Midnight Oil - Redo Improvement

Song:  Midnight Oil

Composer / Alto Flute / Harp:  Luke Pickman

Originally, this was my first transcription...

after one month of playing music.

The original was rife with errors...

and was hand written.

I updated this song...

as it will be one of my sunset songs.

It is beautifully melodious.

Pay attention to the crescendos and decrescendos.

Gnossienne no. 1 - Redo Improvement

Song:  Gnossienne no 1

Original Composer:  Erik Satie

Performing Artists:  

Alto Flute / Transposer:  Luke Pickman

Piano:  Paolo Bertolotto

I redid a much earlier transcription...

as it was sloppily handwritten...

and I have since made some corrections.

I had made some alterations to this song in a couple of minor ways.

This song is going to be my mother's and my first duet.

I am teaching her the piano portion now.

This is going to be one of my sunset songs.

Although I have never taken piano lessons...

I am figuring out the piano portion by looking at, and listening to...

 the above music video.

And so...

I will not be transcribing the piano portion.

The piano portion is actually very easy to play in this song.

It is the main reason I had picked this song for our first duet.

Watch for the repeat bars...

and for the change of loudness indicators and insignias...
and on one repeat...
watch for the 8vb (1 octave lower) on the second time around.

Although it may take a while for my mother to be able to play 

this song on the piano...as she is almost 80 years old...

and she cannot play the piano...yet  :)...

once our duet is practiced and played well enough...

I will include a video of us playing it on one of my other blogs:

Aging And Living Well

Feed The Birds - Julie Andrews Transcription

Song:  Feed The Birds

Song From Movie:  Mary Poppins

Vocalist/Actress:  Julie Andrews

I just finished this transcription.

You must watch for the timing changes...

and the grace notes are sometimes in 1/16...

and at times...in 1/32.

Also...
remember...
accidentals...even grace notes...
change that particular note for the remainder of the measure (only)...
unless changed again in that measure.

After the measure...
all notes revert to the key signature...
unless again changed.

As there are quite a few accidentals in this song...
be aware of them

I was going to do more Rock songs...

however...

 I have gone through some lifestyle changes

(I am taking care of my almost 80 year old mother in her house)...

and she wanted for me to play some soft songs 

for her to listen to as she goes to sleep.

I will also be playing her...

her favorite songs when we go to the mountains to watch the sunset

(I am actually going to take out some chairs, my Bass Flute and music stand...

to the middle of nowhere, to give an open air concert...

to my mother...and to the animals and trees  :)

So...for a while...

I will be transcribing...

what I call...

sunset songs.

I have several sunset songs in mind to transcribe...

all of which are lengthly...

and so...

 may take a while.

I may transcribe some shorter ones first...
I'll have to see.

Duet Completed - Stairway To Heaven

Song:  Stairway To Heaven

Group:  Led Zeppelin

 Okay...

I just completed this master piece of Rock history.

Now...

I had to make a few modifications in the octave levels so I would

have room later in the song to hit the highest notes.

I also added a few things just to make it sound a little better on the flute.

However...

for the most part...

it is a straight transcription....

except for the minor portions which I had to transpose...

and the few places where I had composed a few runs to make it sound

 more interesting on the Bass Flute.

This took me awhile because I was having a bear of a time 

when I hit Jimmy Page's fast runs on the lead guitar (16th and 32nd notes)...

especially when he was doing triplets.

I would sometimes hear the notes one way...

and then I would hear them another way...

and sometimes the timing seemed to change.

I had to listen very carefully to decode the puzzle that it had presented me.

However...

I am picking up transposing / transcription more easily now.

My musical ear is improving...

so, many times...

I can lay down the notes by ear (and foot :) ...

without having to play the notes first on my Bass Flute. 

Again...
what I do is listen to a song on YouTube.

I then play what I hear on the Bass Flute.

I then write out what I play on to a blank music sheet...
by keeping time with my foot.

The reason I do this is that most of the available sheet music...
especially for modern music...
does not carry the subtle nuances of the instruments or vocals.

And...
many songs I like...
there is not readily available sheet music for them
(I like many foreign and older music).

And much of the sheet music is a simplistic version...
and rarely are they duets.

I will often combine many instruments on to one line of music.

As an example...
on this song...
the Flute I line is composed of the flute introduction...
Robert Plant's vocals...
and Jimmy Page's lead guitar.

The Flute II line is composed of the Bass Guitar...
and the acoustic guitar.

