change the whole “taste” of the festival.
What I found also different was the increasing presence of the Gaelic piping culture, this was/is remarkedly different from the “competition and pipe band” styles. Gaelic language workshops have always been there at Piping Live, but this year there was talks, lectures, presentations etc. about Gaelic piping, and especially Pibroch, and I attended them to learn what I could. I would normally attend the Clasp competitions (amateur piping competitions, including Pibroch, but this year they were in a far away venue and I could not get there easily). The Gaelic events were very interesting and informative and I felt how different the Scots piping is/was and how it has been “manipulated” over the centuries. It has become a different beast, you either love it or hate the competitions.
If funding is a problem (it was announced that one of the big sponsors had pulled out, as well as a advertisement in the program for public donations) one has to ask oneself how is the existing funding being spent? Perhaps by not employing the professional compare everyday you could direct that money towards International acts or acts that are not part of the Piping Centre or the Conservatoire; or by not inviting bands that do not have any bagpipes in their line up!
It was noticeable how many people who played were part of the “Piping Centre’s” orbit; a not so very endearing saying is “jobs for the boys” and I got the feeling this was the way it was. Friends of the Piping Centre, and Conservatoire musicians were ok to use, but to step out of that zone was not the thing to do. This is fine if it is a conservatoire and Piping Centre festival (but it is not advertised as that) but to encourage piping from other fields (amateur, non conservatoire, schools, non competition pipers) who are not part of the festival’s orbit can surely advance piping and bring in a wider range of people.
I guess this is why the Gaelic events were good to attend. I took part in the discussions for the Pibroch each morning run by Barnaby Brown, who is establishing the “Pibroch.net” website to educate about Pibroch away from the competition style. I was also impressed by the South Uist style of playing, and I liked the lecture of Allan Macdonald regarding piping from that Island.
Things change, it is normal, and Piping Live was massive 7 years ago. Economic cuts effect everything, and I hope the festival will continue to exist. I remember in the 70s the World Piping Championship was a free event on the Green, then it became a paid event. There was economic hardship in the 70s too, but things continued. I was told the 2 events (Piping Live and The Worlds) are separate events, and this makes sense as one is open to the world of big band piping, whereas the other is open to the Conservatoire students and to the students of the Piping Centre. It would be great if more collaboration between other piping organizations, groups and individuals could be utilized, as funding is also part of those organizations too, and this would enable non competitive style of piping to be known to a wider audience.
Border pipes were played (but these were border pipes played in a Highland style, not in a Lowland style) and Andy May (Northumbrian Piper) at the festival, but there are other options too to represent piping in the UK. I remember in Strakonice Festival in the Czech Republic having a “Slovak day” a side stage where all the Slovak and Hungarian pipers would play, a wide range of pipes and levels all performed. Having something like that for English, Lowland Scots, Northern Irish, Northumbrian would be very interesting. Not just one person or one group, like the Armagh Pipers Club that come every year. Such an event wold bring in a wider audience, get more organizations and people involved and therefore advertising and sponsorship would increase… a knock on effect. There is a danger of Scots piping becoming elitist, a bit like the competitions, amazing talent playing to an empty room with only the judges taking note. Making something popular can happen if people have a feeling of being a part of it, and that can be done by taking part in the event, not simply watching an event.
While on holiday in Sweden I had some time on my hands in the evenings. I had some music apps on my mobile phone which I used to create beats and ideas. Some apps wee better than others, some were useless! But the 3 or 4 that I found were very good to create rhythms and do some experimentation.
The set up used was like this: Mobile phone/apps with a lead going out from the headphone socket going into my Zoom H2 microphone. The H2 I let run and what ever I did on the phone app I recorded. Later on, I edited the recordings via Reaper DAW.
The problem was, I recorded the beats at 128 bpm, and all the rest was done at 120 bpm, so matching the recording later on in the DAW was a pain….
The types of apps used was a Beat maker which I could change on the fly, adding and subtracting beats. Another app was Granular Synthesis, stretching audio (in this case spoken word) and applying FX. Another app was a sequencer, where I could apply FX and filters. There is also a recording of a Tibetan Bowl, that was in the room we were staying. Put all this together and apply some sound production techniques and here you have the recording.
The video is of a train ride we took in rural Sweden. With FX from Filmora.
This week I got my new batch of CD covers in their raw state direct from the printers. I only print a few copies off at a time, but the results are really good.
“Plugged in Dixon” Electronic sampled based compositions. The CD cover design is A.I. generated imagery. The idea is from Wendy Carlos’s 1969 “Switched on Bach” LP when she plays Bach with a modular Synthesizer. I took this idea and turned a 1733 Northumbrian folk/baroque notation compilation and played it with my semi-modular synths.
“Sackpipa” This cover was done for my Swedish friend and bagpipe maker Bors Anders Ohman. I have visited Anders for many years and he has written many tunes for the Sackpipa, in a book format. I have recorded these tunes and made them into a CD for him. It is a way of saying thanks to him, and to celebrate the melodies that he has written.
“One Tracked Mind” is the new CD, new original recordings from the BusinessControlled repertoire. The Cover design is taken from my photos from Glasgow/UK and a walk in the Swedish woods. The Glasgow image is a mural on the side of a large building in the Centre of Glasgow.
“One Tracked Mind / The Hatchery” This is the cassette version of the above CD. Same tracks, but the cover design is done using the “Maltese Cross” design. The imagery is A.I. produced. The cover folds in on itself producing the cover for the cassette.
“Strangled Growth” is a new CD design with more info than on the previous version. The recording is the same as the cassette version, which is longer with more tracks to fill out the 90 minutes. The CD version was reduced in length so it could fit onto 1 CD. This new version is a double CD, and has the original compositions in their original length. The recording was done on the Axoloti Core and the cover gives a brief introduction to the synth.
The “Sackpipa” CD and the “Plugged in Dixon” CD, are the 2 CDs that come under the name of “ethnopiper”, the rest are under BusinessControlled.
A composition using various synths and “Groove Agent” to create an improvisational piece. The video is walking through Glasgow/UK at night around Central Station. The night life and the homeless people make it certainly colourful. I see crazy people screaming, soup kitchens, men and women laying on the pavement drunk or intoxicated by various substances. People are getting their haircut on the pavement, medics picking people up. Dickensian dystopia.
A new video with an improvisation using various synths. This time there was a lot of editing the audio. It was recorded a long time ago and I was letting the synths play into the Tascam mixer, recording about 20 minutes of music. The recording sounds great live, a bit of delay and reverb and you can just sit back and listen and enjoy, but when it comes to “chopping it up” and editing it, it is a different matter. You have to make sense of something that was done months ago, remember what was “great” about it, and often you cant remember !
So begins the process of creating something new, of editing, cutting back and sculpting a new piece, 20 minutes down to 8… like a film maker with lots of film lying on the floor… well not exactly but there is a lot of material to edit. You end up with a version… one of many.
I am totally blown away with the video, the images that Resolume creates is just stunning. Some might say “trippy” but whats wrong with a trip? The photos were taken in the woods in Sweden, the beautiful blend of mosses and trees, flowers and ferns.
This is the 2nd video taken from a longer improvisation that I did using several synths. These improvisations are interesting as it is like painting a picture without sight. One creates the picture as it goes along. Music is manipulated in real time and then edited later on, trying to make a form from abstract sound.
The synths are the Volca Sampler and the Volca Modular, the Axoloti Core, the Crave and the percussion is the 808 drum which comes with the DJ505. The video content is taken from my previous video that is about making cassettes and CDs, then I passed that video though the Resolume Software and then the Filmora Software. The music was edited with Reaper DAW.
A video and music composition using improvisation techniques. The synths are the Volca Sampler and Volca Modular, The Crave, The Axoloti Core, a drum machine using the 808 sounds from my DJ505. Everything was passed through the Zoom H8, which was used as a mixer, and then edited on Reaper DAW.
The video was made using Filmora and Resolume Softwares. The final cut was also done in real time, improvising the imagery by tweaking the parameters.
A video and music piece using the Volca FM and Volca Sampler, O’Coast, Crave and MPC One. The photos are taken of a broken historical wall after a car smashed into it. The music is recorded separate, I did not intend to compose a piece related to the wall falling down. But certain elements of the music fitted well with the video.
I used Filmora on my old Mac, to create the video. I enjoyed the process and I hope to do more videos in the future.
There is a first time for everything! and that is a good thing. 2 months ago I would have not dreamed of making this video, my electronic/synth experiments and compositions were strictly for “recording” (playing, recording, editing, and mastering), not for playing live.
The whole process is different, completely a different way of thinking. With “recording” you can edit out the mistakes or re-tune and manipulate your sound in post-production. By using your DAW you can make CDs and Cassettes, up load and Stream and carefully sculpt your sound; not so with live performance.
I have played live all my adult life, it was/is not a problem, but doing this video has taken 2 months of frustration and trying different way to make it all work. I think the big difference with electronic music, compared with playing with a band or using acoustic instruments, is that electronic music is “so precise” you have to be accurate, the harmonies have to be working together so tightly, other wise it can be a mess so easily.
I am using 2 analogue oscillators mixed in with 4 digital oscillators. the analogue gear has a habit to change as it “warms up” just like those old valved amps! Tuning an analogue synth can take some time and fining the right pitch within so many pitches can take some time also. Then those pitches had to harmonize with each other. All I know it can take time.
If you were to play Jazz or Blues, Skiffle or Punk, there is a “window” on how much you can play “out of tune” in fact to play Blues music too precise looses its “sound”. Electronic music has a “sound” too, and if it is too “free/loose” then it can be awful.
When I “recorded” my music I could manipulate sequences, loops, phrases with a DAW and tune them up to make it work; playing live is having one chance to get it right. And for 6 weeks it was not working at all.
I had “booked” myself in to play live at the Glasgow Synth Club, it is not a gig as such but it is performing live in front of like minded people, and explaining what you do… and I had not a clue “what to do” 2 months ago. It was uncharted waters for me, and it was not working at all, and I could not understand the reason why it was not working live, it was just a sonic mess. But it sort of came together, I found a work-flow, a theory to work from, a practice that seemed not cause me stress!
I was using midi out, CV-gate out to analogue gear, and getting used to sending midi signal “thru” to other digital synths. Then I wanted to use the instruments in a creative way, and trying to match their sound to the sound I was searching for. I have also booked myself for another gig in November but this time it will be a much longer performance and to a different audience.
I am using the MPC One sampler, The O’Coast (analogue), The Crave (analogue), Volca Sampler, Volca FM and using the Zoom H8 (mixer). The Video is edited with Filmora 10.
I have been attending a “synth club” recently in Glasgow, it has sparked a lot of mental activity, so much so that I can not sleep after the club with so many thoughts full of ideas and impressions.
One thing it has kindled is an interest to play live again. I am actually playing live next month at the club, a sort of demonstration, a work in progress. This terrifies me as I am literally learning about the instruments. I have chosen to play hardware synths, patching them together and trying to make music that I can barely envision in my own head…
But I want to incorporate acoustic sounds too, some of these I can sample, but I want to play the Turkish Ney live also. By doing so I am thinking into two very different worlds: electronic and acoustic, these provide massive challenges in themselves. The Ney is a non-fixed pitched instrument, and electronic music can be so accurate (even when it is non-pitched) that anything not in the same frequency can be jarring; a bit like playing a harmonic piece of music on two out of tune instruments… different textures different pitches/frequencies.
This past month (ever since the last Synth Club session) I have been trying to get a “working” model for performance with the synths I have, as well as playing the ney. It has ben really difficult and frustrating. I have swapped instruments around, different combinations (digital next to analogue), acoustic next to electronic, midi next to live playing, melodies next to discordant reverbs… it is very interesting, but stressful as nothing is working. I mean, it all works… but it is never consistent.
This morning I was laying awake thinking about what I am trying to do here? I mean I have to describe what I am doing musically, right? but I could not think of an explanation, I have never asked myself “why I do music?”. But I am asking myself why am I trying to create this piece of music using instruments that I know very little about. If it was not for the Synth Club I would never of thought to play live. But now I think about it all the time.
I think the answer has very little to do with music! Or, should I say it has little to do with frequency, harmony, pitch, rhythm… it has more to do with personality and personal history. Growing up in Carlisle, Cumbria, UK in the 70s and 80s I was surrounded by “Boundaries”. Carlisle sits on the Border between England and Scotland, it was predominately a “white” city with very few ethic communities, it was macho city in style, it was tribal in musical tastes. You defined yourself by what music you listened too, and if you were into the “wrong music” then you could be beaten for it. I lived in the countryside so being a punk in the midst of Heavy Metal fans was always a challenge. Later on, I was introduced to people who listened predominantly to: folk music, or Classical music, or Ethnic or Blues music…. I liked “music”… and somehow it all fitted together, it was just compartmentalized, divided into groups. I think it is time I merged all these types of musical styles (life styles) and see what style is “my style”.
What I am trying to do (I think) with this combination of instruments and musical genres is to break down those boundaries. Folk music next to ambient music, experimental music next to structured music… it is about finding a combination that works… creating a “harmony in my head” (as the Buzzcocks sang).
I am not so worried any more about performing next week, punk was all about playing… just getting “off your arse” and doing something, I still believe in that philosophy, and electronic music mixed with acoustic music is just another musical journey. I hope to do more live performances in the future, whether it is a solo jam session or with other people. It is important that I (we) keep on playing live.
Here are my opened flutes (some of them) and the mouth pieces laying besides them (baspare), I have been cleaning them with soap and water as they have attracted a bit of mould over winter (damp conditions in Glasgow). Soap will not clean the mould away, later I will use white-spirit to get destroy the fungus.
There are Arabic, Iranian and Turkish neys, also there is a Bashkiri Kuray, and Balinese Suling Gambu, a Turkmen Gagri Tuduik, 2 Indian Bansurai’s, and a Kaval from Turkey. They are all collected by me in the countries of origin. They are part of my memories, a sort of a “postcard” to myself. After washing I dried them in the sun, a rare occasion in Glasgow! There is also a Turkmen Dutar (a 2 stringed guitar looking instrument)
I am not a fan of streaming, I was until recently, but I feel we are being short changed (literally). I like to hold music in my hand, a finished product as it says “this is it”.
I have always made my own cassettes and CDs, I wish I could make vinyl but it is an expensive process. But I think to make the final product is part of the whole music making idea. You create something from start to finish. The original idea (a thought) is transformed into a hard reality that has colour and shape. It is a creation in its own right.
Over the decades I have made cassettes and CDs to sell while I went busking, I sold enough, not a lot, but enough and it helped me to have a dialogue with the people who bought them, which was more important. I have tried different approaches to making Cassettes and CDs, depending on materials and technology available. In the early 80s it was a photocopying machine and printing at the library, now it is computers and photoshop. I choose to do it DIY, but I am not against making it with the help of a 3rd party business “whatever works”.
If you make music, then I hope you can start making your own covers to your music, it makes it more individual, less “mass produced” and it just adds to the over-all creativity that music is supposed to be. If we all used the “same guitars, the same reverbs, the same basses, the same drums and compressors” our music would be the same as everyone else’s, but we don’t, but a cassette and CD is passed on to a company, that produces that “sameness”. I hope this video inspires you to go DIY .
My new video showing how to install and use the free MPC Beats DAW in Reaper DAW, not as a ReWire but as a plugin. When I was trying to install MPC Beats on my old Mac (High Sierra, 10.13) I was not able to complete the install as it was “too old” for the software. Feeling a bit of “age’ism” I decided to look for an older version of MPC Beats, but I could not find any.
Some advice on the Akai forum told that you can use the MPC software as a plugin, and use the new up to date software on the old Mac computers. This is what I did. I thought this was useful and decided to pass on this advice. Thus the video.
A New release from BusinessControlled, a batch of double CDs ready for shipping out.
I finally finished the batch of CDs of my latest release “Human Habitation” under the pen name of “BusinessControlled” (see menu in this blog) . It is a double CD for the simple reason there was a spirt of composition during lockdown. It is sampled based electronic music. Not a thrash guitar in sight.
As usual I am not releasing it online, it is done in the old school of going into a “record shop” and just buying it as “I liked the cover” which I used to do in the Pink Panther, I was often surprised with the results when I did this.
Also I prefer to release it as a “hard copy” as it gives something to people, instead of a “thin air” release (I am not a fan of Streaming).
The cover design, recording, mixing and mastering… everything except the printing, was done myself. I am into…
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Re blogged from my other site “Carlisle Punk Bands”
4 new tracks made from improvisations using the Tascam 24 mixer and Reaper DAW. My partner was ill in bed with Covid. To concentrate the mind I did a long improvisation using various synths (Neutron, Volcas, Modwave). Later, I sliced them up and manipulated them in post-production. Thus, there is a theme to all of the audio.
For many weeks now I have been taking train trips to look after a boat. The wind and sea have been rough and high, I took videos to document this process, and used effects to create moving images, these became the videos to the music.
You might say the music and the videos do not match? But why should they, they match as both are a part of the life I am leading at the moment, it might be disjointed or abstract but that is life at this present time. Two different aspects…
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Bruise Control performing at “Bloc+” in Central Glasgow on the 1st May 2023:
The Guillotines performing at Bloc+, on the 1st May 2023
I have spent the past 10 days re-introducing myself to the Axoloti Core, a programmable software synth, and a hardware synth to play what you have programmed.
I last looked at the Axoloti Core when I programmed sounds for the “Strangled Growth” CD/Cassette (see menu) which are recordings I did on the Axoloti creating soundscapes, textures using improvisations.
This time there was no goal in mind except to make my own sounds and to experiment. I did this in two ways. First just to wade through the many “codes and abbreviations” to find the actual modules needed to make the sound. When I found the midi module/s that I needed, I started adding other midi connections (bottom 2 rows in diagram). Also I strip back all the modules I did not actually need, so I can have a basic understanding to what the modules did. To be honest the software is complex and the Axoloti can be difficult to use compared to VCV Rack and Cardinal. Once I had the sounds I then added FX modules to see what worked. This approach can lead to some interesting sounds.
The 2nd approach was to to use audio (top row of modules in diagram). I connected my phone and had a simple drum beat going into the Core then into the software. Once a signal was passing through I could connect audio modules and FX. Later I could combine the midi modules to the audio modules so they worked together creating different textures and rhythms. The 2 types of signals (midi and audio) passed though a mixer into the “audio out”.
When I had created the patch, I passed it through a Roland DJ 505 Controller and added beats to it, and looping samples. This was very interesting and a new way of working.
Then I had an “equipment change-around” in my room and I started to use the MPC One instead of the Roland. I made new patches and used the synth sounds from the MPC to pass through the Axoloti patch.
By the end of the 10 days, I the was quite excited and encouraged by the progress, and I will be doing a lot more of this in the future. Experimenting with software and hardware can lead to some interesting results.
I fell out with Bandcamp a few years ago, they only deal with paypal and paypal froze my account with out reason or warning. I could not access my cash, log in or delete the account. They look my money, without any negotiation via their web site. In normal circumstances it would be theft, but what can you do? We do not read the small print and it is the nature of the internet…sadly.
I deleted my Bandcamp as I did not want people paying money into my Paypal Account. It was a pity because I actually liked Bandcamp. As a musician, they give about 80-90% of the sale back to the artist. That is pretty good compared to all the rest of these steaming sites.
I still do not deal with paypal and you can not buy CDs or Cassettes through my Bandcamp site, it has been empty for a year or so, and wayway I prefer to deal with people directly, to have some sort of correspondence with them.
I thought to add my CDs again to Bandcamp as it is publicity… or knowledge of what I am doing. A lot of people use Bandcamp and why not publicise there. I still like what they stand for, but I just think to use the virtual money is bogus. I never understand why people do it anyways.
Here is the front image of my site, it shows what I have created recently on https://businesscontrolled.bandcamp.com/music
This is my new CD (the first of 3) of the Dixon Manuscript, it has gone through a few formats over the decade. I think I started on the idea back in 2011, when I bought the book “The Master Piper, Nine Notes hat Shook the World” by Matt Seattle, who presented the William Dixon Manuscript in modern notation.
I have been interested in this book and the notation it contains. And whn I bought it in 2011 I wanted to hear it in its raw format… how the notes sounded. In those days the notation/melodies was not well documented on CD. It was hard to find on the radio. I was intrigued by the notation, it did not sit easily in the folk or classical genre. For me, it was a cross over.
A Classical musician playing a Classical repertoire, would go out and listen to a stack of recordings on record and CD, to interpret how the notation has been played, to get other people’s interpretations. I did not have that luxury, as the notation had only been found within the previous decade. I could of course just play the notes… but I wanted to hear how the notation sounded without interpretation. So I set about relating the notes in the book to Midi, to play them back on the computer.
Also in those days the sounds from the computer were tinny and without texture, boring to listen too after a while. But as an instructional aid it was ok, I got to hear the difficult passages, and I could hear the syncopated rhythms which intrigued me so much, this helped me in my own playing.
The midi software and the multi timbral instruments are much better these days, instead of a tinny, monophonic electronic whine representing a flute… there are authentic sounding virtual instruments (vsti’s) that play back, via the computer, that really do sound like an acoustic flute. It is these I have used on the CD.
My aim was to create a CD of the Dixon notation, that can be an instructional aid to the notation, as well as sounding pleasant to the ear.
The design of the CD I did myself, I took the “Maltese Cross” design from the cassette, and I adapted it to the CD.
This is the first of 3 CDs covering the Dixon Manuscript, this one is using Vsti’s and the 2nd one will be using Semi-Modular Synths to create the sounds.
My next idea for a CD is to create a body of music based on 32bit plugins using a laptop which is 32bit. I have collected a few over the years, but as technology moves on, and everything is becoming more “powerful” energy consumption is increasing, and our devices are changing to compensate; the old devices and programmes are becoming obsolete.
These days if you want to make music using a virtual instrument you will be installing a 64bit instrument (64 bit) a decade ago it would of been x32 & 64 bit, and in the 90s and early 2000’s it would have only been x32; i guess in time… and not too far away, the music being made will not be on computer software at all, but done on mobiles/apps.
I am not against this technology, but, I do wonder why have they stopped producing virtual instruments/software that uses less energy and takes up less space on ones devices? And why is it not part of todays commercial landscape? I mean, why did they get rid of the record player… the cassette player… the CD player… why not produce less of them for those who choose to use them? But to cancel production seems like a business strategy… and a stupid one.
Today it is normal to install a software that is 32 Gig in size, where as a x32 bit equivalent 10 years ago, might be 3 Gig in size (normally x32 plugin would be less than a gigabyte) using less CPU and requiring smaller processors. The whole x32 bit experience is an energy friendlier, less expensive composition.
By cancelling out the old technology, there are less instruments to choose from, and the markets become narrower. The old Atari computers that produced music for gaming software in the 80s and 90s are now a “specialist” hobby, the “cassette” for specialized web groups and forums, and the Cd disk is becoming harder to find. Streaming is the fad for today, but for how long? Instead of marginalizing these creative formats, why not have it all together, all open for choice? Instead of narrowing the way we listen and make music, why not have the field totally equal and wide open? Instead of markets being dictated by narrowminded accountants, why not let the market be determined by the consumer? This might be a naive way of looking at things, but these redundant music making tools have never gone away.
This is the reason for my next musical project. To try and source and use old software’s and plugins on an old laptop. To see how music was made a few decades ago on computer, to learn how the plugins were used and to create something new from them.
I am using a small “emachines N270 laptop” what was 100 uk pounds roughly 10 years ago (it was given to me 2nd hand). It was one of the laptops you bought in a supermarket, for to do simple tasks. Not for gaming or for making music. 1 Gig of Ram, and 1.6GHz, 130 Gig hard drive, and not much bigger than my hand. But the way I see it, the processor and RAM with this machine is still more powerful than the early “Trackers” and Atari computers with floppy discs and cards. So if this laptop can hold x32 bit plugins and DAWs then why not give it a go?
I am working with “limitations: the size of the screen, the processor not being powerful enough, the RAM not big enough, the sound card being of poor quality… so these limitations need to be recognized and dealt with. i am not trying to reproduce old music on old equipment, but I hope to produce new music on old equipment. Like you would with an old violin, but playing new music. I am not into recreating the past… but the technology can teach us things about the present and the future.
