Presented without further excuse or explanation
There was an old man
Author Archives: sara-garrard
Hello ukulele 2
(Recap: some sketches for songs – and I started playing this instrument a couple days ago!)
Hello ukulele!
This week I’m learning (some basic chords) on ukulele. Yesterday I wrote a bunch of songs. Words from an old book by Hannah Smith, except for “Look at the Moon” which is (adapted from) Eliza Lee Cabot Follen.
And I’ll put the rest in a new post.
Never weather beaten sail
This is something between an original and an arrangement — I could hardly say I was going to improve on the Thomas Campion original (though, hey, at least there’s already something of a tradition of re using his words!) And also I was reading the words along with the music as I was coming up with my own tune… So this has some of the original tune along with some new/’updated’, I guess, bits.
Never weather-beaten sail
More willing bent to shore
Never tired pilgrims limbs
Affected slumber more
Than my weary sprite now longs
To fly out of my troubled breast
Oh come quickly
Oh come quickly
Oh come quickly sweetest Lord
And take my soul to restEver blooming are the joys
Of heav’ns high paradise
Cold age deafs not there our ears
Nor vapour dims our eyes
Glory there the sun outshines
Whose beams the blessed only see
Oh come quickly
Oh come quickly
Oh come quickly glorious Lord
And raise my sprite to Thee
* the edition I had said cold age, I kid you not.
more Realfont goodies
3x noodlings from last night:
I think I’ve posted some like this before, but to recap — RealFont is a soundfont (sf2) from 2004. It is still available to download for free.
It’s interesting/something that the (circa 2004) webpage there is talking about how truly realistic and advanced this was for the time, and now I am very much using these sounds for their old-fashioned/retro warmth… That said, though–with a bit of work and processing you definitely could make these sounds sound more “realistic” than I am here, quite realistic indeed, maybe. Secret: I do still use the occasional soundfont, using for a wind instrument, mixed in there with expensive sound libraries and whatnot, when I do full orchestral things. But what I’m going for here is some slightly imagined combination of a console that never was / general midi / literally the sounds that were available to me when I started up doing a lot of computer music.
(Also rather quick and not detailed, obviously!)
Love will find out the way
in a change from my usual hymn settings š — here is a new tune for a famous old English lyric:
Over the mountains
And over the waves,
Under the fountains
And under the graves,
Under floods that are deepest,
Which Neptune obey
Over rocks which are the steepest,
Love will find out the way.You may esteem him
A child for his might,
Or you may deem him
A coward from his flight.
But if she, whom Love doth honor,
Be concealed from the day
Set a thousand guards upon her,
Love will find out the way.Some think to lose him
By having him confined
Some do suppose him,
Poor thing, to be blind;
But if ne’er so close ye wall him,
Do the best that you may,
Blind Love, if so ye call him,
Will find out his way.You may train the eagle
To stoop to your fist.
You may train in veigle
The Phoenix of the east.
The lioness, you may move her
To give o’er her prey;
But you’ll ne’er stop a lover;
He will find out his way.
I’m thinking the kind of folk/lullaby you get in a movie? very simple.
Abide among us
Since I posted aĀ throwbackĀ that must mean I have NEW music, yes?
Yes!Ā Sort of.Ā I sketched out another four Catherine Winkworth hymns on the piano yesterday, and here is one of them, the most coherent recording~ Ā I might try and cut together the others or re record sometime. Ā This has a nice pretty tune and some lovely unnecessary doodles!
Iāve branched out!Ā Weāre now doing general purpose hymns not just Christmas šĀ I found the entireĀ Chorale bookĀ for EnglandĀ with hundreds of these so I AM UNSTOPPABLEā¦..Ā what shall I do with all these??
Abide among us with Thy grace,
Lord Jesus, evermore,
Nor let us e’er to sin give place,
Nor grieve Him we adore.
Abide among us with Thy word,
Redeemer, whom we love,
Thy help and mercy here afford,
And life with Thee above.Abide among us with Thy ray,
O Light that lightens all,
And let Thy truth preserve our way,
Nor suffer us to fall.
Abide with us to bless us still,
O bounteous Lord of peace;
With grace and power our souls fulfill,
Our faith and love increase.Abide among us as our shield,
O Captain of Thy host;
That to the world we may not yield,
Nor e’er forsake our post.
Abide with us in faithful love,
Our God and Saviour be,
Thy help at need, oh, let us prove,
And keep us true to Thee.
Throw(way) back whatever day it is
This is an arrangement/VGMix based, loosely, on Zeldaās Lullabye. I made this in 2004 on I think the first version of Garageband which contained nothing more specific for orchestral stylings than āStringsā and āHornsā sounds, couldnāt yet use soundfonts, and had no facility to adjust tempi during a piece!Ā worked around all that, and loved doing it.Ā Bits of recorder and oboe and extremely reverby vocal āaaahsā by yours truly.
I think I submitted this as part of uni applications?
It’s all about feeling emotional and nostalgic about video games, hee.
Christmas ?Carols?
As I may have mentioned, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas became pretty much my favourite site these last few years, and not just at Christmas… When I’m at a loose end one of my favourite things to do is make Christmas songs. (I try and completely ignore the original tunes of these lyrics, or ideally not know them in the first place.)
‘As on the night before this blessed morn’, words by George Wither, from here.
This is from sometime in November, alongside all the piano pieces. I had also just been to see Frozen 2, which … isn’t necessarily relevant, but it certainly put me in a musical theatre mood! Some more expressive vocal lines. The “whom nooor the earth nor (breath) HEavn of heavns can (breath) HOOOOLD” part is my favourite ^.^
1. As on the night before this blessed morn
A troop of Angels unto Shepherds told,
Where in a stable he was poorly born,
Whom nor the earth nor heaven of heavens can hold,
Through Bethlehem rung.
This news at their return ;
Yea, Angels sung,
That God with us was born
And they made mirth, because we should not mourn.
2. This favour Christ vouchsafed for our sake :
To buy us thrones he in a manger lay ;
Our weakness took, that we his strength might take,
And was disrob'd, that he might us array :
Our flesh he wore,
Our sin to wear away :
Our curse he bore,
That we escape it may ;
And wept for us, that we might sing for aye.
Another one, also just from the very end of November I think! here
1. Today in perfect gladness
Our praises let us sing,
The Lord Who heals our sadness,
Is born today our King,
The Lord Who, like a giant,
His course doth run,
On His own strength reliant,
Our righteous Sun.
2. In darkness He is lying
Who gives the sky its light,
He in a stall is crying
Who thunders in His might;
Swathes are those Hands enfolding
Which made the stars,
Him swaddling bands are holding
Who breaketh down hell's bars.
3. He comes, redemption bringing,
He comes, the Undefiled
The Rose from Lily springing,
The Father from His Child.
He comes, with kingly banner
Not yet unfurl'd,
He comes, in wondrous manner,
To save the world.
I had some trouble with the word “burils” in the original lyrics… “who burrils hell’s bars”. Even if I was sure what it meant (seems to maybe be a blacksmith/carpentry tool, which is NEAT but…) … it’s not going to translate well to a random listener I fear.
I would like to make something with all these Christmas songs, and the increasing amount of “modern hymn”(?) settings (..a lot of Catherine Winkworth, basically. I’ve got the entire Lyre Germanica to go through now and I am unstoppable.) … A book? for….. some people? I suppose choral settings would be the thing. Or different versions, some of them are fairly solo/unison/pop, right?