Salamanca Reel.

[Alan Caffrey]

Hello all,

some of you must know the Salamanca reel, but can you play it on concertina (anglo that is)? I heard this on the first Bothy band album and thought 'I just have to learn it'. But of course when I found the music and listened again I realized it has horribly difficult triplets. I can't imagine getting up to any speed with this tune. Is it possible to play as written or would an anglo player play it differently?

Thanks for help.

 

Alan Caffrey.

[Ritchie_Kay]

Hello all,

some of you must know the Salamanca reel, but can you play it on concertina (anglo that is)? I heard this on the first Bothy band album and thought 'I just have to learn it'. But of course when I found the music and listened again I realized it has horribly difficult triplets. I can't imagine getting up to any speed with this tune. Is it possible to play as written or would an anglo player play it differently?

Thanks for help.

 

Alan Caffrey.

 

Well it is possible to play it badly as I can demonstrate.....

There are some rolls on the low D which I don't think I was doing properly when I made that recording but not to much in the way of triplets. I don't know how much this corresponds to your version I basically transcribed this from a Noel Hill recording. It is one of my favourite reels (of the few I know).

 

Ritchie

Edited February 12, 2007 by Ritchie_Kay

[Phantom Button]

The way I execute a D roll is as follows: Play the D and keep your finger down as you tap the opposite side (above the keyboard) with one (or two) finger(s) on your right hand. That tap will produce the second D. That same tap will cause the finger you’re holding down on the left hand side to bounce twice if you do it just right. It works sort of like those kinetic sculptures from the 70s that had steel balls hanging next to each other in a frame and you would swing the end one into the row of balls and only the ball on the opposite end seemed effected because of the transfer of energy. If you can do this just right it produces the 'D D/D/D' triplet you're hearing in the D roll on that tune. The tightness and clarity of this triplet is astonishing and you can execute it at just about any tempo. The problem being that it takes a long time to get it to work… i.e. loads of practice. But this is how some of these hot players you hear on recordings are getting it.

 

I have a name for this technique by the way... I call it the phantom button. That tap on the right-hand side plays a note as if there were a button there; hence, it's a phantom button.

 

Disclaimer: This is only one way to do it and not necessarily the “right way.” I’m not sure what the “right way” is exactly, but I have experimented over the last 20 years trying to figure it out. I finally found someone willing to explain it to me… sort of. I think it might be classified though; agents are on my trail. You realize of course I may have to kill you now that I’ve told you.

Edited February 12, 2007 by The Phantom Button

[Alan Caffrey]

Thanks for the responses; further to that three more questions: firstly, I've tried the described phantom roll trick and it works great, but the effect I'm achieving is really from the tap effect on the bellows and not from bouncing of the left hand digit on the button. Is that right? It works anyhow. Secondly: where are we using a roll in this tune? to replace the triplets? Should I use the same roll throughout? Thirdly: where does the title of this tune come from?

 

 

Thanks again, Alan.

[dpmccabe]

The way I execute a D roll is as follows: Play the D and keep your finger down as you tap the opposite side (above the keyboard) with one (or two) finger(s) on your right hand.

I've heard of this method, but a lot of players do play two notes on the right side instead of hitting the fretwork. That's the way I was taught, anyway. For a low D, I cut with a high D and C# (since I have one on the pull). Some players, like Padraig Rynne, play the cuts slowly enough you can really hear the individual notes, whereas others like Micheal O Raghallaigh and Ernestine Healy (whom I learned rolls from) play them pretty quickly. I would like to hear what other methods people have for this, though.

 

Those initial rolls are also good places for single-note triplets, if you play those (not all do). Those certainly take a bit longer to master, especially on the left hand alone. Something to try, though.

[Phantom Button]

Thanks for the responses; further to that three more questions: firstly, I've tried the described phantom roll trick and it works great, but the effect I'm achieving is really from the tap effect on the bellows and not from bouncing of the left hand digit on the button. Is that right? It works anyhow. Secondly: where are we using a roll in this tune? to replace the triplets? Should I use the same roll throughout? Thirdly: where does the title of this tune come from?

I found the following submitted by "murfbox" in thesession.org regarding this tune:

 

"I heard somewhere that the name of this reel was a reference to the Irish seminary in Salamanca, Spain.