I also want to use the Volca Sampler, it is a small digital Sampler that is modeled on older samplers due to its storage capacity. The maximum storage is 4Mb, all of the audio samples can not exceed 4Mb, so a little has to go a long way. The audio samples have to be small, and recorded in 32000 Hz, not 41000 Hz (CD quality), nor 48000 Hz which I normally would use for a good quality audio recording. I have to programme it myself, and make the rhythms. In fact I intend to use my own samples where possible (not to use bought pre-made samples).
Other than this the music I will produce will be done with virtual instruments, drum machines, and DAWs, e.g. the ones I have installed onto my laptop include: Ableton 4 (todays version is Ableton 12); Reason 5 (today is Reason 12); Reaper 4.22 (today – Reaper 6.9). I am using FM8 and Absynth 5 from Native Instruments as they are not in production any more and work very well with x32 bit (Reaktor and Kontakt did not work too well.. or I did not find a version old enough)
I am using Renoise’s Tracker 2.8 (today – Tracker 3.4), an older version of the software. Steinberg’s “Hypersonic 2” which I think is not made any more either. And I am using Xfer Records’s “Nerve” virtual drum machine; and ReFX’s Alchemy and Vanguard as they are x32 bit and low in CPU.
There will be others I am sure… and I will expect to loose some already installed if they are too powerful. It is an experiment with limitations and how to create with those limitations.
Completed the art work for my new CD “Human Habitation” got it back from the printers, and did the CD labels and finalized the recording…. completed. It has taken me just as long as to do the mixing and mastering than it did to do the recording.
I am pleased with it, it shows a progression in a style which came out of improvisation and learning about sound production and electronic music. The Cd is sampled based (sounds created by myself) using various hardware synths, manipulated text for a rhythmic lyrical percussion.
It is the 3rd CD in this genre, and I feel I can now move on to combine acoustic and electronic improvisation.
The art work I did myself, designing the style of cover (taken from the Maltese Cross cassette covers) to fit into a CD style, enough for 2 CDs and text if needed. Hard card and a mat finish.
Size is not always important, the bigger is not always better. You have to decide what you want to record, what instruments you will play in one given time. Is there a need for a 24 track, when you are only using your voice a guitar? The answer might be No, but if you are playing multiple instruments at the same time this might be a condition on which recorder to buy.
I started off with 6 instruments but that has increased over a year to nearly using the 24 inputs on my mixing desk. I don’t think it will increase, but I would never have imagined I would be using so many.
Depending on your budget it is worth considering how often you would use it and what type of music you are playing?
Some of these questions are explored in this video.
I bought the Marantz PMD740, A 4 track 6 channel recorder in 1993, previously I had used 4 tracks in the 80s. I wanted to multitrack my recordings when and where I wished, as the mixing and recording deck in the university was always booked and we were limited to 1 or 2 hours a week. I could not work like that.
The Marantz I bought 2nd hand, and I used it a lot until 2006 when it doed a death by over use. The belt drive wore out. I used the deck recently as a 6 channel mixer until I bought the Tascam Model 24.
The manual has lots of useful tip and tricks and explain how to go about recording multiple instruments whether it is on a cassette (but the same applies today if using a SD card).
I wanted to put the manual online as it can aid someone who is just starting out.
4 new tracks made from improvisations using the Tascam 24 mixer and Reaper DAW. My partner was ill in bed with Covid. To concentrate the mind I did a long improvisation using various synths (Neutron, Volcas, Modwave). Later, I sliced them up and manipulated them in post-production. Thus, there is a theme to all of the audio.
For many weeks now I have been taking train trips to look after a boat. The wind and sea have been rough and high, I took videos to document this process, and used effects to create moving images, these became the videos to the music.
You might say the music and the videos do not match? But why should they, they match as both are a part of the life I am leading at the moment, it might be disjointed or abstract but that is life at this present time. Two different aspects coming together.
I have attended the morning Competitions of the pibroch, all the years I have been going to Piping Live. I have enjoyed them very much. It is a great way to start the morning with the men and women kilted up, all playing Pibroch at full volume in a small hall. I have found it very relaxing and meditative, I often fall asleep as I follow the melodies in my mind.
The competitors are all “amateurs” but the playing is natural and quality, often I like more than the “professional” pipers, as it seems more natural. They are really into it too, not only the clothes but the whole culture is on show.
From the programme:
St Aloysius Convent Chapel
09.30am THE CLASP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
– GRADE 3 AND 4
Competition League of Amateur Solo Pipers –
World Championship Grades 3 and 4.
For more information visit http://www.theclasp.co.uk
A video showing a work in progress demonstration on how to use various aspects of the Tascam Model 24 mixing desk. My intension was to look beyond the obvious “labels” written on the deck “headphones, Control Room, Aux, Sub” outputs and use them in a creative way, for example layering an instrument, adding FX onto a dry signal and texturally making it more diverse.
There are 2 videos, the first is the process, setting up, discussing the type of leads, looking at the way you can add a computer not as an interface but as an external sound source, and using the aux and sub faders, something which has not been covered much in regard to the Model 24.
the 2nd video is more about using the Sub Faders and channels, grouping and layering FX
I have always loved the cello, much more than other instruments. When I was a child it was unthinkable to learn the cello, the cost… obtainability, it just was not possible, especially for a working class kid with pocket money and coming from a non musical family.
Another problem was being left handed. When got my first guitar at the age of 7, it was right handed, my parents bought it for me, it was a cheap “Spanish guitar” from those early package holidays when Spain open its doors to tourists. The lady brought back a few to sell, it had steel strings, small, and it was not very good. When I picked it up I held it left handed, no one commented, my parents did not even know I was holding it wrong, with the strings upside down.
I changed the strings around and taught myself chords. When I progressed on the guitar I wanted to buy a better instrument. There were not so many left handed guitars back then, and the few that were available, they were 10% more expansive than normal guitars. I made do with getting a right handed guitar and turning the strings around, re-cutting the nut and turning the bridge around. I could not do anything with the angle of the neck though… it was always tilted away from me, it always felt odd… uncomfortable.
Playing Classical Guitar was even more of a problem, no Classical guitars were left handed, and I played a RH guitar and changed the strings around. The “action” was all wrong, but I kept at it and did my grades.
I bought my first left handed acoustic guitar in the early 80s, an Eko guitar, plywood body, thin sounding… but it was left handed. In 1978 bought my first electric guitar right handed, I changed the strings around. I bought my first left handed electric guitar soon after, a 2nd hand Antoria Les Paul copy, beautiful, very heavy body, and I still use it today.
I have learned to play right handed guitars “upside down”, as often you are asked to play something and the only thing available is a right handed bass or guitar. I am not against right handed instruments or right handed people, so why do I find such problems when it comes to me being left handed?
Today, I am pleased to say when it comes to basses and guitars the market and attitudes have changed since the 80s, basses/guitars electric/acoustic are plentiful and affordable, but not so when you step out of that musical genre.
Folk musicians are slowly catching up to the rock market; there are left handed folk instruments around. When I started playing the Northumbrian small pipes, there were no LH pipes around. I learned right handed, there was no other option. Today there are LH pipes. The beauty about folk music is that it is ok to be different; there is no stigma to being left handed. My friend who taught himself to play fiddle, played a right handed fiddle left handed, he also played it in the pit of his elbow (not resting on his shoulder).
I took lessons in rockabilly slap bass, I learned on a right handed instrument but played it left handed. Playing mandolin was a problem, I had to play a right handed instrument but I turned the strings around and put padding in the bridge.
I bought myself a violin years ago, it was right handed, and I tried to take lessons but the teacher was not into teaching me “backwards” and I did not continue with learning left handed. But I have always loved the Cello and the Viola, that deeper sound. I have been looking into buying one, nothing too expensive. I first looked during lockdown, and I was put off by a few articles saying “there is no left handed cellos”. What to do?
In the articles I read about cellos, the attitude to left handed people, to be honest, was a bit archaic, it reminded me of the attitudes to music lessons in the 70s “you must learn right handed”. When I was living in the old CCCP and Middle Eastern countries there is a stigma to left handed people. It was a problem for me sometime finding an instrument, but being from the “decedent west” I could get away with it, locals had to learn right handed.
Articles on the cello used words like “wrong way”, “back to front”, “you will never play in an orchestra”, “you will not find a teacher”, “you will not find parts” “you will not…” etc. generally negative and a little closed minded. It is a surprise for me, but in a way it shows how conservative the classical music community can be.
Recently my itch to learn the cello came back, perhaps I am getting old and I feel I should give it a try… before it is too late, or just that I want to learn something I have always wanted to learn…
Again, I was confronted with “there is no cellos for left handed people”, the debate on how left handed people should play continued… “either learn right handed” or “play a right handed instrument the wrong way, and play the ‘correct’ way later on”. I got quite disillusioned with it all and decided to leave it again… because after all, music is about sharing, and if one is made to feel “out of it” and not able to share, then why bother?
There is a Rumanian company who do make cellos for left handed people, but with limited obtainability, especially after brexit. I have been searching YouTube for left handed cellists… there are some, but they play custom left handed cellos which look rather expensive! There was only 1 musician who played cello using a right handed instrument but playing it in a left handed way. Just one! Here is her video, I think she deserves the publicity, I am sure she went through all this too… but she succeeded.
It feels like in some musical genres left handed people are the “oddity” and it is sad to know that mentality exists in music.
The final 2 acts of Monday’s Piping Live Festival. Extract from the programme:
6.00pm STREET CAFÉ SESSIONS –
KYLE WARREN – RELENTLESS
Live for the first time, Kyle Warren performs music
from his brand new album ‘Relentless’ with a
stellar 5 piece line-up including Stevie Lawrence,
Chris Gray, Graham Rorie and a special guest!
5.00pm STREET CAFÉ SESSIONS –
TIERNAN COURELL – EP LAUNCH
Tiernan Courell is an Irish flutist and whistle player
from County Sligo, Ireland. Following his move to
Glasgow in 2016, Tiernan has continued to learn
and develop his style. The standard of traditional
music in Glasgow has really been a source of
inspiration to Tiernan. Playing with such amazing
musicians, for example each member of his band
TRIP and the other musicians on his university
course in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland,
Tiernan’s skills have progressed through osmosis.
His new EP ‘How’s About Now?’ is his own take
on traditional music. His music sounds unique and
fresh while still respecting the roots of his tradition.
Tiernan Courell
Kyle Warren
My appreciation of the Highland bagpipe has increased by attending the “Pipe Idol” competitions at the Piping Live Festival, after so many years, and not being schooled in the format of bagpipe competitions, I have learned a lot about the dedication and skill of these young players.
Here are 4 pipers from Mondays competition.
Here are the photos I took, they match the order of the recordings… 1, 2, 3, 4
Piping Live starts for me on a Monday, usually we travelled either from Carlisle, Croy or Madrid to get there for the first performances at the Street Cafe. Leila and I had a “ritual” of going for a coffee after the train to Glasgow and then making our way to the Street Cafe to hear the 1st acts. I would stay there most of the day.
I have grouped all the artists together, as I upload them bit by bit. The first artist was from Iran, Lian Sharifian and her band “The Lian Music Band”, she played the Nayanban from southern Iran (2 reed chanters, playing in unison, fixed into a goat bag which was very colourful, no drones, and it is mouth blown). Her father was also there, and her teacher, and percussionist. The first day was a short performance, 20 minutes, but the audience was lively.
The 2nd artist I recorded was the Ross Millar Trio.
Ross Millar Trio
Before I went for lunch I recorded 2 pieces from the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra.
I never intended it to be a project. I had a weekend free and I wanted to learn new software, namely Resolume and Filmora. I had my workflow with making music, but I have wanted to add visuals to my music, thus I had started to learn Filmora and a new software that is mainly used at festivals, Resolume.
I took generative A.I. photos and put one into Resolume, played around with it until I was happy with the image then recorded a “clip” then I repeated the process until I had several versions of the photo. Then I used those images in Filmora, and made my movie, then I took that movie back into Resolume to make changes and add to the finished video. I made 6 of them to go with the 6 tracks.
The music is a long improvisation, done on my Tascam Model 24, using a Volca Sampler with my own samples, and a Behringer Crave synth. The improvisation was about 30 minutes long, this I chopped up into 3-4 minutes length and made 6 tracks from it. Then I added various other instruments, mixed it all down and added dialogues, sampled on my Roland DJ505.
Here is the end result. I am very pleased with the results, and I will be doing more of this kind of thing in the future.
Audio Tracks
Videos
Just been told I have passed the VCV course from The Academy of Music in Glasgow, we spent 6 weeks building a virtual synth, learning about the various modules and how to connect them to each other. It has been a very valuable experience for me. The synth I built (see the picture) was based on the 1970s ElectroComp 100. I took its format and adapted it further by introducing a wavetable Osc, subtractive and Additive Osc, and multiple samplers (which I sampled the original sounds from the ElectroComp 100). I also added a sequencer, and FX unit… it is usable, and I will be creating music on it.
What started to be an experiment turned into a most enjoyable day of creativity. I wanted to make samples for my MPC One, to use the sounds from my VST instrument, and convert it’s sound into audio samples that can be used in various programmes.
I thought of a way to make a template so I can use it multiple times for different projects, and that if I used “Regions” in Reaper DAW, I could make the workflow easier and quicker, which saves time in the long run.
I got really into the process that I thought to do a video, this turned out to be a bit long, but I am speaking to the person who is a beginner… like I was when I started, so I make no apologies. But the Regions help in the process of Rendering and with the help of the Render Matrix, one can render multiple tracks, all named and ordered.
It must have been back in the summer of 2013, after the Piping Live Bagpipe Festival, we went walking along the Forth & Clyde Canal and ended up in Edinburgh. We ended our trip with a visit to the St. Cecilias Hall Museum of Instruments, where there was an exhibition of bagpipes named “The Piper’s Whim” here is a link to the exhibition to read about where it came from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-23516621
I am more concerned about the photos from the exhibition, which I took myself, but also the story about the photos, which were lost and then found.
The exhibition was excellent, and I took many photos to remember it by. These photos I posted on my blog via “blogspot” a site which I no longer use. That blog was seen by a bagpipe social media forum, and the chairman of that forum, without asking, took my photos and published them in the bagpipe’s official web site. He made no attempt to contact me that he had done it, I came across them as I was looking through the site.
He gave a reference to my name, which he spelled wrong (how hard is it to cut and past?) but no reference to my site where he took them from.
This chairman is also a publisher, I have some of his books, so he knows about referencing and giving secondary sources their recognition. He just did not bother, in stead he passed the credit on to himself.
Ok, lets leave it at that. Years later and several laptops later, I wanted to find my original photos. I could not find them, not on any hard drives. They were lost. I went back to that bagpipe site, but the photos were not there either. I had hoped to copy the thumbnail photos, so I could have a reference to them.
I thought they were gone, but I had forgotten I had put them on my Facebook site, all of them, and I came across them in a internet search. So I downloaded the thumbnail images and here they are. I am sharing them again, as I think they are very good, even though they are not a good quality as the originals.
There is quite a lot so I include them in a couple of slide shows:
Today my Volca Modular came, I have been interested in it for many months now but I have refrained from buying it until now. But now that I have it I wish I had done it months ago.
The Modular belongs to a type of synthesis known as Additive/West Coast Synthesis. Most synths we get are “Subtractive” they take frequencies away from the basic sound wave and filter it, subtract them, then amplify what is left, and then combine it with with other subtracted frequencies (I know I am simplifying it, but this post is not about describing types of Synthesis).
Additive Synthesis does the opposite, they take a basic sound wave and they add frequencies to it, enlarging/multiply them, and then add more effects to it. What you do to these sound waves makes the process of making music different. For some reason I have always favoured Additive Synths, and even the language they use to describe the modules and music making. I understand the process better than Subtractive Synthesis (East Coast, USA).
The Volca Modular is a small example of West Coast synths, but by all accounts you can do a lot with it. The most well know West Coast synth is the Buchla, I have a virtual instrument on my computer which is a copy of the real thing and it is a lovely and interesting instrument to play around with. But getting my own hardware variant is more exciting. Partly because it is hands on (computer free) and partly because it is Additive, my first real exploration into that musical world.
Luckily there is a lot of videos to learn from, and patches to try out, lots of strange and wonderful sounds to pass a few hours, learning and experimenting and hopefully creating my own compositions.
The box comes with patch cables and an audio connecter , instructional manual and batteries. But I think it is such a visual instrument that I would need a video to show me how to wire things up. Hopefully I will be posting some progress later on.
You might think sampling is a technique for hip hop or DJs, and it is. But there is an increasing amount of music companies sampling and making available folk/acoustic instruments to be used in electronic music production. To name just a few instruments: violin, harmonica, mandolin, zither, Pennie whistle, flute, harp… have been sampled and are used in CDs and compositions. The quality of recordings and usage has enabled musicians to listen to notation and get a feel of a tune, which adds to learning process, memorization and music making. Now, it is possible to hear a piece in 24/8 and not puzzle how to read that notation, hearing it is a key to memorizing it.
I have been sampling my own instruments recently. I have been interested in this topic for some years now, and a lot of my recent compositions involve sampling. I have not been very inventive with it, as sampling requires specific instruments to make it easy. I had not possessed these instruments, so my efforts were time consuming and basic. Recently I bought a “MPC One” hardware device to make sampling easy and creative. This also comes with software to make the process even easier, now I have the means to play and create my own samples (as well as to play and manipulate other peoples samples). Thus, I have been sampling my various acoustic and semi-acoustic instruments and it can add to my compositions and learning process.
Sampling has brought up some challenges it is own right, and I have to make some decisions about how my samples should sound. For example, sampling bagpipes. No one has done it yet as far as I can tell, perhaps because it is not as straight forward as sampling a harp or violin (I am not saying these are easy), you have to consider the drone, do you play it along side the chanter or separate? Do you play it Concert Pitch (440c) or do you tune it with the drone?
To play the drone with the chanter is the easiest, as it keeps the chanter (and the note) in tune, so when one has finished the sampling, you have a drone and note in tune with each other. Playing the chanter separately produces a note which if not at the correct pressure, therefore out of tune (not 440c), and when a drone is played seperately it can vary in pressure and so it can “waver”. With a note which is not at the correct pressure, one has to tune it (more work) post recording. This is what I have been doing for the past few weeks.
Why Sample? well, for me it is interesting and relaxing to do. But also it adds to creativity. Recently I made a recording for a Swedish friend of mine. He has composed several melodies for the Swedish Sackpipa, these he had published but not promoted, so for a few decades they have remained unheard. I got his book and tired to play them, but it is difficult to play other culture’s music successfully with out studying their music for a long time, for example the Swedish Polska, it has a different rhythm than the 3/4 waltz time, but it looks like a waltz when written down. I know the theory of the rhythm but to play it takes practice, and it has a “feeling” also. I laboriously put my friend’s Swedish melodies into a midi format, and then played it with samples. It came to life, I could “hear it” and for certain musicians it is the hearing which makes all the difference.
But listening to the sampled melody made me realize that the note A, B, or C… played repetitively, sounded boring. The same note, the same accent… was not natural and human, it was mechanical.
O.K. it is not human, it is a simulation of being human, or trying to be as human as possible. And it is these subtle differences which is what I have been trying to solve with my sampling. I have been using “Round Robins” a variation of the same note, played in different styles (with or with out grace notes, vibrato, slides etc) and played randomly.
When used with the Sackpipa recording, it gave it a “human style”, and I could listen to the notation as a Sackpipa player would of play it. It also adds to the understanding of the music, and something that I can use as a learning tool.
Round Robins are the key to sampling acoustic instruments, and yet a lot of samplers do not have access to it. For example many software samplers do not make it easy to use this feature. I think it should be standard.
At the moment I am using Reaper’s own “Samplermatic5000”, and Native Instrument’s “Battery” for playing samples. Battery is fast to use and seems to work quite well, were as Samplermatic5000 takes some time to set up. I will be using Native Instrument’s Kontakt in the days to come, which is used by many Sample companies to create sample packs.
If you are, like me, playing a lot of instruments that are not pitched in a European/Classical/440c sort of way, like a guitar or a mandolin; you will know it is really difficult to play with other instruments.
I have been trying out a way of re-tuning these instruments (Turkish Ney, bagpipes, flutes…) by sampling them and re-tuning them to concert pitch, and then saving them again so they can be used in a composition along side a guitar or other fixed pitched instruments.
I have become interested in sampling and recently purchased an Akai MPC One standalone machine to do some of my own samples. In the past I have tried to sample my various instruments but it was not a great success. This time is it a lot better. Of course one does not need to re-pitch these instruments, discordance is also interesting and a novel way to make music, but why not try and experiment so a Turkish ney can be played in tune with a guitar.
Here is a video showing the process to sample and re-pitch the audio files, making them compatible to use with harmonic 440c instruments.
A follow up to my previous video. I am using a different workflow to record a midi signal from Reaper DAW, into the Model 24, and back out again into Reaper for final audio processing.
The process is quite easy to set up, and this is because we can use a template, once created, to add to each new project. The template also includes any plugins we have included on each channel.
In my other video I showed how to disable the Master track, this time I use the Master track as my main output into the Tascam.
Although are many ways to achieve the same result, this workflow is good as it is a continuous process, there is no stopping and starting, the signal leaves Reaper, goes to the Tascam and is routed back into Reaper, all from clicking “Play”.
Also in Reaper, if you add EQ and Compressor to the returning audio track, the new signal is processed automatically. So you are converting a midi signal into an audio signal and it gets processed at the same time.
The video shows how it is done and can help any one who wants to process midi into audio as well as using external hardware and a computer in conjunction with each other.
To speed up the workflow of a new composition/project, it is useful to do all the essential things in 1 go. Therefore it is good to make a template so you can bring up all the vsts, plugins, compressors, EQs, etc all in one go. It saves a lot of time.
Here is my workflow for a new project, 24 tracks each with a VST to compress, EQ and Excite the audio. This can load up in 1 go and save a lot of time.
I have tried for many months to create a workflow that chains together all my electrical devices so they all sync together and keep in time with one another, and that they can all be controlled by one device.
The multiple variations, trial and errors, plugin and unplugging of midi and audio cables, different layouts, rearranging and designing layouts have left me often exasperated. How many times I have searched on youtube for answers, as I know I am not the only one to have these problems.
It is all about linking up multiple analogue synths, rhythm boxes and keyboards so they all work together. Designating a “Master” to connect to all the other “Slaves” and then realizing it does not work, and starting the process all gain. Understanding the differences between midi Ins and Outs and Thru’s
In the end I found a system that works for me incorporating my equipment using the Roland DJ 505 as a Master (as it has no midi input) it can only be the Master as its signal is only an output.
I tried having the computer as a Master, then the Tascam Model 24 as a Master, all worked great but there was always one or two instruments that did not link up properly.
To celebrate my success I thought to make a video to show the workflow and to try out the sounds in order. It is not a composition I am just revelling in the sound !!
(Master) Roland DJ 505 – (Slaves:) Yamaha Keyboard – Volca Sampler – Volca FM – Volca Bass – Crave – Neutron – Tascam Model 24
What is not shown in the workflow is the computer (which I treat like an instrument), 2 midi controllers and the Zoom FX box.
The recent buying of a 24 track mixer is a big step for me. It is a conscious move away from the computer based recording and workflow. It has been many decades since I used an analogue set up to record my music and I have gotten so used to making digital music on the computer with a DAW and vsts, plugins and a 2 input interface that I have had to re-learn, and it has been a steep learning curve.
What I decided to to do in the end is use both worlds, digital and analogue. Using the mixer to record music, mix music and Master music, while I use the computer as an instrument, do fine adjustments, cuts and edits, and finally make the Master file.
These videos show a process, a working process and solutions to the workflow that I was experiencing. It was enjoyable and frustrating at the same time. I now use 24 inputs as my interface, so I can plug in all my instruments and leave them plugged in, it saves a lot of time. Also I can use my VSTs such as compressors and other FX’s to produce the sound I want. The Model 24 has onboard FX’s too as well as a basic compressor, but it is the sound card that makes the difference and the use of the deck’s sliders and knobs, it gives a different way of working, listening and feel while producing my music.
