Coming Soon especially for M G

[Fred Winterling (harbor1)]

I promised MG in an earlier post I would come up with a Country tune, but I had to first learn how to play the harmonica. Well... Ah sorta learnt howl. As a hint, it's based entirely on "Heart And Soul", a song everone in the world has played as a duet, including non-piano players. It will be called "Alabama Heart And Soul". It is not being posted today cuz I kneed myself in the chin while foot stompin'.http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif
For the very young who may have never heard Heart And Soul, here is a very plain, short version.
Cheers...Fred
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Heart n Soul_Plain version.not (http://www.notation.com/discus/messages/35939/Heart_n_Soul_Plain_version-28482.not) (26.1 k)</td></tr></table></center>

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Fred,

Good grief, I must be only about 85% too young because I can distinctly remember Hoagy Carmichael at the piano on a BW TV--before the 12 inch screens came out. I remember it because someone who had jammed with him at some club somewhere in FL was present, and he told a couple of stories, which I don't remember in any detail...

So, I guess I've heard "Heart and Soul," though I'm pretty sure not played on a harmonica, which I'm sure will be a tonic to make me feel young.

Sorry to hear about the chin. Of all the ways the music profession can cause personal injury, surely the foot stomp chin knee has got to be among the more painful, especially if it happens while playing the harmonica.

Seriously, though, I'm looking forward to hearing it.

best,
mgj

[Fred Winterling (harbor1)]

Howdy MG,
>quote: So, I guess I've heard "Heart and Soul," though I'm pretty sure not
played on a harmonica, which I'm sure will be a tonic to make me feel
young.
You won’t recognize “Heart and Soul” in the piece unless you cut the speed back to about 80bpm and mute everything but the piano. Then you will hear the “left chair” part of the duet - minus the melody.
>quote: Sorry to hear about the chin. Of all the ways the music profession can
cause personal injury, surely the foot stomp chin knee has got to be
among the more painful, especially if it happens while playing the
harmonica.
Talk about pain caused my music? I was playing at a place called “Benny’s Rebel Room” in Wash. D.C.in 1958. Another sax player from a club down the street came in and wanted to sit in with us and proposed a “battle of the saxes”. We were both walking on the bar playing “heat” and challenging each other. People were stuffing tons of money into the bell of our saxes. I got a little caught up in the moment, and felt like I could jump off the bar onto the dance floor and do a split while playing ( don’t try this at home ). Well, it didn’t turn out too good. The sax hit the floor and both front teeth went flying. They broke off at the gum and the nerves were exposed (try finding a dentist on Sunday afternoon). The bartender ( I remember his name - Bob Parker. Are you out there Bob? ) poured me a 12 ounce glass of “pain medicine” which did work for the pain well enough for me to rejoin the band and sing a song called “Sweet Apple Cider”, which at that moment became better known as “Fweet Apple Fider”.
Cheers..
Fred

[Fred Winterling (harbor1)]

Ok, Y'all
Here's my first (and probably last) attempt at Country. The motif for the background came entirely from "Heart and Soul" and everything is based on the bottom part of the duet. (slow the tempo down, and mute all but the piano). BTW I could not find a washboard font, so I made it myself.
Cheers,
Fred

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Alabama Heart And Soul.mid (http://www.notation.com/discus/messages/35939/Alabama_Heart_And_Soul-28498.mid) (68.3 k)</td></tr></table></center>

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy Fred,

I hereby bow to the master of pitchbends http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

I have a couple of questions for you. You mentioned that you made your own washboard font. Do you have a washboard soundfont that you made? I see in the song that you're using drum instruments, but one of them comes up as "unnamed drum pitch 82" if I split the drum staff to check it out closer. Did you have something particular in that spot?

Also, if you have the capability to use soundfonts, I have a great harmonica font that sounds terrific in this piece. If you can do soundfonts, let me know and I'll send it to you (I can't remember where I picked it up).

