New tune - what do you think?

[benhall.1]

OK. So I've written this new tune. I haven't quite got the hang of it yet, but here's a first stab at it - bit rushed in places, and scrappy in others.

Still, if you can see past all that, what do you think of the tune? Honest answers appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4YIo4GJ ... e=youtu.be

[Peter Duggan]

Can't tell you when the video's 'private'!

[benhall.1]

Is it? Rats! Right. I'll fix that now.

Better?

[Peter Duggan]

Properly Mixolydian from the off, with my kind of repetitive patterns and (dare I suggest it?) maybe even hints of 'found harmonium'... yep, I like it!

[jemtheflute]

Properly Mixolydian from the off, with my kind of repetitive patterns and (dare I suggest it?) maybe even hints of 'found harmonium'... yep, I like it!

He hates MFAFH!

[jemtheflute]

OK, had a single, quick listen. Not my cuppa, Ben, sorry. Not one of your better tunes IMO. Simple enough (very by your standards, and I mean compositionally, not playing-technically), but rather monotonous, not very tuneful. I see what Peter means, but it lacks the quirky things which make MFAFH more interesting (if you don't hate it - I don't, BTW, but nor am I especially fond of it - it's good to practice bodhran to!).

[cboody]

A bit like Concertina Reel. In fact, more than a bit. That is not to say you copied the other tune, but rather that they are very similar. I agree that it is a bit repetitive and the A and B sections are probably a bit too similar. But, you clearly understand the style you are going after and this is a reasonable starting place. Keep doing it!

[benhall.1]

OK. Not an overwhelming hit, then! Hmmm ... shame. It's probably down to the artificial nature of the tune. I was writing to a distinct programme, and maybe my "better tunes" are a bit freer.

I've just had a listen to The Penguin Café Orchestra doing MFAFH. I'd forgotten how good it was when they did it. Quirky and humorous. And at a decent tempo!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z8hXv-g4fQ

(And yes, Jem, I can't stand the thing as it occurs in sessions, even when a decent musician like John plays it. )

Now, I don't hear either MFAFH or The Concertina Reel in that. But that's part of the point of asking, I guess - it's in the ear of the beholder.

Ach, I'm still going to play it tonight at me works do. They won't know it's rubbish.

[jemtheflute]

The Millhall Reel, then?

[benhall.1]

The Millhall Reel, then?

Wrong works!

[jemtheflute]

Ah. What, then?

FWIW I don't hear much similarity to The Concertina Reel in your new tune. I think the biggest drawback to it with a non-trad-informed audience is likely to be its simplicity and rather monotonous, not very melodic character. I can think of several similarly simple, strongly emphasised on one note trad tunes, but such things, even with a good interpretation, are an acquired taste which most folk not habituated to this type of music rarely have. I fear your audience will hear a fairly random set of fearsome twiddles on just a couple of notes. I don't hear it thus, but...........

[benhall.1]

Ah. What, then?

FWIW I don't hear much similarity to The Concertina Reel in your new tune. I think the biggest drawback to it with a non-trad-informed audience is likely to be its simplicity and rather monotonous, not very melodic character. I can think of several similarly simple, strongly emphasised on one note trad tunes, but such things, even with a good interpretation, are an acquired taste which most folk not habituated to this type of music rarely have. I fear your audience will hear a fairly random set of fearsome twiddles on just a couple of notes. I don't hear it thus, but...........

I agree with you. The funny thing is, now that I've lived with it a day or so, I can hear possibilities for variation and stuff that could really make it come alive ... but I agree that that might not work with an unaccustomed audience.

BTW, it goes rather nicely into Castle Kelly.

[Nanohedron]

Now, I don't hear either MFAFH or The Concertina Reel in that.

Nor do I.

It seemed to me more of a fingering exercise constructed in tune format, but it definitely has an ear-grabbing quality one would want in a tune, so there's a darned good start for you. If you don't consider it necessarily set in stone yet, maybe consider plugging in some melodic expansion in the second arguments of a line, say. It probably doesn't need much to give it just a bit more dimensional flesh.

[jemtheflute]

So, deadline past, how was it received? (I think I may have heard a low rumble out of the south this-afternoon...... )

[benhall.1]

Now, I don't hear either MFAFH or The Concertina Reel in that.

Nor do I.

It seemed to me more of a fingering exercise constructed in tune format, but it definitely has an ear-grabbing quality one would want in a tune, so there's a darned good start for you. If you don't consider it necessarily set in stone yet, maybe consider plugging in some melodic expansion in the second arguments of a line, say. It probably doesn't need much to give it just a bit more dimensional flesh.

Well, it's not set in stone. So yes, maybe it needs a bit more flesh in it.

@Jem: Deadline passed. They were struggling to get acclimatised to TIWW, so ... um ... it didn't get an airing. If I tell you that some of the questions I got included "What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle?" and "Can you play Rihanna/Mumford & Sons/some other stuff I'd never heard of?" you'll probably get the gist. It all went down very well, but I had to take it easy, and pepper it with renditions of some of their requests played on the fly, such as The Godfather and the them to Jurassic Park, both of which went down splendidly.