Pachelbel Canon on the pipes: any tips?

[tommykleen]

This tune has more layers than a chicken coop. Can it be pulled off (for a wedding) on the uilleann pipes without condemning the union?

T

[CHasR]

solo, tricky:
with accomp, one can fake it just fine.
Either way on UP, play the long tones, exploit your range and expressivity, and screw the 16ths. (Just like 'Jesu, joy of'.. yet another bridal fave..)

In other words: play it on uilleann like a vocalist would sing it.
Even the fattest Handelian soprano would avoid those runs.

PS Tommykleen : HOW did you let yourself get into this situation, in the 1st pl?
geez... brides....

[reedbiter]

Tommy...Tommy Martin (the fiddler) does a wonderful rendition of this on one of his recordings.....I'll see if I can find it, it might be somehing to emulate...though it's quite up-beat instead of mellow...

hmm....I can also see the regs being used for the cello or viola bits...though it would take some DAMN fine coordination. How many months do you have to prepare?

[razzmaster]

Will there be organ or piano accompaniment?

[Thomas Wiedemeier]

Can it be pulled off (for a wedding) on the uilleann pipes without condemning the union?
T

No, definitely not!

Thomas

[PJ]

OH NO!! Pachelbel's finally taken the pipes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

[revjeep]

OH NO!! Pachelbel's finally taken the pipes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

Thank you for the coffee on my computer screen.

That is so funny. Seriously, thank you for that!

[tommykleen]

... How many months do you have to prepare?

I have 11 days. Oh and there's a tionól in there somewhere too.

t

[tommykleen]

OH NO!! Pachelbel's finally taken the pipes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

That's great. It's good to hear what the cello notes are, all of which are represented by reg keys

Your man scooped me on the Taco Bell line though. Growing up we had a term "The Taco Bell Cannon" which was the result of especially-heavy binges of Mexican fast food.

T

[PJ]

I actually thought of doing this once, but not live or at least not solo. Multi-tracking could allow one person to do it. Alternatively, get 4 or 5 pipers together and give them each a part to play. If they're properly in tune with eachother, the results could be really nice.

[Cathy Wilde]

I can't speak for it on the pipes, but I've played it so many times on the flute at weddings for the last 25 years I can nap thru it ... if it's the 16th-note parts you're worried about and it's a processional, you'll need to have a wedding party of at least 10 going one bridesmaid per 4-bar phrase veeeerrrrry slowly up a looooong aisle before you get that part. In other words, most wedding parties only make it through at most the first three sections before it's time to end on a big fat D chord. Pity, because the 8th-note section is very nice - in fact, I'd recommend using that one -- we sometimes leave out the quarter-note section so we can get the 8th-note part in. It moves very nicely.

And if they need more, you can always skip the 16ths. Seems like a nice D drone and the occasional D & A chords on the regs whilst noodling on the first three sections of the tune should be sufficient.

If the bride's envisioning some sort of fanfare, a big D chord and then either the 8th-note section or the LAST section work nicely (brides in a hurry are often why we skip the quarter-note section and go straight to the 8ths). It's a canon, after all, it's flexible that way

Finally, if you're playing with a keyboard player, you can treat it as a round .... you start, the piano player starts 8 bars after you (or vice versa) .... it only gets hinky in the last section where a C natural and (I think) an F chord show up in the bass which then slams into the D chord and that's a bit of an aural train wreck, so best to play unison there.

Do you have a basic keyboard part? It may seem less daunting when when you see it all laid out; it's pretty simple. Just 8 bars of the same progression, developed different ways over and over again ...

But bottom line, most wedding processionals aren't long enough for you to get to the busier parts anyway. Good luck!

[tommykleen]

Good news! I think we are going to fall back to our previous selection "Breton Wedding March" it has that whole "Here Comes the Bride" first four notes anyway.

Bullet dodged,
T

[Cathy Wilde]

Yeah.

Meanwhile, the Pachelbel rant is brilliant! Thanks for that, y'all!

[JR]

I play a bastardised version as a reel. Check out Martin Hayes' version on the Live in Seattle CD or if you get a chance to see him live I think he still plays it some gigs. I believe he plays it in C but of course I play it in D on the pipes. Its a tricky one to back as most of the chord progressions are alien to trad music.

A great tune to learn regardless.

[Cathy Wilde]

I was goofing around this morning (I love this new chanter so much, whodathot I'd be comfortable enough to just wander around and play whatever inside a month?!) and coming up with all kinds of interesting things -- mostly sticking to meandering quarter and eighth notes in the D & G chords (with the occasional A-C#-E) ala the 4-bar Pachelbel motif. And despite my lame-o piping, the result was, I think a reasonable suggestion of "a Pachelbel fantasy", especially if one was to have a piano or organ playing the ostinato. Just my .02, but Tommy, I think it's do-able.

So here's a few noodly thoughts. Blame them on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It's sort of like musical Legos; play or leave out parts as you wish. I flopped the progression at the beginning because I thought starting cold on F2 would be a little risky. Cuts, graces, & rolls are up to the player though I tried to sketch in a few cranns (my ABC is eclipsed only by my piping in sheer crapitude).

X:1
T:Pachelbel O'Cannainn
M:C
L:1/8
K:Dmaj
N:I went from simple to busier, so repeat parts or not as you wish and leave out whatever parts seem like too much. N:Playing to the first repeat sign and then repeating the half notes and ending on a D is a good simpler version.
|: d4 c4 | B4 A4 |G4 F4| G4 e4 | f4 e4 | d4 c4 | B4 A4 | B4 c4 |
(D2 F2) A2 A2 | (A2 B2) (A2 G2) | (F2 D2 F2 F2) | (F2 G2 F2 E2) | ~D4 (~D2 ~D2) | (A2 A2 F2 A2) | B4 G4 |(~e3d c4) |
(D2 F2 A2) d2 | (e2 d2) (c2 e2) | (d2 c2) (d2 F2) | (A2 d2) (F2 d2) | B2 ~D2 ~D2 ~D2 | (A2 A2) (F2 A2) | B2 B2 (G2 B2) | ~E4 ~e4 :|
(DFFA) (AB)AG | (FA)Ad A(~D ~D2) | GF(GB) (Ad)FA | GG EB ABce|
DFFA ABAG | FAAd fedc | Bd ga/2g/2 fA dA | egge ~a4 ||
Adfd Acec | Bdfd Adfd | GBdB AdFA | GBBG ~E4 |
Adfd Aceg | fedc dfaf | gg ge ~f3 f | gg bb ~a3 g ||
f4 e4 | d4 c4 | B4 A4 | B4 c4 | d3 e/d/ c4 | B4 A4 |G4 F4| G4 E4 ||~D2 ~D6 |]

Oi, hope I haven't just made an arse of myself but it was an interesting exercise.