Carrickfergus

Here's a little teaser from our Celtic Charms CD.  It's a harp and flute arrangement we did of Carrickfergus, a beautiful, haunting traditional melody. 

They're here!!

The actual CDs have arrived and we love them!  Let us know what you think.

 

Arigato Pak tutorial

WOOHOO!  I just picked up our Arigato Paks and am stunned by their beauty.  I feel like each one is a little gift, created by Stumptown Printers.  In the end, Cathy and I are doing the assembly ourselves.  This has become such DIY project through and through.  


So now you know when you buy your Celtic Charms CD, each one has been lovingly folded by Nat & Cat :)  


Although it's many steps, it's quite meditative to fold and fold and fold and fold and fold and fold.  In case you want to have a Zen moment too, here's my step-by-step tutorial:  

Arigato Pak 1 of 1000. 

Step 1 - Pre-fold all the folds. 

Step 2 - The first real fold. 

Step 3 -  Way easier than Ikea.

Step 4 -  A little nudge here...

Step 5 -  And a little nudge there....

Step 6 - I should have gotten a manicure.

Step 7- Almost there! 

Step 8 - It's tricky to hold the camera and fold the last fold. 

Step 9 - Now you see the 100% recycled text...

Step 10 - And now you don't.  Tada!  

Musicians have feelings too.  

There you have it - How to Fold Your Arigato Pak in 10 Easy Steps.  Now if you'll excuse me, we have nine hundred and ninety-nine more to go.  

 - Nat. 

Seven Days and Counting

We're counting down to the birth of Celtic Charms. Our Arigato packaging has arrived at the CD pressing plant. How exciting!!! Part of the process is actually DONE!!!! Here is the real thing... not folded, of course! If you have good eyesight, you might even be able to read our playlist...

By this time next week, we will have our CD baby in our hands.  Keep checking our blog for daily specials and updates. You might even be able to hear a sneak preview of the new CD! If you read this blog and email us at harpandflute@varianteduo.com before midnight November 21th, 2010, we'll offer you free delivery on your CD order in Canada. The deals will get better as days grow closer. Stay tuned.

The Celtic Chix

Celtic Charms is about to be born...

After many hours of labour - not to mention over 4000 emails, 100's of phone calls and many midnight (or later) nights, our CD packaging is off to the printer. Stumptown Printers are making our concept a reality. Instead of the normal CD cases, we've decided to be environmentally friendly and go with paper packaging - not just any ordinary packaging. It's called an Arigato Pak. Here are few pics of what they look like. We're pretty excited about the birthing process.Celtic Charms' due date is November 26... Stay tuned to see what's next in the process.

 

This is an Arigato Pak. Isn't it cool?
The package folds around our precious CD,
just like a blanket around a baby.






This is letterpress printing.
We just wanted to give you an
idea of what it looks like.



We're recording again! 10-02-10

I guess the title should really read "we've recorded again". Yes, a semi-spontaneous decision. We had finished playing a Scottish wedding and turned to each and said, "We should do a Celtic CD." And within a week, we had completed pre-production on our fourth CD!

So on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010, we took over the Humber studio and pulled our favourite soprano along with us, Brenna Conrad. Unlike our past CDs, we recorded this one live, one take per song, no editing. Okay, so some songs took more than one take, but ya know what I mean. We even managed to wrangle Joe to be our sound engineer and mixer.

Like new parents, we are super-excited and overwhelmed by this massive, unplanned project. Now it's a flurry of activity to source out eco-friendly CD packaging, mastering the CD, designing graphics and then the countdown to getting it delivered in our hot little hands.

Did I mention, it's a Celtic CD? It's a Celtic CD. Some titles we're tossing around: "Celtic Melodies" or "Celtic Gifts". Let us know if you have any great title ideas!

Flute Music Galore!

Well, as you can see from Nat's posts, it has been a crazily busy weekend for fluting and harping... but what fun we have had driving all over Southern Ontario. My weekend started on Friday when I attended a fantastic workshop in London to introduce the new RCM OVERTONES flute series. I headed home with so much music that Nat and I will be playing for the next 18 years just to get through it all. We can't wait to start rehearsing! Maybe you'll get to hear some it at one of our upcoming concerts!!!!

Emily & Scott's Wedding - September 19, 2010

It's been a busy summer and we have lots of weddings to share with you!

We were so happy to be a part of Emily & Scott's wedding this past weekend at the Miller Lash House. The weather was perfect and the ceremony was led by our favourite officiant, Jeremy Citron of "All You Need Is Love Weddings".


Emily & Scott chose all their ceremony music from the soundtrack of their favourite movie, "Seven Pounds" (Will Smith) and we were happy to learn the new music to personalize their wedding.

Prelude included Crisis by Ennio Morricone, Have No Fear by Bird York. The parents and happy groom walked in to Feeling Good by Muse, originally performed by Nina Simone. The bridesmaids walked down the steep hill to Somebody by Depeche Mode. And the beautiful bride made her grand entrance to Faye Wong's I Am Willing.

If you've ever been to Miller Lash House, you know it's at the top of a very steep hill. The options for moving a harp are: a. over 21 steep stairs and b. a steep hill where the caterers make their deliveries. Look at the option we choose! Thanks to Michael Coombs of Prodigy Entertainment who was so entertained watching us hike up the hill, that he captured the moment on his Blackberry.



We don't usually get to take photos during the ceremony, but since we were sitting at the back, we decided to share our viewpoint:


Through the strings.



Cat's view of Nat.

Congratulations Emily & Scott!

Blogging Debut

Yippee, we've finally joined the blogging world!

Today Nathalie celebrated harpist Marie Lorcini's 25 year anniversary of bringing Suzuki harp to Canada at the Hamilton Suzuki School of Music .

If you've ever had the priviledge of studying with Marie, you know what a solid musical foundation you got. She's been teaching and performing harp for many more than 25 years, but there's something to be said about the Suzuki method of nurturing talent.

So cheers to you, Marie, for all the years of Twinkles, moving harps up & down flights of stairs and raising new generations of harpists!

HSSM harp group