Jeremy Gadd

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

I know this song has been out for ages but I love it so much I thought I’d post it up here.

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I’ve finally managed to finish a piece of music. I have so many unfinished pieces and so I’m really pleased to have finally completed something. This is a short instrumental piece of a solo Harp. I don’t play harp myself but composed it on the computer using Garritan Personal Orchestra, recording via MIDI keyboard to Cubase Studio 4.5 and mastering in Adobe Audition 1.5. I am in the process of writing a lot of songs and instrumentals for use on a forthcoming video I am filming and editing. This is one piece I intend to use as a short bridge between video clips. Hence I have called it ‘Selah‘. Selah is a biblical Hebrew word found a lot in the Psalms. According to Wikipedia:

“Selah (Hebrew: סלה‎) may be the most difficult word in the Hebrew Bible to translate. Selah is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like “stop and listen”. The Psalms were sung accompanied by musical instruments and there are references to this in many chapters. Thirty-one of the thirty-nine psalms with the caption “To the choir-master” include “Selah” so the musical context of selah is obvious. Selah notes a break in the song and as such is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage. Alternatively, Selah may mean “forever”, as it does in some places in the liturgy (notably the second to last blessing of the Amidah). Another interpretation claims that Selah comes from the primary Hebrew root word [calah] which means “to hang”, and by implication to measure (weigh)……It is translated into today’s general language with the meaning: ‘think about it’ or ‘praise [the Lord]‘”

Please have a listen and leave your comments. I’d appreciate any constructive feedback about the actual music, recording and mixing quality etc.

Listen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy It:
File size = 1.16 mb.Format = ZIP file. Audio quality = 144kbs. Format = MP3.

Cost = £0.60 (approx. $0.90)

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I came across this song by accident while searching the Internet.  I’ve never heard of Apryl Lynn before now but if all her other stuff is like this I think I’ll check out some of her other stuff.

Hope you like it too.

Apryl Lynn “Shadow Of Your Wings” from sarahlongnecker on Vimeo.

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I wish I could play guitar like this!

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A couple of weeks ago I was at the 1st ever Psalm Drummers Summer School, held in St George’s School Windsor. 3 days of worship, frantic drumming, training and friendship and it was nice to escape the rain in Ireland and head for warmer climes!. (Why is it always raining every time I fly from Ireland???).

The emphasis was very much on practical hands on training. I found this very helpful as I really went wanting to improve my technique. There were 3 strands:

1. Drum kit course
2. Percussion
3. Children’s course

The quality of the facilitators was top notch with such people as Ed Freitas, Bono Hodge, Calum Rees, raul D’Oliveira, Stew Smith (ex Delirious) and others.

I was on the Percussion course, which was led by Mike Simpson of Inspire Works. This was awesome especially the session on using percussion for effect (as opposed to laying down a groove), ie. using instruments such as cymbals, shakers, tambourines, etc.

At the end of this Mike read out Psalm 23 line by line and we had to respond by playing in a way that reflects that line. It was quite remarkable that this sounded good as with about 10-15 people there it’s likely that each will have a different interpretation of each line. What I liked was that it was possible to have different instruments playing at different volumes and strengths and it didn’t sound a mess.

For example, verse 4 says:

“Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”

Some people were banging a frame drum with increasing volume, symbolizing a victorious proclamation, while others were gently playing a shaker seemingly displaying a quiet confidence in God’s promise. Awesome creative stuff!!

Ed Freitas’ session on warm ups, sticks and heads was very welcome as not being a kit drummer I confess I haven’t a clue about how to even hold a drum stick! I didn’t realise that you needed to do warm ups before playing. You can even apply that to percussion instruments so that’s something practical to take away.

One of the highlights was the Strike the Drum Celebration in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Around 50 drummers gathered to play along dancers from Movement in Worship. Suffice to say that something like that has never happened there before! I could physically feel the ground shake and rumble as we played. No idea what all the tourists thought of this. It’s a shame we were not allowed to record anything there (apparently it is illegal to film the tomb of a dead Monarch). From there we played in procession from the Castle through the town.

Well I could say much more but if you are reading this I would recommend that if you get the chance you go along next year and see for yourself and learn from some top class drummers!!

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Allister Brown from Lisburn in County Antrim (I used to live there) set a new world record recently by playing the drums for 102 hours and 45 minutes. Yes. I did say hours, not minutes. He previously held the record in 2003 when he drummed for 58 hours and 17 minutes, and in 2004 for 78 hours. All in a good cause as well, raising about £5,000 cash for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

To qualify for the record he had to play recognisable tunes and not repeat any song with 4 hours. It wasn’t quite non-stop as he was allowed a 5 minute break for every hour he played. (Well, I guess he’d need the odd widdle or 2).

See his website for more.

(Photo courtesy of www.lisburntoday.co.uk)

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