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Peter Laban

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Everything posted by Peter Laban

  1. Late 19 and early 20th century brass bands used a high pitch A=452.5. I have a bunch of old tin whistles from that period, a lot of term sound about a semi tone sharp, to today's standard, from the pitch indicated on them. So a 'high pitch' Bb/f?
  2. The podcasts of the programme are archived at: https://www.rte.ie/radio/rnag/cuan-an-cheoil/ And, while there, here is a bunch concerts recorded at Consairtín 2023: https://www.rte.ie/radio/rnag/camchuairt-an-chonsairtin/
  3. Charles also has a cd, Aughavinna, and is currently in the process of setting up a website dedicated to the Russells.He had a big interview in the Clare Champion last week: https://clarechampion.ie/sharing-the-spirit-of-the-russells-of-doolin/ He also gigs regularly on Thursday nights at the hotel: Going to Doolin you will probably have to accept the place is fully geared towards the tourist and you best take it as you find it and perhaps even enjoy it for what it is. If you don't fancy the pubs or the hotel there are things like Christy Barry's Music House : https://www.doolinmusichouse.com/
  4. Playing with others is a skill to be learned. I am not sure a session is the appropriate place to do it though. Go to uour session and listen, take it all in. Learn the tunes and perhaps get used to playing them with someone you know and are comfortable with In a private space before venturing out. It's better for your confidence, for one, and you can develop your skill without the additional pressure of doing it in public.
  5. I am a strong believer in letting the tunes 'sink in', let them soak until they're ready to be learned. I listen a lot and am in a musical environment and often find tunes I pick up easily have been floating around, making their way into my subconscious, for some time without me realising it. At some point I'll notice them and they're there, ready to be played, as it were. I like to think of it as tunes finding me when they're ready.
  6. 'So if you were a serious player, years ago, you wanted a Jeffries....' Wasn't the volume of the Jeffrey's a significant consideration at the time? And a lot of word of mouth: 'so and so ays a J. so it must be good' There's always a lot of that going on as well. While he probably had several concertinas, I mostly remember Tommy McCarthy playing a Jeff.
  7. I add the Altan version of the tune, some of the notes I linked above, the tune between verses, were taken from this:
  8. No tabs but the notes may get you underway: Dúlamán na binne buí
  9. It isn't much and it's more about the person who posted the video but it may be a start: I have the tape, bought when it first came out, but haven't listened to it in over twenty years. I half remember the Off to California track with Buddy Flanagan but other than that my memory is a blank for now.
  10. YouTube has a variable speed option of its own.so no real need for anything else.
  11. On the off chance of stating the bleeding obvious, you could go to the recordings, buy the case and take it from there. It will also be much more musical than any midi player.
  12. After thirteen years it's highly unlikely the recording is still available from the usual outlets. I looked to see if there were any copies from my local county library, but nothing there. There is a copy available at Cork library so an interlibrary loan could be an option. Unfortunately I am unable right now to make copies and get them to anybody so I won't make an offer to help not right now anyway.
  13. That really isn't 'showing off', it's a matter of pushing different buttons. Anyhow. My son went to Noel Hill weekly for a few years when he was learning aged 12/13. He had dozens of tunes with exactly the information you are looking for, taken down during these lessons. So that sort of thing is in existence but it would not be fair to pass it on or make it otherwise available.
  14. Here's the film Fleadh Cheoil, Kilrush 1967, a little glimpse of the culture the place was part of and perhaps a last connection to. I remember one occasion in there, well. I remember several but this one in particular, when we took Kitty Hayes there. Kitty had a big memory of going there in the early sixties or so with her husband Josie and Paddy Killoran. The two men went to play with Mrs Crotty and brought Kitty along. She sat in the corner all night, pining to get her hands on the concertina but she was, reading between the lines, basically ignored all night. When we went up, we were invited to play in Kilrush if I remember correctly. Kitty made a point of us playing inside Crotty's for a good while. I always felt she was making the point she was still there, playing her heart out while the other three present on the night she felt ignored were a distant memory. And she was flying it.
