Live Views of Acoustic Tull
There is a joke we have at rehearsal. Not so much a joke more a little giggle that passes around the studio between songs. It began with Kerryn asserting that the next song to play was her ‘most favourite'. Just as she had said about the previous song. And would doubtlessly assert in 4 minutes time, ready for the next one. Soon we were all claiming every song as a favourite.
In all honesty we enjoy this material so much.
The biggest obstacle to choosing new songs to learn is having to replace one already in the show. And we can’t picture the show without any of these songs.
We thought it may be nice to capture a few favourite songs from a recent show's video. Honestly, the video is for rehearsal purposes. It is something for us to study as we make improvements. But it may give you an idea of what we look like as we play. Let’s chop some together and give you a glimpse as we perform.
In all honesty we enjoy this material so much.
The biggest obstacle to choosing new songs to learn is having to replace one already in the show. And we can’t picture the show without any of these songs.
We thought it may be nice to capture a few favourite songs from a recent show's video. Honestly, the video is for rehearsal purposes. It is something for us to study as we make improvements. But it may give you an idea of what we look like as we play. Let’s chop some together and give you a glimpse as we perform.
Flute Clips
You can’t do Tull songs without a flute. We did well to discover Kerryn and her flute. In fact she brought along a whole menagerie of weird and wonderful musical toys. Here we present 4 minutes of Kerryn with a few of these instruments.
We begin with the heavy metal flute for Broadsword. We did not think Broadsword was a song we could manage till we felt the subtle, low rumble of the bass flute.
Naturally we need to do Boureé. The sparkly sound of that flute rings out. If you listen closely you can hear some of the audience whistling along.
The flute is a great instrument to improvise in some of the material that requires development. Wind Up is such a song and the Kerryn’s flute is a wonderful way to explore the melodies.
We often comment that Witches Promise shows how the flute lives so deeply in the Tull songbook. Here is Kerryn’s witchy flute. All those ripples and trills with tons of echo to add the sparkle.
Mother Goose lets Kerryn play 2 recorders at the same time. See how she manages the harmony then moves to a single recorder for some lines and back again.
Kerryn does not blow into every instrument she plays. Our version of Fire at Midnight lets her drag out her concertina. It is not a loud instrument and you could miss it. But it adds a wonderful new dimension to this multi genre song.
We finish this set of clips with Cup of Wonder. In rehearsal this song can become a race. In this clip we did manage to keep an appropriate tempo throughout.
Our Tull interpretations needed a flute. We feel so lucky it is Kerryn adding to our explorations.
We begin with the heavy metal flute for Broadsword. We did not think Broadsword was a song we could manage till we felt the subtle, low rumble of the bass flute.
Naturally we need to do Boureé. The sparkly sound of that flute rings out. If you listen closely you can hear some of the audience whistling along.
The flute is a great instrument to improvise in some of the material that requires development. Wind Up is such a song and the Kerryn’s flute is a wonderful way to explore the melodies.
We often comment that Witches Promise shows how the flute lives so deeply in the Tull songbook. Here is Kerryn’s witchy flute. All those ripples and trills with tons of echo to add the sparkle.
Mother Goose lets Kerryn play 2 recorders at the same time. See how she manages the harmony then moves to a single recorder for some lines and back again.
Kerryn does not blow into every instrument she plays. Our version of Fire at Midnight lets her drag out her concertina. It is not a loud instrument and you could miss it. But it adds a wonderful new dimension to this multi genre song.
We finish this set of clips with Cup of Wonder. In rehearsal this song can become a race. In this clip we did manage to keep an appropriate tempo throughout.
Our Tull interpretations needed a flute. We feel so lucky it is Kerryn adding to our explorations.
Michael Clips
This clip shows off Michael’s vocals. We picked 4 songs that are obviously acoustic, almost folk songs. We begin with the start of Thick as a Brick. TAAB is a long song. In its initial form it runs for close to 40 minutes. We have chopped it down to about 9 minutes trying to capture the majority of the acoustic elements. The start of TAAB is very folky guitar picking with clear strong recognisable melody. It remains among Tull’s most recognisable tunes.
This slides into Wondering Aloud. Wondering is one of the Tull short songs. We run it a little longer than the original. It seemed too good a tune to not drop in a flute solo. We join the tune as Michael begins to sing over the picking pattern.
Wind Up is a song in which Ian Anderson strongly lays out his position on religion. We begin it with just Micheal playing and singing. Each of us join him in stages as the song builds into its more rocky section. (We’ll look at rocky sections in a later clip)
We have been finishing the set with Fire at Midnight. This was another song we needed to wrangle into shape for our acoustic adventure. As we perform it, you see it bounce across genres. Notice Kerryn ready to join in with her concertina. The song starts as an acoustic picking adventure handed totally across to Michael. Again we each join as the song develops.
So there are 4 snippets of very folky Tull tunes with Michael at the forefront.
This slides into Wondering Aloud. Wondering is one of the Tull short songs. We run it a little longer than the original. It seemed too good a tune to not drop in a flute solo. We join the tune as Michael begins to sing over the picking pattern.
Wind Up is a song in which Ian Anderson strongly lays out his position on religion. We begin it with just Micheal playing and singing. Each of us join him in stages as the song builds into its more rocky section. (We’ll look at rocky sections in a later clip)
We have been finishing the set with Fire at Midnight. This was another song we needed to wrangle into shape for our acoustic adventure. As we perform it, you see it bounce across genres. Notice Kerryn ready to join in with her concertina. The song starts as an acoustic picking adventure handed totally across to Michael. Again we each join as the song develops.
So there are 4 snippets of very folky Tull tunes with Michael at the forefront.
Geoff's Clips
Here are three songs where I do a bit more of the singing. We begin with ' One Brown Mouse '. We wrangled 'Cheap Day Return' into the middle of this song (which is where we begin this snippet) to arrive at a single presentation with 2 songs mashed together. They seem to work musically and even within the narrative. This is the song where the Bass gets to hammer us home. It is a strong finish and you can see the delight on Michael's face as the Bass really kicks in.
Second on my selection is 'One White Duck'. This is a 2 part song with the 'White Duck' element moving to the 'Zero to Your Power of 10' section. In our version we add the 'Duck' bit to the end . I love it because of its layered vocal elements. We often do bits where Michael and I swap vocal lines within a song. Hopefully this enhances the narrative. It also offer us the opportunity for a strong vocal finish.
My final pick for this quick view is 'Up The Pool'. I have so many stories I could share about 'Pool'. Never sure which ones will appear as I begin to chat. You can see how much we enjoy this one. Kerryn’s smile, as she shows off her multi-instrumental skills( with the egg shaker,) is quite a delight.
Second on my selection is 'One White Duck'. This is a 2 part song with the 'White Duck' element moving to the 'Zero to Your Power of 10' section. In our version we add the 'Duck' bit to the end . I love it because of its layered vocal elements. We often do bits where Michael and I swap vocal lines within a song. Hopefully this enhances the narrative. It also offer us the opportunity for a strong vocal finish.
My final pick for this quick view is 'Up The Pool'. I have so many stories I could share about 'Pool'. Never sure which ones will appear as I begin to chat. You can see how much we enjoy this one. Kerryn’s smile, as she shows off her multi-instrumental skills( with the egg shaker,) is quite a delight.