The village is a-buzz with excitement and activity! There is a connecting together of electric cables; a welding of steel trestles; a burning-off of the dirt on grilles; a setting up of lights; a preparation of beer dispensers… For tomorrow, our village has its annual festival!
I too am making a small contribution. I shall be fluting my way through a few Irish tunes, accompanied by William, native of this place (though he lived in various countries, including Finland), erstwhile cabaret performer. I was worried that he wanted to provide the accompaniment on his “Band in a Box” keyboard or similar. I think he was thinking of using Celtic Rhythm number 3.
However, I had a cunning plan. I could see that if I proposed hopping between one rhythm and another, he would have difficulties following that with the machine, and would have to listen to me and “vamp”. So at our “rehearsal” two days ago I remained entirely enthusiastic about what he was doing as we worked out what metronome speeds would be needed. Admittedly, I did ask if he could be a little less heavy on the Oom-Pah Um-Pah. It’s hard to put into mere words, but those boom-chikka rhythms with bass guitar, tuba and tambourine are not exactly the feel I am looking for. I did also innocently ask how easy it would be to segue from one tune to another. Lo and behold, he had the idea that maybe he shouldn’t use the rhythm machine at all! He decided it would be better just to accompany me on acoustic guitar because, as he said, the sound is more suitable and he can listen to me and follow the rhythm! The brilliant thing about this is that it’s his idea!
Wish me luck!
Hi Alex, well, good luck! I’ve just had a thought: the Irish Band our next door neighbour plays the banjo in, recently lost their flutist, so if you want an introduction…