Passamezzo

VicDiesel

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Description

The Passamezzo is a renaissance dance. There are two common chord progressions, of which I'm using the following:
Gm-F-Gm-D Bb-Eb-Ab/D-G (ok, that Ab is not entirely authentic). This is played by a recorder ensemble consisting of soprano, two altos, two tenors, two basses, great bass. I'm using my consort of Kueng baroque instruments. (I don't have a great bass; that's a tenor with a pitch shifter. Harumpf.)

I know that this recording is not perfect. Once I write out the score and straighten out a couple of blemishes in the arrangement I'll rerecord it a bit better.

Here's the score if you want to follow along: http://www.eijkhout.net/tmp/passamezzo.pdf

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Song Stats

Hits: 2484
Comments: 46
Fans: 30
Plays: 171
Downloads: 64

Uploaded: Jul 03, 2010 - 10:15:50 PM
Last Updated: Jul 06, 2010 - 09:43:58 PM Last Played: Jun 17, 2013 - 11:18:13 AM

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Creative Commons License:
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Comments

awigze	awigze said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)
	elegant always love to hear a recorder ensemble. It takes more than skill to finesse each note like that. nicely done. Check out my latest song called Afraid of the Rain w/ Davisamerica

davisamerica	davisamerica said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)
	not perfect??? ...i beg to differ mr. diesel Check out my latest song called 12

alackbass

alackbass said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)

Passamezzo
Love the melody beginning at :37. Nice staccato accompaniment at :56. The ensemble playing almost sound like a keyboard instrument. Wow that's some rapid articulations starting at 2:44. The trills on the ultra high melody at 5:10 are beautiful.

The concept is great. I love the way the composition evolved and grew. The performances are outstanding. The quality of the recording is pro all the way.

Were it not for you I would have gone the whole day (probably longer) without hearing any renaissance music. Thanks for posting this.

Check out my latest song called Close to the Bone by Jerry Quinn

VicDiesel	VicDiesel said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Renny It would be a better world if people listened to more renaissance music, right? Check out my latest song called Fourth Candle

Gaylen75	Gaylen75 said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)
	I love it Very cool. And Im a nerd for thinking so. Check out my latest song called Unravelled (Speakeasy Sway)

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)
	I love the consort here And thanks for sharing the pitch shifting secret. The quick runs are great. Lots of time spent. Don't you wish you could clone yourself? On the other hand, if you did that, there would be no reason to practice and play with others, which is one of the great enjoyments of music. Check out my latest song called The Black Cat

VicDiesel	VicDiesel said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)
	Pitch shifting A tenor has a lot more overtones than a great bass, so after the pitch shifter you need an EQ to remove excess highs. Other than that, there is no EQ'ing on this piece. Everything natural. Playing with others: I have to lead a bunch of amateurs here in town, later this year. I hope to play this with them. Check out my latest song called Fourth Candle

desakota	desakota said 1082 days ago (July 3rd, 2010)
	Passamezzo ...a nice compliment to my recent obsession with The Tudors. Transported me to another era, and it was a pleasing ride... Check out my latest song called ambient drift - v2+

michaeljayklein	michaeljayklein said 1082 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Those were the days... ...you are the authoritative source here! Well done! Check out my latest song called Old Man Mose is Dead

Symphony101	Symphony101 said 1082 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Not perfect ?????? It sounds great to me. It's just lovely, so much enjoyed listening this. It's very nicely developed and recorded Vic, in my opinion. Check out my latest song called The Wish Granter

ted23	ted23 said 1082 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	My music brain got confused half way through your description so i just dived right in to my first experience of a song in the "renaissance" genre....... Found myself enjoying it and being uplifted towards the middle. Nice one Check out my latest song called Living Dead Love Song in Z minor (HALLOWEEN 2012)

Honza	Honza said 1082 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Passamazzing! I think I will have never enough of these renaissance flute harmonies ... so charming. Always when I hear it I feel transfered to some distant ancient place but yet so close and real. Beautiful, thank you! Check out my latest song called Unbound

Skean	Skean said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Vic All I can say you're a great musician, KUDOS. Check out my latest song called In My Deepest Thoughts

bud	bud said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Whatever imperfections you hear are lost on me - or just add to the exquisite sound of a very human music - breathe through wood. Wonderful post Vic. Can't wait to hear your contribution to the Two4Summer project. Check out my latest song called fig field

mvh9591	mvh9591 said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Very Nice___ This reminds me of walking around at the renaissance fair. Very nice work Vic. Sounds perfect to me. :) Enjoyed - Thanks for sharing, mvh : ) Check out my latest song called 01-15-13 Not sure where it's taking me.