The biggest difference is its limitations! You might think it is a step backwards, that I have fewer options, but it is this process that interests me. I have to limit my choices, I have to refine the possibilities and make decisions. It reduces the options but in doing so I get a more streamlined approach, I get a feel of what I am doing, it is hands on, it is real and I have an object to create upon. I suppose it is like playing a virtual guitar to playing a real guitar. I have more options on a virtual guitar, but the real guitar “is a guitar” and I don’t have to re-create the sound, as it is the sound.
I will be creating more videos, to show the workflow and how mixing desks can be utilized with in the DAW
I have multiple musical blogs, or should I say “I had” multiple blogs! Downsizing was a conscious effort. Before, my musical interests were separate, I had compartmentalized them into genres, musical genres.
I guess, I felt that people could not “understand” the mixing of genres. We have “Classical Music”, “Folk Music”, “Ethnic/World Music”, “Jazz/Blues”, “Rock/Pop”… we all know these genres as we walk into a music store (do we walk into music stores these days?). To see the labels neatly laid out, we know where to go to find out a genre of music. It is a marketing strategy, it gets you where you want to go quickly, “in/out” fast.
I guess, the thought of having a musical blog full of hotchpotch genres of music would be misleading, the same way as having the music store with “just music” in it, with no classification of what is available, would be overwhelming, you would be there all day! And who wants to do that these days?
I thought the reader (if these blogs are ever read?) would not know what to think, that “he is all over the place, too many sub-genres, it is not serious” (we are told to always specialize, to be serious).
During lockdown and being ill (not with the virus) I learned to rekindle, or bring to the fore, an amalgamation of my musical genres. Prior to 1994, for me, there was no such thing as “genres of music”, I always have mixed them up. But at university we were asked “who is your audience?” define and target, like an SAS attack!
I learned to separate the genres and departmentalize them into “Folk Music”, “Electric Music”, “Ethno Music”… But before university I had an interest in electronic music/folk music/ethno music as 1 source of music. I would listen to Philip Glass then a Dutar from Afghanistan, Punk and Reggae music, and then local musicians playing “Irish music” (again a strange name to classify a musical genre).
At university we were told not to play music as “Therapy” for example, or “not to play music before the 1950s” or “play non-melodic/non-harmonic music” or “we are not interested in classical guitar” etc. Rules were laid down, and that is ok, as the course was looking at new ways of producing music, and it helped one to think of music in a different way, and anyway there was already a lot of universities playing melodic/harmony based music.
The idea of exploring something that I had been dabbling with for years interested me. It attracted me and that is why I applied. I was already making “strange sounds”: recording natural sounds from the environment, looping, reversing, learning to programme an early 1991 Cubase Software on the college’s computer (which used to crash constantly). Experimenting with drum machines and multitracking. Trying to “split the octave” into strange intervals.
It is what attracted me to non-British music, as once you step out of the UK (and Western Europe) you are introduced to monophonic microtonal inflections, not based on harmony, not based on fixed pitches or tunings. It was ok to sing “off key” as there was no key to begin with. If you start in the key of G, then you expect it to go up and down with certain pitches. The voice and the pitches are something in themselves, everyone is different and non better than the other.
In 1985 I walked away from a punk band saying to myself “no more electrics”. It was a lot of hassle to form a band as so many perifocal items were need just to come together: rehearsal space, transportation, amps, wires, FX, mics, mixing desk, P.A., mic stands, drums etc. before 1 note is played. Switching to acoustic instruments took me out of the rehearsal space of the nightclub and allowed me to play on the streets, as well as in venues. I did not have to lug around equipment, I got on public transport and travelled (in my case, half way round the world). Lots more music was created, more people were met and more ideas were exchanged.
My listening habits changed also, I listened to a lot more acoustic music, more of the Afghanistan Dutar and less of Steve Reich! But it did not go away, in fact the more I got into the Makam system for example, the more I understood people like Reich or other composers who used “non-European” music theory. Studying the Turkish Ney in some depth has helped me to break away from the harmonic and fixed pitch music/instruments (Classical Guitar for example), and this has helped me re-look at the guitar again as a non-fixed instrument (eg. different tunings).
So, being “locked up” for a year and a half (lockdown) and not being able to play these instruments for about 9 months made me re-look at music in a different way. The only thing I could play without being in any pain, was the keyboard, and it has led me to revisit the synth and computer music in a more detailed and appreciative way. In many ways it is a continuation of the B.A. course I did in 1994, but with out the “genres”. I can quite happily mix genres of music now, modular synthesis with a classical guitar, a farmer’s tractor motor or an Iranian Ney… is all good music, and it all fits nicely in my head.
The combining of my different music blogs is a way (to myself) of re-uniting my musical past. Of not separating, of not departmentalizing. There is an “acceptance” and a “confidence” to allow these musical cultures exist side by side, within me, and also to the outside world.
After a few months I have finally finished my first cassette recording. I think the last cassette recording I did was in the 1980s, done on my Marantz 4 track, this time I included the same 4 track, but using its mixer only, with the tape machine being faulty. It has been a combination of digital and analogue recordings, minimal effects, and an exploration of the Axoloti Core, as well as the Volca FM and the Volca Sampler.
The title of the cassette is “Strangled Growth”, the cassette cover is a “Maltese Cross” design, which I have never heard of before this project, only learning about it recently. It uses no glue and it opens out to reveal the cassette and a little info.
The composition is done on a C90, 45 minutes each side. This was not planned I just ended up with 45 minutes of music on each side. It is mainly a mixture of soundscapes and structured rhythmic pieces, the text is a series of radio programmes, with the vocals manipulated via the Axoloti.
The outside of the cover is a photo I took of tree bark, this has been manipulated via Photoshop, a programme I had never used before this project. The finished image looks unearthly and alien, with a reptile quality.
The hardware set up went through a series of trials: synths to the Axoloti, Axoloti to the effects box, , effects to the Marantz mixer; The 2 volcas went into the mixing desk and out to the effects box. The effects box as routed back into the mixer and out to the interface and into Reaper. Wires everywhere!
The intension is to sell the cassette, I wanted to get away from the digital world of music, and I think I have achieved this with the cassette, it has been “hands on” D.I.Y. project and I enjoyed the process.
My wish to get my cassette recording idea up and running came a few steps closer this week, with obtaining the Technics Cassette Recorder, a 1970s machine with lots of dials and knobs and sliders, so I can now record my music onto cassette. Being the 1970s I am sure it will have the compulory “hiss” in the background, even though it has Dolby, I don’t think I will be using dolby as most of my cassettes are “normal” bias.
I am looking forward to using the machine, as it means I will have completed the process of recording and Mastering, now I can render the final product. I have the cassette covers already produced and I can put all the pieces together and see the results. It is nice to see the finished item. I have already begun another cassette recording using Volcas and Axoloti. So the idea and work-flow is making me produce music, I like combination of analogue and digital..
Today I went to some local charity shops and even though there was a lot in most of them, I did manage to get 2 bags full of used cassettes from 1 shop. The owner of the charity shop went to the warehouse and collected what she had, thinking no one would want them. She gave them free of charge, but I gave a donation. She had the same idea as myself, to recycle the cassettes, not to sell them on, but to reuse them and make them live again, with a new make-over and with new music.
Most of the cassettes are C90 and this will dictate how long my new composition will be. My existing recording “Strangled Growth” is 90 minutes, and it fitted nicely onto a C90.
My recent interest in recording with cassettes made me think more about resurecting my hardware devices from the 1980s and using them in conjunction with devices in 2021.
Using hardware with software has interested me for a long time. Using the Volca FM with a DAW to record as well as adding a reverb box with VSTs has been an interesting and creative experience.
I bought my MARANTZ PMD740 in 1988/9 it was 2nd hand from a music shop in Botchergate/Carlisle, UK.called “Northern Sounds”, I cant remember how much I paid for it, but it was expensive at the time, probably about 500 pounds. It has worked well, I did most of my B.A. recordings on it, countless of home recordings with my solo project “BusinessControlled” and I mixed a lot of soundscapes for slide shows and ethnographical recordings. I stopped using it as I was abroad a lot and when I return the digital age had come upon us and I started using DAWs.
Another problem was that the tapes were slowing down. I had copied my cassette collection onto digital via the Marantz and I guessed the motor had just burned out. I had recorded hundreds of cassettes. Eventually it got taken into the attic where all deceased 4 tracks go and there it sat until now.
The cassette deck is still faulty, it might be a slack belt or it might be something else. I will give it a good clean but if I can not fix it I intend to use the mixing desk and feed variaous analogue devices through it, and into my audio interface, and into my DAW.
The Marantz has 4 instrument inputs, so I can connect my Axoloti Core, my Volca FM and Volca Sampler as well as another device: guitar, bass, mic or I might buy a Volca bass…. now there is an idea. I enjoyed improvising with the Axoloti and the Volcas but my interface has 2 inputs only, by using the Marantz I have an option of 4 more inputs as well as 1 input left over on my interface.
I also have an analogue Zoon Effects box, this mainly has reverb, but it also has choruses, delays, echo, and distortions. This can also be fed into the Marantz and bussed to various channels. I am not sure if seperate channels can be fed into seperate DAW channels but if not then i can improvise in some way or just use VSTs.
Like with most thngs, people go for easiness. “why not go for the digital and VSTs”? it makes life a lot easier. I think part of it is the interest of improvisation. To experiment and to see what sound and effect one can create. There is a world of difference between a distortion of a VST and an analogue foot pedal distortion. It is the same with using external devices in mixing and mastering.
In the 80s I knew virtually nothing about Mixing and Mastering, in the 90s I learn quite a bit and in 2020 I did a Sound Production short course in Glasgow, as well as doing countless of tutorials in Sound Production online. I have a better understanding of compression and reverb, filtering and other techniques than I did in the 80s. My mixes back then were not good, I have recordings from those days and I can tell how bad they were. But now I feel I can use the 4 track’s EQ to a better advantage, and hopefully achieve a better mix and sound before it reaches the DAW.
No, it is not retro thinking on my side. I do not crave for the past nor for the item. But the cassette, for me, is the best form of creativity, when it comes to music and transmitting music.
Why do I say that? It may take a few blog posts to describe what I mean, but the cassette for me is manipulative, if I think about it, the whole process of music making with the cassette is D.I.Y.
Why bother using cassettes? To be honest I am disgusted with the way the internet treats musicians. This year of lockdowns has reduced a lot of musicians to poverty. I attended quite a few online meetings where musicians discussed how their income has dropped to a non living wage over night. The only option left open for them to sell their music, was the internet.
The internet is a terrible way to sell your music, as there is “so much free music out there”: free downloads, free download sites, free downloadable playlists, free platforms: youtube, spotify, soundcloud, mixcloud etc. the list of free music is endless, of course if you pay anyone it is the media company, not the musician. fuck that. Bandcamp is the only reasonable outlet for a musician, but the problem is you listen to the music first! Why bother to buy it?
If you asked a plumber to come round to fix your tap, not pay him, and he does not ask for money, and they accept that it is normal not to do so, normal that he would be out of pocket; you would think the situation complete bonkers! That is what happens to a musician. After all the training, he offers a service and gets nothing back, not even a thank you.
But what is saddest is that the musician expects nothing, they are so used to receiving Zero! Free concerts, free CDs, free downloads, free lessons, free time, as though what they do is not valuable. bollocks to that too. so I am stepping away from the mainstream, and seeking another medium to sell my music, to communicate with people on a different level.
If you used cassettes in the past you know you can record on them, re-record on them, take them to pieces, splice the tape, have different lengths of tape, play it backwards and forwards, design covers, design stickers, design inserts… and for a musician and a producer, designer and an artist these are good things to do, creative and with accessible possibilities without the need of a 3rd party.
With a CD, you can not re-record upon it (unless you use a re-Recordable CD, but not all players play them); a vinyl record can not be recorded over, a digital recording you can delete and record again, and is the best D.I.Y. medium, but you can`t produce it in hard copies! I am not singing the praise of one over the other. But to be creative in a multi dimensional way, the cassette is ok and should be thought of in a more up to date way.
Cassettes are not popular today, except for a small number of people who want to produce music/art with it. It is a pity as it would bring the price and availability down of the cassette. Not that it is expensive compared to a Vinyl record, to get cassettes done to your required length is relatively cheap, the problem is the postage and that is not a music problem. Although I would say, that the UK companies that produce these tapes, do not have a 2nd class post option listed (as ebay does). They offer courier or 1st class, and the postage price is more than the purchase! (I did not buy the cassettes due to p&p…we both lost out).
Finding cassettes to use is not difficult, but because it is a minority product it can be expensive if you want to buy old tapes (TDK, Sony, Maxwell etc), new cassettes bought in shops is virtually non existent. One needs to troll the 2nd hand shops looking for used middle of the road music cassettes that no one wants, so Perry Como, The Corries and the Nolan Sisters determines how long your music will be!
Accessibility of a musical medium also makes one think about what to compose. Recently I have been working on a series of compositions using the Volca Sampler, the Volca FM and the Axoloti Core, a piece of hardware that one can programme and manipulate to make electronic music. The improvisations were recorded into Reaper DAW and then processed with basic effects (reverb, compression). When the mix was completed I set up my old Sony Professional Walkman and recorded the compositions onto a C90 cassette.
But what if I had a C60 or a C40? Do I cut the composition down? Do I look for another cassette, or do I just say “go back to digital?”. There is a limitation, but is that a bad thing? Those improvisations might be great live, in the moment they sound wonderful, but does it relay to a recorded medium? Maybe a 17 minute improvisation does not convey to digital, and it would be better chopped up to 5 minutes. So, different questions need to be asked when thinking about production and composing. More thought is needed, questions need to be asked where as with digital you would not consider.
After the recording was done, I now got down to making the cassettes sleeves. Here is where I am learning new things. Even in the 80s I did not know about the Maltese Crosses, or O cards or others ways of packaging a cassette. Even with CDs, I did not know about all the ways of being creative in producing packaging! In the past I did my CD and cassette sleeves myself using Word and Paint software, they worked ok, but had limitations.
Now, I am learning Photoshop, Illustrator and other such programmes and really enjoying designing my cassette covers and reinventing my CD covers. It is a different way to be musical: composing, recording, producing, designing and contacting people; the whole package…, from the cradle to the grave.
If you are doing the Hadrian’s Wall Long Distance Footpath this summer, as you enter/leave Port Carlisle there is a footpath hidden away between the road and the beach. This is a beauitful wooded area, which is filled with all sorts of tree and bush, moss and vines, blossom and flower.
In the spring it is very beautiful and winter it shades you as you get the easterly icy winds. Some people say it is “not being used for anything” but I think it is exactly what it should be.
I am playing a Swedish Sackpipa (bagpipe) made by my friend Bors Anders
I have begun to record my improvisations on various instruments. In europe we don’t think much of our improvisations, but in other countries they are very important in performance practice. I hope to encourage you to take more seriously the “doodlings” we do before the melody begins!
I began a new recording today on Bandcamp. I did my first improvisation using the Korg Volca FM and the Korg Volca Sample. This was played live in to Reaper DAW. The only other piece of equipment is a Zoom FX box, which I have the Volca Sample going in to, and the Impact LX 25+ midi controller which is connected to the Volca FM. Both are going into my interface.
I am playing live, manipulating the effects, volcas and the controls on the controller at the same time. My intension is to play a series of live improvisations and to release them on “Business Controlled” Bandcamp page. I really enjoyed this type of improvisation, constantly changing instruments.
The first improvisation I mixed today, 17 minutes long, mixed using reverb and compression, with a modulation effect on the reverb, a kind of “phase” effect over the effect. The release date is when I get several compositions finished. This one is called “Volca Dawn”.
I came across a piece of Turkish notation that completely baffled me. I can’t remember where I got it (possibly Istanbul); it had no title or composer in the heading. What baffled me was the melody; it did not seem complete, as though it was a section from another longer piece. When I played the section, it also seemed incomplete, there was too many pauses (3rd line), as though the melody was following a lyric (there was none, it indicates it is an instrumental piece “Sazlarla”), or perhaps another instrument was complimenting the melody, a duet, or call and response?
Since Sanat music is generally monophonic, the only other instrument could be the percussive kudum or bendir. Turkish rhythms (usul) are complex and there are many beats to 1 bar (from 2 to 120). I felt that this melody was using the pauses, or possibly a syncopated rhythm, to let the usul come through. This dialogue between melody and usul is common and characteristic; both play “the spaces”. In this instance the usul was called “Duyek” and 8/8 rhythm.
When I wrote my M.A. thesis I had to think up a way to notate Turkish Sanat music, the normal European way of writing music falls short. Turkish Ney is a non-pitched instrument; you can have any root note within a range of a semitone of what is written on the notation. So when I looked at this unknown piece of notation I felt I needed to look at it in a new way. To understand what it was sounding like, so I could “hear it” and therefore play it.
I could have used a metronome of course, but that did not allow for the usul being part of the music, a metronome did not have the accents and phrases; it was a duet after all. I thought about tapping the usul out on my bendir, recording it and then playing it back in a loop. But there are disadvantages with this method:
That might solve this particular piece of notation, but what of other difficult notations I came across in the future? What about tempo, what speed should I play at? What about mistakes? Do I trust myself to play the usul correctly, to use the different textures that are wanting from a bendir or kudum, otherwise it would sound bland. Learning the usul and bendir might be useful but it is also time consuming, having to learn complex multi-layered beats and play them correctly takes years of practise.
I approached it from another angle. I would use a sampler! If this was 2003 then I would not of dreamed of doing this. But I have now achieved a happy balance between acoustic and electro-acoustic music. They do not have to be opposed to each other, they can complement each other, and I think in this case they can help gain an insight into a historical music (and as a foreigner trying to glimpse into a historical conversation, without the aid of a translator, I need all the help I can get).
I used the sampler that comes in my Reaper DAW. I used sounds from the kudum and bendir, and I allocated them keys on my keyboard. Then I opened the midi editor and I decided how many bars I would use to indicate a: Dum2, Tek2, tek, dum, ke, ka…etc. which are the phonetic symbols that help memorize the beats of the usul.
“Dum2” would be minim/crotchet, “dum” would be a crotchet/quaver, and “ke” would be a quaver/semi-quaver…etc depending on the time signature of the piece. The important thing was the equal distances I gave to each sound/beat. These beats I arranged in the midi editor, by typing in the values of the usul, or to look at it another way – I played the spaces.
When the usul was correctly played into the sampler, and the sounds that were coming from the keyboard were actual textured bendir/kudum sounds, I could experiment with tempo, I could loop the midi, if it was too fast I could slow it down, when I got used to the melody I could speed it up. I could copy and paste the midi file to a given time, having it repeat for 3-4 minutes or how many bars that was in the notation. It became more versatile as an education tool, not just a fixed recording, as it would have been if I had recorded my playing. I could use this method to achieve a more versatile informative approach.
I have tried doing this technique via Finale or Sibelius, music notation software’s, but the result was disappointing. I ended up with a cheap sounding electronic sound to listen too. Now with Reaper and the advance in Vst sounds I can also play the melody using more interesting sounds. By combing the usul and the melody I can hear the duet in full. By familiarizing myself with the melody (without the microtonal intervals) it also helps memorization and how the structure of the piece works together. The vst I chose is the Mellotron, a vst of the 60s synth.
Vst sounds can be experimented with (different flute sounds for example) and an interesting combination can be achieved, taking the original acoustic feel and transforming it into a synthesis of sound textures. The piece is transformed, one level it is an educational exercise, but on another it is becoming something in its own right, not Sanat music (I no longer can call it so), it had become another genre.
I have tried teaching with the sampled usul with one of my students. I think it would work better if we were in the same room together, as then I could change the tempo to suit his ability. But as I am teaching via Zoom at the moment I have to keep it simple for now. Also the constraints of Zoom is another factor…but that is a different blog posting!
I came across a piece of Turkish notation that completely baffled me. I can’t remember where I got it (possibly Istanbul); it had no title or composer in the heading. What baffled me was the melody; it did not seem complete, as though it was a section from another longer piece. When I played the section, it also seemed incomplete, there was too many pauses (3rd line), as though the melody was following a lyric (there was none, it indicates it is an instrumental piece “Sazlarla”), or perhaps another instrument was complimenting the melody, a duet, or call and response?
Since Sanat music is generally monophonic, the only other instrument could be the percussive kudum or bendir. Turkish rhythms (usul) are complex and there are many beats to 1 bar (from 2 to 120). I felt that this melody was using the pauses, or possibly a syncopated rhythm, to let the usul come through. This dialogue between melody and usul is common and characteristic; both play “the spaces”. In this instance the usul was called “Duyek” and 8/8 rhythm.
When I wrote my M.A. thesis I had to think up a way to notate Turkish Sanat music, the normal European way of writing music falls short. Turkish Ney is a non-pitched instrument; you can have any root note within a range of a semitone of what is written on the notation. So when I looked at this unknown piece of notation I felt I needed to look at it in a new way. To understand what it was sounding like, so I could “hear it” and therefore play it.
I could have used a metronome of course, but that did not allow for the usul being part of the music, a metronome did not have the accents and phrases; it was a duet after all. I thought about tapping the usul out on my bendir, recording it and then playing it back in a loop. But there are disadvantages with this method:
That might solve this particular piece of notation, but what of other difficult notations I came across in the future? What about tempo, what speed should I play at? What about mistakes? Do I trust myself to play the usul correctly, to use the different textures that are wanting from a bendir or kudum, otherwise it would sound bland. Learning the usul and bendir might be useful but it is also time consuming, having to learn complex multi-layered beats and play them correctly takes years of practise.
I approached it from another angle. I would use a sampler! If this was 2003 then I would not of dreamed of doing this. But I have now achieved a happy balance between acoustic and electro-acoustic music. They do not have to be opposed to each other, they can complement each other, and I think in this case they can help gain an insight into a historical music (and as a foreigner trying to glimpse into a historical conversation, without the aid of a translator, I need all the help I can get).
I used the sampler that comes in my Reaper DAW. I used sounds from the kudum and bendir, and I allocated them keys on my keyboard. Then I opened the midi editor and I decided how many bars I would use to indicate a: Dum2, Tek2, tek, dum, ke, ka…etc. which are the phonetic symbols that help memorize the beats of the usul.
“Dum2” would be minim/crotchet, “dum” would be a crotchet/quaver, and “ke” would be a quaver/semi-quaver…etc depending on the time signature of the piece. The important thing was the equal distances I gave to each sound/beat. These beats I arranged in the midi editor, by typing in the values of the usul, or to look at it another way – I played the spaces.
When the usul was correctly played into the sampler, and the sounds that were coming from the keyboard were actual textured bendir/kudum sounds, I could experiment with tempo, I could loop the midi, if it was too fast I could slow it down, when I got used to the melody I could speed it up. I could copy and paste the midi file to a given time, having it repeat for 3-4 minutes or how many bars that was in the notation. It became more versatile as an education tool, not just a fixed recording, as it would have been if I had recorded my playing. I could use this method to achieve a more versatile informative approach.
I have tried doing this technique via Finale or Sibelius, music notation software’s, but the result was disappointing. I ended up with a cheap sounding electronic sound to listen too. Now with Reaper and the advance in Vst sounds I can also play the melody using more interesting sounds. By combing the usul and the melody I can hear the duet in full. By familiarizing myself with the melody (without the microtonal intervals) it also helps memorization and how the structure of the piece works together. The vst I chose is the Mellotron, a vst of the 60s synth.
Vst sounds can be experimented with (different flute sounds for example) and an interesting combination can be achieved, taking the original acoustic feel and transforming it into a synthesis of sound textures. The piece is transformed, one level it is an educational exercise, but on another it is becoming something in its own right, not Sanat music (I no longer can call it so), it had become another genre.
I have tried teaching with the sampled usul with one of my students. I think it would work better if we were in the same room together, as then I could change the tempo to suit his ability. But as I am teaching via Zoom at the moment I have to keep it simple for now. Also the constraints of Zoom is another factor…but that is a different blog posting!
I suggested doing the song “Ranting Rovin Robin” for the next Solway Band lockdown session. In previous sessions I had only contributed the music. I was listening to a lot of Robert Burns’ and watching a few documentaries on his life and this songs. I had heard the Battlefield band doing this version in the 1990s, I always loved their arrangement. There are 2 versions of the song and I wanted to try and do this melody version but with our arrangement.
