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Penny Lane
Here is the the view from the back deck of where I was house-sitting for a bass player and his family (who I had only just recently met on Twitter!) near Poughkeepsie before visiting the Musical Bridge described in the previous post. As soon as I heard a lawnmower fire up, I new there was a unique recording opportunity in the making akin to my duos for flute with jackhammer, jet plane, or pneumatic drill to name but a few.
After a lull in the sounds of lawn care and I had just retreated from the hot glare of the sun, that’s when the weed whacker started up, and I jumped at the opportunity for a second go at this 60’s classic. It was only when I gave a quick listen driving back to Massachusetts the next day that I realized how well the two sound together – it’s almost as if the weed whacker operator is following a score!
You may be wondering why I settled on more Beatles after recording Yellow Submarine in a yellow submarine. Well, after a long day of driving, when I first rolled into Walden, New York, I got some rather confusing directions from the attendant who served me a well-deserved chocolate-dip softee cone. I ended up completely at the wrong end of town on Penny Lane, not a word of a lie, right around the corner from the colourful and welcoming Tschen Kunchab Ling (Tibetan Buddhist) Temple of All-Encompassing Great Compassion, which turns out to be the centre for His Holiness the Sakya Trizin in the Unites States.
My first take of Penny Lane with lawnmower was a bit rough as I sorted out page turns and da capos. Click on the icon below to hear my first read-through as the lawnmower sounds in the background. I felt badly for the young guy doing the lawn care, who appeared to be doing a great job taking care of several adjoined backyards. I guess it was the woman in charge – maybe his mom – who appeared at one point and berated him about something, somewhere between the lawnmower and weed whacker movements of this impromptu Petite Suite pour Flute & Lawn Care Implements!
Ah-h, the sweet sounds of summer!
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Duo for Flute & Lawnmower
