New composition recording

[Neil Clark]

Roger, thanks very much! I sweated buckets. And if one extra E is all you heard, I'm quite relieved!
Also thanks to Janette for allowing me to take part in a totally different, exciting and rewarding experience

[Roger Huth]

You delivered Neil. Well done. Must have helped Heatherbelle enormously.

I'm now seriously SYJ overload (still listening to it as I type) so better switch this computer off

[Heatherbelle]

Originally Posted by Roger Huth

I would say you have chosen your artists very well, as I, for one, find it very pleasing to listen to.
Roger

This was part of the learning curve--how to find, hire and then coordinate the performers. One thing's for sure--I'm glad I paid more and got good people to play the music. Makes a huge difference I think.

Originally Posted by Jim McGillivray

With the exception of a bar or two early in the dithis, the unison is excellent, which has to be quite a chore with a production like this.
JM

Yes indeed. I'm wondering whether in places the 'lack of unison' might in fact be my tendency to write complex rhythms going on at the same time. At the start of the Dithis for instance, the piper is playing the usual dotted eighth and sixteenth pattern while the strings--or the first fiddle really is playing triplets in the true 'three against two' sense. With hindsight I should maybe have let things settle for a bar or two in the Dithis to get the rhythm in the pipe established, then bring in all the fancy stuff. I'll think more about this for another time.

Originally Posted by Adam Sanderson

As soon as it was finished I wanted to play it again.

Nearly everyone who's heard it is saying this so that must be a good sign, and I'm hoping that every time people hear it again, they find another wee strand of something they didn't hear the previous times, as there's loads of wee melodic snatches in the four string parts.

Originally Posted by Roger Huth

This time I set bass to maximum and treble to minimum on my speakers and this brought the strings to the fore.

Interesting. What do you think of the balance? I've had comments both ways round. Some would like the strings turned down throughout, and others want the strings louder. I quite like the equal balance idea. We definitely need to hear the pipes and the embellishments of course, but so too we'd want to hear the exquisite string playing!

Originally Posted by Roger Huth

Those strings are amazing

I agree. And they were absolutely top notch. The Erskine Quartet.

Originally Posted by Roger Huth

I can an hear extra E note in the Taorluath, which I quite like actually, in P18 Bar 1 last group
I can also feel the pull going from the Urlar into the Dithis. I like it though. Telling us 'we're here now; wake up'
I am also lucky enough to be able to follow the score, and that brave piper is good and s/he is absolutely spot on with the notation requirements in my opinion.
I like this immensely; and I like the fact you are willing to share it here with us all too.

Ah! I've not noticed the extra E but will track it down! Yes the pull from Ground to Dithis is the bit I'm talking about above. Yes following the score is the way to go. If I can work out how to post it here I will. I made last minute changes to the string parts so they had at least a half beat rest to turn a page!!
Yes hats off to Neil. We had issues to sort out but got there. I had got into a fankle about what pitch a Bb chanter sounded at, so we had to use his normal chanter on the day, which fortunately he had brought. And bar 2 rhythm caused us some trouble but we got there with that too. It was a long day of hard work.
[QUOTE=Roger Huth;1187370]

[Heatherbelle]

Originally Posted by Roger Huth

and I like the fact you are willing to share it here with us all too.

Where better? Remember it was from here that I got the inspiration to write the piece, and the one before it, and several since. Remember too that it stands alone as a pipe only piobaireachd. It was that, before I added the string quartet. I wasn't sure how a string quartet would be with pipes, but I think they're just exquisite together.

[Roger Huth]

I looked at the score to check on that E and it was only while I was there that I thought I'd follow the music to the piper.

I would say he was paying close attention to that music.

Original composers of piob seemed never to have had the luxury of indicating exactly what they wanted onto a stave

The reason I adjusted the speakers was because they were full treble and no bass. I might balance them properly at some point, but I prefer no treble and all bass when listening to bagpipes

[bog-standard]

Heatherbelle, exciting project.
I think the strings need to come forward....and the pipes need to be sent back into the mix one or two notches.
In the extract you have posted the reverb profile of the pipes sounds like a small room, while the strings have space on their own landscape. The application of a broader reverb patch on the pipe (and a reduction in the pipe's treble) will help with creating a greater sense of unified "place". This should be easy for your audio tech to accomplish.
Very impressive undertaking.

[Heatherbelle]

Originally Posted by bog-standard

In the extract you have posted the reverb profile of the pipes sounds like a small room, while the strings have space on their own landscape. The application of a broader reverb patch on the pipe (and a reduction in the pipe's treble) will help with creating a greater sense of unified "place". This should be easy for your audio tech to accomplish.

I've passed on your comments re the reverb to Alasdair the sound/video guy. Thanks! He's hoping the complete sound edit will be complete this week, then it's just the video.

[David]

Maybe you can get this booked for the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow for a Piping Live featured event. I'll fly over. It'd be worth the plane ticket to hear such a work in an acoustic concert hall.

[Heatherbelle]

So excited. Looks like the video is on its way! First edit of, that is. I'll post it for comments. They're very helpful.

[Heatherbelle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqm_l...ature=youtu.be


That should be a link to the first video edit of the Ground.