I never knew that they used binary.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6811540.ece
and indeed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_8222000/8222727.stm
I heard a harpist’s interpretation of those markings on radio 3 this morning.It sounded fairly funky to my ears.
My question is:what was this ‘notation’ doing in the bedroom?
Easy - you learned it from the dots in the privacy of your bedchamber, and then later in the evening you went to a session at the Olde Dogge and Ducke, where you played it supberbly. When your friends asked what it was called and where it came from you pretended not to know the name, and said that you had once heard the Earl of Rochester’s minstrel play it at a gig in Somerset.
Yes, I heard that harpist playing the tune too ……. fascinating!
Fascinating- it must have been a bit difficult to read from a distance though, and play while lying down, especially the harp…
Could this idea be adapted for modern times- a few bars of ABC scribed into the ceiling of pubs as prompts?
Hey P-K have you ever noticed how, when a musician is trying to remember how a tune starts, they very often look up towards the ceiling for inspiration …… now we know where this habit comes from! 😀
Not on the ceiling, but on the outside of the pub, Pepper’s bar in Feakle has the tune Maids of Feakle on the wall.(Just visible on left in photo). So if you’re in a session there and you’ve forgotten that one, you could nip out to remind yourself how it goes.
http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://www.goireland.com/Photos/43101_43200/PeppersBarandRestaurant-US-389.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.goireland.com/clare/peppers-bar-and-restaurant-attraction-restaurants-id43146.htm&usg=__G_7zslbEX0MJmZ-KHnWsRIcqIx0=&h=225&w=300&sz=63&hl=en&start=7&sig2=NGkL0hUtjU72f0ywGEKcsg&tbnid=ed4FU8wPIYqQCM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpeppers%2Bbar%2Bfeakle%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN&ei=4GeWSu2KJI7X-QbSsZDVCQ
Blimey Cathy- you’ve got good eyesight 🙂
Ptarmi- that’s it- I think we’ve uncovered the secret of those who seem to know all the tunes! Won’t be long before Specsavers bring out ‘trad glasses’ for ceiling gazing (tax deductable). Could spawn a whole new industry.
A former lady harpist to the Prince of Wales has just been done for burglary, I believe.
Must be good on the high wires.
This has nothing to do with anything.
There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don’t.
I’m still bemused- why would anyone conceal a tune on a ceiling roundel in a Scottish king’s bedchamber?
I refer you to my reply above, which explains everything.
Show- I’d buy it if the session was at Ye Olde King’s Heade- but Ye Olde Dogge and Ducke…never.
I have never seen any tunes written on the ceiling--not even when I was lying on my back.
“Ye Olde Dogge and Ducke” Are you trying to quack us up?
“There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don’t” Very funny Mark
And. last but not least, Harpists may do it in the bedchamber, but bass players either do it upright or with electricity.