Being in lockdown meant I was able to attend, on Zoom, a few lectures on Robert Burns and I was learning a lot of things I never knew before; and since I live not too far from Dumfries it had a “local” feel about doing the song.
It has been the first time I have mixed a song with data from other people. I was sent video and mp3s from the band members who had recorded their sections on different equipment, mainly smart phones. Extracting the audio did not work on Reaper, so I used Audition CC. Just a straight conversion from Mp4 to WAV files, I then inserted them into Reaper.
The editing, mixing and mastering music from other people was new to me, but as a project it was interesting to do. You have to sculpt from something you had no control over. This created challenges but also it turned the music into something that I could never have achieved. It is the beauty of playing with other people… not just doing a solo recording. The sound quality was all different, the original click track was only a metronome and a basic mandolin track, which the musician either sang or played against, and from that I had to piece everything together. The whole process/project lasted 1 week, from receiving the mp4 and mp3 tracks to arranging, mixing and mastering, to the final/finished render.
The final Mastered track was added to the video.
An mp3 version of the track is heard here:
The video was created by my partner, Leila; we used all the people/instruments used in the audio recording. Leila, used Camtasia to make the video. She inserted the Mastered audio track into Camtasia and then by using the different video files that were sent, she made the video over 2 days. The arrangement is hers.
I certainly want to do more video work in the future, perhaps use it more creatively with more effects.
I suggested doing the song “Ranting Rovin Robin” for the next Solway Band lockdown session. In previous sessions I had only contributed the music. I was listening to a lot of Robert Burns’ and watching a few documentaries on his life and this songs. I had heard the Battlefield band doing this song in the 90s, I always loved their arrangement. There are 2 version of the song and I wanted to try and do this version.
It has been the first time I have mixed a song with data from other people. I was sent videos and mp3s from the band members who had recorded their sections on different equipment, mainly smart phones. Extracting the audio did not work on Reaper, so I used Audition CC. Just a straight conversion from Mp4 to WAV files, I then inserted them into Reaper. My 1st mistake was to: arrange them and to do a mix, check levels, and add reverb, colour grouped them…etc. to do everything as if it was a mix session.
What I should have done was to add compression and then bounce the tracks down as “stem files”. Convert raw data into a working file, something that was usable and slightly edited, so it could be mixed down. The raw data was not usable as the levels were all different, it needed compressed and converted.
I inserted the “stem files” into a new project, and saved it in the same folder. This I colour coded, arranged, added reverb, used compression etc. This would be my mixed session as everything was going through a reverb bus and all went into the Master channel, which had compression. I did experiment by using separate compression/reverb buses, but I just don’t like the idea of taking separate tracks and passing them through 1 channel, I feel I lose the “live feel” to the music. Also I cannot get my head around “buses” if I want several tracks panned left and right, then in a bus I lose that, as the channel is only out putting a mono signal, I lose all the variation of panning. I could reroute the reverb bus back into the channel but…?
Rightly or wrongly, I led everything, including the reverb channel, into the Master channel. I used a drum plate reverb on the Master, as it did not have a long tail delay, and it seemed to bring up the bass frequencies. As I had already put the “raw data” files through compression I did not do it again on each track, it only went onto the Master. The exception being the 3 vocal tracks, I grouped them, and I added compression to them and a touch of reverb.
I divided the tracks into 2 groups: 1 – the instruments, 2 – the vocals. I rendered them separately through the Master, which had compression. This gave me 2 tracks to do a 2nd mix.
I created a new project and saved it in the same folder. I added the 2 mixed tracks, and then I duplicated the instrument track and panned them 10% left and right. I then duplicated twice the vocal track, thus creating 3 vocal tracks, each one I named: chorus, solo, and duet. These I played separately against the instrument tracks, altering levels. I added a reverb track using the same drum plate reverb as before, all these tracks went directly to the Master track. When I was happy with the mix I rendered the tracks, again using a compression on the Master track. Finally, I had my rendered mixed track.
Then I created a new project and saved it in the same folder. I inserted the single mixed track. Then I added reverb, this time I used a different reverb, something that made the sound brighter, highlighting the higher frequencies. I added compression to the Master and then rendered it for the last time.
A mp3 version of the track is heard here:
The whole process/project lasted 1 week, from receiving the mp4 and mp3 tracks to the finished render.
It was an interesting exercise; I had not worked with different media sent from different people before. The sound quality was all different, the original click track was only a metronome and a basic mandolin track, which the musician either sang or played against.
The raw data came out ok – time wise. I did not have to correct it too much. I wasted a lot of time on the raw data, I should have just compressed it and rendered it as a stem file, it would have saved a lot of time, as I ended up mixing it twice. I am still unsure about using buses; I do not like the work flow of it, although I know producers use it a lot. It makes sense to create 1 level from many, and to save on processing power, but it also takes away the variety on each track, especially panning…or maybe I misunderstand the process! But I think my way works as well!
At the end of the session I had 4 saved project files, and I now needed to delete the files I did not want. This is easy to do in reaper and saves a lot of space. I can open up the different project files in 1 project and then press one tab, and Reaper keeps all the files that are used in the projects, and deletes the files that are no longer used. It saves a lot of hard disc space.
The video was created by my partner, Leila; we used all the people/instruments used in the audio recording. Leila, used Camtasia to make the video. She inserted the Mastered audio track into Camtasia and then by using the different video files that were sent, she made the video over 2 days. The arrangement is hers.
The video was created by my partner; we used all the people/instruments used in the audio. I certainly want to do more video work in the future.
I decided to move my current audio site for my Turkish ney audio examples, that I give to my students for to learn basic melodies, to a new site. Soundcloud is causing problems! This is not the first time that this giant online companies have blocked me from my own material, but it will be the last, time to get rid of them once and for all. I chose Audiomack and it is a lot easier to use and to “get into”!
So I created a “new page” for the blog, and I intend to add to these recordings as I increase my ney notation usage.
I have been editing my Turkish research recently, collected between 1998-2005, there is a lot of it, and besides the editing and organization, there is a lot of creating too, creating lessons and Powerpoint presentations. The research gives me ideas, and this I can use in lesson plans.
Here is a pay-list of my ney recordings (for students), it is not made for listening, but for to get an idea how a melody goes…it is for beginners, but still the melodies are what you put into them, and you can make them as complicated as you wish.
Since teaching Turkish ney again on a regular basis it has allowed me to look at my Turkish research (1998-2005) again more closely. I am re-opening my folders and note books searching for appropriate material to give to students. This is a long process as there is so much “stuff” to shift through.
The majority of the material is notation: photocopies from the conservatoire, books from music shops. I have a lot of the photocopies recorded by my teachers, but the books I do not. So I am in the process of finding these recordings online, and hearing (perhaps for the first time) what the notation sounds like.
I have made a playlist of Ney artists that were recommended to me by my teachers. It is a lineage of musicians which have the “approval” of a certain Turkish tradition (silsila). This means there are different traditions within one musical genre, in this case Turkish Sanat music.
I never realised this before I went to Turkey. I thought it is just music…Bach, Beethoven are individual composers, right? But in Turkey, I learned there was “good and bad” music in Sanat music, and I should “listen to the right” kind of music!
At first I thought this was quite arrogant, who is to say what is good or bad? But now I think it means something different. Following a certain musical tradition is connected to a deeper cultural identity, which is also connected to things beyond music.
So what do you listen to if you are not part of a lineage? Or you don´t have a teacher to tell you what to listen to? Is it ok just to turn on youtube and hear anything? I feel you have to start somewhere, and perhaps this playlist is a “somewhere”.
I tried to put this playlist together for my students, the thing which binds them together is the Turkish ney, Sanat musicians and Ottoman composers. It comprises of ilahi (hymns), instrumental music, secular love songs etc.
They were recommended to me by my teachers (some of the musicians were my teachers at one point), so I have a connection with them. But the list also gives a good idea of ney music too, not only the “taksim” (improvisations), which we hear a lot of, but composed music and how the ney fits in with the orchestra. Some pieces are repeated by different artists to give an idea of different interpretations of the same notation.
I have made a few of these playlists recently, which I will share with you when I have edited them. This one is a general starting point, but in the future it will be more genre specific: books and notation, musicians and composers. Not only Turkish music, but also other genres of music that give an insight into a particular musical genre.
A full track list of the playlist can be found via my youtube site.
With the lock-down in the in February (2020, UK) I thought it had put a stop to playing live. Sessions were cancelled and, for me, musical activities in our new home of Glasgow was non starting. There was a spate of “session videos” which were not practical due to the latency and to be honest it is not the same playing to a video screen!
Thankfully, there was an outlet and that was with the Bowness on Solway session group, called the Solway Band. I had not met them for a while due to moving to Glasgow, but I was willing to contribute to the new CD venture.
I played English Concertina and Mandolin, and there was a array of instruments by the other members: guitars, harmonica, bodhran, ukulele, fiddle, whistles, low flute…and beautiful harmonies sung.
The CD incorporates a mixture of blues, folk rock and folk music, done in our own way. Cover version of songs are worked upon in the sessions and altered to suit the bands style. Instruments are added or subtracted and harmonies worked upon. Humorous lyrics and anti war songs sit side by side to each other, slow murder Border ballads, 60s revivalist songs go next to self penned songs, Cumbrian instrumentals and Mallorcan Boleros all come into the mix during our folk sessions, and some of that is reflected in the CD.
The CD was recorded individually, sent through the internet to David, and he mixed and mastered the individual recordings. He created a booklet of all the songs performed, which comes in handy when wanted to join in at the sessions and also if you want to play along with the CD. He wrote an inside sleeve with info about the tracks as well as the Solway Band. The a colourful picture cover to the CD and the picture disc is a nice touch also. Well done David.
More info about the band and the people involved can be found via the band’s web site The Solway Band
I will be giving an online Turkish Ney class on the 14th November. I have been teaching ney off and on over the years, I enjoy it very much and if the student is interested in the music, as well as the instrument, then it can be rewarding to see the student advance
The online class will be a group event, and hopefully individuals will want private lessons as a follow on. It will be difficult to teach on mass as students learn at different speeds. But it is a way of getting in contact with like minded people and trying to get people playing the Ney.
Due to this covid crises a lot of my activities have closed down, and instead of waiting around to see if it starts up again….if at all, I thought to take advantage of the online technology which is increasing at the moment. The ney is not the easiest of instruments, to say the least, so it is a challenge to teach it online (and often in a different language) but I have done it before and it works…if the student is also prepared to do the work
I am compiling a youtube listening playlist of artists and pieces that I think are useful in playing the ney. There is so much out there at the moment, and it takes forever to go through and see what is to your liking. I was lucky as I had a good guide/s who knew what to look for, if I was starting out today I would be overwhelmed with what to choose to listen to. It is a pity the face to face lessons have stopped now, lets hope in the future they will start again.
If you know of any one who wants to learn Turkish ney and its music, then you can go to the event page in this link Eventbrite Turkish Ney
Here is an interview with a Swedish instrument maker Börs Anders Öhman, recorded in August 2020 at his home in Sweden, near the city of Nyköping.
Bors has been making the Swedish Sackpipa (Bagpipe) since the 1980s and is well known for his innovations and approaching the sackpipa with one eye on the past as well as its future, a traditional design with modern workings.
The interview begins with his early career in the Swedish Military Brass band then later transitioning into the Medieval and folk Fairs, a career covering a span of 50 years, an interesting insight into the Swedish music scene from the late 1960s until the present day.
Börs Anders Öhman playing the Swedish Sackpipa in his kitchen
More info about the Sackpipa and other instruments he makes, can be got from his web site at https://www.borsljudet.com
I was having difficulty in reaching the top octave note on my 3 holed duct flute, I am guessing the mouth piece was at fault as it was not made for those dimensions. So I thought an open-ended mouth piece might be possible?
The open-ended mouth piece is used in the Ney and Kaval type of instruments, basically you blow across and down the rim of the mouthpiece into a cavity…like blowing into a bottle.
The 3 hole flute uses the same system as the kaval (overtone system) so by blowing harder you achieve a 2nd register. But the normal 3 holed flute has a fipple or duct mouthpiece, like a recorder.
So I experimented with an open-ended mouthpiece and it worked just fine. I can now reach an octave, and even notes below.
I joined this mouthpiece onto on old body, so the measurements are not correct for it to be in tune (concert pitch) but it plays ok by itself.
I am now working on refining the mouthpiece.
I have just finished the new CD “Til the tide comes in“.
It is very different to my other solo CDs as it grew in size and texture. In fact the name of the CD, at first was going to be called “Textures”. I wanted to record traditional melodies, with each track being different; different in style and feel…texture.
I tried to create this texture by using different instruments: Spanish Gaita, Northumbrian Small Pipes, English Concertina, Mandolin, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electro-acoustic guitar, guitars with different tuning’s, open tuning’s, whistles, drums, shakers, etc.
The recordings were done in Madrid (Casa Asturias), Carlisle and Glasgow. The project kept on growing and I finally decided to release it. I am happy with the result, and I will be doing more of this style in the future.
I also decided to sell my digital CD on Bandcamp, but this time do it more seriously. Since I have stopped busking (due to the lock-down and other reasons), I need to get making music for a living once again.
The melodies were taken from the music books that are associated with the Scottish and English Borders, they are not necessarily Border tunes. But it follows my wish to only play and record the “old melodies”.
Have a listen via the link above, see if you like it?
I was never a big fan of the music videos that have blossomed during the lock-down period, although I acknowledged it was a way of making music while we could not meet up. It is not that I did not like the idea of it, I just did not feel it was for me.
But now I have given it a try with my local folk session group “The Solway Band”, that I have not seen in a long time. This is the first try at it, and there is another one to follow. I am playing English Concertina.
The tunes are local to Cumbria “Cumberland & Westmorland Waltzes”
My interest in the 3 holed flute has been a long one, but until recently I have not done anything about it. In February 2020 I got an ache in my shoulder which increased to become extremely painful. I self diagnosed an “impinged shoulder” (self diagnosed as the doctors were in lock-down). When the pain decreased I was left with a arm that could not be moved above the elbow. This curtailed my piping (and all music making) as I could not use the bellows, and I also realised I need both arms to play nearly all of my instruments, I had never thought of this before, but all the instruments I owned need both hands to play. Guitars, mandolin, whistles, bodhran…
The only exception was the keyboard, or my midi controller plugged into my laptop. Then I could play with one hand, improvise and run up and down the keyboard with my good left hand. At the time, I thought my playing career was over, as my right arm was not functioning normally and the pain/ache was not going away. The thought of giving up the instruments I had spent all my life learning was heartbreaking, but what was worse was the thought of giving up music all together.
So I decided to learn another instrument, one that needed 1 hand to play. So entered my renewed interest in the 3 holed flute. The pipe and tabor needs 2 hands of course, but I would only learn the pipe…the whistle…flute.
Lock-down made it difficult to order online, the shops that sold the 3 holed whistle were closed, the only place I could find was the Pipe and tabor Society they sold a 3 hole tin whistle type of instrument. I thought to learn on this before I splashed out on a more expensive instrument.
I ordered the whistle of Rob and Gillian, who were very kind and helpful, I got the whistle in the post sooner rather than later, via a neighbour who was going to the post office that weekend (lock-down put a stop to quick postal deliveries). I waited, nothing came, I thought it was lost in the post (we had had some lost items already due to the problems lock-down was causing to the postal system). Nothing came, I gave up.
Eventually the whistle came, also included in the package was a finger chart, basic history, and an A4 sheet of melodies to begin playing. Also Gillian offered online tuition to get started, really nice people. The technique is similar to the tin whistle, blowing etc. but the difficulty was getting the top note in the octave, as well as notes above the octave. I was blowing hard and I was not getting any note….just a squeal, or it dropped down into the 2nd register.
I tried different ways of blowing and nothing was happening. Eventually I decided the instrument was a fault !! not the player!! and I felt if I had a better instrument I would achieve better results. So I began making a 3 hole flute. The 3 holed tin whistle is great for outdoors, but to practice indoors takes some getting used to.
The 3 holed tin whistle does have a sharp and piercing sound. What you would normally play on a tin whistle (the bottom octave/1st register) is not played on the 3 holed flute. It is too low and quiet. The fundamental starts on the 2nd register, and you are beginning to blow hard and the metallic sound is quite loud in a confined space.
Here is an explanation of the notes and registers:
Bass/1st register – D, E, F#, G (too weak to be played)
2nd Register/fundamental (by blowing harder) – d, e, f#, g
3rd register (blowing even harder) – a, b, c#, d’ (the top d’ is very difficult to achieve)
4th register (by blowing harder, and this is the register I could not achieve) d’, e’, f#’, g’
When played correctly you can play in D major and E minor.
I was getting frustrated with the top notes, and the piercing squeal of the top notes were not doing my relationship any good!! Leila, never complains about my playing, but she did by putting her hands over her ears….she never said a word. That was the final straw…or note. I thought at least by making a wooden flute I can reduce the metallic shrill sound, and leave the tin whistle to when I am outside.
I have never made a whistle before, so I took apart an old plastic recorder that I had bought in Madrid for 6 euros. I had been drying wood for years, from my garden, and I thought this was a good time to use it, I am not sure of the type of wood, but I am guessing beech? It has a lovely grain. I long bored 2 sections and turned them down, connecting one end to the recorder mouth piece, and the other end I joined to the other section (it was going to be in 2 sections).
Where to put the holes? I tried the old fashioned method of placing ones fingers on the pipe and marking them off, then increasing the size of hole. My intention was to make a major scale, but it came out as a minor. Not to worry, as I had made a Spanish 3 holed flute! The key was not important to me, nor was it being exactly in tune (440c), as all I wanted was a flute to practice on, this was an experiment…not the finished article. At least I know now where to drill and if I make another pipe it will be a lot better and in tune.
In fact the pipe came out as a B on my chromatic tuner, making it a B minor pipe. After some consultation with Alberto Jambrina (a master of Spanish folk music in the north of Spain), I learned new things about tuning and pitch, and of the different types of tuning that the 3 hole flutes use in northern Spain.
With my research into the Ney and Kaval I realised that the duct flute was too short in length, it needed to be longer. I had tried to copy the tin whistle, but this was a mistake, I had to go back to the beginning.
This was an experiment and it achieved its aim of playing at a quieter volume. The tone was sweet, light and smooth… I love the sound. The top B was a problem, but I think the flute is too short to get it. But as the mind is always seeking new solutions, my interest was not satisfied and I had already begun to plan my next experiment for this 3 holed flute…
With lock-down being the party-pooper for any 50th birthday celebration (not mine), we decided to keep our social distancing, and head for the nature…
Glasgow´s Drumpellier Country Park is just about walking distance for us, 1 hour of crossing motorways and following main roads, until you get to the small path that leads into the woods and small pathways that snake around lakes and natural forested areas.
I am not sure if it was because I had not been out of the house in ages, or because the damp weather highlighted the forest colours, but I was fascinated with the richness of the flora, with the colour of green. So many different shades of green…
I was expecting wild flowers and carpets of different coloured mosses, but I must have just missed them or they will be coming out later on? But I was not disappointed with the depth of colour and the freshness of the woods, to take videos of our walk.
I removed the background sounds from the video, as although there was a lot of bird song, there was a loud backdrop of motorway sounds… I replaced it with some recordings I did a few years ago, mandolin and English concertina, traditional melodies from Spain and the Scottish Borders.
The 2nd video shows an wooded area close to Port Carlisle. There is a walk adjacent to the sea, which is part of the Hadrian´s Wall Footpath, which in Spring is beautiful to do. It is a wooded area and with the sun and shadow it is a delightful stroll.
A follow on from the previous blog, here I show how to use Maschine 2´s project, previously created using midi rhythm data, can be incorporated inside of Reaper.
I take the individual tracks in Maschine 2 and send them to separate tracks in Reaper, so you can edit them along side other tracks in your Reaper project. Maschine 2 is good for working with loops, and using it inside of Reaper helps to speed up the workflow.
When starting a new project in any software it is sometimes difficult to get ideas, that leads to other ideas. Often the 1st spark is not there. They say it is 10% creativity and 90% hard work. Well, it is not so hard but it is work!
To get my creative ideas flowing I resort to what is already there, in this case it is a rhythm midi file taken from Superior Drummer, but it could be any midi file, and not necessarily a rhythmic/drum file.
I have made a video to walk you though the process if you find yourself in a creative block, and wish to spark ideas that my lead to a more creative workflow.
The 2nd part of this video will be in the next posting above.
With the C. virus changing our life style over this past month, there has been a big increase of music videos online. Strangely enough Leila and I have not changed our lifestyle that much, the only big difference is that we do not go for long walks. We generally work from home. For me that means playing, recording, pipe making…
I have had a trapped nerve in my shoulder now for 4 weeks so my concentration has not been on the C. virus or playing, but now the pain is slowly going, I am thinking more about music and carrying on with my pipe making (even though there will be no workshop classes this year, sessions, festivals, concerts…are all being cancelled).
Yesterday I began turning wood and dusting off my bags/bellows after the winter months of being packed away. Thinking about making reeds and generally improving my design.
I made a chanter stock so I can attach a Galician chanter to my Northumbrian Small Pipes, and I will be converting mouth blown bags to bellows blown and trying out ideas on chanters.
My recordings are going well, and I am learning to play a midi controller and learning various musical software, the latest being Maschine 2, and as from yesterday I uploaded my first tutorial onto Youtube on Reaper DAW and Maschine 2. I created a new blog as I felt home recording did not fit into this blog, as it deals with Recording; if you want to have a look check out my new blog on Home Recording: https://ethnorecording.wordpress.com
On the blog you will also find my musical experiments mixing acoustic and electronic music, and tutorial videos.
Due to my trapped nerve in my shoulder, I had to stop playing instruments, I noticed I need 2 hands for all of my instruments! The only exception being my midi controller. So I thought to learn a 1 handed instrument and this rekindled my interest in the pipe and tabor. I contacted the Pipe and Tabor Society and ordered a 3 holed flute, a pennie whistle style flute to begin with. I eventually want to buy a Spanish 3 holed flute, but they are quite expensive, so I thought to start with something less expensive. I have some ideas to make my own, and this I might try to do this year.
I ordered the pennie whistle 3 holed flute from the Society, but it seems to have gotten lost in the post! I knew there was delays due to the C.virus but there has been so many things “lost”. So I will have to wait a bit more to learn this instrument.
Because of the good weather I have been able to sit outside and let the sun do its magic on my shoulder. I have been reading various books on music… History of electronic music; Krautrock; Kraftwerk; Biography of Alan Lomax; Home Recording techniques….
As my shoulder improves I am able to play mandolin and Ney, so I have been trying to learn new melodies from the Border bagpipe repertoire, memorising the tunes and joining them together to form a set. I have been practising finger pick exercises on the guitar, learning D open tuning and Dagdad tuning…this has been a wish of mine for some time now.
Keep busy, pass your time creatively, enjoy your time.
Here are a list of my recordings/improvisations, I thought to set them out on 1 page so those intrepid listeners who want to indulge…
This is my first attempt at videoing a tutorial in how to create a template in Maschine 2, as well as how to use the template inside of Reaper DAW.
It is also a first in using the Flashback Pro software to make the video, which I found simple to use and I could create several videos in a short pace of time, not all acceptable, but it was work in progress.
In creating a template the steps are relative easy, but it was something I had to teach myself and adapt the information from watching several videos on youtube. I simply wanted to pass 2 days of trial and error into something I can hopefully help others.
The past few weeks I have been trying to use Maschine 2 as a plug-in inside of Reaper. Reaper has some plugins concerning looping, but I find it difficult to arrange the items into a song. It is easy to do manually but for creating ideas and testing the different items when dealing with multiple ideas, it is a bit messy.
I did try first with Ableton Live, but it could not get the workflow correct. I like Maschine 2, once I got my head around the layout and using the Scenes and Patterns in a stacked layout, I find it easy to try out different variations of ideas. It is great for working with loops.
The more I get involved with looping the more I appreciate how little data you need to create a song. Chopping and slicing up musical parts, stretching and using 1 bar melody lines can go a long way.
In Maschine 2 I can get an idea of a rhythm, tweek it a little, and that is my new pattern, in stead of re-recording multiple times in Reaper, I have multiple ideas on 1 theme ready to place inside the project at different stages of the composition.
