Back in 1992 I wrote a tune that I called Drummelhund. Drummelhund is a Swiss German word that derives from ‘trommel hund’, which literally translates to ‘drum hound’.
 

 
I first heard the word as a nickname that was given by our Swiss friends to an energetic American drummer named Todd Kennedy.

In preparation for our upcoming Swiss trip, I thought I would dust off the tune and give it some new life as a fife duet. I started writing variations that included hornpipes, jigs, Major, minor, inverted melodies, fermatas, Swiss staccato and culminating with the original reel, plus or minus a few notes. After a whole bunch of half-baked ideas and re-writes … Shabam! A medley.

My buddy, Joe Mawn, and I have stolen a couple of lunch hours in the hopes that it will all come together for our Swiss concert in August. So far things seem to be progressing nicely. I’ve even had a co-worker tell me that during his lunchtime jog around the neighborhood he was able to step in time as he heard us in the distance.

I hope to have a recorded version that I can post at some point. In addition, I plan on eventually posting the sheet music. Until then, here is the hokey computer generated rendition to give you an idea of what it is going to sound like. Unfortunately you don’t get to hear the fermata or the Swiss staccato or all the lovely ornamentation that ultimately grows onto a piece. You’ll just have to come to Switzerland to hear those details.