Sound

Sound files with me on cittern

These files are mp3 format, and should play fine with MS Mediaplayer 6 and higher.
The quality is not like CD quality, but is amazingly good considering that it is only 56kb/s, in other words: a standard ISDN line should be able to play it while downloading.
When this doesn't go without problems, better right-click to download (save target as) to your own hard disk first.
Clicking (or right-clicking) on the title should start playing or downloading.

Prins Karel II

Thony de Waal Cittern (3x),Clarke C whistle 1:43 709 kB

Prins Karel II (Prince Charles the second). This is a Dutch traditional tune from the Nieuwe Hollandsche Schouwburg (New Dutch Theatre) bundle, mid 18th century. I learned this from a record by Wolverlei, a former :-( 4-piece Dutch traditional band which featured Sobell CBOM's. A Clarke C whistle carries first the melody, and later a counter melody. The technique: a Sony condenser microphone through the microphone amplifier of a reel-to-reel tapedeck into the line-in of a cheap soundcard (Trust 3-D, with OPTi chip set). Playback through another soundcard, even cheaper, with Crystal chip. N-track was used as a multi-track recorder. Final mixing was done with Cool Edit96, as was noise reduction. A little reverberation was added with Cool Edit, only to the whistle track.
This is on track B5 of the Citterns on Ice volume I CD.

Return to Milltown / The Tam Lin

Thony de Waal Cittern (3x), bouzouki 2:40 1099 kB

Return to Milltown/Tam Lin. These are reels I learned in 1987 from two Irish people, Joe and Jamie. The Tam Lin is highly syncopated in the second part. The syncopation throughout the whole thing was not intended, but resulted from my lack of skills. The chords are played on a bowl back bouzouki I bought on Crete. I tune it GDad, with octave strings. Melody is doubled on my Kraayenhof. I played low melody on one tune to continue high register on the second, and reverse. On a third overdub I played harmony I made up myself. Recording technique as with Prins Karel, except that now I had the whole thing reverberated a little, and the cittern was recorded using an internal RadioShack tieclip microphone straight into the microphone input of the soundcard. This is on track B5 of the Citterns on Ice volume I CD.

IJswals

Thony de Waal Cittern (4x), (bas)guitaar 3:52 1592 kB

IJswals (Ice Waltz) is a Dutch traditional tune with a long history. It started out as a tune called Oude Passepie, published in Hollantsche Schouwburg (Amsterdam, 1696-1716). In 1925 A. Sanson-Catz invented a dance around the tune, that now is known as IJswals. The versions I have seen written out differ slightly, and I used the most embellished of these. It was part of a collection that is on the users homepage of a program named Musicad. I edited out all harmonies and made up my own, but used the chords as suggested.
All 4 cittern tracks were played on Kraayenhoff 5-course cittern tuned GDAda. The "bass" was recorded with my acoustic guitar tuned to dropped D, and electronically lowered one octave. The cittern was recorded through internal Radio Shack microphone and external Sony microphone mixed equally through a Sony mixer, into a Terratec i128 PCI soundcard. I used CoolEdit Pro for the multitracking, noise reduction and reverb.
This is on track A15 of the Citterns on Ice volume II CD.

Edelwijn / Blauwgaren & Koperdraad

Thony de Waal Cittern (3x), high F whistle 2:36 1068 kB

Two Dutch traditional tunes. Edelwijn (Noble wine) was found in an online database with tunes, maintained by users of Musicad. I transposed from Em to Dm to fit it better with the next tune. It sounds like pretty old to me, but I know no source of it. The second tune was published in Oude en Nieuwe Hollantsche Boerenlieties en Contredansen, Amsterdam 1700-1716. It can also be found in John Playford's The English Dancing Master (1651) under a different name: The Parson's Farewell. The British tend to play it very fast.
All cittern tracks were played on Kraayenhoff 5-course cittern tuned GDAda. The whistle is a Generation F whistle. It was a bit sharp, so I detuned it 2% with CoolEdit. I had no time for extensive rehearsal, nor arranging. As a result, this sounds a lot like the Sunday afternoon monthly sessions, friendly to beginners, that I enjoy so much.
This is on track B6 of the Citterns on Ice volume II CD.

Studentenmarsch

Thony de Waal Cittern (3x), whistle, bodhran 3:03 1.22 MB

Kraayenhoff cittern (GDada, without capo and with capo VII) multitracked, Tony Dixon polymer whistle High D, Brendan White bodhran. This is a Dutch traditional tune from the Nieuwe Hollandsche Schouwburg (New Dutch Theatre) bundle, mid 18th century. I learned this from a record by Wolverlei: Wind Tegen.
This is on track A20 of the Citterns on Ice volume III CD.

O'Carolan's cup

Thony de Waal Cittern, whistle 2:45 1.1 MB

Kraayenhoff cittern (GDada, without capo) multitracked with Tony Dixon polymer whistle High D To quote http://services.worldnet.net/~pybertra/ceol/carolan.htm : not a tune by Carolan, according to Donal O'Sullivan, "at any rate in its original form, though he may have played it and slightly altered it. It is a well known folk tune, somewhat altered, entitled Ar bhruach na carraige báine or On the brink of the white rocks."
This is on track B19 of the Citterns on Ice volume III CD.