Ibstrat	Ibstrat said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	I love your recorder playing, this sounds fantastic. When I played classical guitar I loved Dowland.I assume you wrote this - beautiful writing! What is the other common chord progression? Check out my latest song called I Could Write a Book

VicDiesel	VicDiesel said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Passamezzo moderno Very boring: I IV I V I. Yes, I wrote this. I'm familiar with Dowland. He's much more melodic than this piece is. Check out my latest song called Fourth Candle

ShadowofNine	ShadowofNine said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Marvelous Track, an eye opener, and ear pleaser..skillfully performed... Check out my latest song called Theres a Prog in my Soup

richard13	richard13 said 1081 days ago (July 4th, 2010)
	Delightful music Thank you Vic. Check out my latest song called Caledonia

Jarvoid	Jarvoid said 1081 days ago (July 5th, 2010)
	Sounds good to me. Very relaxing in a sitting out the dance sort of manner.Tidy and fresh.Nice one Victor. Jarvoid Check out my latest song called laundromat blues

particledots

particledots said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)

Hi Vic
Did you play all the parts yourself and multitrack or was this a group of people playing together?

Either way this is very cool.

I agree that the recording is not perfect (what was it recorded on?) but I also think that it is far from imperfect, and in many ways the imperfections (this slight hiss in places and the odd click here and there) actually add to the ambience and feel

Thanks for sending me this way....enjoyed very much

Check out my latest song called copy-right

VicDiesel

VicDiesel said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)

Me, myself, and I
Yes, I played this myself.

You're right, there's hiss (it's warm here and I didn't bother switching off the AC while recording) and key clicks on the larger recorders. The main thing that needs to be improved is the timing of a couple of parts. It's a bit sloppy. When I revisit this I may throw in some percussion and other instruments too.

Check out my latest song called Fourth Candle

Hickling_Stan

Hickling_Stan said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)

Complex yet simple
Well Vic I've given this a really intense listen. I was vaguely aware of this style of music but had never paid it much attention...my loss I'm sure. I really enjoyed this, listening to the various counter parts. I guess Rick Wakeman and the 6 wives of Henry VIII is the closest I have ever come before. A lovely creation. Well done. cheers Mark

Check out my latest song called Elective Introspective

musichead	musichead said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)
	nice I like that fact I can come to macjams and hear something this neat. I grew up playing string bass in the symphony. So its always nice to get this genre as well. Im amazed at the fact I dont hear more breath. So its well recorded. Pretty close to madrigal. Nice work. Tons of work to score I bet!! really really nice! Check out my latest song called Attack of the Media

Six-Nail-Coffin	Six-Nail-Coffin said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)
	Very Period I love authentic sounding renditions of old music. I also love the bouncing that comes in at about 1.00. This is light and airy,something that I haven't heard a lot of in renaissance music before. Thanks for the DL also. Check out my latest song called Svartalfpolska

sloparts

sloparts said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)

I am in awe,
of your skills as a musician and composer, Victor. This is so far beyond anything I would ever dream of attempting it's not worth mentioning.

I'm not qualified to critique something like this so I'll just tell you how very much I enjoyed it. Even with the supposed flaws you mention, which I could not hear, it is a wonderful piece of music.

Bravo Maestro

Ed

Check out my latest song called Quack's Blues

Cameron	Cameron said 1080 days ago (July 5th, 2010)
	expert playing It's wonderful to hear multi-tracked recorder playing, and so well-performed. This is a very nicely put-together piece. You get a very pleasing sound out of your Kueng baroque instruments. Now...how 'bout something jazzy and funky? ;-) Check out my latest song called Trio for Horn, Violin & Piano

magnatone	magnatone said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	Passamezzo this is an example of how a really good musician can make something very hard to do, sound effortless. sublime, graceful and elegant! Check out my latest song called Wave Goodbye

lilmom	lilmom said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	This is totally amazing to me!!!!! A breath of fresh air! Check out my latest song called Tribute to Jeannie and Ed

Sigmund

Sigmund said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)

Passamezzo
My guess is this was a heck of a lot more difficult to accomplish well than a simple listen reveals. Impressive work, Vic, to say the least. I assume you are referring to the ambient noises when talking about the quality of the recording, but I think it just gives your work more authenticity. Nice post, and I enjoyed listening to this - thanks!
Sig

Check out my latest song called Under Your Bed - feat. strangedream, rok41 & Steve Ritter

Vic Holman	Vic Holman said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	the pied piper of MJ's you are. i was listening to this yesterday while i was doing other work. so now a chance to hear it on the phones. i really like interaction that is going on, nicely done. Check out my latest song called They Must

VicDiesel

VicDiesel said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)

Interaction
That's really the trick to large arrangements: everyone leaves a hole somewhere in the conversation, and someone else jumps in. If one voice keeps talking, there can be no interaction with the others. So you play "1&2" in one voice, and the next goes "2&3" et cetera.

