I must admit I had a hard time to appreciate Seamus Ennis’ playing at first, but I waited for a while - and reading through older posts where the same issue has been raised, I wondered what conclusion would be found there.
I had two of his newer recordings, which seem to be the “problem” - and now, after listening to Drones and Chanters for about 100th time, I realized I was “in” - his piping there is just insane. If I was to decompose those tunes, it would be like a mountain falling on me But a really nasty mountain - because at first, it looks really small.
Now, raising a question - especially Seamus Ennis’ playing on Bucks of Oranmore and Jenny’s welcome to Charlie sounds to me a bit (as close as two so clearly defined pipers can go) as piping of Paddy Moloney - and I mean his solo piping, not with the Chieftains (but bits of his Chieftain works as well). In a very disrespetful way of saying it, they both sound to me like an epileptic on cocaine…but in the best way of meaning it (my english lacks a bit here - so to clarify, I mean that as a true compliment ). And in the thing I’d call “understanding” in means of what you can do, where long trill is right etc. Is it just me?
Had to share, even though hardly anyone cares Good thing about the internet thingy, if you tell crap, the worst thing it can happen to you is deletion.
While all his albums have their magic moments, I prefer to listen to the earlier Ennis recordings. Those of the 1950s and 1960s represent the best of his piping. His pipes were sounding great and his style was more balanced between open and tight. His playing got much tighter in the recordings made in the 1970s and his pipes didn’t sound as well tuned, IMHO.
Anyone interested in Ennis should start off with the Return from Fingal and Forty Years of Irish Piping.
I think it was Patrick Sky who put his finger on it when he observed that every note in Ennis’s playing served a purpose and was given serious consideration (I think Pat put it more succinctly and eloquently than that, but I don’t have my 40 Years of Piping LP anymore so can’t read the liner notes). To me one of the hallmarks of great music is when you hear something new each time you listen to it. I’ve been listening to Ennis pretty intensively now since about 1978 and I’m still discovering things I hadn’t heard before. His music still sounds as fresh and alive as it did the first time I heard it. Same is true for Clancy, although I find I have more musical affinity with Ennis.
I used to think it would be worth trying to copy Ennis and use his technique as a point of departure for my own style of playing, but in the end I think his style is so completely his that imitation is a bit pointless, you might as well just listen to the real thing. Besides, you could study his playing for a lifetime and still not get it all, and you’d run out of time before you could stand on his shoulders and do something new. There is so much you can learn from listening to Ennis, he was a very complete piper from a technical standpoint but a very musical one as well.
Yep, that’s pretty much what I’ve read. Now I haven’t got enough money, but in summer, I’ll be making a big order from NPU and Claddagh, and I have this in my list for sure. Now, I have Drones and Chanters, at least. And I even like the sound of the pipes there - which I couldn’t say about his older records. But I read an explanation in those older posts, so that is solved as well.
Thanks - yes, I found this link as well (but then forgot about it). I was especially pleased with recordings of Dinny Delaney. I didn’t expect them to be in such a fine state (well, that can be relative ).
But I must admit I like the newer Seamus’ version of Bucks more…
But a really nasty mountain - because at first, it looks really small.
Good thing about the internet thingy, if you tell crap, the worst thing it can happen to you is deletion.
Trebles all round.