Random musical thought....

[gurdymonkey]

I was sitting downstairs handsewing in front of The Monolith with Master and Commander on. (God, do I love this movie.) Once again I found myself smiling and humming as Jack and Stephen broke into the Passacalle from "La Musica Notturna Delle Strada di Madrid" before the credits rolled. A thought occurred to me - I began humming a drone. It works. This sucker would conceivably work on hurdy gurdy and help me develop a non-SCA repertoire for those sunny afternoons in SF.

Mwahahah, now to try it.....

Hmm. There's an accidental in it I didn't take into account, and I don't have enough range below "do" to replicate the melody exactly, but this is not the first time I've had to invoke the fudge factor while playing a diatonic instrument with limited range. Even though it's not what Boccherini might have had in mind, this concept has potential. Besides, it's such a delightful piece of music.

Sound sample here: http://media.gigmasters.com/mp3/13027_Boccherini1.mp3

(Only thing holding me back from doing too much more at this moment is the way the gurdy is complaining about the rain. Ow.)
 

Comments

[danabren.livejournal.com]

On the subject - in 50 words or less, what makes a hurdy-gurdy "work" I promised some people I'd ask you (you being my Hurdy Gurdy Guru and all)

[mermaidlady]

God, do I love this movie.

Me too. There are so many marvelous things that were done so right, but my main affection for the movie is more personal. A couple years before filming, I was a student on board "H.M.S." Rose, the ship that became Surprise. There's just something about knowing that I stood on that deck, my hands were on that wheel...

My father turned me on to Boccherini, whom he started listened to because of the books. It's a family thing. : )

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's awesome.

After seeing M&C in the theater, I began reading the series and thoroughly enjoyed them. I also concluded that the film adapation still holds up beautifully.