This was fun

Thursday 4 March: ‘Diddling’ Workshop with Rowan Rheingans plus Eurosession

‘Diddling’ Workshop with Rowan Rheingans: an introduction to singing dance tunes

Across Europe and elsewhere in the world, mouth music (singing wordless tunes) is a common part of folk traditions. The tradition of mouth music isn’t so well documented in England, but in Ireland and Scotland it is still very much alive. And down south in France or up north in Sweden, folk dances are still sometimes danced to a solo singer or a group of singers. It’s a great way to keep a dance moving if instruments aren’t available or to be able to join in with tunes if you don’t play an instrument! 

In this workshop, Rowan will introduce you to using your voice as an instrument for dance tunes. There are vast possibilities beyond just humming a tune! After a vocal warm up, we’ll learn a dance tune by ear and explore how we might approach singing it in our own way. In the workshop, we’ll also listen to some examples of mouth music from different places and we’ll look at a few tools and techniques for singing in a way that is just as exciting as playing a tune on an instrument. 

You don’t need any experience at all for this workshop – just an open mind. Everything will be taught by ear and you’ll be able to make recordings of anything we learn too. 

Rowan Rheingans is an award-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and theatre-maker. Best known for her work with acclaimed bands Lady Maisery, The Rheingans Sisters and Songs of Separation, Rowan has won two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards (‘Best Original Track’ in 2016 & ‘Best Album’ in 2017) and is a six-times nominee. Her duo The Rheingans Sisters were recent nominees for the prestigious ‘Best Duo/Band’ award at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.  

Rowan’s interest in mouth music, or ‘diddling’ as it’s sometimes called in England, began when she was studying the fiddle in Sweden and for the first time came across solo singers holding captivated a whole floor of dancers or audience with tunes rather than songs. She is an experienced folk music educator, running popular singing courses and workshops as part of her trio Lady Maisery. 

An underplayed aspect of Scots song is its mouth music, the lowland cousin to the puirt a beul of the Gaidhealtachd. Similarly, largely meaningless or comical lyrics are used to underpin the rhythm of a particular dance tune. This is separate from diddling, which uses vocables to sing a dance tune.

Scottish vocal music – Scottish music – National 5 Music Revision – BBC Bitesize

We’re working on track 9 of the Agent Starling album and this week we’ll be doing a video release of Helicopter Arms which is already getting a fair bit of airplay!

Welcome to Agent Starling, Lou Loudhailer and Quentin Budworth’s new collaboration. This is the next of our preview tracks, our composition, Helicopter Arms which also features Dexter Duffy-Howard on violin. The song is inspired by the gorious resolution of Quentin’s gurdy tune. Agent Starling: Loudhailer Electric Company captain Lou has teamed up with Celtarabia chief Quentin who spent the year before lockdown touring Europe meeting with other top hurdy-gurdy players exchanging tunes, techniques and experiences. Expect lots more experiments and tunes for release later in the year. Website https://loudhailer.net/agent-starling/​ Agent Starling: Quentin Budworth hurdy gurdy, other instruments/voice Lou Loudhailer Audio mastered by Kevin Carafa. The video photography is close ups of glorious things around the house, by Richard Duffy-Howard.

Britten Pears Arts annual whirlwind showcase of fresh and exciting new work is going digital. This year’s Festival of New features a hugely exciting line-up of artists and groups who will join us virtually for an afternoon of films, talks and Q&As. With projects ranging from sound installations and immersive multimedia experiences, to podcasts, dance and music theatre, this diverse range of creative activity will inspire the audience.

Here’s a great video on the history of Welsh Folk Music.

I Dream of the Wine Dark Sea, which also features Dexter Duffy-Howard on cello. Inspired by the pictures in a book I treasured as a child, and read many times. It was originally published in 1853. My copy is from 1938, it belonged to my mum. Agent Starling: Loudhailer Electric Company captain Lou has teamed up with Celtarabia chief Quentin who spent the year before lockdown touring Europe meeting with other top hurdy-gurdy players exchanging tunes, techniques and experiences. Expect lots mpre experiments and tunes for release later in the year. Audio mastered by Kevin Carafa Website https://loudhailer.net/agent-starling/​

Dreaming of days by the wine-dark sea
When enchantments and journeys
Of dragons and villains
Who, bursting with rage
Scattered curses in millions

I work at my spinning wheel
Twisting and turning the fine silken thread as it flows through my hands

Can an earth born woman
Defy king and cathedral with mountainous powers
When as far back as anyone can remember
They have been picking us off
One by two by three by …

My sister was fooled by a
Smooth handsome creature
Who looked at her
Led her deep into the foam

His eyes didn’t leave us right from the start
But how can I love a boy with a stone for a heart?

My mother cried tears of red leaves and rain
But no one could save her ‘til the star gazer came
And striking a harp of fine silken thread
The magic of music wakes me in my bed

I’m still spinning tales, raising dreams from their graves
To go weaving and crashing on the wine-dark sea waves

Lou Duffy-Howard 2021

I’d like to say a massive thank you to National Lottery players your support of the Arts through the National Lottery has enabled me to work on so many projects and with so many people over the years its truly remarkable from music, to street theatre, to digital arts and photography. You are awesome! #ThanksToYou and #NationalLottery.

I’ve installed Reaper on my studio computer and laptop and I have to say I am really pleased and surprised by it’s speed and ease of use. I’ve been learning some new tricks and relearning some old ones. Here’s a link to the site for a download of the software:https://www.reaper.fm/index.php