Jam Report #17: 7/22/01
Jul. 22nd, 2001 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperAs originally posted to the OKP. Transcribed to Livejournal 10/4/05.
Patrick and Paul are both back, so between-take jamming is fun; Mimi becomes new Mistress of the Tempo. I sing again, but can't do a full take of "Old Black Rum". Post-pie impromptu futzing around is done this time, as well; Patrick plays guitar, Mimi and Kathryn and Cyn all sing. Dara retunes Fred's oud. Songs: "Mari-Mac", "Jolly Butcher", "Old Black Rum".
And in this episode of Music to Drive Away the Savage Trolls (or at least make their old posts roll off the bottom of the board) Theater, it's....
Murkworks Jam Report #17!
After the great session we had last time, I suspect we were all off just a tad because of Monica and Fred being unable to join us. Monica's presence was sorely missed on "Mari Mac", and Fred's on "Jolly Butcher". But on the upside, we did have both![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
daspatrick (Patrick) and spazzkat (Paul) for the whole session, and were able to bring them up to speed on recent changes we've been doing to our takes of "Mari Mac" -- where we're speeding up, where we're having all the instruments except for the drum drop out when kathrynt (Kathryn) bellows "UMBA DEEDLE UMBA DEEDLE UMBA DEEDLE AYE!", and what we're doing on the end now that ssha's (Cyn's) trying to channel Bob on her fiddle.
Having Patrick and Paul about also meant that our between-takes impromptu jamming actually sounded pretty good. We're getting to the point that we're comfortable enough with one another that if somebody starts off jamming on something, the rest of us can improv along. Even if it's absolutely silly stuff, it's still very fun to do!
I had my mandolin out, but am still not comfortable with it enough to play it on something at speed. Clearly, I am going to just have to listen to "Lukey" a few hundred more times and see if I can pick out something to strum and pluck. It's a tough job, but well hey, one must make sacrifices for one's art. ;)
We continue to worshipmamishka (Mimi), new Keeper of the Tempo, and we're not at all sure how we're going to manage without her on next week's session when she's off attending (and volunteering at) the WOMAD music festival here in Seattle. We did tell her she's not allowed to go anywhere ever again, but apparently we haven't yet bribed her with enough pie. We could, we suppose, just follow her to WOMAD and jam with her there, but that would require us to play in public in front of actual PEOPLE, and well, let's not go there quite yet!
(Alarmingly enough, some consideration is being given amongst us to going there eventually. But not yet. Not quite yet!)
At any rate, this here was our set list of the day...
I am pretty much on tap to sing lead for this, though. Because Kathryn's, Cyn's, and Mimi's voices are all trained -- and I did have to giggle some when they started playing with harmony for various bits of this ditty and it kind of turned into the chamber version of "Old Black Rum". I, though, have the raw, untrained, drinking song sort of voice, and having me sing it is probably a better option than making Kathryn take up smoking again or having her belt down a pint of whisky. ;)
Fred's presence was also missed by the time pie time rolled around, since the Snohomish Pie Company pies are unilaterally better than pies from the grocery store, but key lime pie with whipped cream is pretty nummy nevertheless.
The jam session didn't even really stop at pie time, either. Patrick kept futzing around with his guitar for a while and Mimi and Kathryn and Cyn all sang songs that had absolutely nothing to do with Great Big Sea -- and Mimi sounded mighty fine on "Dust in the Wind". Paul once again muttered insistently about Alice Cooper (picture if you will, people, a Celtic-flavored version of "School's Out for Summer"). And Dar worked on and even mostly succeeded in re-tuning Fred's oud, which he'd brought over for the previous session. Mimi is likely to take custody of said oud as she is enamored of things Middle Eastern, and one must admit, the oud is pretty darned cool. I for one can't get over how light this particular instrument is, in comparison to my mandolin. I'm almost afraid to pick the thing up, lest I shatter it like an eggshell!
That's it for now, all!
Cheers,
Anna the Piper
Patrick and Paul are both back, so between-take jamming is fun; Mimi becomes new Mistress of the Tempo. I sing again, but can't do a full take of "Old Black Rum". Post-pie impromptu futzing around is done this time, as well; Patrick plays guitar, Mimi and Kathryn and Cyn all sing. Dara retunes Fred's oud. Songs: "Mari-Mac", "Jolly Butcher", "Old Black Rum".
And in this episode of Music to Drive Away the Savage Trolls (or at least make their old posts roll off the bottom of the board) Theater, it's....
Murkworks Jam Report #17!