The 3 recordings are my result of 2 days of playing around with Maschine 2, I have kept it minimalist, 3 or 4 sounds to each rhythm:
The first rhythmic pattern I am using comes from Native Instrument´s “Form”, 1 bar loop repeated with variations on the rhythm every 4 bars. The patterns are layered to create the song as well as the length of piece.
The melody part is improvised also using a sound from Form. Even though there are compressor and reverb on the Master track I could not get a good balance in the mix, due to the poor mixing in Maschine 2.
The composition is recorded by placing all the rhythm pattern onto 1 track in Reaper. The mixing was done in Maschine 2, but it is not very accurate. This I found ok for ideas but not for finished song, but I know you can import the tracks separately into Reaper, therefore mixing each instrument independently. The reason why it took me 2 days to record was I was trying to find a way of doing this process. To send the 4 rhythmic sections to separate tracks in Reaper.
There are a few Youtube videos on how to do this, but none of the process worked for me, I am not sure if the videos are old or if the software has changed, but the information was not the same for me and I could not make Maschine 2 work on separate track in Reaper.
In the end I followed a video by Kenny Goia, on how he sent separate tracks from EZdrummer plug-in to Reaper. This I found worked in my DAW and by following the steps with the EZdrummer video, I could send the separate rhythm tracks from Maschine 2 to independent tracks inside of Reaper.
This I did and I could record the rhythm parts and mix them in Reaper, and have a separate track for my Form lead part. The mix is much better, I added reverb and a compressor separately, as well as =zone 8 on the Master Track.
The 3rd track is a improvisation using Maschine 2 and Kontakt 6, using a voila plugin, and the rhythm I made using the drums taken from Maschine Extension Library. I used midi files instead of the drum built in patterns of the Extension, and I manipulated them until I achieved alternative rhythms.
The process was much quicker and I was able to put some ideas down faster than before. I also added a Soundscape underneath the rhythm and melody, using Absynth plugin.
Once the Maschine tracks were routed to separate Reaper tracks I added the viola track and recorded it separately, and then the Soundscape track which I manipulated with the Komplete Kontrol midi controller.
Then I added 2 bus tracks for reverb and compression to fill out the mix and then I added Ozone 8 on the Master track to finalise the mixing.
To continue my experimentation into play Synth and guitar together, I have been experimenting by multi-tracking various instruments to accompany my playing.
I am using the Vsti “Prophet V3” Arturia´s virtual instrument of the famous Analogue synth.
At first I recorded a bass drone, using one of the presets, a short loop, but I later deleted this.
I added a midi drum pattern, using Addictive Drums, and I looped this for about 4 minutes. 
I improvised playing over the drum pattern, one hand playing the Prophet V3, and my other hand playing the acoustic guitar, tuned to an open tuning: d,a,d,g,a,d (This is different to the previous recordings).
I then added a Chorus vst to the guitar, just to see what it sounded like. I liked the results but I need to experiment more with the setting when I play live.
I used a 4 bar loop to alternate between synth and lead guitar, the finger picking bass pattern was continuous throughout.
Then I returned to the Bass drone using the Prophet V3, and whilst playing a 1 note bass drone I tweaked the sliders on the midi controller to change the pitch of the “white noise” effect.
later I added a Reaper´s EQ, Reverb and compression to the Master track.
The process in similar to recording Midi (see previous blog post) into Reaper, by using Finale Notation software, the difference is you need to check different tabs to convert the midi into audio.
Use an existing score or create a new document (.mus file).
First you need to rewire Finale into Reaper: go to “Insert” then “virtual instrument on new track” and then choose the Rewire option from the menu.
Open Finale: from “midi/audio” in the menu bar, click “play Finale through VST” (piano instrument is the best for reading Midi, or you can choose a different instrument from you Vsti plugins, in Finale).
Go to Reaper´s track control and open the “Record input” box, click the option “Record output (mono)”. This will convert the notation into audio. Press Record.
Once you have recorded the audio onto a track, open the track´s FX box and remove Finale from the list (this will save on CPU), you will have an audio file of piano, taken from Finale.
If you want to choose a different instrument in Finale, then you have to set it up in Finale´s preferences before you record. Or you can record midi into Reaper and add a different Vsti/instrument later.
I have lots of midi notation that I have scanned in Finale (music notation software). I converted the midi data into audio “mp3” files, and I play these files on my CD player to get an idea of the notation/tune: rhythm and tempo… it aids memorising and playing.
Recently I have begun to use Vsti plugins, and this midi data is now being used to create textures on my folk recordings. 1 midi item generally does multiple tracks with different Vsti´s, with a little tweaking one can create multiple instruments, to be played alongside the acoustic audio tracks.
In the past, I have not been able to add Finale into Reaper, if I had to add midi notation into Reaper I had to do it manually. It took time…
Now I can Rewire Finale into Reaper and use Finale as I would in it´s standalone version, so I can record the “audio” into Reaper directly from the Finale notation Software; or I can record the “Midi data” onto a track. Here is how I did it, there may be others ways to do it, but it worked for me. You do need to know about recording midi into Reaper (this blog is not about that, there are good videos about that on Youtube, this is for Finale). The description is for recording Midi data into Reaper.
I have wanted to experiment with Synth and guitar for a long time, like an itch that needs scratching. To multi-track these instruments is the obvious way to do things, but I have been thinking to play them live, not multi-tracked; to have a simple percussive backing track, playing through Reaper, whilst I play over the top.
Today I recorded some initial improvisational ideas, work in progress you might say, using an acoustic guitar tuned to an open D chord (d,a,d,f#,a,d) played with a plectrum and finger picking styles; and my Native Instrument M32 midi controller.
The Synth is playing through a small busking amp “Blacksar Fly Vintage” which gave the volume, and I connected the amp to my interface, and my interface is connected to my laptop. I was running Reaper and the Arturia plug-in “Analogue Lab 4″ and I was trying out various sounds, not altering the presets, just seeing how the 2 hands co-ordinate themselves and how the 2 instruments blended together.
The recordings are not “pieces” but only experiments. I added some ReaComp, and a little ReaVerb. There are 2 Stereo tracks for each side of the Zoom´s directional microphone. Through the Master channel is ¨”O Zone 8” plug-in.
I set my “Zoom H2” microphone to stereo recording, and I placed it between my acoustic guitar and the speaker of the Blackstar, to get a rough mix. The stereo recording output allows me to split the tracks and balance them in Reaper.
Here are the recordings I made :
I have chosen to work with Maschine 2 Software as a way of working with loops and arranging loops (patterns) into a song. I could have worked with Ableton as well, and I will probably do so in the future as Ableton can be rewired into Reaper, but Maschine can not. Maschine can be used as a Vsti (virtual instrument) only. I was using Micro Prism as my sound source.
All was fine until I began to create multiple instruments in Maschine, playing on top of each other in 1 midi file.
I made the timing of Maschine 8 bars long, and I played small segments of melody and rhythm on different “patterns” 1 pattern = 1 musical phrase. Multiple patterns playing back on top of each other, using midi.
The problem came when I recorded them into reaper, as reaper records the loop many times onto 1 track. It records on top of the previous recording, but keeps them both (I believe 3 tracks deep).
Although the Maschine scene is playing only 1 melody, Reaper is playing 3 back. If I deleted 1 pattern, Reaper would be playing the other 2. It got quite confusing, as there was a sound coming from the computer but I did not know where it was coming from.
I converted the Maschine midi track into an Reaper audio file, and then Maschine stopped working all together. I still do not know why that happened, I could create new patterns in Maschine, but the old patterns were no longer usable (?).
In Maschine I can easily export the midi and audio files into Reaper, they come in small segments in relationship the the bar size. To arrange these small phrases into a working file in Reaper takes a lot of time. Too long for what I am willing to spend on 1 track. It is like creating a song from small segments.
If I deleted the Reaper data, the Maschine data disappeared too. Maschine was not collecting and saving the data independently of Reaper.
The only way I could see Maschine being useful inside of Reaper is to create the patterns inside of Maschine, and then arrange them into a song (in Maschine), and then play them inside of Reaper as I would a guitar, so Reaper is recording the midi data, like another instrument. Recording is possible, only if there is 1 continuous playback (not looped). Looping is possible with Machine if I wanted to record a loop in Reaper.
It has always been a slow process for me, to render multiple files in Reaper for a CD. I had to use other programmes like Magix, or Audition CC to do it, but even so it was time consuming and not a simple process.
I watched quite a few Reaper tutorials to learn how do it, but it was not working for me, until now.
The trick is in the settings when you are rendering. In the top left hand corner of the render box.
1st import your audio, whether it is a final bounce down or creating your CD tracks. Reaper will ask you if you want to create multiple files on different tracks, say yes.
Highlight the tracks you want to render, do NOT highlight the wave file images, but highlight the controls (the left hand side of the track panel where your volume controls are situated). The track controls should be highlighted.
Go to the render tab in Files, and in the render box select “stems (selected files)” in the Source menu, top left hand corner. Then choose “Time selection” in the Bounds box next to it. Go and highlight the time selection in Reaper with you mouse (drag mouse top of page), making the highlight as long as the longest track. This will stop the render becoming too long.
Change your settings to WAV or mp3. In the bottom Render box, it should show you the number of files you need rendering. Reaper will render all the highlighted tracks in the pane. All at once. You can add names to these tracks afterwards, or you can use the “wildcards” settings to do it as you render. I also “normalise” all tracks, then bring the Master volume down a few db just in case it peaks, I aim between -6 to -3 db.
I have been rendering multiple files recently, 20 files etc. all at once. very easy to do.
The day did not start too well. I went to the wrong venue! It was not at The Piping Centre, but it was at the College of Piping, Otago Street, Glasgow. I got there a bit wet and annoyed as I had asked directions from someone “where is Glasgow University” and he sent me in the opposite direction.
I mention all this as I got there late, so I missed the first 2 pipers of the day. My apologies to them.
In the morning from 9am to 1pm it was Pibroch. I find listening to Pibroch very meditative, and I often doze off during it, luckily I had my recorder to capture the players.
Piobaireachd/Pibroch.
(1. Sarah Muir – not recorded
2. Gordon McCready) – not recorded
3. Finlay Johnston
4. Glenn Brown
5. Alasdair Henderson
6. Roderick J. MacLeod
7. Angus D. MacColl
8. Sandy Cameron
9. Connor Sinclair
10. Iain Speirs
11. Niall Stewart
Names of Melodies:
Pibroch Recordings:
The March, Strathspey and Reel, and Hornpipe and Jig competitions followed after lunch:
1. Pipe Major Ben Duncan
2. Alasdair Henderson
3. Niall Stewart
4. Angus D. MacColl
5. Iain Speirs
6. Glenn Brown
7. Sarah Muir
8. Gordon McCready
9. Finlay Johnston
10. Roderick J. MacLeod
11. Connor Sinclair
Names of Melodies:
Recordings of MSR, Hornpipes and Jigs:
The day ended with a pipe recital from Chloe Steele, who flew in from Uist for the performance.
During the tuning up for the MSR event, the piper played a song melody, on the back row there came a impromptu chorus of male voices, singing along.
The Facebook poster of the event.
These recordings are from the World Solo Drumming Competitions, which were held on Saturday 19th October 2019, at the Caledonian Univiersity, Glasgow, Scotland. It was an all day event, free of charge except for a small charge for the Finals in the late afternoon.
I was a bit hesitant at first as I am normally listening to the melody instrument, and I thought the drumming would be over powering, but not at all. The mix was just right and I came away with an appreciation of Highland drumming styles.
I include the recordings in reverse order, starting with the Finals, the ones that made it through the Heats. I do not know the names of the drummers, or the pipers, nor the tunes. My intention was to record the event, and for people to listen to it. I am sure those who were there can detect themselves (?) but I only wanted this to be a resource for drummers/players who were not able to attend, and for them to hear the technique and styles.
Finals
Semi Finals
The Heats took place all over the University, in many rooms, with many players of all ages. I mainly sat and recorded the participants in the Carnegie Suite in room M137.Heats, but also there were other events and some were young drummers.
With Reaper 6 coming out I am finding there is a slight difference in my workflow, certain items I click on do not react to what i am used too. it is not a big deal, but I decided to go through the list of preferences that are set to default.
If you are starting Reaper then it might not matter too much, but I have a way of working and I do not really want to start over again, so I found a series of tutorials on YouTube by Kenny Gioia, titled “Preferences to Know in REAPER – Part 1 of 5”. He goes through the important preferences and whether you should activate them or not. These settings can be stored and transferred to other computer that have Reaper, thus saving time.
The above image shows my workflow to an instrumental piece (part of a CD I am making called “Textures”) I recorded a few months ago on Reaper. There are 4 audio tracks (1,3,4,5): Concertina, Mandolin, Bass guitar and acoustic guitar; there is 1 midi track (track 2), using a Kontakt, Ventus Tin Whistle plugin.
1st Workflow: Reaper´s Refir is on the guitar track to cancel out background noise. All audio tracks have Izotope´s “Neutron” for compression and EQ. The Midi track has Neutron plugin. There is no parallel processing, there is no bus/send track/s.
On the Master track there is Izotope´s Ozone 8 and Reaper´s ReaVerb (in that order).
Before New Year, I bounced down the tracks to a rough Master Track, calling it “Master 1”. I used this track to listen to it on different speakers. I noticed that some instruments were too quiet or to loud.
After the Sound Production Course, I decided to change my workflow. I had an earlier version of the recording on a different computer, and I decided to work from this. I kept the “Master 1” settings in a separate folder in case I wanted to refer to it at a later day. I saved it as a Track Template, so to have the effects settings saved as well.
2nd Workflow: The recordings are the same in both examples, the difference is in the mixing and processing. After obtaining levels on the 5 tracks, I added effects. All audio tracks I added Neutron for EQ and Compression. The Midi track, this time, I did not apply Neutron. I then mixed the tracks again to obtain levels.
Next, I “bussed” the guitar and bass tracks to one track calling it “Mix 1″and I coloured the track red for easy viewing. On this track I added Reaper´s ReaComp, a compressor, and I used the “Master Bus Glue” preset to bind the 2 instruments closer together.
I then bussed the Mandolin, Midi and Concertina tracks to a bus track calling it “Mix 2”, coloured it blue and added the ReaComp effect. Then I mixed these bussed tracks together by sending them to another track, while soloing them. I added this 3rd track, colouring it yellow, this I added Reaper´s ReaVerb plugin. I sent the 2 red/blue bussed tracks to the yellow reverb track (I did not send the original tracks to the reverb track). All the tracks were sent to the Master track, which had only Ozone 8.
The over all sound is a lot fuller, and with the added/separate reverb bus it adds to the depth of the Master track. It still needs more experimentation, using bus tracks gives more texture (reverb/non reverb) to add to the mix.
I wrote, as in a way of Introduction, the following paragraph, to invite other DAW users to meet-up. I will post this in the “Meetup.com” web site.
“I am interested to meet up with anyone who has “Reaper” the DAW, or who is interested in Home Recording, to talk about various aspects of the software and recording practices. We would prepare and discus a theme/s for each session eg. compression, EQ, Vst’s, and discus how we use Reaper/DAW in our compositions…etc. I am interested in Sound Production in general and performing with Reaper in a live setting. The meetings is to share knowledge and show ideas we are working on with our music. Also, how Reaper could be integrated with other DAWs such as Ableton and Maschine by using Rewire. although this would be a Reaper focused Meetup, other DAWs are also welcome as we all share the same goals…”
I have wanted to start this blog for a long time, but I never had the confidence to do it. I have been teaching myself to “Record, Mix and Master” for a few years now, mainly from tutorials on YouTube, especially the Reaper tutorials (Kenny Gioia, Reaper TV, The Reaper Blog) as well as other ones not dealing with Reaper but which had some good points to tell about Sound Production.
Another reason to begin this blog is that I have just completed a 2 week short course at the Academy of Music and Sound which is based in Glasgow, and it is this that led me to have the confidence to start writing about Sound Production. Not that the course taught me “all” I needed to know…but by doing the course I felt that I had all the tools already, in my head, and at my finger tips, and I just needed a “confirmation and a green light” to believe I can do it. By seeing my workflow alongside others I felt confident to say “it is ok…I can do it, even if I get it wrong” (and that is the point, there is no real wrong).
I did learn a lot of things on the 2 week course, and I will write about that in the future blog postings, but after the course I felt I know “enough” to begin, to get out there and share these results. This blog is not about what I record as such, it is about sharing a process, a workflow, and to (hopefully) get some feedback and discussion about what I am trying to do and what others are doing.
My DAW of choice is Reaper, I started using Reaper perhaps about 7 years ago, and it has become an old friend, I use it all the time, not only with multi-tracking, but with all sorts of audio production.
I have been recording most of my life, and I really enjoy it. Not only my own music but I enjoy recording other people and events.
My first recording was done at the cinema when I first went to see Star Wars (perhaps I was 10 years old), I sneaked in a large radio cassette player and recorded the sound: dialogue, music, the audio effects… this I listened to when I went to bed, and by doing so I memorised the dialogue. Years later when they showed Stars Wars on TV I remembered the sounds in my brain like a long sustained delay.
I started recording and multi-tracking in the 1970s by using 2 cassette decks next to each other, I recorded an electric guitar into one cassette deck and a beat box went through the amp, and I sang and played guitar live, the other cassette deck recorded the whole event. It was an experiment and perhaps it did not work quite well…but it was fun trying.
After that I used my dad’s “Reel to Reel Recorder” to record myself, this played 2 tracks simultaneously and I could record over myself and play it back in sync with the first track. There was not much mixing involved but it taught me a lot about tempo and listening. I used the Reel to Reel to record some songs in the late 70s and early 80s. I also used it to record the bands I was in, and it also doubled up as my guitar amp!
This is not the right Model but it looked something like this: 
In the mid 90s I bought a Marantz PMD720 Cassette Tape Recorder, and this I used a lot to record my songs as well as some experimental music using a Yamaha keyboard.
Throughout the 90’s I had done a Performing Arts course (BTEC) and a Contemporary Arts course (B.A.)majoring in music, and I had composed with electronic music in my coursework and performances, using an early version of Cubase, which used to crash all the time! No one used the computer for this reason except me, and I learn some basic digital looping and I experimented with minimalism, writing notation using Sibelius, and reversing audio.
The Marantz PMD720 helped me a lot to learn about mixing and multi-tracking and “bouncing down” so I could record 8 tracks in total. A few years ago it died on me, the motor gave out and it slows down and speeds up at will…a nice effect, I fed the audio through a “Zoom Studio 1204” reverb and effects box, which I still use today.
I multi-tracked several acoustic instruments for my BA degree, and matched these to videos I recorded while I was in India collecting music. The songs I was making at the time I also recorded on the Marantz, and these recordings I put onto CD and I still have them, they sound bloody awful, as the mixing and mastering is not good. But it is a record of what I was trying to do at the time, and now I am looking back at those old compositions, I have an idea what they sounded like then.
I spent a lot of my time in the Middle East collecting music and by the time I was thinking to multi-track again the digital age was upon me (2000) and I bought a computer and a laptop. I got an early version of Cakewalk which was difficult to use and the software kept on crashing, I preferred using the old method of recording from “one computer into the other” (like the cassette method) and thus having 2 tracks. I recorded several of my Northumbrian pipe CDs this way, one computer playing the drone, which kept me in tune with the chanter, and the other computer recorded the melody. I edited the tracks using software called “Magix” it had a 2 track facility and this I used to mix both of the audio tracks using a little reverb. Magix was a great tool.
At the same time I found Audacity, and I record with this a lot when I lived in Spain. I have met a lot of people who have started multi-tracking using Audacity and on the 2 week Sound Production course I used it once again, as it is the only accessible software that converts audio into “Raw” files.
I used Adobe Audition C6 for a year or two and later I upgraded to Audition CC, but I was using electronics more and more, especially Vst’s such as Izotope and Native Instruments, and Audition did not have the facility to use them (although now it does). Audition has great plugins included within its DAW for manipulating audio, and it is easy to use and can produce great results if you are mainly using vocals and acoustic instruments, also there are some very good tutorials online especially Mike Russell’s videos, which are great for podcasts and radio/audio production, but I wanted “1 DAW to fix all” and the lack of plugins to cover electronic music made me look around for another DAW.
I tried quite a few DAWs, the demo versions, Sonar, Bitwig, Protools, Cubase, FL Studio, Studio 1, and Ableton… some of them were OK, some of them were really difficult to understand, and the workflow was complicated. Some of them you had to know what you were going to record before you started recording….an audio…a midi track? What number of audio tracks? How many midi tracks…? Etc. I just did not know.
In the end I choose a DAW called Reaper, and the beauty with Reaper was that it was easy to use, for a beginner, and you could make it as complicated as you wanted, later on, and depending on what level you were at.
If I wanted to create a track in Reaper it is the same if it audio or midi, and I could later change it without starting again. I found it suitable to my needs. It is great with midi as well as with audio, it seems to handle all sorts of plugins and it is simple (now) to Rewire other DAWs into Reaper. There are some things I would change, Reaper comes with a stack of plugins and most of them are good, but there is not a lot of thought gone into the “look” of these plugins; Care about the GUI would go a long way, but this is just a small point, it does not matter how it looks like, they work. I have used a lot of external plugins in Reaper, but I am also experimenting with the JS plugins that come with Reaper (but some detailed info about what they all do would be helpful (does anyone know?), and now that I know more about sampling and compression, EQing and effects, I can use the Reaper plugins as much as the external Vst’s.
Reaper has a great series of tutorials online and a good forum to get all sorts of tips and tricks. It seems to be an online community where members can change Reaper, or at least influencing how its future updates are organised, it is not a company who is far off and inaccessible. I just recently joined the forum and I am just learning about what it has to offer. The price is affordable too compared to other DAWs, well under 100 UK pounds.
Reaper has given me a lot over the years, and I just wanted to give a shout out for them.
I have had some contact with Elizer Mood (author) in the past, we have been to several festivals and folk clubs, and I had heard of the progress of her new book “Man of Clay”. I had invited her to Port Carlisle and to let her experience the tide race of the Solway Estuary (3rd fastest in the UK I believe), as sea and natural disasters, global warming etc. featured in her book.
The book launch was held in Hexham/Northumberland, in The Vaults, a sort of a wine cellar. There were other performers too: singers, poets, artists, visual artists, all with a theme of nature, the industrial past of the North East, and the sea.
I continued my theme of playing “old music” on the Northumbrian Small Pipes and English Concertina (from the Dixon, Bewick, Peacock manuscripts). a solo performance to a backdrop of slides. There was a moment of Elizer reading from her book accompanied by me playing “Bonny Pit Laddie”, which I think went quite well. All of it was unrehearsed and as I finished the tune I then played a few Border Ballad melodies.
The extracts of the evening are represented here, if you wish to see more you can log into Facebook and search “HexhamTV” you will be able to see the full evening with all the performances and extracts from the book. Or you can click here HexhamTV
To read more about the author Elizer Mood, click here Elizer Mood
To buy Man of Clay click here Man of Clay
By moving to another city/country to live, one has to get used to a new musical environment. It can be a upheaval and it may take weeks, months, years until you find an environment that suits you, or perhaps you never find it….it happens.
Recently we moved from Spain to Scotland, from Acala de Henares to Glasgow.
Moving house is a big deal, I never thought it would be as I have always lived out of a rucksack and moved from one country to another without much trouble. But we accumulate “stuff” and I had accumulated a lot of musical “Stuff”… various musical instruments, wood/metal work lathes, wood, computers, and pipe making equipment, tools, notation/manuscripts… the list goes on.
30 boxes later and in a new country we are slowly unpacking and sorting, finding our way around a new city and a different culture. For me it is not such a big change, but “visiting” a place is still different to moving and living there permanently.
Musically, I have to start again. I did not know where to go in Glasgow to hear traditional music, I knew no musicians to meet and play music with. I did know the Piping Live Festival but not the people who organize it or the musicians who play in it. I knew there were sessions but not sure if it was what I wanted or where they were.
When I was doing my M.A. in Ethnomusicology in Ireland, (Irish World Music Centre, Limerick Ireland), we shared the Centre with Irish traditional musicians, we shared some lectures also. One of the lectures was about the “session” how it started and how it evolved. I had never thought of it before, I always thought it was in pubs, jolly drinkers enjoying a pint and singing a few songs and having a tune on the fiddle (happy days).
