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  • 2 Contradansen

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    Hi dear friends,

    After a too long pause, here I'm back with an arrangement* of 2 contradansen. These are again historic and anonymous dances taken from a booklet collected by J.B.R. D'Aubat de Saint-Flour (1757). He was a French violinist/composer who married a (Belgian) girl from Mons and settled finally in Ghent. There he became one of the second violinists of the town orchestra and dancing master of the city. In his booklet he collected some 120 dances. Undoubtedly some were written by himself, but many appeared in earlier collections as well (in Flanders and France). Two of these bundles were preserved at the Ghent University library.

    These dances are now often considered as folk dances, but originally they were not. In the 18th century they were only danced by the wealthier people (nobility, rich middle and upper class, at the courts of counts and dukes, kings...). In most cases only the tune was written down. Most of the performing musicians knew the practice to play them in 3 or even 4 voices on the spot. Sometimes, a figured bass (continuo) was added briefly.

    Room:
    Version 1: Vienna Suits, Synchron Stages; MIRacle idem
    Version 2: Vienna Suite, SynchronStages; MIRacle idem
    Version 3: MIR; Synchron Stages; MIRacle idem

    Enjoy these dances!

    Jos

    1. 2 contradansen

    (or on YouTube: 2 Contradansen)

    2. A newer version with the Dimension Strings: 2 Contradansen

    3. And a final version done with the Dimension Strings and MIR: 2 Contradansen

    * I've used a harpsichord, baroque traverso and oboe, bassoon for these dances, as well as the chamber strings and solo strings. Ambience with the Vienna Suite: IR Teldex wide; tail reverb: Miracle Synchron Stages wide)


  • Hi Jos,

    I thought you did a great job with these pieces. Dynamics are convincing, the instruments are balanced, I'd give one specific mention to the harpsichord, which sits there in the mix just perfectly. And the continuo is so full and yet non-obtrusive.

    And the music is beatiful, of course. I enjoyed every second of it.

    Cheers,

    Crusoe.


  • Thanks Crusoe for having taken the time to listen to these short dances. You know that that kind of music is very dear to me, it has been a major part of my musical past and I can't leave it. I feel I still have so much to 'arrange' since there are hundreds of these little jewels waiting in dusty archives to be unveiled and performed once again. A big anachronism, but still fine to hear them...

    I've added a Youtube link as well now.

    Jos


  • Hi Jos

    Mate, that was lovely i really enjoyed that.

    it must have taken ages to do!

    Did you use MIR for this, as it just sounds beautiful on my headphones.

    I use VI Pro with Mirx, but the more i hear the music forum members post here the more i think i'll need to get my wallet out as the quality of the work ive heard on here recently is astonishing and your piece is no exception to me.

    its the reason i took the plunge into the VSL world and i'm really glad i did.

    i really look forwards to hearing more mate

    Kindest regards

    Paul


  • Those are really interesting to hear and very well done.  That is a great project, doing recordings of these otherwise forgotten works.  You have a wonderful resource to work with.  


  • nice done


  • Thanks Paul, William and Steffen for the listen and your comment.

    Paul: no MIR was involved here. Actually rather modest means: IR from the Vienna Suite, Teldex wide; overal reverb (tail) with MIRacle, Synchron Stages wide. That's all. And to you: don't get disappointed when the first results don't seem to be comparable to the ones by more experienced VSL users. With a dose of selfcritcism and perseverance you will gradually come to the same results (or even better). A good thing is to listen to much good examples and real recorded music. Then try to catch the ambience in your work. However, don't push it and don't try too long. Switch regularly to real music to distract your ears.

    Jos


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    @Another User said:

       You know that that kind of music is very dear to me, it has been a major part of my musical past and I can't leave it. 

    Although in a different musical context, I can relate to this very well. Musical "truth", embedded within our minds one way or another, doesn't have an expiration period.

    Again, thanks for sharing.

    Crusoe.


  • Sounds really great. I am not particularly into this era of music but it sounded quite believable to me.


  • Hi Jos,

    You've received some well-deserved praise for these wonderful pieces.  They were jubilant, charming, and elegant.  Your virtual rendition didn't make me long for "real instruments" at all.  Congratulations and glad to see you sharing music again!

    Dave


  • Thanks Paul and Dave for the listen and your nice comments.

    To tell the truth: I chose these two dances to practise again with the old fashioned means: no MIR or another ready made acoustic environment. Everything was done with the Vienna Suite (IR and Reverb, panning, depth, EQ...) I wanted to go back to the roots to learn how an ambience is made. For that purpose, a longer piece was not necessary. So an old approach.

    Today I posted a remix with some stero field improvements (the mid field was too empty in the first mix).

    Thanks,

    Jos


  • The most entertaining 2:33 of the week.


    VI Special Edition 1-3, Reaper, MuseScore 3, Notion 3 (collecting dust), vst flotsam and jetsam
  • Hi Fabio,

    Nice to hear you again. Thanks for the listen!

    Today I've added another version (it's part of my learning project) with the Dimension Strings instead of the Chamber Strings. Quite different mixing and EQ'ing.

    See original post.

    Jos


  • Beautiful music and beautiful rendition.

    Pretty good use of Dimension crispy sound, they perform pretty well in your mix.

    The overal mix is very realistic, just little discrepancies between winds and Continuo, but I always have the very same problem, it's hard to fix in close perspective of chamber music, like in your case (and I think you were using the pretty right perspective for this style).


  • Thanks fatis

    Actually there is no 'continuo', but an obligato. Indeed the winds are fairly dominant in the ensemble. Their role is rather important, not just colouring. That's why you might experience them as out of perspective. Maybe I could lower a litlle bit the WW-section compression.

    Now I've made still anoter version with MIR. The little piece is meant to practise with all possibilities of room sound and depth. I'll post that version as well to compare.

    Jos


  • Jos, I continue to enjoy these pieces, having listened to your new Dimension version.  They're so lively, charming, and pleasant and you've really shown finesse in creating this beautiful and delicate performance.  I really admire your determination to learn every aspect of the entire "mock up" process. Isn't it nice to be able to do so using music that's enjoyable and meaningful to you?

    Cheers!

    Dave


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    Thank you Fatis and Dave!

    And today I've added the final mix and variation. This time a version with the Dimension Strings and MIR. The previous versions both used the Vienna Suite, Synchron Stages wide (IR) and MIRacle Synchron Stages E for the overall reverb tail.

    I hope that comparison is interesting enough. Luckily, it's a pretty short piece...😉

    Jos


  • I enjoyed listening. The final MIR mix is extremely believable. I think you could put it on classical radio and no one would ever suspect it was not live musicians. You have an excellent ear.

    Paul


  • Thanks Paul.

    I guess this is only a matter of taste.

    Some prefer the Vienna Suite version with the chamber strings, some the last version with the dim strings and MIR. I'm glad I did three different takes for the sake of acustic practice, although I have to say that with MIR I had to adapt the mix as well and some articulations (which were suddenly too harsh). One is never too old to learn...

    Cheers,

    Jos


  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on