I was going to transcribe a Jazz Bass Flute song next

(with a Bossanova beat)...

however, the artist is selling his composition on line...

so, I cannot legally transcribe and publish his copyrighted composition
(after I had transcribed it).

Okay...

for now...

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN:

It may take me awhile on the next song also.

It has some fast rhythm and note changes...

and some syncopated timing.

But...

it was also one of my favorite songs from the same era

as was Stairway To Heaven

(and is still one of my favorite songs).

The group is called YES...

and the song is my favorite off the FRAGILE Album.

If you know of this group...

then you must know which song I shall be transcribing next  :)

(and, no, it is not Roundabout).

Addendum:  I did a stupid thing a few days ago.

I transcribe in the middle of the night by the light of the computer only.

Well...

I had set my Bass Flute on...

what I had thought was the flat part of a table...

and it had turned out to be the ledge.

It had hit the floor...

and afterwards...

I couldn't play certain notes on it without extraordinary pressure on the keys.

My Bass Flute is now in the shop getting repaired.

It may be a few weeks to a month before I get it back.

So...

I won't be able to transcribe until I get it back.

----------------------

Addendum:  I had gotten my flute back from the repair shop.

It is better than ever now.

However...

my life situation has changed.

I am now taking care of my, almost, 80 year old mother.

She likes to hear me play...

so...

for a while now...

I will be transcribing some sunset music (mellow music).

My mother likes to fall asleep as I play.

Stairway To Heaven - Base Line

Song:  Stairway To Heaven

Group:  Led Zeppelin

I have just finished the Flute II portion (Acoustic Guitar / Bass Line) of Stairway To Heaven.

I would have had this finished much sooner but I had gotten busy with other things in life.

However...

no matter how fast I try to complete the rest of the song...

as it is much more complicated...

the next portion (Flute I) is going to take a while.

It will encompass the Flute / Vocals / Lead Guitar.

I cannot stress how much more I understand music 

just by listening carefully by ear...

playing what I hear...

and then transcribing or transposing it.

I will soon be composing my own complete songs.

Now...

as this is going to be a flute duet...

I had to combine several instruments into this transcription / transposition.

I did some minor alterations...

but I stayed true to the music for the most part.

Again...

this is just the Flute II portion of the song (Bass Line).

It will be a duet when I complete the Flute I portion (Vocal / Lead Guitar).

I will post the entire song once it is completed.

Zeynep's Romance - A Hauntingly Beautiful Melody

Song:  Zeynep's Romance

Artist:  Omar Faruk Tekbilek

This song has one of the most hauntingly beautiful melodies I have ever heard.

It is a very simple song...

which means much emotion must be put into every note.

I had slightly modified Flute II in some portions.

With this song...
I had experimented with laying down a little of each track at a time.

It had actually worked out well.

However...
with most songs...
I will transcribe the bass track first.

I am unsure which song I shall transcribe next.

I am thinking another classic rock song...perhaps.

Comfortably Numb - Duet Completed

Song:  Comfortably Numb

Group:  Pink Floyd

Okay...

I had spotted quite a few mistakes I had made in the original draft.

As I was laying down the bass track (Flute II)...

I had found a few missed measures of the lead guitar.

I deleted the previous article because it just wasn't complete.

Also...

bear in mind that this is a 5 octave song which I had to compress into 3.

The song just doesn't sound the same without the other two octaves.

The notes sometimes clash...

as there was supposed to be a couple octaves of separation.

I will have to think twice in the future before I tackle such a difficult song...

especially one which incorporates octaves out of the Bass Flute range.

This one about wore me out.

I learned two very valuable lessons:

1)  Always lay the Bass Track first.

2)  Never transcribe, transpose, or compose...

when sleepy  :)

I had made many blunders I had not discovered until the bass line 

hadn't matched the melody.

I had to add missing measures of melody...

and retime part of the song by laboriously moving pages worth...

note by note.

Again...

the notes on the flute may be bent by sweeping your head as you play...

just as do the Bansuri players of India...

or the Shakuhachi players of Japan.

It is signified by the radically angled slur marks which lead to nothing.

Or...

by the full signature which means to go back and forth with the note.

This song ended up being 11 pages long.

I think I am going to try a simple melodious flute song for the next one.

Although...

I already have some songs which are also complicated in timing

which are just burning in my mind...

and wanting to be put on paper  :)

Should anyone spot any mistakes...

please leave a comment.

Although I had looked it over...

my mind is quite fried right now.  :)