Got an Old Upright in the AirBnB • Casey Driessen & Michael Biggins • [OTHERLANDS: Scotland]

This recording is the 12th in a new multi-episode project by Casey Driessen titled - OTHERLANDS: A Global Music Exploration.

*SPECIAL NOTE: Since our meeting and this recording, Michael has been named the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician for 2021. Congrats Michael!!!
(http://bit.ly/BigginsBBCAward)*

LOCATION: Glasgow, Scotland
DATE: Dec. 29, 2019

CREDITS
Songs: Brown County Breakdown (Bill Monroe) / Washington Square Park (Angus Lyon / Ruairidh Campbell)
Music Arranged by: Casey Driessen & Michael Biggins
Piano: Michael Biggins
Fiddle & Audio/Video: Casey Driessen
Additional Music: Improvised

EQUIPMENT
The following Shure microphones were used in the making of this collaboration. If you’re interested in learning more and/or purchasing one, please use the links below. This helps to support the music I make. Thank you.

Shure BETA 181 [cardioid capsule] (https://amzn.to/2vcNdU1)
Shure BETA 181 [super cardioid] (https://amzn.to/2ueWCuw)
Shure MV88+ [stereo video mic] (https://amzn.to/3bftnZ5)
Shure A75M [universal mic mount] (https://amzn.to/2tzylyR)
Shure A53M [shock stopper] (https://amzn.to/2Ox3hqx)

ABOUT THE COLLABORATION
After two weeks up in the Scottish Highlands, my family headed south for Glasgow to embrace city life once again. Many folks were out of town for the holidays so I headed out the Scottish trad jam sessions to make some new friends. Holding down the harmony, bass, and rhythm at my first couple sessions was a pianist currently attending the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland named Michael Biggins.

**To learn more about Michael and his projects, please visit: (https://www.facebook.com/bigginsmusic)

We locked in a solid groove together at these noisy holiday pubs and both had the same idea...meet up after the holidays, play some tunes in a space where we could hear ourselves, and see about recording something.

Our original plan was to use one of the pianos at his school, but it was closed for the holidays. Thankfully, our AirBnB came with an upright piano—and it was relatively in tune. 5 stars for amenities!

But, what would we play? I thought back to the jam sessions we had and I recalled one tune played at both that was great fun. It was in 3/4 (not common for me), has 3 parts (interesting), is in E major (a lovely bright sound on the fiddle, not a ton of tunes in this key), and had harmony that lent itself for improvising. It's a modern tune called "Washington Square Park." I also remember it being played at the other session I attended, so I guess it's in the hot jam rotation. I was ready to really learn it.

In Scottish medley fashion, I thought on what I could contribute. A bluegrass standard called "Brown County Breakdown" came to mind. It's one I've always enjoyed jamming on, also with three parts, also in the key of E major, with room in the harmony for Michael to stretch, but it was in 4/4.

Both of us had done some homework before the session, so on the day of recording, we fine-tuned our melody and harmony, and then set in on the arrangement. Our main challenges were to decide which tune would go first, and how would we change from 3/4 to 4/4, or the other way around. We settled on bluegrass to Scottish, 4/4 to 3/4—there was a great interlude part (call it a 3rd part) in the original recording of "Washington Square Park" that inspired our transition, the subtraction of a beat gave it a sense of speeding up, and the intensity of the WSP melody and harmony gave a good lift to the arrangement. We had a blast.
If you’d like to read more about our collaboration, please visit:
http://www.caseydriessen.com/blog/got-an-old-upright-in-the-airbnb-with-michael-biggins
To follow along the OTHERLANDS project, please visit:
OTHERLANDS Webpage (http://www.CaseyDriessen.com/Otherlands)
Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/caseydriessen),
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/caseydriessen),
or this YouTube channel.

ABOUT THE PROJECT
OTHERLANDS: A Global Music Exploration follows GRAMMY-nominated 5-string American fiddler Casey Driessen as he travels with his family to various countries across the globe to meet with local acoustic-based musicians with roots in their own traditions. Musical exchanges and travels are documented via audio, video and photography elements with collected materials released over the course of the project via his website and social media outlets and official musical releases likely to come at the end of travels.

OTHERLANDS is an independently designed and produced project that is self-contained with a small collection of audio and video equipment. All engineering and recording, including any post-production, can be set up, operated, and completed by Casey wherever on the globe he happens to be.

For more information and to follow the project, please visit — http://www.CaseyDriessen.com/Otherlands

Видео Got an Old Upright in the AirBnB • Casey Driessen & Michael Biggins • [OTHERLANDS: Scotland] канала Casey Driessen