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Description:
This was originally composed in September, 2002 for a personal family CD of various arrangements of “Carol of the Bells”, called "Barrel of the Kells". This newer version has been lightly rewritten, and recorded with GB’s Jampack 4 symphonic instruments.
This piece is my original almost-fugue-sounding arrangement of my favorite Ukranian “Christmas Carol”, Carol of the Bells, as if J.S. Bach had written it. Ingredients: Warmth, depth, complexity, eternal romance. Dedicated to my Belle, Jeri.
I had done some research for the CD project, and uncovered an intriguing origin of this melody. It is a very old Ukranian New Year’s carol, called “Shchedryk”. The song is not about bells or Christmas at all, but is instead a pre-Christian song about the end of Winter and the coming of Spring, heralded by a swallow flying up to visit a farmer. When it was translated to English in the 1930s for American choir performances, a completely different set of words was used, instead of translating the original text from Russian.
Lyrics:
Here are the original Carol Lyrics translated to English, FYI:
Shchedrik, shchedrik, shchedrivochka
A swallow flew in
And started to sing
Calling out the head of the house
Come out, come out, head of the house,
Come look on your homestead
Over there the ewes have rolled
And the lambs are newly born
(2) Your animals are all well fed
You will receive much money.
Your wife is good looking
If you get no money, then you'll have chaff
But your wife is good looking.
Shchedryk, shchedryk, shchedrivochka
A swallow flew in
And started to sing
Calling out the head of the house,
"Come look on your homestead
Over there the ewes have rolled
And the lambs are newly born.
(2) Your animals are well fed
You will receive much money.
Your wife is good looking
If you get no money, then you'll have chaff
Your wife is good looking
Shchedryk, shchedryk, shchedrivochka
In flew a swallow.
Hardware:
Dual 1Ghz G4, White Russian & coffee.
Software:
Composed note-by-note in Myriad's Harmony Assistant software & imported into GarageBand 2, using Jampack 4 Symphonic instruments with some tweaking.
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white something. &mdash 02/14/06 - 02:06:01 PM
i think i may like these original lyrics better...
love the harpsichord! this could be an ad for JP4.
very nicely done... and i, for one, really appreciate your research!
did you try mixing your white russian with your coffee? [ Reply to This ]
white something. &mdash 02/14/06 - 02:40:31 PM
I have a whole little booklet of research that went with the CD, its quite
interesting... things like, in the original lyrics, "you have a beautiful wife" if
literally translated from Ukranian comes out "your wife has dark eyebrows",
because that was a sign of beauty centuries ago in the Ukraine (might still
be?)
Glad you enjoyed the mix, JP4 is huge and complex, and will take me some
time to learn how best to use it.
I never mix White Russians and coffee, though sometimes Kahlua & coffee is
great.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<b>
<b>### Today's song:</b> <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18042">Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4!</a> [ Reply to This ]
Wonderful Rendition &mdash 02/14/06 - 03:20:37 PM
A fave of mine is given a facelift. And thanks for the historical
background. [ Reply to This ]
Changed my perception &mdash 02/14/06 - 04:01:50 PM
of this song. Now I can seem smart and share the interesting facts I have learned from you when it plays. Clearly a lot of time and work has gone in to making this. Listened to the previous "Barrel of the Kells" very funny...this is just more elegantly so. [ Reply to This ]
Note by note &mdash 02/14/06 - 05:14:37 PM
perfection. downloaded and favoritized. I never knew Carol of the Bells
had words. Thanks for the history. :-) [ Reply to This ]
nice dragon &mdash 02/14/06 - 05:28:46 PM
really cool mix and arrangement....very very nice...my fave holiday
song and your reading of it here is non seasonal....kind of warm...
great work!!
