Looking For Teachers In Ireland

[Guest]

Hi all

 

I am planning to go to Ireland in September/October this year, and hope to have a concertina lesson or two whilst I am there.

 

I have contact email addresses for Mary MacNamara, Tim Collins and Hugh Healy (through their websites) and was wondering if anyone has any contact of other concertina teachers in Ireland.

 

All help greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Morgana

[JimLucas]

I have contact email addresses for Mary MacNamara, Tim Collins and Hugh Healy (through their websites) and was wondering if anyone has any contact of other concertina teachers in Ireland.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can't put you into contact with others, but I can personally recommend Tim.

[Bruce McCaskey]

I don't know what style of playing you are interested in, but to the others mentioned I'll add Noel Hill. He has a website at www.noelhill.com and I'll send you an email address to reach him. He offers classes in various locations so one might be near where you'll be.

 

Bruce

 

(edited text regarding contacting Noel)

Edited March 20, 2005 by Bruce McCaskey

[Guest]

Thanks to both of you (I play Irish music on an Anglo)

[Alan Miller]

Morgana: Your original post gave me the idea of contacting Tim Collins for a lesson when I was in Ireland last week. I like his style, and thought he might give me some tips. We arranged for a lesson at his home in Crusheen, Co. Clare. He was extraordinarily helpful. I have been playing for about 18 months, and had lots of questions about fingering, phrasing, etc. He answered them all, and said that he appreciated it when someone came to him with questions. But he also gave me suggestions and ideas that were beyond what I expected. He was generous with his time, and extremely knowledgeable about Irish Traditional Music. He played when he wanted to make a point, but he focused on me, not on him. He wrote down his ideas as the lesson progressed and gave me two full sheets of practice pointers. Then at the end he recorded some suggestions on my MD recorder so I could play along. While he gave me many ideas to work on, and they will hold me for a while, he left me wishing that there was a way that I could take regular lessons from him. He is a teacher by trade, and by temperament. You could not do better than contacting him.

 

I add the following as a separate suggestion for your trip. I went to pubs every night, and played in a slow session at Connolly's in Kinvara on a Tuesday night. I also went to hear Chris Droney play on a Monday night at the Hylands in BallyVaughan. He was playing with Gerry Lynch and Ann Droney. A friend brought my concertina into the room, and put me in a position where I "had to" sit with Chris et al for a couple of tunes (after I was fortified with a Guinness). The musicians were fabulous. They overlooked my nervousness and ineptitude, and they asked what I wanted to play. I choose fairly easy jigs (Saddle the Pony & Out on the Ocean). They played at my tempo, and said that I should sit in for another tune but I went back to my regular stool without my feet hitting the ground.

 

All in all, it was a very exciting trip that encouraged my addiction to the concertina. The lesson is something that will help me for a long time. I will definitely contact Tim for future lessons when I am in Ireland and I will encourage him to visit Boston, his wife's birthplace, so I can see him here.

 

I hope that you have a similar experiences in Ireland.

 

Alan Miller

[Guest]

Hi Alan,

 

Thank you for your imput, muchly appreciated. I have already contacted Tim and am planning to have a lesson with him (and one with Colm Healy if I can tee it up). And a big thank you to the info re Chris Droney - I love his style of playing and would like to hear him play live. (I'd also love to play in a slow lesson in Ireland but I'm not sure that I have courage as I've only been playing a couple of years )

 

I'd also be very interested in any feedback on your minidisc as I am thinking of buying one. Do you use an external mic and how is the recording quality of the MD?

 

With thanks

Morgana

[Alan Miller]

Morgana: I find the minidisc recorder to be very handy. I use it to record session and for lessons. I used it (with permission) for the Chris Droney session, and try to play with some of the jigs such as Lark in the Morning and Blackthorn Stick. (The reels such as Cooley's and Wise Maid are too fast for me.)

 

A MD recorder is virtually essential for workshops such as a Noel Hill class. You could use a tape recorder I suppose, but the MD is perfect for isolating and repeating difficult passages.

 

I use a small stereo mic that can be clipped on to a shirt. The quality is excellent. It does degrade, however, if I convert a MD to a CD. The only way I know to do this is to download the MD into a Windows program by using the headphone outlet on the recorder. Sony seems to have some type of copyright protection that makes downloading through USB impossible. My principal reason for creating a CD is to be able to slow down the tempo if I need to practice tunes from a session, etc., and that also degrades the quality.

 

Overall, based on my experience, I think the MD is great.

 

Let us know how it goes in Ireland. And don't be too shy about finding a slow session. I have been at this less than two years, and would never play a solo. It is easier and more fun to do it in a group. The crowd was enthusiastic and gave me a couple of compliments so you can be sure that they were not very discerning in their appreciation. I think they liked a strong beat. But we all had fun.

 

Alan

[Dave Gray]

Alan,

It is possible to transfer via the USB port. I have the MZ-NHF800 Sony Mini Disc recorder and regularly transfer to CD via USB (you didn't mention which one you had but I'm sure you can still transfer).

 

First you'll need to download the WAV conversion tool from the Sony Support & Registration site.

1. Transfer the audio into the Sonic Stage software.

2. After transfering the audio close the Sonic Stage software.

3. Open the WAV conversion tool.

4. Convert the recordings into WAV files (make note of which directory you put them in).

5. Open the Sonic Sage software.

6. Import the WAV files you have just generated into Sonic Stage.

7. After the WAV files have been imported you can create the CD.

The above works OK when running Windows XP.

 

There is a new version of Sonic Stage (Sonic Stage 3.1). It is supposed to allow you to burn CDs for personal use and it has also eliminated the check-out limits, you can find this at: Sonic Stage 3.1

 

Although I have down loaded the new version of Sonic Stage I have not tried it yet, so your millage may vary.

 

Hope this works for you,

 

Dave