But the session started in people’s homes, and it was not only songs and music, but anyone could do a turn…tell a story, recite poetry, dance, etc. Food, beers, wines, spirits, all included. It was like the house parties we had when I was a teenager. I can’t remember how the shift came about, how the session went from the house to the pub, but there was a shift in society, things changed and people moved, people changed and communities moved on.
If you are reading this outside of the UK you might not get what I mean, when I say “I don’t like pubs”, because I like bars! In Spain I finally got comfortable in bars, but each time I enter a UK pub I become very nervous. I have attended pubs since I was 14 years old (illegal drinking is a part of growing up in the UK) but also I have been to traditional music festivals where the sessions were in pubs. But if I look at European bars and compare them to UK pubs there is a big difference to attitudes and etiquette. In the past it was impossible to get a coffee in a pub, if you asked for something other than alcohol you could feel the pub “stiffen”, when I went to Europe I could ask for anything and it felt ok.
Things are not so strict now in the UK, in most pubs you can ask for an alcoholic alternative and not get looked at strangely (if you were a man) things have mellowed, but for me (and I know a lot of my friends) still feel uneasy about it.
The sessions I attended in Spain were relaxed, friendly and open. I sat down, got relaxed, chatted and maybe after 20-30 minutes ordered a drink, if I felt like it. I played a few tunes, got given a complimentary drink (free) bought my coffee/soft drink, and ate my tapas. My first experience on going to a session in Glasgow was different, after sitting down for a few minutes we were asked for our order…”coke please”!!! Reply “is that it?” “eeeerrrrrrr yes”. Some things don’t change (if you are a man).
I am not sure if sessions are my thing anymore. I like the house sessions, and I like the festival atmosphere, but pub sessions is not my thing. I have attended a lot of them over the years, I enjoy listening and occasionally playing, but my repertoire is not a typical session repertoire. I play bagpipes and pipe music and a lot of pubs do not allow pipes (they do not differentiate between the small pipes and the GHB) so I play concertina, but it does not endear me to the anti-pipe attitude. I like to be relaxed and I do not feel relaxed in pubs.
Another reason I dislike pub sessions is the high prices for a drink (often I do not need to drink) in a pub, it can be quite an expensive night when you consider transport in getting to the inner city, drinks and a bite to eat. There has been a lot written and said about “alcohol and musicians” I have seen quite a few good musicians ruined by alcohol, punters buying musicians drinks can lead to a ruined talent, alcohol problems and ruined careers.
Often too, you cannot hear the music in a pub due to the amount of chatter, festivals are becoming a big problem with a lot of people not listening to the music but shouting and talking loudly. I know musicians are not going to festivals due to this, musicians are staying away and only the talkers are going until they realize that there is no music and they stop going too, so the festival dies.
In the UK you cannot disassociate drink and violence, local youths are all too quick to find fault with an outsider, it livens up their weekend, again, this might be a purely UK experience, I have not experienced it outside of the UK. Sometimes I like to hope things have changed but every so often I find evidence that it is not so.
I think you can go out every week to a session in Glasgow or in the surrounding areas, Glasgow is alive with all sorts of music, it is a vibrant city, lots to do and they are very friendly, but I think and hope my musical future will not be in a session, I want to put my energy into making music in a different way and I hope explore these avenues while I live here.
I went to listen to a selection of groups perform Christmas carols in a church in Azuqueca de Henares, Guadalajara. I knew Casa Asturias´s choir was singing there, but I was also surprised to see and hear ensembles representing the local Christmas carols in various regions of Spain: Extremadura and Andalusia, as well as Guadalajara. New and old songs, all different all incorporating elements of tradition and modernity.
I do not know the name of the bands, or where they came from exactly, so I have just titled them “band 1, Group 2” etc. Casa Asturias I know only.
I made note of some of the instruments used by each band:
Band 1
Bottles for scrapping, Cajon, accordion guitar, drum, (friction drum) zambomba, triangles, shakers, castanets.
Band 2
Guitar, bandurria , drum, (friction drum) zambomba, bandurria rondalla, tambourine, Mortar and Pestle, various percussion instruments, castanets, a split bamboo percussive instrument used in Extremadura.
Casa Asturias (Alcala de Henares)
Guitar and Accordion.
Band 4
2 guitars and Ukuleles.
Band 5
Guitars, violin, percussive instruments, bandurria rondalla. 
Each Group played an average of 3 carols, and all the groups came together at the end to perform “Silent Night” in the Final piece.
The recordings
There is a joy to making, even the mistakes although frustrating, can be instructive. This summer I have been making bellows again. I have made quite a few over the years for my small pipe workshop and they have all been a bit different. The only constant thing about them is the form.
The bellows I am making are still in the shape of the old Musette bagpipes I saw in various bagpipe museums in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Gijon. The shape of the musette bellows intrigued me, and the designs and colours made it stand out as a work of art. It depicted the culture of the French court of the 18th century, the flamboyance, the intricacy, the colour.
I thought to mimic it’s form but keep a Border/Northumbrian style of “austerity and plainness”; a protestant in stead of a catholic style! The shape (sosceles trapezoid) also allowed me to play around with the construction of the bellows, it is a deliberate move away from the traditional way of making NSP bellows.
The style of Northumbrian Small Pipe bellows are plain, with the natural wood being the only design and the leather as the only other material. The clack valve being either wood or ivory, and plastic with modern designs. The form of the NSP bellow has also a rounded back.
Besides the form I wanted to change the position of the clack valve; the NSP bellow has the clack valve in the front on top of the cheek, this is prone to obstructions from shirtsleeves, jumpers, arms etc. The closing of the air hole due to these obstructions made blowing problematic and it often gave a sound like a “whuppy cushion” which not the desired harmonic effect I am after!
The construction I have been playing around with this summer is to put the clack valve at the back of the bellow, out of the way of the arm and any clothing. Instead of 1 clack valve I made several clack valves in case if one got blocked others would still draw in air.
I had experimented with solutions to this problem before, by putting the clack valve in front next to the hinge. I have also experimented by drilling holes in the side of the clack valve so air could still be drawn into the bellow if it became blocked, but it was never enough air for it to be practicle.
A friend of mine, has a small pipe bellow from France, its form is not like the Musette, but it has its clack valve at the back of the bellow, it has only one valve and recently I had a conversation with a piper who said this design is prone to get blocked by cushions on seats etc. So I renewed my idea of having multiple clack valves. My first attempt had only 3 clack valves, but this did not allow enough air to come through; this summer I made 8 clack valves, but I think this is too many, I have a feeling 6 will be adequate, and it will be my next experiment with this system.
Another observation I have of bellows (after visiting Piping Live 2018) is that they look very heavy. I would say there are 3 types of bellows in my region: the NSP style of bellow – plain; Irish pipe style – padded, heavy and dripping in studs; and the 3rd type the French style which is mainly used in the South of UK. I am experimenting with the object of getting rid of the weight, it serves no purpose, in fact it is detriment to the playing technique. The weight of the bellows pushes the bellow down towards the hips (instead of the desired position of the lower chest), so the position of the bag will be off-kilt, the bellows dragging down the blowpipe; there is no reason for this. A lighter bellow will be kept at the desired height, by the belt and arm, blow pipe and bag; less weight pulling the bellows downward.
My final experiment is to play around with the decorative design on the bellows. Again, thinking of the original Musette bellow with its ornaments and colour I have been looking at decoupage techniques and thinking of ways to personalize the bellow cheeks. To move away from the plainness of the wood (however beautiful that may be) and to use images or designs to highlight the bellow’s surface. I used to cover it with fabric and it can work well especially when it matches the fabric of the bag, but why not be more creative with the design? Also, I am thinking to burn images onto the wooden bellow cheeks, to give it a added beauty.
I think once I made the decision to move away from the traditional making/design style of the Border/NSP bagpipe I feel there are possibilities for creativity. For those who feel tradition should be left alone, I say that without experimenting and breaking away from tradition we would not have the NSP pipes at all. I would argue that the NSPs are a result of breaking from tradition. Innovation is part of the tradition.
Here my bellows experiments until now:
Recently I have finished a bellow made from bamboo. The material is light (my desired effect) and strong. I used the French arm strap construction as is pictured in the first photo for this posting.
It was another good weekend in the Borders, due to the good weather and it being hot, very hot. Like with heavy rain the hot weather kept punters away, and who came were more into playing music and talking about music. The pubs were quieter, less drinking and trouble in the evenings (which is a common hazard with the Border towns) and people got round to singing, playing and meeting old friends they had not seen for 30 years.
This year there was a different type of organization at the festival and some thought had been given to who and where people meet, it was less “organic” when it came to singarounds, although the musicians still congregated where they wished. A room/s had been set aside for singers to meet and some well known names had been invited down to sing and to organize singing sessions throughout the day (and night). Singing sessions started at 12noon and finished at 2.30am
I am a newbie when it comes to singarounds, I was brought up with sessions where you “got stuck in” and joined in if and when you could. Singarounds are different, the singers sit around the room and each take it in turn to sing their song, when finished it goes to the next person sitting next to you (often clock-wise!!) and each person gets a chance to sing. This can be quite strange at first especially to one who is not into anything “formal” and if there is a large group in a large room, you can sit and wait a long time, but I can see its purpose as everyone get a chance to have a go, and is not crowded out by groups of people who dominate the session.
In the instrumental sessions, you can sit for hours without getting a chance to play or you end up walking from bar to bar looking for equally lost (musical) souls to play with. This dominance by certain musical styles or groups of musicians is getting bad; I have seen ongoing sessions broken up by a hoard of musicians just marching into a room where a session is going on, planting themselves down in an opposite corner and playing jigs and reels ignoring the people around them. These sorts of mafia tactics are becoming more noticeable and are boring, only interesting to people who know nothing about folk music (the drunks) or the egotists themselves who are doing it.
This year I frequented the singarounds more than the sessions. Trying to understand its “unwritten rules” and differences; I got the feeling that in some singarounds musical instruments are not welcome at all. “I thought it was strictly a singing session” one of the compares said. I was pleased to hear that “no, instruments are welcome; it is the noisy musicians which are not encouraged”. So if this attitude was adopted more openly then solo musicians as well as singers can get an equal chance to play and be heard.
The wealth of songs that were sung that weekend was amazing. General themes of the songs were: drink/drinking/beer and relationships: failed love/marriage/anti marriage, some local songs from the Borders as well as Cumbria (hurray) and some Border ballads; some self-penned songs and modern songs unaccompanied. Death and supernatural themes, war, anti war, and sex were also being sung about…what does that say about the society we live in?
I played mostly Northumbrian Small pipes, playing the 1 octave melodies that people are forgetting to play, and this fitted in nicely I felt, with the whole singaround atmosphere. This “strictly no instrument policy” if adopted in singarounds is just as mafia as the ignorant group of musicians who dominate sessions. Control the session by all means, but not exclude people who are serious about their music and are left out in the cold (literally in this part of the world) and who have come from all over the country to share their music. Let’s make festivals/sessions inclusive not exclusive.
The Small pipe workshop I gave on Sunday was a success also, the people who came were genuinely interested and I believe they left with a greater appreciation of the Small pipes. There was enough sets to go around and one boy who came with his father (he had heard me play in the concert on Friday evening and had asked his dad to stay at the festival until the Sunday so he could try them out) had never heard them before, let’s hope he continues with it.
The Festival committee had also tried to include local and not so local school kids to play in the concert and workshops. This added to the atmosphere and it was nice to see young musicians walking around and joining in. I think in general the new ideas that the Festival committee had introduced this year changed the feel of the festival to a more song based festival and more open to a “family festival” than a drunken-session-style Border event that I knew as a teenager.
For these type of festivals to succeed there needs to be more younger people getting involved, and I know families are discouraged if there are drunks drowning the performer out, or no sessions to go to as it is dominated by mafia musicians/singers who only care about how fast they can play or how “traditional it is”! Because let’s face it “folkies” are a minority, we do not need to exclude people for the sake of our fixed beliefs, let’s keep it open and keep it fluent. There is a difference between having rules and people who dominate and control; and rules that make it easier for to express ones musical talents.
It is nice to see that the Northumbrian Small Pipes are being publicized further that the English Speaking nations. In my experience of visiting Spain for many years there is little knowledge of them.
Here is a web site in Spanish which will hopefully reach all over the Spanish speaking peoples and inform them of the smallpipes, it is also nice to see the web site creator has used some of my videos. Good luck with the project. click on link to see the page:
I am re-reading “Wives and Daughters” by Elizabeth Gaskell, and this time around I am struck by her references to music. First published as a serial in 1864 in Cornhill Magazine until 1866 (Although Gaskell died in 1865); the book is describing events in an English town in the 1830s.
I am about half way through it and there have been multiple references to playing the piano; and until now I always thought it to be the harpsichord, but this is the wrong century; then I thought it to be the pianoforte, but I guess this is the wrong class. The pianoforte is the right century but it is a large instrument what probably would not have fitted into most middle class homes in a small English town. What Gaskell refers to was the new and transitional instrument of the piano; “She rarely touched the piano on which Molly practised with daily conscientiousness” (p.217).
I think the piano came in all shapes and sizes and were mainly produced on mainland Europe (Austria being the centre), but a smaller version was being reproduced and was able to fit into the parlour of most pre-Victorian homes. The “Cottage Organ” or the “Cottage Grand” are such terms, aptly describing its environment, small enough to be transported from town to town and to sit in a cottage or a house. There were a few types of “uprights” available as the picture below shows:
Piccolo Semi-Cottage Cottage Cabinet
It would have been affordable for most middle range income families, such as a doctor as in the book.
When Molly Gibson stayed at the Squire’s house a different type of piano was mentioned, “She used to try to practise an hour daily on the old grand piano in the solitary
drawing-room” (p.81), this reference shows a change of class, social status resulting in a different instrument being owned, “the old grand piano”. Gone is the simple Cottage Organ, the upright piano that fitted into a small room, now there was space for a larger instrument.
Another reference to music was at the Charity Ball, where reference was given to “the band consisting of two violins, a harp and an occasional clarinet” (p.79). For me it is a strange combination, harp and violin not so strange, but to use a clarinet does not bring to mind a country dance band that we have today.
The world “violin” is mentioned and not the world “fiddle” and a clarinet speaks of a semi-classical influence that was popular within Baroque music of the 18th century. For me the text paints a picture of musical “Classes”, musical cultures crossing over into modernity (of the 1830s) and a reference to the past. Also, having 4 instruments makes up a band, and not a very loud one at that, as the harp is not know for it raucous nature; with the stomping and chatter of a country dance I wonder the instruments were heard at all…something never changes!
Finally, there is a reference to a piece of music called “Monymusk”, the sentence goes “and when monymusk struck up again, not half of the former set of people stood up to finish the dance” (p.285). I have Monymusk in Peacocks Northumbrian Small Pipe notation book of 1800, so it was (and is) a popular tune for dancing too. Also it seems there was (and possibly is) a set dance to this tune? An example of Monymusk is as follows
I have found Gaskell’s book a far more descriptive narrative when it comes to music, compared to Austin’s or the Bronte’s books. References are given to balls and music but not in as much detail as Gaskell’s; also her writings have painted not only a instrumental picture but also an environment of an ever changing social order, in which they were played in.
My final list of tunes that I found in my notation folder is a collection of melodies that I played before one of my notes stopped working on my concertina. The note that failed is the top F# note which is important if playing in the keys of G and D; basically all of the session tunes, it is a very popular note.
By losing it I had to think of what to do and what to play. I could have opened up the concertina and tried to fix the problem, with the danger in re-sealing the case, that the reeds were in, not being air tight again and destroying the whole concertina; or that I salvage the melodies what I could and transpose them to another key. I did the latter.
The list of tunes is an example of the melodies I played before the note stopped playing. They are common tunes you would find in a Northumbrian Session, most are taken from the Small pipe’s repertoire and tune books. There are a few Spanish melodies, as I play Spanish pipes and I really liked the melodies. It is a reflection of what music I was involved in at that time. I may have got some of the tunes in the wrong groupings, but who cares!
Spanish Tunes
Bolero de Santa Maria (Mallorca)
Danza Daz Burgos (Galician)
Catalan Waltz
St. Joan (Catalan)
Arrastar de Banabarre (Catalan)
Ball Pla del Pallars (Catalan)
Border Bagpipe Tunes
Gallowa Tam
Wedding O’Blyth
Lindesfarne
Swedish Tunes
Schottish (Swedish tune)
Vals and Englska (Swedish tunes)
Northumbrian tunes
Jimmy Alan/ Salmon Tails up the Water (Northumbrian)
Wild Hills O’Wannies (Northumbrian)
Biddy the Bold Wife
Happy Farmer
Jane’s Fancy
Fare Well
Butter’s Peas
Proudlock’s Hornpipe
Lamb Skinnet
Peacock Followed the Hen
8 o’clock in the morning
Peacocks Fancy
Irish Tunes
Saddle the Pony (Irish)
Blackthorn Stick
Nancy
Mrs Thompson’s Hornpipe
Spanish Cloak
2 O’Carolan tunes
Autumn child
Dingle Regatta
Highland Scottish
Inner seer
Crooked Bawbee (Scots)
Dark Island
Margret’s Waltz
French Tunes
French Buree
Crested Hens
La Sassonette
Cumbrian Tune
Ulverston volunteers
There is a few Border melodies in the list, this must reflect the notation book “Over the Hills and Far Away” complied by Matt Seattle; whom I had done a workshop with on the border Pipes and these melodies crept into the concertina repertoire.
The Swedish tunes reflect my long standing interest in Swedish Sackpipa and Nickelharpa music, I used to visit Sweden for many years and I learn a few tunes from the people I had met there.
The French, Galician, Catalan and Mallorcan tunes show the influence living in Spain had on me, as they were played at a folk music bar “Taberna Elisa” we went to a lot. They are tunes written in the key of C but I would have played then in the key of G; the Galician tune was written in the key of D and I would have played it in that key (and still do).
Today I do not play a lot of these tunes due to the missing F# note, but I have transposed a lot of them in to the key of C and they work fine, the ones I have left out is due to the technicalities of playing in C and some tunes do not transpose well. The Spanish tunes are in their original key, the French tunes I dropped due to the key change.
Another list of tunes I found is for the English concertina. This is a catalogue of tunes I play and also a “to do” list. The first grouping of tunes have a “tick” next to them, I have no idea why I did this as some tunes I know and some I do not know.
Marquis of Lorne
Flowers of Edinburgh
Circassia Circle
Peacemakers Hornpipe
Steamboat
Navvies on the Line
Soldiers Joy
Come over the Stream Charlie
Jimmy Alan
Saddle the Pony
Sir Sidney Smith’s March
Nancy
3 Swedish tunes
1 Spanish tune
2 Belgium tunes
Butter’d Peas
When the king Comes O’er the Water
1 French tune
Random
Saltarello (medieval)
These tunes have no “tick” next to them; some tunes I know and others I do not:
Corn Riggs
Staten Island
Keel Row
Wild Hills O’Wannies
Irish Washerwoman
Fenwick O’Bywell
Jackey Layton,
Felton Lonning
Lochan Side
Banks of Alan Water
Loch Ruan
Rabs Wedding
Hills of Glentruin
Gelendarel Highlanders
Water of Tyne
I’ll Gang Nae Mair to Yon Toun
Proudlocks hornpipe
Biddle the Bold Wife
Stockton hornpipe
Minstrels Fancy
Lads of the North Tyne
Friendly Visit
Peacocks Tunes
High Level Bridge Hornpipe
New High Level
Bonny Craigside
Manchester Hornpipe
Nae Good Luck Around the House
Burn’s Tune
Bouree Tournante
Danza das Burgaz (Spanish)
Hazelwood (3/4 time)
Gentle Maiden
Harvest Home
Father O’Flynn
Dingle Regatta
Milltown jig
South Wind
On the other side of the page is a list of Cumbrian tunes I intended to play:
Lonsdale hornpipe
Cumberland Nelly
Northern Nanny
Cumberland Waltz
Kendal Waltz
Kendal hornpipe
Kendal Reel
Keswick Bonny Lasses
Ulverston Volenteers
Gilsland Hornpipe
Brampton Reel
Calgarth Hornpipe
Windermere Regatta
Dalston Forge
Latrigg Side
Raughton Head
Briggham hornpipe
Elterwater Hornpipe
Elterwater Quickstep
Cumberland Reel
Annan Polka
Next to these tunes, but written in pencil, is a list of mainly Irish melodies I intended to play:
Drink of Water
Morning Star
Madame Bonapart
Shaskeen
Hardiman the Fiddler
Coileach na lae (slide)
Colemans No 2
Ar eireann ni eanfainn cehi
Scot Mary
Memories
Gypsy Lullaby
South Wind (O’Carolan)
This list must have been an early collection of tunes I played and intended to play. Perhaps I was forming a repertoire to perform in the future; with a mixture of Scottish Highland melodies, Irish and Northumbrian melodies. Some tunes are from fiddle books, and piping books and scraps of notation I had collected along the way. The mainland European tunes I had collected while living and visiting these countries, collected from libraries and from people.
This list was never performed, I have learned many of the tunes since then, but I did not learn many of the Cumbrian melodies nor the Irish melodies. The Highland bagpipe melodies I learned some of them, but now I play other melodies that not on this list too. It seems my intention was diverted onto other tunes and styles.
Today I play a lot more Northumbrian and Scottish Border Bagpipe tunes on my English Concertina, mainly in the key of C and D and only playing a few melodies in the Key of G. this is due to one of my notes failing to sound, therefore I had to change my repertoire to play melodies that omitted this note. Before the loss of the note, I was playing a lot of session melodies in G, D and A keys; as this was the reason why I bought the concertina, the list goes someway to represent a session tune list for this area; but there are also tunes that do not, especially the Cumbrian tunes.
Rummaging through my music files trying to find a piece of music, I came across several lists of tunes that I used to play a few years or perhaps a decade ago. I find lists of tunes interesting as they tell of what a musician was interested in at that time; if one compared those melodies with what one is playing today then one can see a shift in musical style, taste and interests.
I will list the tunes on the piece of paper, they are tunes for the Border Pipes; all in a 1 octave range. Some of the tunes I still played today and will be continued to be played as I love them, some date back earlier to when I first started playing Northumbrian Small Pipes in 1987. They are old friends…and still remain so.
The tunes come from various musical manuscripts/books; with a guess it is a list from about 2012. I also think the list contains melodies that I was playing with the “Half-Long” bagpipe repertoire in mind, its repertoire represented by the Cock’s Bagpipe Book, that I had bought in the 1980s.
My Border pipe has a upper sharpened 7th note making in more a Half-Long chanter than a Border chanter (which has a flattened 7th). The list was written at a time when I decided to call my Border pipe, a Half Long pipe; which is a term not often used today in piping circles.
I do not play some of these melodies today, perhaps it is a list that reflects my intentions… a “to do list”, the majority of these tunes I have memorized. I seem to remember I was rehearsing for gigs in Spain during that time; and perhaps this is why I have included Spanish tunes as well as Belgian tunes?
Perhaps I was looking for a repertoire to play at the concert on my Half-Long pipes that give a balanced repertoire from both sides of the English and Scottish Borders; as well as including a European connection, the list would suggest this.
The Half-Long Pipes List:
Peacock Manuscript (Northumbrian Small Pipe repertoire of 1800) tunes commonly played:
Bonny Pit Laddie
Millar’s Daughter
Butter’d Peas
O’er the Dyke
Highland Laddie (both versions)
Newmarket Races
Jackey Layton
Frisky
A Mile to Ride
Welcome to the Town Again
Bonny Lad
Fare Well
I’m O’er Young to Marry Yet
Sr. Charles Rant
General Toast
Oyster Wife’s Rant
Holmes Fancy
Wylam Away
Tolloch Goram
(Peacock tunes that I play occasionally, not fully memorized):
The Bonnie Mare and I
All Night I Lay with Jockey
O’er the Border
My Dear Sits O’er Late Up
I Saw My Love Come Passing by Me
Parks of Yester
Holey Ha’penny
Fenwick O’Bywell
Cock’s Half-Long Bagpipe Book (1950s)
Fair Main of Whickham
Sandhill Corner
Till the Tide Comes In
Noble Squire Dacre
Sunderland Lasses /Lads of Alnwick
Chevy Chase
Peacock’s March
Brave Willie Forster
Follow Her over the Border
Felton Lonning
Christmas Day in the Morning
The Lass and the money is All My Own
Peacock’s Tune
The Piper’s Maggot
Blackett O’Wylam
Matt Seattle’s Workshop Notation:
O’Stumpie
Sky Crofters
Highland Bagpipe Tune
The Battle’s o’er
Over the Hills and Far Away (Border Bagpipe Book Collection of Tunes)
I’ll gang nae mare tae yon toun
Galician tunes:
Muineira Des Hio
Rumba Des Cortes
4 Belgian Tunes
It takes a lot of optimism (or lunacy) to get on my bike early morning and cycle 8 miles to go busking in -1c. The ice on the roads has not thawed in the early morning sun, and I always imagine my front tire being slip-out in front of me on black ice.