deep bow
z [ Reply to This ]
Very nice indeed! &mdash 02/14/06 - 08:08:28 PM
Very nice indeed! &mdash 02/15/06 - 02:06:22 PM
Hah, another keeper of ecclectic tidbits appears... thanks for stopping by and
listening, Rick, somebody else knows about Mykola Leontovitch's (and Fred
Waring's) historical connection to this piece.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<b>
### Today's song: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18042">Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4!</a> [ Reply to This ]
This is superb &mdash 02/14/06 - 08:38:54 PM
Beautiful &mdash 02/15/06 - 05:22:23 PM
Downloaded and faved - a beautful rendition of an old fave.Well done! [ Reply to This ]
NICE ONE! &mdash 02/16/06 - 09:56:47 AM
Does that end the bolding? &mdash 02/16/06 - 01:59:35 PM
This is really nice Eduard. I like the elegant simplicity here and the sound of the instruments you're using. For xmas music, I would choose this over Mannheim Steamroller. You know me: I tend to gravitate towards the complex, fast and confusing music. But your songs appeal to me in the opposite way, with their lovely and delicate structures they're like a peaceful rest for my hyper brain. Very well done, sir dragon. [ Reply to This ]
Wonderful &mdash 02/16/06 - 03:16:00 PM
Such tremendous simplicity within a song can be so very beautiful.
Beautifully played.
Slimmie [ Reply to This ]
Ah, yes... JP4 &mdash 02/16/06 - 03:19:58 PM
Brings us to new levels. But at least YOU are qualified for such
accomplishments. I only aspire to achieve compositional fortitude. Very
nice use of sound fields within this "chamber". Positively pleasing! [ Reply to This ]
feels like a live performance &mdash 02/16/06 - 07:01:49 PM
something about the panning and the reverb feels live. I love the harp.
And I think I agree with urbnite... I like these lyrics better! :) [ Reply to This ]
nice, but &mdash 02/16/06 - 08:19:33 PM
nice, but &mdash 02/17/06 - 07:34:28 AM
Yes, there is, and it is completely my fault. For a day I had a missing end-bold
tag in my signature, and while that was in there, I responded to a post here. For
some reason, MacJams server programming *embeds* your signature
(sometimes) into song comments, and it did so when I had this problem,
permanently encasing my transgression in HTML amber, and effecting all
comments that follow, sigh. Mea Culpa. At least I am bold enough to admit
it. :-) However, I'm glad to hear you liked this piece!
ttfn,
Drakonis --- deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there
### Today's song: Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4![ Reply to This ]
nice, but &mdash 02/17/06 - 09:13:11 AM
I put the end bold tag in my post, but it had no effect. But that's not important. What's important is that this is a lovely arrangement of this song, devoid of the "christmasy" sounds usually associated with it. The use of period sounding instruments place it in the renaissance. And the absence of bells is very welcome. O think I have to get Jampack 4; there are some great sounding instruments there!
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sometimes more feet than shoes. [ Reply to This ]
nice &mdash 02/19/06 - 03:11:14 PM
Nyet! &mdash 02/20/06 - 11:30:49 AM
Ha! I would sing the original lyrics along with this in a heartbeat! Except, I can't
sing. And I don't know Russian. This would sound great with a deep rich
Russian Cossack choir singing it, don't you think?
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18042">Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4!</a> [ Reply to This ]
Love the organ! &mdash 02/20/06 - 08:06:11 AM
The pipe organ is great! Makes me remember the Lutheran church I
attended as a child.
The ambience and reverb are very effective. You really feel like you're
in a hall with very good acoustics for this sort of performance.
Watch out, Mannheim Steamroller!
[ Reply to This ]
Love the organ! &mdash 02/20/06 - 11:26:02 AM
I did a lot of tweaking of the organ settings, and altering MatrixReverb mix/
settings on different instruments to get this to feel big but not muddy... sounds
like it paid off. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting, and for
"Chipping" in with another Mannheim Steamroller comparison, how incredibly
flattering!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18042">Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4!</a> [ Reply to This ]
Love the organ! &mdash 02/20/06 - 06:49:49 PM
"Chipping in" -- I actually get that joke.
