The Medieval Season trail
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The making of the trail
The music used in the trail is Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix - played on various medieval instruments. Tam Nightingale, musical co-ordinator on the project, said he chose Purple Haze as he thought it to be "the quintessential psychedelic track."
Realising that his classical music contacts wouldn't be enough to produce the sound he was after, Tam's mother came to the rescue by reminding him that his dentist's daughter, Emma Murphy, was an expert in the Early Music field. After that, it was plain sailing as Emma found musicians with expertise in the rackett, tef, shawm, rebec, viol and recorder. Tam admitted that one recorder, which was a bit like a saxophone, had to be stuffed with paper to get "the extra bass note we needed." One player turned up with a "medieval tambourine the size of the Isle of Wight," but as soon as he started playing Tam knew "we were on to a winner."
Instruments featured on the trail
- Rackett - The cool bass synth sounding instrument
- Tef - Medieval tambourine
- Shawm - A double reed, which makes a very distinctive medieval sound
- Rebec - Precursor of the violin
- Viol - A type of early cello
- Recorder - A type of flute
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