After the great session we had last time, I suspect we were all off just a tad because of Monica and Fred being unable to join us. Monica's presence was sorely missed on "Mari Mac", and Fred's on "Jolly Butcher". But on the upside, we did have both
daspatrick (Patrick) and spazzkat (Paul) for the whole session, and were able to bring them up to speed on recent changes we've been doing to our takes of "Mari Mac" -- where we're speeding up, where we're having all the instruments except for the drum drop out when kathrynt (Kathryn) bellows "UMBA DEEDLE UMBA DEEDLE UMBA DEEDLE AYE!", and what we're doing on the end now that ssha's (Cyn's) trying to channel Bob on her fiddle.Having Patrick and Paul about also meant that our between-takes impromptu jamming actually sounded pretty good. We're getting to the point that we're comfortable enough with one another that if somebody starts off jamming on something, the rest of us can improv along. Even if it's absolutely silly stuff, it's still very fun to do!
I had my mandolin out, but am still not comfortable with it enough to play it on something at speed. Clearly, I am going to just have to listen to "Lukey" a few hundred more times and see if I can pick out something to strum and pluck. It's a tough job, but well hey, one must make sacrifices for one's art. ;)
We continue to worship
mamishka (Mimi), new Keeper of the Tempo, and we're not at all sure how we're going to manage without her on next week's session when she's off attending (and volunteering at) the WOMAD music festival here in Seattle. We did tell her she's not allowed to go anywhere ever again, but apparently we haven't yet bribed her with enough pie. We could, we suppose, just follow her to WOMAD and jam with her there, but that would require us to play in public in front of actual PEOPLE, and well, let's not go there quite yet!(Alarmingly enough, some consideration is being given amongst us to going there eventually. But not yet. Not quite yet!)
At any rate, this here was our set list of the day...
- "Mari Mac" once again to start off, lest Kathryn's voice get too tired too quickly. We have had to do a bit of juggling on this the last several sessions to try to figure out how to keep the instruments from drowning out the vocals -- since more of us do play than sing. But now at least we do have Mimi coming in on the choruses (yay Mimi!), and Monica and Fred (except they weren't here this past time). So it may be a bit yet before we get a take of this we're ready to share with you fine people. ;) Kathryn was a trifle bemused to find herself thrown off, for the first time, on "People often wonder if it's Mari or her mother or both of them together I am courting". I had some issues, too, with my fingers not wanting to go the right places on the keys. I had to make myself not think too heavily about it, and that seemed to help.
- "Jolly Butcher" starts off right pretty when we have Kathryn and Cyn and Mimi harmonizing on the initial chorus, it must be said! Some small bits of shakiness here and there, but not too terribly much. I just want to be able to play through this bridge and hit my high G's and not screw up anywhere else, either! It's odd how I can do it on in-between-takes twiddles, but once I'm on tap to actually play the thing... argh. :)
I announced then that my embouchure was getting tired, so I wanted to do something that didn't require me to play the piccolo any more, which pretty much meant... - "Old Black Rum", during which I determined that why no, I don't yet have the vocal strength to carry this thing all the way through. Siiiiigh. I'm good for about the first two verses and chorus, then I start losing it. Apparently, I am going to have to add vocals practice to working with my instruments!
I am pretty much on tap to sing lead for this, though. Because Kathryn's, Cyn's, and Mimi's voices are all trained -- and I did have to giggle some when they started playing with harmony for various bits of this ditty and it kind of turned into the chamber version of "Old Black Rum". I, though, have the raw, untrained, drinking song sort of voice, and having me sing it is probably a better option than making Kathryn take up smoking again or having her belt down a pint of whisky. ;)
Fred's presence was also missed by the time pie time rolled around, since the Snohomish Pie Company pies are unilaterally better than pies from the grocery store, but key lime pie with whipped cream is pretty nummy nevertheless.
The jam session didn't even really stop at pie time, either. Patrick kept futzing around with his guitar for a while and Mimi and Kathryn and Cyn all sang songs that had absolutely nothing to do with Great Big Sea -- and Mimi sounded mighty fine on "Dust in the Wind". Paul once again muttered insistently about Alice Cooper (picture if you will, people, a Celtic-flavored version of "School's Out for Summer"). And Dar worked on and even mostly succeeded in re-tuning Fred's oud, which he'd brought over for the previous session. Mimi is likely to take custody of said oud as she is enamored of things Middle Eastern, and one must admit, the oud is pretty darned cool. I for one can't get over how light this particular instrument is, in comparison to my mandolin. I'm almost afraid to pick the thing up, lest I shatter it like an eggshell!
That's it for now, all!
Cheers,
Anna the Piper