  15. As times are moving on, Clare fm announced earlier Crottyy's in Kilrush, former home of Lizzie Crotty, will close its doors after 114 years in service. A lot of music was played there over time. Clare fm : Crotty's to fold
  16. Caitlín ní Gabhainn does that sort of thing, dancing shoes, wooden battering board and sitting while playing. Saw her do it last week. Probably have some pics but that will have to keep.
  17. Don't take that as a given, opinions are quite divided about his treatment of ornaments and their notation.
  18. That look goes back a long way in kwa-zulu concertinas
  19. I was just listening to Séamus Ennis' 'Ceol, Scéalta Agus Amhrain', it had been a long time, too long, since I last heard it. He gets badly lost in some of the tunes but, being the musician he was, he always finds his way back. It doesn't detract from the magnificence of the playing but I am not sure many others could get away with that sort of thing.
  20. If you want to know what 'people do' the only way is to listen to as many players as you can and compare what way they take through a tune. You haven't specified at all which music, style etc you want advice about so don't be surprised you receive a wide range of replies. As far as Irish music goes, there are lots of ways to get through a tune. But it depends on the tune, the type of tune, style etc how you go about avoiding certain notes. Pretty much as I indicated earlier. There"s no one size fits all solution. It depends on the function the notes have in the tune. It's much easier to avoid passing notes that have a less important function in the tune. The transposing suggestion was in response to the specific question on how to approach The road to Lisdoonvarna. In that tune there was an important melodic function for some of the C#s. So if you have a specific tune you want to know about, ask. But don't expect a detailed answer to such a wide ranging unspecified general question. There are more ways to skin this particular cat.
  21. http://www.wheatstone.co.uk/wheatstone/spares-repairs/fittings.htm
  22. I don't think there should be any qualms about playing a tune in a key that suits your instrument or your playing best, or one that brings out a side of the tune, a mood or whatever, other than the 'usual'. People do it all the time. Especially when talking about something as simple 'The Road to Lisdoonvarna', which is easy to transpose on the fly.
  23. Avoiding the C# completely isn't always viable. There is no single, one size fits all solution to the issue. Best to find the solution best suited to a particular situation. The single jig The Road to Lisdoonvarna was clearly taken from the reel of the same name (or All the way to Galway, which was the name given to the tune in older collections). The reel is set a tone lower and the single jig sits well in that key. Perhaps that would be the way to go if you want to play the tune at all and are stuck without the C#.
  24. While it's a good example of old style players making do with the notes they had, it's not quite the same problem. Kitty never used (the equivalent of) a C natural, (the Bb in this key). So she did use the C# all the time. There's an example of how to avoid the issue: Kitty had heard 'Garrett Barry's version of Miss McLeod' (I believe it was Edel Fox who played it on television) and wanted to learn it. When I 'd call to the house, as I did once or twice a week, she always had some tunes she heard on Clare FM, on telvision or somewhere else that she suggested we'd practise. I had 'Garrett Barry's reel' as Willie Clancy played it, a version depending on very prominent C naturals that just wouldn't work in her playing. I got around the problem by making up a version of the tune on the spot, avoiding the note altogether and Kitty was quite happy with that. That version made it onto the CD we recorded. The version almost took on a life of it's own when the late Howard Marshall, who wrote the book on Garrett Barry, wanted to use the recording for his presentation of the book. In his thinking it must have been how Garrett played it as Kitty had grown up hearing her father play with Gilbert Clancy, Willie's father, who had a lot of Garrett's tunes, so she must have learned it there. I had tell him we made the version up ourselves, much to his disappointment.
  25. I am sure there's a joke in there somewhere around learning by ear or from reading. But never mind. Bringing up Coleman's music when making a case for non 'fancy' , relatively unadorned playing strikes me as a fool's errand but what do I know.
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