---
My jazz piano CD on the<a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=79324809&s=143441"> iTunes Music Store</a>. [ Reply to This ]
Very enjoyable! &mdash 02/20/06 - 12:01:16 PM
Great job, Drakonis. Your arrangement really works, and gives a nice touch to Bach's composition. Clean, non-pretentious and well arranged, I ended up listening to it quite a few times. Has a sweet kind of "fairytale" like quality to it and warms up the atmosphere on a freezing cold NY day like this!!
And keep experimenting with JP4, it's worth it! I still find new instrument combinations after more than a year of playing with it. [ Reply to This ]
Very enjoyable! &mdash 02/20/06 - 03:00:06 PM
Well, I didn't mean to confuse you into thinking that Bach composed this, but I'll
take that as a compliment too :-) Actually, I made this arrangement up myself,
note by note, I just tried to give it a Bach-like feel... I guess it worked. Yes, I'm
loving JP4, still a lot of work to get things to sound realistic, but it is fun work.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18042">Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4!</a> [ Reply to This ]
Evocative, timeless &mdash 02/20/06 - 12:18:03 PM
Very fine interpretation of an honored piece. You have created the aura
of an intimate cathedral performance, which is very hard to do. I am
most interested in what you have done here because I am working on
entering a Scarlatti aria into LE7 MIDI note-by-note. [ Reply to This ]
Evocative, timeless &mdash 02/20/06 - 03:09:20 PM
I did do a lot of experimenting to get a good organ sound that wasn't too shrill
(JP4's flute+2 was what I finally settled on with minor tweaks). Then I used
slightly different settings of AUMatrixReverb on each instrument (Medium
chamber for organ, then backed the wet/dry mix back to 60%, large room for
the harp & harpsichord, wet/dry backed off to 80%) and a small amount of
regular reverb, and no echo. That's part of the secret for this sound :-) Thank
you for swinging by, and I look forward to hearing your Scarlatti interpretation!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18042">Belle Fugue, take 2/JP 4!</a> [ Reply to This ]
You got JP4! &mdash 02/21/06 - 01:33:03 PM
YAY. Finally your pieces get the sounds to do them justice. I really enjoy this reworking. [ Reply to This ]
Very dramatic &mdash 02/21/06 - 03:21:18 PM
nice changes in tone and original lead-up to the motif, this really sounds great, Drak! Your arrangement is very tasty, I love how the organ plays off of the harp - great solid low strings. Your choices of melody and countermelody here are simply stunning and the flourishes at the end are sweet and sudden. You're sure working that Jam Pack for all it's got, beautiful job! [ Reply to This ]
Amazing What A Pack Can Do &mdash 02/25/06 - 02:54:39 PM
A nice version of a nice tune.
Mixed better than the original as well.
And regarding the comment about you singing... you can always get your
Mac to do it. That's my little cheat :-)
Downloaded [ Reply to This ]
Exceeded My Expectations &mdash 02/25/06 - 10:37:34 PM
When I heard the introduction of the main theme, I'll admit I almost rolled my eyes. Fortunately, your constant extension of the theme and interesting call and responses really added up to a unique experience, akin to hearing a fresh piece of music that sounds faintly familiar. Great job. [ Reply to This ]
A revelation! &mdash 06/28/06 - 03:26:14 PM
New to MJ and came across your wonderful piece. What a revelation. It's
simply stunning. I love fugues and bringing that quality into this works
extremely well. Great harmonies, very creative interpretation of a well-
known piece. Nice to know about it's origins. That helps let us see this in
a new light. Also great use of Jampack4. Thanks for the wonderful
music. [ Reply to This ]
A revelation! &mdash 06/29/06 - 04:18:36 PM
Hi there Bowman, and welcome to Macjams! I toiled away for months on this,
and am very glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I'm really enjoying learning about
music composition, and the Mac composition/playback tools at my disposal now
are just mind-blowing. So, you're a fellow San Diegan? We'll have to get
together for lunch sometime!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/20224">Border Merger Waltz</a> [ Reply to This ]
great use of software &mdash 09/17/06 - 02:46:59 AM
great sound. I hope to learn to use mt software the same way you use
yours. Thanks a lot. [ Reply to This ]
great use of software &mdash 09/17/06 - 02:46:59 AM
great sound. I hope to learn to use mt software the same way you use
yours. Thanks a lot. [ Reply to This ]
lifetime beginner &mdash 09/18/06 - 07:47:10 AM
Hi Enrique, thank you for the compliments. I appreciate them a lot coming from
you, with your wonderful talent for writing music. I am glad you stopped by and
enjoyed some of my music! I'm certainly enjoying yours!
