Thursday, July 29, 2010

All Kind of Related

Well, for starters, I found this video, which is quite a lot of fun. How to tap your feet like a Quebecois fiddler + Le Vent du Nord = what's not to like?

I enjoyed that enough to see whether the folks who posted it, the Institute of Musical Traditions in Maryland, had any other videos. Which they do indeed (YouTube channel here). But who would have guessed that "any other videos" would include an Alasdair Fraser/Natalie Haas duet?

Then the search veered off in another direction as I thought if I put up a fiddle version of "Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa'," I might do well to find a definitive sung version. It's hard to say if Ben the Hoose has a definitive sung version, as the sample they have on their website is likewise mostly fiddle, but they are another duo worth a listen, in any case.

Most coincidental of all (but far off the trad music track), the phrase "gloomy winter" had been used in this nature photography blog post--so if you'd like to see some birds in very sharp focus indeed, that would be the place to check. If you've had enough birds for one week, go have a look anyway. It's pure art.

2 comments:

Mahri said...

Oh, man, thanks for these! That Quebecois foot tapping is a kick. Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa is one of my favourite tunes, and I really like Alisdair Fraser and Natalie Haas together.

Molly said...

If you're in the mood for it, look up the other Le Vent du Nord clip on that channel. I think it's a piece called "Octobre 1837," and it has everything from mouth music, to hurdy-gurdy, to the ubiquitous fiddle-and-feet.