Butterfly + Kid on the Mountain ~ Irish Fiddle Tunes! | Katy Adelson

Here are two popular Irish fiddle tunes: The Butterfly, and The Kid on the Mountain. These are both slip jigs, so they are written with 9/8 timing (9 beats per measure, with eighth notes each getting a beat). I think this sort of gives the tunes a pulse of 3 sets of 3 notes, whereas a regular jig (written in 6/8 timing) sort of has a pulse of 2 sets of 3 notes.

I think The Butterfly was written by Tommy Potts, although some people attribute it to Sean Potts. Other's say only the first part was a new composition, and that the rest of the tune is a different slip jig called "Barney's Goat." I see some similarities, but I personally think they are different enough to be different tunes. :)

I usually hear The Butterfly played fairly slowly with lots of lilting slides and ornamentation. The tune sounds really pretty that way, but I like to play it a bit faster and fluttery. To me, butterflies are fluttery, a bit nervous, and quick to move from one flower to another (unless you have a cool camera that can slow down their flight...hehehe!), but I think either interpretation is nice. :)

The Kid on the Mountain is another popular Irish slip jig, often played after The Butterfly. It's quite a long tune with 5 parts. It took me a while to get the hang of the tune, and the order of all the parts. It often shifts from minor to major, and I think it's a difficult tune to add much additional ornamentation. I think it's one of those tunes that has a lot of stuff going on with very few pauses that allow you to regain your ground lol. It has a bit of a "call and response" vibe, which seems to be kind of rare with a lot of these Irish instrumental tunes.

Rumor has it that there's a 6th part to Kid on the Mountain. It's a bit lower than most of the other parts. I have I never heard anyone play the 6th part in sessions, and I'm always too nervous and shy to bring it up (plus, I often forget how it goes since almost no one seems to play it). We usually just play the 5 parts I have in the video, with some slight regional variations. I think that's the most common way to play this tune in Colorado! =) If you play Kid on the Mountain with 6 parts instead of 5, please let me know in the comments! I'm really curious and want to learn more about it!

Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of the week! =)

~ Katy

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Software and equipment used:

Full list of all my basic violin equipment:
http://www.katyadelson.com/about/viol...

Violin gear:
Violin: 1899 Ernst Kreusler “Copy of Antonius Stradivarius” violin from Germany
Bow: CodaBow Luma
Strings: Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings (with a ball E)
Rosin: Salchow Rosin
Shoulder Rest: Bonmusica Shoulder Rest

Software used (for Macintosh):
Garageband for attempted sound mixing
Final Cut Pro for video editing
PicMonkey.com for the ending cards
Canva.com for the Thumbnail

Plugins for sound effects (I have A LOT to learn in this department!):
East West plugins – Goliath Virtual Instrument, Stormdrum II
Best Service Forest Kingdom II by Eduardo Tarilonte (See: bestservice.de)

Camera:
Canon 70D + 18-135 mm kit lens
Sony RX 100 V for the slow-motion butterfly clip

Microphone for audio recording:
Blue Woodpecker