ttfn,
Drakonis
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The one with the most true friends wins!<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/23351">Sometimes - Magic Flute mix</a> [ Reply to This ]
gorgeous &mdash 11/16/06 - 02:56:07 PM
Yay! &mdash 11/16/06 - 04:16:30 PM
Well, if it conveyed "Delicate and Moving" to you, then I'm very happy indeed! Thank you for listening and commenting. I've been catching up and enjoying your guitar music as well!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
What better way to get me in the spirit &mdash 11/24/06 - 11:51:36 AM
Eduard,
I really loved this when I heard it on that CD you gave me. Really shows your talent. It sounds even better now just after Thanksgiving. Now comes my favorite time of year. It sure would be nice if I had a little dragon to help me fix all my midi.
Thanks for sharing...
Regards,
John [ Reply to This ]
great spirit &mdash 11/24/06 - 12:08:37 PM
Hi john, Thank you for the compliment, and for basking in the holiday spirit with us! My wife and I love spreading the joy and excitement and baking smells and warm hospitality out for the next month or so, instead of concentrating it on one day... and as for MIDI, you're a pretty facile music-writer yourself. I bet you could teach *me* a lot of stuff! We'll have to get together and trade secrets :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
Awesome &mdash 12/04/06 - 11:37:39 AM
This is awesome Drak. Ive heard many versions of this and this is one of the best. Beautiful. [ Reply to This ]
Hey, thanks! &mdash 12/04/06 - 12:28:10 PM
Very happy this is way up there on your list, and faved! Thank you for listening and commenting, ttfn!
Drakonis
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Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
Wonderful! &mdash 12/12/06 - 11:24:03 PM
I enjoyed this very much! I also enjoyed the history lesson about this song- thanks for the information. [ Reply to This ]
History worth repeating &mdash 12/13/06 - 12:10:54 PM
Hey Mike, thank you for stopping in & reading the description too... this was great fun for me to research, and I wanted to share. Glad to find others who enjoy the extra information behind the music!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
I'll be Bach &mdash 12/12/06 - 11:28:29 PM
This is great. I am a huge fan of JS and this does him proud.
On a side note, Kells is a small town in Ireland just northwest of Dublin. A good friend of mine comes from there. [ Reply to This ]
Here's to Kells &mdash 12/13/06 - 05:35:54 PM
Very glad you enjoyed it... and I continue to learn things here and wish to revisit this and do a better job on it sometime. I knew there was a place somewhere in Ireland named Kells, and glad somebody picked up on the wordplay... but I didn't expect a connection with somebody who lived there, that's fun!
ttfn,
Drakonis
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Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
kool &mdash 12/16/06 - 10:03:26 AM
McBach &mdash 12/16/06 - 12:17:37 PM
I am quite flattered to be added to your playlist, McBoy! Glad to add some warmth to your holidays! To paraphrase the old Ukranian lyrics of this song... may your Spring bring you joy and prosperity.
ttfn,
Drakonis
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Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
Nicely Done &mdash 06/23/07 - 09:34:10 AM
Reciprocation is sweet! &mdash 06/23/07 - 10:48:16 AM
Thank you so much for checking out one of my pieces of music, and commenting... I'm glad you liked this arrangement. Unlike your gentle New Age style compositions, I was going for Bach... I guess it is an "Old Age" style :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis
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Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/24994">DidgeEmber</a> [ Reply to This ]
Wonderful ! &mdash 09/14/07 - 03:13:16 PM
Eduard this is one of your bests, very nice sad melody !
