12 Days of Noëls Project

12 days
12 old French Noels
12 spots in the Mill Creek Ravine Park
12 videos with music

There is one Noel video recording for each day between December 25 and January 5.

In past years, we would place a QR code for these videos at each location. This year (2025) the trails are partially closed due to the creek bed reconstruction at 76 Ave. Please enjoy these music videos online this year.

The QR codes we used in past years were fairly small and a little bit hidden, so there are videos to help with the “treasure hunt” of finding each location.

If you can’t get to the park, you can link to a new video each day from this web page.

Here’s the map to find the video locations.

They are all located along the dog off-leash path on the east side of Mill Creek, between 76th and 82nd Avenues (marked in green on the map).

About the Music and the Instruments:

All of the music on these recordings is performed on copies of antique instruments used at the time the music was written. The flute is a copy by Boaz Berney of an instrument by Tortochot that probably dates from the mid to later 1700’s. The violin is a copy by John J. Karwandy of a Stradivarius from about the same time played with a baroque style bow by Ken Millard. The instruments are tuned to A = 415 Hz.

The music comes from two publications: the Nouveau recueil de noëls by M. Chedeville l’ainé, published in 1730, and an anonymous collection of Brunettes ou petits airs by Mr. R, published in 1725 and attributed to M. Rippert.

About the Concept and Recording:

In the same way that you might enjoy a sculpture or a mural in a public place, this is an experiment in creating a public art format for a musical performance that would be available to anyone passing by at any time.

It is also making a connection between changing seasons of the land and the music traditionally used during the Christmas and solstice celebrations of the early French settler culture.

The recordings are deliberately underproduced, to make it sound like the musicians are playing outdoors. No reverb or ambience was used to create artificial concert hall acoustics, and background sound from the environment was intentionally included in the videos.

Support this Project:

If we were doing this site specific “busking” in person, there would probably be a hat or an instrument case open for donations. Consider this our virtual hat – if you enjoyed the music, buy us a coffee!

12 Days of Noels

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Land Acknowledgement:

We acknowledge that the land that inspired this project is located in Amiskwaciwâskahikan ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ , which is part of Treaty Six territory and Metis Nation Region 4. We respect the histories, languages, and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community and from whom we continue to learn.

Comment ( 1 )

January 6, 2022CurlyDork
It's not supposed to warm up until next week, it would be wonderful if you could leave these up for a while so we can enjoy them!