When I get to Carlisle I find my busking spot has been taken by a young lad who obviously has a shorter distance to travel than me. He is a singer/guitarist, and although good, he is loud, no amplifier for him! I turn by bike around and go to my other spot.
This 2nd spot is taken by a homeless boy who is asleep on the pavement. His arms and legs are sprawled out; even though he is in a sleeping bag he has managed to take up more than half the pavement. The people walk around him, leaving him to his sweet dreams!
This view reminds me of the war in Syria for some reason. When I see the bombed houses and people being pulled from the rubble I notice the way the public always rush with broken bodies in their arms to the ambulances. The scene of the homeless boy reminds me of this because “no one is lifting this boy to safety”. There are no ambulances to take him away, no place of rehabilitation. It reminds me of how war can make people come together, were as peace can divide us. I do not grudge him his sleep, I move on into the centre of town.
In the centre of town there is the Salvation Army Band playing Christmas carols. I can not play in the area “Humbug…humbug”. I don’t know why but each year I am reminded more of the books by Charles Dickens, Dickensian Britain I call it. It would not surprise me to see children begging next year, or Scrooge shuffling along disappearing down the back-streets with his I-phone in his hand.
That is where I am heading, down back alleys to find my final spot for busking; if that is taken then it has been a wasted journey. To my surprise it is empty. Normally another singer/guitarist stands there, he has been there for years and I have given up going there for that reason. He gets there early and stays there all day. There are only a few spots to play without amplification, and if they are taken there is no chance to play.
I set up, it is cold; I am not sitting in the sun, and my hands freeze first, so I put my fingerless-gloves on. I play on and I finally loose myself in the music, I do not notice the people or the surroundings. I warm up and the world stops spinning.
After a while I notice I am invisible, or it feels like that. People walk past me, oblivious to me or the music, I hear them but they do not hear me. There is no recognition I am there. Maybe it is all a dream and I am not playing in the freezing cold, maybe I am still in bed asleep? I think of the homeless boy and I wonder am I similar to him?
Then I see life, and I know it is life as someone acknowledges me, I am not an illusion. Life, (she) skips along the pavement, each skip in time with my melody’s rhythm. Later on I see 2 others skipping along too, I do exist, it is not a dream!
The skippers are children aged between 7 to 10 I would say, and they acknowledge things that their parents have forgotten. Again, I am reminded of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present. It is like I am looking at things past, unable to interact, just an observer.
Over the years children have been an excellent audience. They all have individual characters but they also have a “type”. First, there is the Shy Type, they stand back, they look scared, and they are shy to put their parent’s money in the box. When they approach me they freeze and go rigid, their parents have to come and take their hands and help them to approach me, and some children are so frightened they start to cry or hide their faces in their parent’s coat. Often the money stays in their hands and they have to be led away.
Another type is the Less Shy, they are given money by their parents and they come over and drop the money in the box, they smile or they look amazed at the instrument, they skip off, or show their love of music in some way. They are happy and they enjoy the moment. These are the majority of children, as I think the children love live music if it is not too loud. There has been one exception to this as I remember one child holding her ears and crying with fear on her face…she was in her own world then I think.
The third type of child is the Confident Child. They have a mental age of 30 in 10 year old body. They are totally independent. They have a will of their own and are financially savvy; they have sussed the world out already. I have seen them, walking behind their parents, until they are in front of me, they stop and open their purse and drop a coin in, they smile and walk off with an air of superiority. They do this as they know what they like and what they do not like. They do this because they can.
For all the “types” of children, they are in their own universe, sometimes it is a good universe sometimes it is a bad one, but they are a joy to observe. And it is nice to be observed too.
In about 2008 I was busking with the Northumbrian Small Pipes when a man stopped to listen, he listened a lot longer than most people and I began to get suspicious. I cut the melody short to let him decide what to do, either he wanted to talk or he would move on, he came to talk. He was from the Czech Republic and his name was Mira, he was a musician also, and he loved traditional music, and he had never seen the Northumbrian small pipes before. We chatted for a long time, and later on I went round to his flat to have a tea and chat some more, we remained friends and we still keep in contact.
I told him that not many people had stopped to listen like he had done, people just walk by. He said “here in the UK, you are too rich; you do not appreciate what you have, in the Czech Republic this (busking) does not happen”. I know what he meant, as I have lived in many countries where busking does not take place.
Mira, was old enough to be brought up under the Soviet era in Czechoslovensko, they did not have buskers so seeing me was new for him, he liked the possibility that it could happen, and that people were allowed to do it. He saw it as a sign of the “West” of liberation and freedom.
But I think people of the UK do not appreciate what they have. I do not believe they know what they have got until they have lost it. I am not saying that all busking is good, but I am saying, not to see it on the streets is a sign of (British) cultural decay and lack of expression.
There are certain cities in the UK that do not allow street musicians, you need to do an audition or you need to apply for a permit; Carlisle is not one of those cities. Sometimes there is no place to play as there are so many people playing, not all of them are good, but a lot are, and over the years more girls are starting to busk, it is a good way to learn about performing.
In the summer of 2017 I nearly decided to stop busking, for several months I felt “invisible”. People just did not care about folk music, about what I was playing or showed any interest. Over the years, sometimes I have chatted with people more than I have played. There was always someone to talk too, or someone smiling at me, or saying “it sounds lovely” or a facial recognition that showed they liked the music, there was money in the box and I ended the day on a high. But for the past 2 years this has become virtually non-existent. I had finished playing each week and went home without any sort of “feedback” what so ever.
In my mind I have tied to find a reason why this was happening; perhaps it was my music? Perhaps people just could not relate to traditional music any more? Perhaps it was the political situation in the UK why people were down? Perhaps it was Brexit and the changes taking place within the UK were causing them to ingnore what was around them? Or was it the economic situation that made people depressed? Was it the War, bombings, terrorism… did it all have a factor in the mood of the people? The more I tried to find a solution the less I could understand it. I was in a “glass box” invisible and ignored, at the same time the verbal abuse by kids got more potent, the homelessness became more apparent, the atmosphere at Christmas 2016 was as depressive as nothing I had experienced, it was no longer pleasurable to play.
So in August 2017 when I decided to stop playing, I felt depressed; I mean I did not play anything, no pipes or concertina; I did not even practice or record. The mood on the streets had inflected me that I questioned why I was playing music at all, especially folk music. I felt it had no basis in modern society any more, so why do it.
There was 1 problem, I cannot stop playing! For me it is like stopping breathing. It does not happen. So I continued to go busking once a week or sometimes twice a week. I told myself I will just play for myself. I will forget the people, forget the money, and forget everything. I will just play as I like to do it, and I like the traditional melodies and I like to play these melodies and playing in front of people is the best feeling, and I did this week after week just for myself. At first the lack of attention was hard, even though I was playing for myself, but I kept doing it and after while I did not mind any more.
I think what Mira said is wrong, as we are fast becoming a cultural 3rd world, we are not (culturally) rich, we are a society that does not appreciate local live music unless it is packaged and controlled. If you think about how many people do we know who play a musical instrument for a living, there are not many? Music is all around us but it is not live, we are entertained by music but we are not “making music” ourselves and we are not sharing music together, and we not appreciating people who play it.
UK is fast becoming a musical mono-culture. It is getting less and less versatile, we are spoon fed. As long as we can download it or stream it, get it by paying for a ticket, or watching it on TV, it is fine; clinical and without mistakes. And this is where Mira was right, we have become “too rich”, we do not appreciate people enough to appreciate what they are trying to do musically. We ignore them. We walk by without listening. We do not talk and discus and communicate. Buskers are the current “wall paper” ignored and not thought of.
I guess it is the sign of the times; it is inevitable that busking will be a “past” culture. Only appreciated with the older generation and when they have gone it will be gone.
But recently I have began to notice a change, I have started to get recognition once again: a nod, a smile, a quick chat, a thumbs up etc. when someone puts some money in my concertina bag I say thank you, but instead of them walking on they replied, “No, thank YOU”. I have noticed foreigners appreciating the music more: Poles/Czechs, Indians/Pakistanis, Chinese, Africans, Spanish, Portuguese … are some of the people who have given some sort of “communication” of appreciation.
Perhaps because they have not see it on their streets in their countries, or perhaps they are seeing it for the first time also? Perhaps, like Mira, they see Britain as being “too rich”?
When I got into town to busk on Saturday I noticed a lot of soldiers collecting money for “Remembrance Sunday/Poppy Day” this year it seems a bigger event than normal; more soldiers, more news items about the human sacrifice, more programmes about the Wars and especially World War 1… more reminders about war and death.
I made my way to my busking area passing homeless people on the streets; one was a young lad who was hugging his sleeping bag with a cup of coffee someone had given him. He was not asking for money he looked too tired.
The weather had gotten colder, the mild air being replaced by a stillness that had a cold edge to the climate. When I got to my place, where I normally busk there was a women packing up her clothes into bags, she was moving somewhere else. I wrapped up warm as I played my concertina, jumpers, hats, fingerless gloves.
With all the army lads and lasses around collecting for the Poppy fund I did not make much money that Saturday. I live off what I earn, it is my job… but it is not a very stable job, my ‘office’ is draughty, and my security is non-existent. I do not think the homeless person was making any money too, but I think the army made lots.
I played a tune called “The Lark in the Clear Air” it is a beautiful Irish melody I heard in the 80s, it is a song melody played on a mouth-organ and I heard it being played on a LP with the same title. I followed that melody with a Highland bagpipe melody called “The Battle of the Somme” a 9/8 melody which was written about the Battle of the Somme in WW1; the melody is a bit tricky on the concertina (especially in a cold wind), but I think that melody was a good one for a day like that Saturday; with the Poppy Day Remembrance Sunday approaching and the presence of the military and remembering what the wars were supposed to be for…
When I finished busking I packed my things away and I noticed my body temperature dropping very fast. I began to shiver and shake, my muscles tensed up and I could not control my teeth chattering. I was ok while I was busking, but when I stopped I began to lose feeling, my hands turned purple and I could not walk straight.
As I walked, trying to warm up I noticed the boy in his sleeping bag, fast asleep on the pavement, his feet nearly blocking the march of the people as they passed by him. I kept walking and shaking, not warming up at all. In town I noticed the army were still collecting money and having a good laugh with their friends. Also lads and lasses wearing t-shirts and tank-tops in temperatures quickly dropping as the winter’s sun had set, getting ready for a night out.
I went to the public toilets and put my purple hands under hot water for a few minutes, then went to have a cup of coffee and I tried to remember what the wars were about…
What do you do when about 10 boys come at you in a menacing way? That is what happened to me last Saturday while I was busking? I heard lots of shouting then as they turned the corner they all started chanting and singing and stamping. It reminded me of a Soweto tribal gathering. Slowing advancing towards me in unison, all I could do was put my head down and continue playing. When the noise got too much and when they had circled around me I stopped playing. One of the boys wanted money, he looked into my bag and demanded £1 for to buy a drink. I said I need the money for a coffee as I was cold; it had been a cold day.
Women say men are not very good at multiprocessing, but when it comes to getting your head kicked in we are not so bad really. I answered questions that were rapidly aimed at me:
“Is that your bike? Give me some money? Can I have a go? What is that? I am going to steal your bike?” etc.
You have to think fast. If you are aggressive or rude then you will have a pack onto you, with your face beaten and your instrument taken or broken. I was sitting down, so a kick to the head was easy to do. In fact I was consciously aware of that kick or punch that never came.
I have always been good at talking my way out of trouble and it was not the first time that a group had menaced me like this. One time a group of football hooligans came my way and I got hit on the head by a passing blow while I was playing my pipes. The funny thing was his friend said “don’t do that you idiot” and then gave me a few pounds, so I got paid for being hit.
That Saturday as I talked with this gang, who were on their way to the pub. I dodged their comments and eventually they got bored, then the magical words I longed to hear came “leave him alone” and the danger had passed. One boy aimed a kick at my bike and walked off. They hung around before going to the pub. I packed my things away and made my way into town. If I was still there when they came out of the pub I do not think they would be tolerant.
Group violence on the streets in becoming more of a problem these days; before it was individuals giving me a hard time, or a couple of boys, but now it is gangs and not only boys, but girls too. I remember one time a group of about 15 young adults came out of the Technical College at lunch time, came through the alley where I was playing pipes and started calling me names, then some dropped over the wall at the other side of me, and started to call me names too, I was boxed in. One boy threw some liquid over me. It was turning ugly. I always believe the best form of defence when verbal diplomacy has failed is to run; I could not so the final resort is to “attack” so I did. The cowards ran off, I got one and beat him over the head until he squealed. I packed up and went home.
I have been threatened a lot by homeless people who tend to think that a particular paving stone is “theirs”. They can have it is not precious to me. But they can get aggressive especially if they are mentally ill. I have been threatened with violence in the same way as a young police officer would threaten me “when I get back if you are not gone you will be in trouble”. For me there is no difference in character except for the clothes they wear. One homeless man called “Geordie” threatened me in such a way, I felt very strange about this man, as though there was something seriously wrong. I left the area, and then 2 weeks later I saw his picture in the local newspaper, he had murdered a homeless man in the nearby park.
The other people who bother me are junkies, they are harmless but they want money. I do not give them any; drunks are more forceful (it is the nature of the drug I guess) and they try to take it. But generally I keep my head down, play my music and do not look at anyone. And 99.9% of the time I am left alone.
While I was busking with the English Concertina last Saturday, in the distance I heard a sound; this sound got nearer and then I saw the reason for it. A large group of Morris Dancers were passing by, they had been performing in the town centre and now they were heading back to their cars. They still wore their bright coloured costumes, decorated hats, and ribbons hanging from their clothes; the women wore colourful dresses; “Middle England” with bells on their shoes.
As the concertina is a popular instrument amongst the Morris dancers of England I gave them a smile. But nothing, no response! No interest in the music I was playing (a Northumbrian tune called “Lindesfarne”) no interest showed on their faces. They were quiet, they looked ahead, and they were passive. After a few had passed I resumed my stance of looking down and concentrating on the melody. I ignored them as they ignored me.
I was not asking for anything, except a smile. Let’s face it folk music is not that popular, whenever I am playing I often get a smile or some sort of facial recognition from people who like folk music, but I think generally it is a minority who actually listen to it and even fewer who play it. I would have thought like-minded people would acknowledge one another, not everyone but at least some, and there was many of them. They kept on coming; there must have been many groups in the town that morning.
Morris dancers and musicians are a minority of a minority in the British folk world, their dances are quite strenuous and need to be taught to new people, it is not the waltz or polka type of dances that you spin your partner round and round. It is not something that people do without training; the general public “watch them” do their performance, but do not join in, it is not that type of dancing.
I think the general public considered them a joke; they are often depicted in comedies on TV. People who dress up in costumes, with sticks, bells and dance around with ribbons hanging from their clothes is not “normal” behaviour for an Englishman to do, whatever is odd is laughed at.
It is not an opinion I hold, in the past I went to a rehearsal of Morris dancers in Carlisle. I wanted to play my pipes to their dances, but they were not interested in that. Instead, they got me to dance one of their dances; it was hard work, I was knackered after the first dance; it is not easy and you need to be fit.
I have a friend who likes Morris Men as they like drinking and so does he, they seem to travel a lot and enjoy themselves with other Morris teams; they dance, play music, drink have a laugh; well some do but not this lot, none of them seemed happy at all.
Another friend of mine gets very abusive when it comes to Morris Dancers, he gets very “hot under the collar” let’s say; and says “it has no place in English culture”. I would not say that, but I think it is an “acquired taste” by its very nature and those who perform it do not pretend to be non-elitist, at least these Morris groups did not try to be friendly to me.
Another man I know, who plays English concertina, went to another local Morris team only to come away feeling “unwelcome” and he would not go back. It is a pity as they do have a reputation of being a “good laugh”.
These Morris people were not the laughing type! It was a serious hobby for them; they did not want to associate with buskers, even though they played the same music as me, had the same instruments and were from the same cultural tradition. But I was not them.
For me, folk music is not a hobby; and I do not dress up in colourful costumes, in fact I dislike dressing up when it comes to playing or dancing to traditional music. For me folk music is about “now” not rein-acting a history long gone. Folk music or traditional melodies are much of today as they were from the past and I do not need bright new colourful clothes to play it.
They passed by and I played on, and I am pleased to say that the general people on that day found what I played interesting, even if the “minority of a minority” did not.
For several weeks now I have been playing for a dance group in a village hall near to Penrith. I play English Concertina with an accordionist and baritone English concertina. We play Playford melodies and the dancers form lines and swing their partners, a bit like a dance in a Jane Austin novel.
The format consists of 1 melody per dance and as the dances can go on, sometime for 15 minutes, it can be quite hypnotic, monotonous, entertaining, beautiful and taxing. Let’s say you get to know the melody well, it repeats and repeats. This is different to dances in Cumbria and the Borders as we often join a few melodies together to keep the dancer and the musician from getting bored. The melodies are different to the folk music I am used to playing, but I like it, different keys and finger patterns keep me learning new things about the concertina.
I have only known Playford melodies by playing a few pipe tunes, but Playford uses a range which is well beyond a 9 note chanter, so a concertina is ideal as often different keys are played and although they do not lend themselves easily to the finger patterns of the concertina, one can easily get used to them.
They are old melodies, mainly from England, roughly around the period of the 18th century. I had not played many of them as my version of the manuscript has been in “ABC” format and I am not comfortable with that, but there are a wide range of notated books that I follow.
The dancers are elderly; they belong to an organization that offers a wide range of activities, a dance group being just one of the activities. It is a small group, but there are larger ones and I think in the south of England they can be quite popular, with young people joining in.
For me it has been a new and interesting experience. It has led me to other activities connected with dancing and the experience of playing for dancing is quite different compared to solo playing or playing in a session. I am learning about tempo and group dynamics, which has added to my understanding of these old melodies and dance culture.
I have started a new English Concertina CD, and I have been making some recordings this week and trying out my new microphones. I bought a new microphone for my concertina that has dual heads, 2 mics leading to one volume control. I can attach 2 mics to both ends of the concertina to get a balanced sound. The sound is excellent, not trebly or hissy. I can set a good level on the DAW.
I am playing tunes that I busk with, so they are well rehearsed and it does not take me long to record. The last CD was with a lot of new tunes and the whole process took me a long time to complete. I like the old CD, but perhaps it is not a representative of how I am playing and what I am playing while busking. The old CD was a mixture of Lowland Scots, Northern Spanish and Northumbrian melodies but with this one I am including some Irish into the mix as well.
I will be including other instruments too; the mandolin will be used to add extra rhythm to the melodies, and a bodhran on certain tracks for percussion. I also want to include a track with all instruments together including small pipes. The dominant instruments will be the concertina and mandolin, and the other instruments will be added for texture.
I am making some progress with my small pipe bags. The success is down to finding some light weight material which is airtight; believe me it has taken me ages to find such material. I have been working also with a rubber solution to make the seams airtight yet flexible after gluing and sewing.
I made a bag with a “round” design, these bags are quite popular for small pipes and for gaita, the idea is that there is no bag protruding out from underneath the back of your armpit, so you can sit comfortable on a chair for example. But when I added the stocks for a bellow, I found it very uncomfortable to hold, I feel the “long bag” is ideal for bellows use.
Today I converted the bag into a mouth blown system by using some connecting stocks so I could fit a mouth piece. The original drone stock became the mouth piece stock; and the original blow pipe stock became the drone stock.
The design worked quite well, and I think I will keep it in the future and the new stocks line-up the mouth piece with the mouth very comfortably, without the need for cord to keep it in place.
I made a new stock for the bag to fit the Galician chanter in D, and played it without a drone. It worked very well; it uses little pressure and a good feel to it underneath my arm. I closed the chanter reed to make it play 2 notes above the octave (d’-e’- f#’). This is for the new tune book I recently bought by Matt Seattle, it is the repertoire of the 18th century piper Geordie Sims. These melodies have a lot of high notes, and it is common that e’ and f#’ will be used.
The next thing to do is to make the drones. I am thinking to make a drone stock so I can add 3 small pipe drones to the bag. So the Galician chanter will have a small pipe drone configuration D-d- d’. I hope to post some photos when I am finished.
The Solway Band, did a Ceilidh at Beaumont Village Hall, the band consisted of: 1 baritone English concertina; 2 treble English concertinas, a mandolin, a bodhran, whistles, a bouzouki, 2 guitars, 1 fiddle and 3 vocalists…in total 13 instruments, played by 5 people (I played one of the English treble concertinas and mandolin).
The “calling” for the dances was really clear and instructive and the people enjoyed themselves, some had never done these dances before and it was encouraging to see some young people attend the ceilidh. I was beginning to wonder if the local village dances were beginning to die out as the older generation gets too old to attend, but the young couples who attended enjoyed themselves and hopefully they will return.
I grew up with these villages dances, I did not attend that much because as a teenager I thought it “un-cool”, but my parents went and they were a familiar social event in our area. I am not confident with the dances (we never had a caller) so it was left to us to work it out ourselves, which is difficult to do; and another reason why I never went to these dances is that I never had a girl my age to dance with, they were not interested either. The young men who attended last night did have a girl to dance with and they had a go at all the set dances including the waltzes.
If you have never been to a village dance in the north of England then you might think it is a bit strange. The village halls are often in their original condition, some are old, over 100 years sometimes, made of stone but often they are wooden from about World War 2; I guess they were used to re-unite communities after the war. They were the centre of social events in those days with them being used for fairs and country dancing, bingo and dominoes and “tea and cake” social events, and later on discos and band rehearsal space…everything under the sun; our local one is still being used but not as much as it once was.
As a teenager I booked the hall to practice punk music with my band, and I went to a few New Years Eve celebrations, but the hall always felt “old fashioned” for me, not of my generation. If I was a teenager then, the people who attended regular must have been in their 40s, now they are not dancing and a lot of these halls are being used for other things, less strenuous exercises. I play sometimes for a Playford Dance group near to Penrith, and that hall is used for a variety of other events and people travel from miles around to come and take part, so it does not represent the village community any more.
I joke about it being like a scene from “Miss Marple” and I am just waiting for the murder to happen, but it is like that in a way, the tables are covered in flowered patterned table cloth, the event has a raffle mid-way through, and everyone “mucks in”… they get involved, it is a D.I.Y social event, less to do with technology and more about “holding your partner and having a pre-techno tête-à-tête”. It works for some and I guess it would work for a lot more if it was “cool” to do so.
To be fare the village hall is having a face-lift, the old ones are being knocked down and replaced by an architect’s vision of how a village should look like. This happened to the village close to us, the new structure cost millions and it reflects the changing face of village life… that village no longer has a post office or a village shop but they have a 21st century space-age designed village hall.
The ceilidh we played at was to raise funds for a new building, an architect will come and survey the area, then other businesses will be called to take the planning further, and this will lead to other fund raising events to pay for it all, all so they can build a new hall over the old hall. I guess the locals are hoping for the village social life to continue for many decades to come, but I wonder that in 20 years time when the older generation has passed on, will the young be there to continue the tradition? Or will these halls become a “glint in an estate agent’s eye?” we will have to see…
Scottish Small Piper’s Barbecue is held on the Sunday after Piping Live. This was the 2nd time it has been run and it seems to be getting stronger. The Glasgow small pipers meet every Tuesday at the Piping College and work on tunes. Once or twice a year they have a big meeting where they all come together to play tunes and to have a barbecue in the Park not too far from Central Glasgow.