In the penal times when it was illegal to study for the priesthood in Ireland or Britain, seminaries were set up specially for them in catholic countries on the continent."

 

~~~

 

Regarding the triplet: when you tap the fretboard it reverberates, sort of, through the bellows causing your finger on the left hand to bounce twice. In other words, I thnk the nature of the bellows contributes to the phenomenon. But my left hand finger does lift ever so slightly away before striking the button again.

[Phantom Button]

For a low D, I cut with a high D and C# (since I have one on the pull). Some players, like Padraig Rynne, play the cuts slowly enough you can really hear the individual notes, whereas others like Micheal O Raghallaigh and Ernestine Healy (whom I learned rolls from) play them pretty quickly. I would like to hear what other methods people have for this, though.

I've learned a variety of ways to approach these rolls, and they use the d and c# on the right hand as you explained. These are good for working out crans and such, but the tight 3-note triplet is what has eluded me for so long. I had no idea they were tapping on the fret board to get this.

 

Another one that Noel showed me was to drum your fingers across one note. This has come in handy for the roll on the low A accidental row for tunes like The Oak Tree, but now that I've been working on this other technique I can get the same effect without contorting my hand. On The Oak Tree it doesn't matter, but on other tunes your hand and fingers end up in an awkward position for what follows.

 

Those initial rolls are also good places for single-note triplets, if you play those (not all do). Those certainly take a bit longer to master, especially on the left hand alone. Something to try, though.

If you're referring to what I'm calling 'The Phantom Button" it's definitely worth the effort. There are many tunes that I can play with much more finesse now that I'm getting this into my playing. Tunes like The Green Fields of Glentown and The Lads Of Laoise, or any other tune with triplets on the low D, G, A, or B are effortless now.

[dpmccabe]

The single-note triplets are when you play one note three times with two fingers. For the low-D you'd play 3-2-3. If you want to do an eighth note before it, I find 3 2-1-2 works. Same concept as using 3-2-1 on a single button on an accordion. It's only done with a couple fingers on one end of the instrument. Nially Vallely is a big proponent of the technique.

[Phantom Button]

The single-note triplets are when you play one note three times with two fingers. For the low-D you'd play 3-2-3. If you want to do an eighth note before it, I find 3 2-1-2 works. Same concept as using 3-2-1 on a single button on an accordion. It's only done with a couple fingers on one end of the instrument. Nially Vallely is a big proponent of the technique.

Ah, yes... now I see what you're referring to. Yes, I use those, but mostly on the right hand. There far more difficult and awkward on the left hand, especially for the F# (pinky finger) and other notes using the little and ring fingers. Getting a tight 3-note triplet on the low F# on the left side is one of the best things about this technique. It's nearly impossible to get your ring and wee fingers to move that rapidly and accurately. Up until now I have always built a cran utilizing the c# and d on the right hand side. Noel has a complicated cran for this note that includes the A on the left side along with these other notes, but I’ve never been satisfied with my attempts to duplicate it.

 

For notes on the right hand side I sometimes tap the left side above the fret board and alternate between two fingers on the right since that side of the concertina is off of my knee and doesn't have the stability that the left side has. There's also a similar one where a shake substitutes for the tap when playing triplets on the right-hand side. Lots of options this little puzzle instrument has.

 

~~~

 

BTW... I never received a response to my query about who it was that you recommended for bellow repair and replacement on thesession.org board.

Edited February 16, 2007 by The Phantom Button

[dpmccabe]

BTW... I never received a response to my query about who it was that you recommended for bellow repair and replacement on thesession.org board.

The whole thing got deleted shortly after I responded. Try John Connor:

http://www.concertina.net/guide.html#Connor

 

He's in England and has repaired the bellows on a few vintage instruments Chris Algar has had on eBay recently. My Connor had a set of six-fold bellows and they really were incredible. They had deeper folds than average so gave you quite a bit of lenth fully extended, but were still very quick to respond.

[Alan Caffrey]

Further to my questions would someone be kind enough to explain how this works musically: can I substitute rolls and crans for the triplets indicated in the written notation in this tune? How do you choose which roll or cran to use? and how will that sound against other musicians (fiddles/flutes etc) who may be using different ornaments in the same tune? I live in a community with very few musicians who are knowledgable about Irish music so I appreciate your help..

Alan.