Recorded May 29th, 2012 at home.

2011 Squier by Fender Affinity Jazz Bass 4-String

D'Addario Prosteel Round-wound strings

M-Audio Fast Track II

Audacity

Quadrugruv

And now for something a little different.

A few months ago, I picked me up a D Major "Meg" Tin Whistle by Clarke.

Anyone who knows me well knows well enough about my Scots-Irish ancestry, and how proud I am of it. A vast majority of my family tree is Scottish and/or Irish, and the surnames AND maiden names on it, so far as I've discovered, connect me to at least 25 different Scottish Clans (my paternal clan is Clan Ferguson, which is also a sept of Clan MacNaughton).

In 2003, my high school sweetheart of 3 years sadly passed away of a degenerative and terminal lung disease called Cystic Fibrosis, which she was born with. She died at the age of 18. 5 days before my 20th birthday, and about a month after her 18th. Her surname was "Fleming", which is a sept of Clan Murray.

According to the Scottish naming traditions, which my father refused to follow, my first name should have been Murdock. According to the tradition, the first born male of a family is named after their Paternal Grandfather. My Paternal Grandfather's name is Murdock. Likewise, the first born female of a family is named after their Maternal Grandmother. So my "Murray lassie" would've been named "Grace" (although her real name will remain undisclosed).

This song, which I composed and recorded myself, is a "slow air" on my D Maj Clarke Meg Tin Whistle. I call it "Lament for Murdock's Murray". While I seemed unable to remove the hum noise, I still decided that some reverb and delay was needed for that "dreamy Celtic echo" feel, as if a lonely man was playing to the soul of his long lost lover, while standing on a grassy knoll in the Scottish highlands. His lament echoes across the mountains, valleys, glens, lochs, braes, and banks. He hopes it will find its way to his lost lover's soul, so she may receive her tribute, and know he's thinking of her.

This recording is not "pro", by any means. Not by recording standards, or by playing skill. But it's special to me.

Recorded at home in my bedroom using Audacity, and the microphone on a Creative Labs HS-400 Headset.

© 2013 Presley James Aaron Ferguson. All rights reserved.

Lament for Murdock's Murray

Electric bass guitar; Funk, jazz, blues.

Bass: 2011 Squier by Fender Affinity Jazz Bass 4-String.

Audio Interface: M-Audio Fast Track II

Recording Software: Audacity

pferguson-music