It was a relaxed atmosphere, with a mixed group of small pipers from a Highland/Lowland bagpipe backgrounds to total beginners. It was a mixed group of musicians also, with guitars, flutes, whistles, saxophone, and a Cajon. I was the only Border piper there but it gave the music a ‘top edge’ to the overall sound.
The LBPS book repertoire was on show, which was a good idea; I ended up buying Mat Seattle’s new manuscript of the possible repertoire of Geordie Symes, which looks a good read and some excellent tunes.
We had been sent several tunes to learn and we all played them together on the day. It went quite well considering we were all from different musical backgrounds. There were lowland tunes as well as Highland and even Spanish tunes.
A choir came along and sang a few popular melodies, and also individuals led a session, then it was back to the small piper’s to run through the set once more.
We are pleased we went and we will go next year, and I will try to go along to the Tuesday nights session also.
I came away feeling that small pipers and Border pipers should meet more often in localized sessions, and then to have a bigger meeting throughout the year. we meet too seldom and we rely too much on the internet to communicate our music.
This year at Piping Live we saw good performances from such diverse countries and regions as Italy, Sardinia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Brittany, Northern Ireland and of course Scotland and northern England (Northumbria).
In the morning I went to the Clasp competitions and listened to the hypnotic melodies of the pibroch, not everyone’s cup of tea first thing in the morning, but it appears to be mine.
At noon the Street Cafe concerts start and this is where we let the different acts wash over us. I like the way the Scottish highland performances are followed by the international acts. I guess some would be happy with wall to wall highland piping but I prefer a variety.
I recorded all of the performances with the intention of archiving them for 5 or 6 years, then to put them online. My reason for this is to let time pass. To let the performers change their style, progress with their music, or even let the band’s break up, reform etc. Very often band’s do not think to record themselves to keep an audio archive, but this can be quite beneficial especially if you think of it like a CV. So by letting time pass you can see a band’s or a musicians progress. I have been coming to this festival for over 5 years now so I will be putting the recordings online soon.
I did not go to the World’s pipe band’s championships this year, due to the high ticket prices, I fall into a pricing category of concessions but i could not prove it, so i would have to pay full price. a few people i spoke to commented on the high prices and it would work out a lot of money for a family, and for me who came via Spain and spent a week in Glasgow I have reached my budget by the end of the week. It would have been better to have a cheaper price so all could go and if it is cheaper than more would go.
The week is not over yet on Sunday there is a Small pipe and Border pipe meeting in Glasgow I will be playing in that.
To see a listing of the acts and events that were at Piping Live 2017 have a look at the programme at this link
https://pipinglive.co.uk/events/
I have just returned from Rothbury Folk Festival (in Northumberland), a really good festival with a lot of different music going on. The session on the Friday in the Queen’s was good, a nice mixture of Northumbrian songs and instrumentals.
Saturday was a good day for me as it started with Northumbrian Pipe music at 10am and all through the day there were opportunities for NSP playing, with the session after the competitions and later that evening with a session in the Coquetvale Hotel.
Fewer pipers there this year, but Saturday was still the main day for piping.
The weather stopped the open air concerts but the music continued in the Mart and by all accounts it was really good there with concerts and dances until the early morning.
On the Sunday I went to my first Ceilidh and observed (I did not dance, to the relief of the others) what went on. I had never been to one before, although I have started to play for a Playford group.
In the afternoon there was more sessions and in the evening also in the Queen’s.
Monday we left and are looking forward to going to more Festivals this summer.
I decided to have a theme for this year’s concert at Newcastle Folk Festival. Last year at the Friday night concert, I played a random set of tunes from the Peacock Manuscript. But this year I wanted to select different “variation” pieces of Northumbrian music played on the Northumbrian Small pipes.
These variation sets, are long pieces of music; similar to having 5 or 6 melodies added after each other. They are very characteristic of old Border Northumbrian melodies. There are suggestions why these variations came to be added after the main piece of music (the A and B sections of a melody). Some say they are for dancing, for the musician not to be bored; some say they are for listening, as in a concert environment and the player can express their virtuosity and skill.
Whatever the reason these variations can be simple or complex, often long in length sometimes having 25 sections; or as little as 2.
The old manuscripts have variation pieces in them: Dixon, Peacock, and Bewick are the manuscripts I chose to play from.
I started the concert with a reason why I chose to do the variation pieces. This was because 2 years ago I was sitting in a session listening to a friend of mine playing a variation piece on the Scottish Small pipes. As I was listening a man learned across to me and whispered in my ear “it goes on a bit”. He clearly did not like these long pieces of music. It is an expression I have heard before, especially from non-musicians. They do not understand why it is so long, or what the tune is trying to convey to the listener.
People have a short concentration span, 3 minutes on average, as long as a pop song; after that their mind goes onto other things. The variation piece needs concentration to listen and understand it properly; or the audience needs activity as in dancing. These melodies more makes sense when one is playing for a dance; it can get very boring to play the same melody over again, often 15 times while the dance is going on. It makes more sense to keep adding parts so the musician can keep an interest and therefore put some life into the playing.
The comment, made by the man in the session, kept in my mind for a while and I mused upon its reason and solution. “How could I make these traditional pieces of music more understandable and digestible for the listener?”.
In the concert at Newcastleton, I began with a very simple variation piece, Peacock’s “Highland Laddie”; mentioning that the 2nd part of the tune, is another melody called “Butter’d Peas” also from Peacock with the parts changed around. Instead of parts C and D, as in the Highland Laddie, they become parts A and B in Butter’d Peas.
With this example I began to mention my method for other variation pieces. I said “I began to chop up the variations into A and B parts, to make them more easily remembered, as well as giving them a life of their own, then when I had mastered the 2 parts, I joined them onto the variation piece once more”.
To demonstrate this I played Dixon’s “Highland Laddie” mentioning that I missed out the last 2 parts as I found it was “enough for me to play”. I wanted to say that musicians should play what feels comfortable to them, what they like and what they consider appropriate. There is no law that you must play all of the variations. Pick out the best parts and play those.
My next example was Bewick’s “Blackett O’Wylam” where I played all of the parts; followed by Peacock’s “Newmarket Races” where I only played the first 4 parts.
The next melody was Bewick’s “Sir John Fenwick’s” where I played all of the parts, and lastly I played Dixon’s “New Way to Bowden” where I played all the parts.
The concert was recorded and I will upload the recording at a later date.
It was my 3rd year running the Small pipe workshop at Newcastleton Folk Festival (always the 1st weekend in July). This year was different as a lot more people attended; in fact more people than sets of pipes. No way can I cater for everyone, I brought 5 sets of pipes and the group was good enough to double up during the workshop. I estimated 9 people came, as well as 3 others from the festival that had some role to play. 9 I thought was a nice size. I began by giving a talk about the construction, maintenance; and technique of blowing up the pipes; bag pressure; finger styles used with the small pipes, and bellows technique etc. and then a demonstration of what I hoped they would achieve from the workshop… to hold a note steady for 3 minutes.
Then I gave out the pipes for the students to try.
It is difficult to cater for the different age groups and sizes of the students. I made these pipes with my own body size in mind, but a young girl was there and she found them too big, and adults with a large waist was pulling the blowpipe out of its stock and due to the increase of girth. I am not sure how to cater for all the different sizes of people? It is a case of redesigning the pipes for workshops, something which might be difficult; and I guess, if they had more time, it would not be necessary, as they would master the correct position.
Another comment was that the bellow of a student was pinching into the student’s wrist, indicating that I should put padding around the edges of the bellows like the Irish piper’s bellows. I should have pointed out that the shape of the bellows is traditional and there was never any padding on the bellows cheek. What could be happening is that the posture of the student was not correct and this put the pressure on one side of the bellow, making the other side to rise and cut into the wrist. It is a case of the “beginner is always right and the instrument is wrong…” errrr no! If a student spent more time getting the basics right then they would see that the basic technique is important. They all seemed to be in a hurry to play…but without these techniques you cannot play.
To be fair on the student, what is required from them is nearly impossible, to master a technique that would normally take days to master. They have just over 1 hour. It is a tall order for anyone.
Another comment was that my pipes are quiet. Well small pipes are relatively quiet, I think what might be happening is that they hear pipes being played in a session, a Border pipe or a Scottish small pipe made by a highland maker (possibly the Reel pipes,) which are made for a Highland player, and these require more pressure and give out more volume, and they think all small pipes are the same, which they are not. My pipes are intended to give a quiet sound as I do not want 5 pipes playing loudly in a small room. They are meant for the student to listen too, but ideally not for the other students to hear them.
Another point I noticed was that the student wanted to play the chanter. So they ignored what I was saying in the introduction, that “if you can keep a steady pressure and play a steady note continually for 3 minutes, you have advanced a lot”. They immediately went for the chanter and seemed to think the pipes were at fault because they could not get a good sound. These things are natural of course, who would want to play 1 note for 3 minutes when more notes are there to try? But next time I might just start off with a chanter without holes, just a piece of tubing would have been more useful and if someone can get that right then give them a chanter to try. Most had difficulties in holding the chanter anyways, so it would be one less thing to worry about if the chanter was left to dangle and not to worry about covering the holes.
Over all I think the workshop went well. I improved my delivery to the students, and I learned more about how to present the small pipes as well as dealing with a bigger crowd.
This weekend, there will be a workshop (3rd year running) at Newcastleton Folk Festival in the Scottish Borders. It is for beginners, showing the basics of playing (bag pressure, holding a steady note etc.) how getting started on the small pipes. Some sets will be available for people who want to have a go, or bring your own if you want to start. More details will be given at the Festival Office, but the workshop will be on Sunday morning, about 10am and will officially last 2 hours (but in practice it continues!).
It’s all becoming a bit too much. Brexit and the media have released in people a bigotry that was hidden. A few occasions in the past 2 months I have gone busking to be faced with a mindless ignorance that comes from people who are prejudiced against foreigners.
These people seem to think the instruments I play (English concertina and the Border Pipes or the Northumbrian Small pipes) are foreign instruments and therefore I am foreign too.
The latest encounter happened yesterday. A young couple (who had a Lancashire accent) came up to me while I was busking with the English concertina. “Where are you from” he said. I replied I was from Carlisle. “O’ good as if you are a foreigner I would not give you any money”. As he said those words I pulled a face of disapproval, he noticed this and said “O’ I am not racist” he thought for a second and came back and put 1p into my box, he must have felt guilty!
Another occasion was when 4 kids, aged roughly 13-14, came past me while I was playing the Border pipes. One girl did not like the sound of the pipes and was shouting at me to stop, then screaming at me to stop, holding her hands over her ears and screaming, she kept on saying “play something English”. The 2 boys with her began to get annoyed so I decided to stop. I told them that with all their screaming they had no idea that this instrument was from this region and the tune I was playing was from Northumbria. They were actually de-crying their own culture. I told them they should get to know their own culture and music before they open their mouths.
Ok, they are young, bored teenagers, and as they hung around I learned that they had nowhere to go, and had no family as such; so they were looking for mischief. One other girl egged on the screamer to throw a pint glass of water over me, but she threw it on the ground instead in front of me.
Another experience was again when I was playing Border pipes and 2 young boys walked past and shouted “play something fucking English”, again I was playing a Northumbria melody on an instrument that was native to my area. These sorts of comments happen a lot.
A couple of years ago I was playing the Northumbria small pipes when 2 police men stopped me. One had a London accent the other was from Carlisle. The Londoner was obviously looking for a promotion, or to make his mark. He said derogatively “which country is that instrument from” I said “country or county? The Londoner looked confused, and that’s when the Cumbrian said to him “these are Northumbrian Small Pipes” the Londoner looked embarrassed and they both walked away.
When I sit and play the majority of people like my music. But when they approach me they always mouth the words “it is nice”, like I cannot understand them, some look at me as though they want to speak to me but feel I cannot understand English.
I can only draw from this that they see a busker and they see a foreigner. To tell you the truth I feel like a foreigner, as I do not recognize the prejudices that are on our streets these days.
Sun, nature, music and good company…for me, you can not beat that. Alba and I decided to rehearse for the first time together with the fiddle and the Galician chanter. We met in Retiro Park, inside of Madrid, on a saturday morning and with our little red book containing our set list – a collection of Northern Spanish and Northumbrian tunes – we began rehearsing the melodies to who ever passed by.
The bagpipe is a “hybrid” a combination of using a Galician chanter (in the key of D) and drones, which I made, based on the Border pipes, using a Northumbrian tuning (D and A). Alba simply tuned her fiddle into my chanter… and away we went.
Some people decided to sit on the benches and listen, take videos… old, young and a group of Hip-hop teenagers! The weather was great.
here are some of the videos from the rehearsal.
The Millar’s Daughter, is a Northumbrian Smallpipe tune found in Peacock Manuscript.
Frisky, is a Northumbrian Smallpipe tune found in the Peacock Manuscript.
Danse La Pirineo is a Aragon, Spain.
Muiñeiras De Rengos, a Asturian tune, here is just an extract.
Kelso Lasses, is a tune from the Scottish/English Borders, a 9/8 tune.
L’Arrastrat’ is a tune from Catalonia, and the following tune is from Mallorca, Bollero de Santa Maria
Ribeirana de Redondela is a melody from Galicia.
I’m Over Young to Marry Yet, and the Highland Laddie, are Northumbrian tunes, both from the Peacock Manuscript.
A melody from Zamora, Spain.
Another version of the Northumbrian melody “Frisky”
We went to visit Juan Morley, in the town of San Joan. He is a researcher, musician and maker of the Mallorcan bagpipe “The Xeremies”.
He told us about the old scale used by the Xeremier players in the 60s. He said they used a different scale than today. A scale that is not based on harmony, or harmonizing with the drone, or perfect 5ths.
he explained: “you tune your drone (C) to your root note on the chanter (C) making sure the top octave (C’) is also in tune with the drone. Top and bottom of the chanter is in tune with the drone.
The 4th note (F) and 5th note (G) are also in tune with the drone using the harmonic series. So far it is normal to other modern bagpipes.
Here is where the differences occur. The tuning of the rest of the scale is different. It does not use semitones (or half tones) but quarter tones (1/4)…approximately!
Normally the 2nd would be a D (440cents), but with this old Xeremeis scale it is flat of of D, of about a 1/4 tone. Normally the 2nd note clashes with the drone anyways but this would make it more so.
the 3rd note should be an E at 440cents, and therefore harmonizing as a 3rd in the harmonic series… it would be a nice harmony, either using a major 3rd (an E) or a minor 3rd (Eb), but this old scale uses neither, it plays a 1/4 note flat of E.
the 6th note is a A (440cents) but again this is not concert pitch, it is a 1/4 note flat of A, again not harmonizing with other instruments, not with the drone.
the 7th note is flat also roughly a 1/4 tone, not a semitone.
Here, Juan Morley plays the “ancient” scale on the Xeremier.
I have only seen one other example of this tuning in Spain and this was with the Sanabresa Gaita, which also uses 1/4 notes in its scale.
We met the Xeremiers des Puig de Sa Font the next day in Sant Llorenç (Mallorca) for the Christmas parade in the town. They played at different venues as the main square was full of children’s activities. We had spent the previous day hearing them rehearse in the theatre.
They play a mixture of traditional Xeremies melodies from Mallorca, medieval melodies and new compositions by the director of the group, Antoni Genovart.
The Xeremies is a traditional bagpipe from Mallorca, with an unbroken line of musicians. I have been a fan of them for many years but I finally got a chance to hear them and to try them out during our time there. They have 3 drones out in front of the bag, 1 chanter with 9 holes, and are mouth blown. The other instruments are :
La Tarota – an oboe type instrument
Flabiol – (5 hole flute) and Tamborí (small drum)
Trombone
Tamborine
Here is a recording of a Northumbrian Small Pipe melody called “The Millers Daughter” from the Peacock manuscript from 1800. It is a melody I have played a lot on Small Pipes and Border Pipes over the years.
I am experimenting a lot these days, by playing various Small Pipe melodies on the Galician chanter. The reason why I am playing these tunes on a Spanish bagpipe is not for this blog right now, but there are certain Northumbrian tunes that go well with the Gaita (bagpipe) and certain tunes that do not feel ‘right’.
I bought this chanter, which is in the key of D. A high pitch sounding instrument, that is not that common in Spanish music. Normally you would hear a chanter in C or Bb. I chose D as I wanted it compatible with a lot of Northumbrian/Irish session instruments.
The pitch is a little high, so I made a bass drone in D and a tenor drone in A, but this did not sound right either, it did not suit the melodies too well, so I made another bass drone in D. 2 bass drones in D, give a deeper harmonic in relationship to the high-pitched D chanter (although this recording does not show it too well, this was only a demo).
I have been re-looking at my Bandcamp site. It takes a lot of time to edit it.
I have re-mastered (as they say) the Border pipes CD “O’er the Dyke” and in doing so, it was like finding a lost manuscript, hidden in my archives. I had to re-understand what I was doing all those years ago while recording that CD, using the equipment I had back then. No such thing as DAWs as today, I used to record using a normal computer and its own sound programme. 2 computers to create 1 CD.
Technology moves so fast and now it is easier to record, edit and publish a CD using 1 computer and 1 programme. It takes a lot of time of course, days, weeks and months… but the actual recording can be done a lot quicker.
I have been working on 2 new CDs.
The 1st CD is of the Northumbrian Smallpipes: looking more closely at the Dixon manuscript, with their complex variations. And also I have been looking at various non-British melodies from Sweden, Spain, Belgium and France.
The reason for the mix of styles is a reflection of the countries that have influenced my music of the past 20 years. A CD has to be representative of what I am playing now, and what I am playing are melodies that are directly part of my life. Since I spend a lot of my time in Spain researching the bagpipe, I play a lot of Spanish bagpipe melodies, and since I visit Sweden I have collected 1 or 2 tunes from there… and so it goes on.
The 2nd CD is a concertina CD, with a doubling up of a mandolin on various tracks. The mandolin I started to play again after 30 years break. These tracks are a reflection of my busking activities in the UK and various duets I have been involved with in Spain. The style also covers a range of UK and Spanish melodies that work on the concertina (not all of them do work!). I had to learn a new repertoire on the concertina recently as one of the notes stopped working, so instead of transferring the existing melodies onto a new pitch, I learned a new repertoire in a different key.
These CDs I hope to have finished in December and January.
This years Newcastleton Folk Festival (2016) was enjoyable for me, I played various pipes (Gaita, NSP, Border and Scottish Smallpipes) and played at a few concerts and gave my workshop on the Smallpipes.
I was asked to play at the opening concert in the Church, part of it was video’d. I played for about 30 minutes and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. The melodies are all traditional Northumbrian/Border mainly from the Peacock manuscript (1800)
This is a recording of a melody I did in 2015, in the UK. I was practicing an Asturian melody on the Galician chanter. The melody is called “Si Vas A La Romeria”; I learned it at Casa de Asturias, in Alcala de Henares, Spain. It is my own interpretation of the tune, and I guess I am putting a British “accent” on it… but I hope it is recognizable to the original!
If you are reading this from outside of the UK you might not get the full weight of the statement when I say “it was sunny today”! A little bit of sun can make all difference, especially when one is busking with the gaita.
In the center of Carlisle this weekend there was an European Market, stalls mostly selling different foods from various countries/regions of Europe. Sadly, the music coming out of the stalls was of the nondescript type… so I took myself away from the center and down a back street. I took out the gaita and played…
Since I play mainly Asturian melodies these days I was scratching my head when I had exhausted my repertoire, but it is amazing how melodies that have not been played for several years come back quite effortlessly. I often remember another tune when I am half way through playing a melody, which makes me to quickly continue onto the next melody. In this way I can play one tune after another, with little break between melodies, with only a quick tune-up and off I go again.
Melodies popped into my head from Catalonia, Sanabria and Galicia, and I have been learning several Northumbrian melodies from the Peacock Collection that go well with the Galician chanter. Sometimes people stopped me and asked “what instrument is that? It is better than the bagpipe!” well there is a bag, and there is a pipe/chanter so how can it not be a bagpipe? but they mean the GHB anything else is not a bagpipe in their eyes. I have had this for years, when I started playing my NSP they used to ask the same questions, but today they know what the NSP is all about (a sign of progress I guess) but the definition of what is a bagpipe still needs some work!
I started playing at 12.15 and I stopped playing at 15.45, I did not repeat many melodies with in my set, but I began to get tired and I thought it was time to go home when I saw a big black cloud coming straight for me. It had rained once or twice while I was busking, but I continued playing through it and it quickly dried up. This one looked more substantial.
A nice way to spend a Bank Holiday, I hope I can do more like it…
We spent another good night at the Folk Club in Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders. The Folk club is on the last Tuesday of each month and is partly a singers night as well as musicians. There were interesting songs from all centuries some unaccompanied others with guitars. Mandolin and button accordion, recorder, Anglo Smallpipes, and Galician Gaita were the instruments used for the instrumentals.
We had spent the day with Liz and Dave (organizers of the folk club, as well as being on the committee of the Newcastleton Folk Festival) and we learned about the structure of the Festival for 2016 which is held this year on the 1st weekend of July, a 3 day even from Friday until Sunday (check out this blog for last years description)
My Smallpipe workshop will be on the sunday morning at 11am until 1pm. Where I will be giving basic instruction on the bellows blown bagpipes, covering technique to get you started. I will not be playing any melodies, it will be a workshop on bellows technique, bag pressure, and combining all this with chanter and drones. It may not seem a lot but it is when you consider it needs to be crammed into 2 hours!
I will be providing some sets of smallpipes for those who do not bring their own, but these will be of limited number so get your name down at the Festival Office, or contact Liz via her “Newcastleton Folk Club” web site; or contact me below this blog.
I will also be taking part in the concert on Friday night, for those of you who come for the weekend camping.
Last Sunday I had a run through to Bowness-on-Solway Folk Session. Colin Butterworth came and gave me a lift. I have been playing with Colin the past week at various session in Kendal (South Cumbria) and Bowness was a local one he came to. Colin is a well-known Bodhran player in Cumbria (and beyond). In fact when I first started going to folk meetings by myself (age of 14) I noticed Colin at the session at the Newcastleton Folk Festival.
In those days there was not too many Bodhran players around, he was more noticeable by his red beard and hair. He makes Bodhrans and his style of bodhran is quite different to the normal bodhrans you see today with an open back. Often his bodhrans are closed on both sides, or the animal skin is stretched partly over one side, making if difficult to insert ones hand in. As I have gotten to know Colin over the years I also notice his playing style is different too (difficult to describe in words). He generally goes to the Irish music sessions, but has an interest in all good folk music.
I started playing bodhran a few years ago and Colin has kindly given me encouragement along the way. I had my mother’s bodhran (bought in Ireland from a tourist shop), it was ok but it did not have a bass tone. Colin exchanged it with one of his own and the sound is much better. It was made by himself and I like its feel. I have tried to make him some beaters but I could not make them to his satisfaction, but he has given me one which is slim and works very well with my technique. At the session last week in Kendal I sat beside him and tried to play a long in his style, it was difficult, especially with the 6/8 tunes.
Colin has an old collection of cassettes, he has recorded over the years from good Irish musicians, from private gatherings to festivals and sessions. These are really interesting to listen too.
I have just returned from a session at Staverly, Lake District where there was a fiddlers Session run by Carolyn Francis. A nice evening with a lot of different sorts of tunes and rhythms: 3/2 hornpipes, jigs reels, waltzes, slow airs, and a bit of Country and Western! It is the type of session where any contribution is welcome. The session was mainly fiddles, but also a piccolo, 1 bodhran, tamborines, guitarist, mouth blown Border pipe, flutes, recorders, and a melodian. I played my Northumbrian Smallpipes, Scottish Smallpipes, Border Pipes (all bellows blown) and Gaita.
I played a slow air on my NSP and a a man said he had not heard that melody since 40 years ago! He had heard it once played by the Battlefield Band when he had moved up to Cumbria and liked it, but did not know the title of it. It was called Johnny Armstrong, a Border Ballad melody.
I also met 2 people who play the gaita in the Cumbrian Gaita Band, which are now meeting once a month in Kendal/Cumbria.
I also learned that there is an monthly meeting of Northumbrian Smallpipers near to Carnforth, I think it was the 3rd Friday of the month.
Ethnopiper & BusinessControlled 