a couple of questions about technique

Uilleann Pipes
1

i’ve heard keenan playing same-note triplets on ‘a’ and the other day i had a go at it myself - i haven’t got the speed but it seems like a nice contrast to a-c-a triplets - i can’t think of anyone else other than keenan who uses it - i’ve also had a little try at back d triplets and i quite like the effect, but there seems to be a prejudice against this from some pipers which i understand may have come from ennis saying that the ‘rubbing’ of back d was to be frowned on - personally i love the way keenan does it but like anything else you wouldn’t want to overuse it as it would lose it’s impact

also i’ve heard keenan (and clancy too if i am correct) playing multiple repeated notes (‘a’ and ‘b’) separated by grace notes and don’t know what the name for this techique is - i think that it comes from johnny doran but i’m not sure if he originated it

just as an afterthought i wanted to say that i for one would be very interested in others contributing to threads about special tricks that they have been taught or have discovered - i always love to learn some new titbit of technique that i haven’t come across even if i’m not sure if i will be able to master it

2

I would think it much more accurate to say that the prejudice comes from it sounding bad.

(In light of another thread where Nano the mod suggest that nothing should be a given, I’ll add in my opinion here)

3

can you point to a spot in one of his recordings where he does this?

4

doran does it on ‘coppers and brass’ - i remember ciaran o malley doing it light-heartedly at willie week and making reference to doran, although at that time i didn’t understand what he was alluding to - i re-listened to doran last night and it made me think how much there is in his playing to learn if you were lucky enough to have the ability - also, it puts paid to the idea that being travelling style means eschewing tight playing - ben walker posted a version of ‘colonel frazer’ on the clips and snips site a couple of years ago and did a great job of emulating doran

5

You can hear Doran doing it here:
http://comhaltasarchive.ie/search?tab=tracks&q=johnny+doran#/tracks/13417
Sounds great in his hands. I can hear it in Keenans playing in my mind but not sure where
Maybe Out On the Ocean its sounds like a Keenan thing to my ear.
Thanks for reminding me of Doran haven’t listened in a while

6

in 1989 or 1990, Paddy Keenan did a festival of diverse bagpipes in Brittany. there was a CD issued (incl. Fred Morrison, JP VanHees, JC Maillaird, Vicenzo Calamita, Sepp Pichler, Carlos Nunez, Christian Vesvre, Patrick Molard, Jorj Bothua, Pascal Guingo, etc etc etc, truly a stellar pan-Euro lineup)
Keltia Musique KMCD18 m303 (2 disc set)
His 2 tracks are encyclopeadic in terms of tricks & techniques, a la Dorans et al. It;s 20 years later & I’m still taking them apart. Theyre just starting to make sense now :slight_smile:
& if you ask me this ‘traveling style’ you suggest is no easier to pull off properly than other styles, but I dont want to get into that. just be glad theres two vibrant living approaches- its a lot more than other pipes have.

7

Just two “vibrant living approaches?” And that’s more than “other pipes” have?

Eh?

There seem to be a fair few approaches to playing uilleann pipes, more than just two, at least when I listen to good players. I can’t speak for all 700+ types of bagpipes in the world, but I’m aware that there is also more than one, meaning at least two, “approaches” to playing the Scottish pipes.

In the meantime, back D rubs are a little bit useful when one wants to play a triplet on that note and not in the mood to backstitch it or whatever.

8

I think Paddy Keenan’s playing on these two cuts closely resemble Patsy Touhy’s versions.

9

havent heard em…yet…got a cd title to share? :slight_smile:

ok, ok, ok… :sleep: …gettin all particular… insert: “at least two”…points still the same: "MORE THAN SEVERAL “roads to Rome”…

:hmm: …but is 'Living & Vibrant" truly an accurate asessment of those???..
suggest instead “carefully ressurected & lovingly preserved”
worth a thought. another topic, perhaps.

10

It’s Keltia Musique KMCD18 m303 (2 disc set), two cuts each of several different types of bagpipes. I think I bought it at the now defunct Celtic Trader in Charlotte, NC.

11

If it’s Patsy Touhey you are asking about, his recordings are from a tape I got from NPU, I believe.

12

does anyone out there play second octave e-rolls off the knee? (with just the second hole open for e) - i’ve tried it recently and find you get quite an interesting dirty sounding effect - i think that maybe it’s something ronan browne uses

13

Speaking of things Ennis discouraged… :poke:

Though I have seen him do it on film, he supposedly disliked such “vulgarities”. I also play E that way on occasion, in both octaves.