The shape-note sacred tune 'Babel's Streams' by Timothy Seaman on 3 instruments at Spruce Knob, WV

www.timothyseaman.com/ This mystically somber melody from the old American folk hymnals of the 19th Century is interpreted by Timothy Seaman on bowed psaltery, baritone mountain dulcimer, and bamboo flute in three locations in the Spruce Knob area of Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. The anonymous words of the rare old gem are based on Psalm 137, from when the Israelites were discouraged during their exile in Babylonia:
By Babel's streams we sat and wept
While Zion we thought on;
Amidst thereof we hung our harps
The willow trees upon.
With all the power and skill I have
I'll gently touch each string:
If I can find the charming sound,
I'll tune my harp again.
--- Bowed psaltery made by James Jones of Bedford, Virginia
--- Baritone mountain dulcimer made by McSpadden of Mountain View, Arkansas, tuned AEG
--- Woodsong bamboo flute in G made by Rob Yard of Floyd, Virginia
--- Wolf Hill dulcimer playing stand made by Ronald Jordan of Voorheesville, New York
Studio recordings of the tune are in medleys on two of Timothy's albums:
Bowed psaltery (2007): • Journeying: Babel's St...
Hammered dulcimer (2002): • We Hung Our Harps the ...