My son Aaron heard me playing this one, and wanted me to play it again when it finished http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

ttfn,
Sherry

[Fred Winterling (harbor1)]

Hi Sherry,
No, it is not really a font. It is just a drum pitch made with Agogo as the instrument.
Believe me, I am not the master of pitchbends. I meant to credit you and Mark with the tips on creating the bends. It is one of the bends I have in my pitch bend file that I copied. I think it came from the sax part in the other song. I just got lucky on this one. Mark gave me the tip about stretching the pitch bend, which is what I did for one of the other parts.
I would like the harmonica font. I may be able to use it with Synthfont, then I could convert it to MP3. I am, however, having a problem with Synthfont lately. If I use MS Wavetable synth as the default, it converts all the bongo drum sounds to door bell chimes. I have to use his synth for the drums. I am having a really bad time with Audacity also. Both programs worked great until my computer crashed and I had to recover the operating system.
Tell Aaron I would expect him to dance to this one! http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif
Cheers,
Fred

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy Fred,

I'd be glad to send you the harmonica font. The zip file is about 1.6 Mb, so if you let me know what email addy to send it to (you can email me with that, if you want), I can send it to you. It really makes that harmonica part sound like someone playing it live!

You'd fit right in with this piece around here. Today would have been all chamber concerts - it's been storming, so all the bands would have played _inside_ the barn, rather than in the front yard http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

ttfn,
Sherry

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Fred,

Alabama is another triumph. Like all of your stuff, I save it as a midi, if it comes as a .not file, and leave it where I can have easy access to play it in WMP. Since when I've heard country music live, and there was a piano, I've notiece that it was always more honky tonk than grand; so I tried changing the grand to honky tonk. Give it a try and see if you like it, too.

The first movement of the symphony I've been working on will be done enough to put up a midi version pretty soon. It has a couple of fiddle soloists, which hopefully produce a kind of country sound, and the coda is a direct quotation of "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight." I had really wanted to use a banjo at places, but I don't know the range of the instrument. Your banjo in Alabama sounds very good. Do you know what the high and low notes are that a typical banjo can play?

I guess you were lucky you were where you were when you decided you could play the sax and be an acrobat at the same time, since 'medication' was so readily available. How long after the fact was it when you started to get a laugh out of the memory?

Keep them coming. Soon I'll have to put a folder on the desktop called Fred's Songs.

all best,
mgj

[Fred Winterling (harbor1)]

Hi M G,
Thank you so much for nice words! I save your stuff too. I really liked what Sherry did with the violin and piano for you on her web site. I downloaded the MP3 file.

Quote: Since when I've heard country music live,
and there was a piano, I've notiece that it was always more honky tonk
than grand; so I tried changing the grand to honky tonk. Give it a try
and see if you like it, too.

You’re absolutely right! I had the honky tonk piano most of the time I was working on it and for some reason I changed it . I changed it back.

Quote: I guess you were lucky you were where you were when you decided you
could play the sax and be an acrobat at the same time, since
'medication' was so readily available. How long after the fact was it
when you started to get a laugh out of the memory?

I got a laugh out of it right away, as long as the “medicine” had an effect. However, the smiles went away when the medicine wore off about 4 hours later. The smiles came back pretty quickly, though ( Thank God for great dentists! ). I think it took about 3 days to get the laughs back. He made me a permanent metal bridge that was cemented to the two teeth on either side and they instantly felt like my own.

Quote: Do you know
what the high and low notes are that a typical banjo can play?

No, I don’t. I have an instrument transposition chart that has just about everything but the banjo. I think the range is pretty extensive, though. I have a CD that was given to me by a good friend in Baltimore who has been dubbed ( I don’t know by whom) as the best banjo player in the world. I totally agree with that assessment. His name is Buddy Wachter. He has played command performances for the Queen and at the White House as well as the heads of many other countries. He is incredible. In his case, there may be no range. If you would like to hear him, I could mail you a copy of his CD.

Cheers….Fred