I love the way you arrange your music, wonderful composition ! Great Post
Take Care Bro.
==============
Yeman Auf Al-Rawi [ Reply to This ]
love is the best inspiration &mdash 09/14/07 - 03:31:25 PM
This piece was written with heaps of love for my wife, so I worked hard for months trying to perfect it. Each time I write something big like this, I learn so much more about writing music. Usually what I learn is that I still have so much to learn! Thank you for going back and listening to some of my earlier works. The melody is an ancient New Years song from the Ukraine area, and it is my wife's and my favorite "Christmas Carol"... I tried to make my own unique arrangement of it. I have many versions of this from people, but I never heard a baroque version, so this is my offering :-)
You have a great gift for writing and playing music, Yeman, keep playing!
ttfn,
Drakonis
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Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/28669">Dance of the Technoids</a> [ Reply to This ]
Belle Fugue v2 (JP4) &mdash 12/04/07 - 06:43:10 PM
just brilliant writing , dunno I didnt notice this
sweet fugure of yours .thank oyu for pimpin it up
at the chat .but hey !! where s the singin ?
thank you for sharin it ...indeed a real gem !
peace ! [ Reply to This ]
singing? &mdash 12/04/07 - 08:11:35 PM
Only Dragons like to hear dragons singing... :-) Someday I may sing something, we will see. But this was a pure instrumental piece for now. Writing music is hard enough, singing is even harder! Someday I will be as good as you are! Thank you for dropping in and listening... I am very glad to know that you like it Feter!
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
( : &mdash 05/07/08 - 03:02:31 PM
BEAUTIFUL song...so Happy to hear this I lissened 1 to the Barrel Of Kells , both very great hearing You speak in the first ! It was You all the time? FUN!
This I love very much, thx for description it fits very well in now for us who live by the 'Northpole'(close enough anyhow) as May is the definate end of winter in the south! DL & FAVED ! Now I want to here a song by You I fell asleep to once lissening again & again.. It's so awesome-Border Merger with the violin: ) Lost all my dls so I dl again ! ThankYou Take Care
Lena [ Reply to This ]
Spring is coming &mdash 05/07/08 - 05:38:41 PM
So glad to provide you with music that you like! This one was a lot of work to create... and so was Border Merger. But I learned a lot about writing music when I created these. My wife is my romantic inspiration for this music!
For the "Barrel of the Kells Intro", I was the "American" voice. My step-son was the "Fake Irish" voice. So yes, you heard me speaking a long time ago :-)
I hope you have a beautiful Spring up there near the North Pole! Feed the foxes!
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
I am sure the beautiful wife has dark eyebrows, &mdash 10/04/08 - 04:29:31 PM
raised in laughter because you constantly amuse her.
Sorry that it took so long to give this a listen.
You are a master. I think about you as perhaps, not unlike the Leonardo da Vinci character in Star trek who was immortal and who was proficient in Art and science.
Fortunately you found your beautiful wife and did not have to create her only to lose her love to William Shatner. Thank you. [ Reply to This ]
She of wiggly eyebrows &mdash 10/04/08 - 06:53:35 PM
She is the "Genesis" of "Khan"-stant creativity from me... hey wait! Are you a Trekkie too? The Da Vinci one was one of the old originals.
Anyway, thank you for listening and enjoying this with us... she too is very creative and amuses me just as much, wiggling her dark eyebrows at me often :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
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love the harpsichord! this could be an ad for JP4.
very nicely done... and i, for one, really appreciate your research!
did you try mixing your white russian with your coffee?
[ Reply to This ]