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Prins Karel II
Thony de Waal	Cittern (3x),Clarke C whistle	1:43	709 kB
Prins Karel II (Prince Charles the second). This is a Dutch traditional tune from the Nieuwe Hollandsche Schouwburg (New Dutch Theatre) bundle, mid 18th century. I learned this from a record by Wolverlei, a former :-( 4-piece Dutch traditional band which featured Sobell CBOM's. A Clarke C whistle carries first the melody, and later a counter melody. The technique: a Sony condenser microphone through the microphone amplifier of a reel-to-reel tapedeck into the line-in of a cheap soundcard (Trust 3-D, with OPTi chip set). Playback through another soundcard, even cheaper, with Crystal chip. N-track was used as a multi-track recorder. Final mixing was done with Cool Edit96, as was noise reduction. A little reverberation was added with Cool Edit, only to the whistle track. This is on track B5 of the Citterns on Ice volume I CD.

Return to Milltown / The Tam Lin
Thony de Waal	Cittern (3x), bouzouki	2:40	1099 kB
Return to Milltown/Tam Lin. These are reels I learned in 1987 from two Irish people, Joe and Jamie. The Tam Lin is highly syncopated in the second part. The syncopation throughout the whole thing was not intended, but resulted from my lack of skills. The chords are played on a bowl back bouzouki I bought on Crete. I tune it GDad, with octave strings. Melody is doubled on my Kraayenhof. I played low melody on one tune to continue high register on the second, and reverse. On a third overdub I played harmony I made up myself. Recording technique as with Prins Karel, except that now I had the whole thing reverberated a little, and the cittern was recorded using an internal RadioShack tieclip microphone straight into the microphone input of the soundcard. This is on track B5 of the Citterns on Ice volume I CD.

IJswals
Thony de Waal	Cittern (4x), (bas)guitaar	3:52	1592 kB
IJswals (Ice Waltz) is a Dutch traditional tune with a long history. It started out as a tune called Oude Passepie, published in Hollantsche Schouwburg (Amsterdam, 1696-1716). In 1925 A. Sanson-Catz invented a dance around the tune, that now is known as IJswals. The versions I have seen written out differ slightly, and I used the most embellished of these. It was part of a collection that is on the users homepage of a program named Musicad. I edited out all harmonies and made up my own, but used the chords as suggested. All 4 cittern tracks were played on Kraayenhoff 5-course cittern tuned GDAda. The "bass" was recorded with my acoustic guitar tuned to dropped D, and electronically lowered one octave. The cittern was recorded through internal Radio Shack microphone and external Sony microphone mixed equally through a Sony mixer, into a Terratec i128 PCI soundcard. I used CoolEdit Pro for the multitracking, noise reduction and reverb. This is on track A15 of the Citterns on Ice volume II CD.

Edelwijn / Blauwgaren & Koperdraad
Thony de Waal	Cittern (3x), high F whistle	2:36	1068 kB
Two Dutch traditional tunes. Edelwijn (Noble wine) was found in an online database with tunes, maintained by users of Musicad. I transposed from Em to Dm to fit it better with the next tune. It sounds like pretty old to me, but I know no source of it. The second tune was published in Oude en Nieuwe Hollantsche Boerenlieties en Contredansen, Amsterdam 1700-1716. It can also be found in John Playford's The English Dancing Master (1651) under a different name: The Parson's Farewell. The British tend to play it very fast. All cittern tracks were played on Kraayenhoff 5-course cittern tuned GDAda. The whistle is a Generation F whistle. It was a bit sharp, so I detuned it 2% with CoolEdit. I had no time for extensive rehearsal, nor arranging. As a result, this sounds a lot like the Sunday afternoon monthly sessions, friendly to beginners, that I enjoy so much. This is on track B6 of the Citterns on Ice volume II CD.

Studentenmarsch
Thony de Waal	Cittern (3x), whistle, bodhran	3:03	1.22 MB
Kraayenhoff cittern (GDada, without capo and with capo VII) multitracked, Tony Dixon polymer whistle High D, Brendan White bodhran. This is a Dutch traditional tune from the Nieuwe Hollandsche Schouwburg (New Dutch Theatre) bundle, mid 18th century. I learned this from a record by Wolverlei: Wind Tegen. This is on track A20 of the Citterns on Ice volume III CD.

O'Carolan's cup
Thony de Waal	Cittern, whistle	2:45	1.1 MB
Kraayenhoff cittern (GDada, without capo) multitracked with Tony Dixon polymer whistle High D To quote http://services.worldnet.net/~pybertra/ceol/carolan.htm : not a tune by Carolan, according to Donal O'Sullivan, "at any rate in its original form, though he may have played it and slightly altered it. It is a well known folk tune, somewhat altered, entitled Ar bhruach na carraige báine or On the brink of the white rocks." This is on track B19 of the Citterns on Ice volume III CD.