Should I mention that I "wrote" this without writing it down? A matter of 1/ planning ahead while you're laying down the early tracks, 2/ having a good memory with the later ones, and 3/ just trying and listening what goes together.

Check out my latest song called Fourth Candle

WharmtonRise	WharmtonRise said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	Wow Simply beautiful. Excellent work Vic. Check out my latest song called Confrontation

WharmtonRise	WharmtonRise said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	Actually though this is a lovey piece of work the addition of the score to follow is really the icing on a terrific cake! Check out my latest song called Confrontation

RAVENS	RAVENS said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	Memories I used to play the recorder when I was a little girl. What great memories this brings back, of going to the Renaissance festival & being in awe of everyone dressed up. Lovely piece, sir. RAVEN ;-) Check out my latest song called Tattooed Scars (w/ Sigmund, Scofugate, Rok41)

Alimar	Alimar said 1079 days ago (July 6th, 2010)
	Fascinating! I was even able to play this uncut on my iPhone 4. I saved the score in the iBooks app. The recording is better than you admit. Check out my latest song called If Ever There Was A Time

Feter	Feter said 1078 days ago (July 7th, 2010)
	Passamezzo Sweetness dripping awesome skill .So no one knows who wrote this dance ? ..it just floored me ..Man this is just elegant great ...thnx a lot for sharin !!!! Check out my latest song called Roll with it

Bubowski	Bubowski said 1078 days ago (July 7th, 2010)
	'Tis Amazing 'Swounds! Thou hast created a musicale most marvelous! Check out my latest song called Dasa Kodo

Catalina22

Catalina22 said 1078 days ago (July 7th, 2010)

Passamezzo
I really like the shift from either 2/4 or 4/4 time to 3/4 time, and back again. This song totally transports me to another life. I appreciate the info on the chord progressions, too--I'm really fascinated by the music theory behind the intuitive experience of listening to a song, so I love reading about how artists on this site did what they did. Thank you for sharing!

Check out my latest song called The REAL Plant that Geranium! (Mood Ring Mix)

jdholliday	jdholliday said 1077 days ago (July 8th, 2010)
	sorry i was camping when you posted this gem, just getting back to commenting, very beautiful renaissance flute ensemble! Check out my latest song called Please Help, Pride of NYC needs tracks!

jdholliday	jdholliday said 1077 days ago (July 8th, 2010)
	recorder! sorry, I meant recorder! Check out my latest song called Please Help, Pride of NYC needs tracks!

edwarke

edwarke said 1077 days ago (July 8th, 2010)

Great stuff
This is a really wonderful composition! Unlike my instrumental music where I can go anywhere and do anything, this music follows a traditional progression so you have to work within the parameters - that's very difficult. Yet you have sliced it and diced it so it remains interesting and each section is where it should be overall: so the entire piece comes together with a pleasing silhouette. Very nice, thanks for all the work.

Check out my latest song called "Temptation Down in Rio"

Brian D	Brian D said 1076 days ago (July 10th, 2010)
	Wow This is wonderful. Bravo! Check out my latest song called Tell Me

tmcfate	tmcfate said 1074 days ago (July 11th, 2010)
	yes impressive. Check out my latest song called Dark Day in December

rok41	rok41 said 1072 days ago (July 13th, 2010)
	This is fantastic Vic... Such a rare talent to compose such a thing. Great! Check out my latest song called The Game

AcetyleneJukebox	AcetyleneJukebox said 1030 days ago (August 25th, 2010)
	Impressive Charming composition and splendid performance on those recorders. There are passages that capture the spirit of the Renaissance perfectly. Well done. Check out my latest song called Camino Embrujado

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Name: Victor
Location: Austin TX

My CD of Native American Flute music is out! Rain in the canyon by Oakensong In past lives, VicDiesel was a country fiddler, a shawm player at the Burgundy court, bellows pumper for JS Bach, Geoff Emerick's factotum, and a beggar playin... [see more]

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