I was wondering if its [considered] acceptable to do cran’s in airs? For variations on some airs and especially if a hard D is concerned. I play my crans with an A gracenote beforehand e.g. aDgDfDe. What do you more experience pipers think? Any thoughts on other cran variation that I could use.
Cheers L42B 
To quote Mick O’Brien: You should allways learn airs from singers. And try to adapt their ornamentation. That would mean no crans, no very tight triplets etc. The words of the song should set the mood and feeling of the air.
As I understand it, that means not much ornamentation at all - a slight vibrato, a legato triplet or a long roll maybe? But not much of it…
/Morten
. . . and slides, lots of slides! Singers do this all the time, not quite hitting a note perfectly and sliding up (or down) onto the correct tone. The pipes are more pronounced, but the same effect.
On David Power’s new CD he plays the air The Bonnie Bunch of Roses, and at one points slides from a “g” up to very short “a”, stops the chanter and then repeats the “a”. A really lovely effect that also imitates the other thing that singers do:
stop to breath! or stop to emphasize a word, or to sing two different words on the same note.
You get the idea.
So limit the crans and more slides instead. What to you do when a D is in question?
Cheers L42B
cran it on a soft D instead of hard D. Sounds nice to cran an E also, just a little slower than your normal cran.
Listen to the CD “may morning dew” and him playing the same tune, then tell me again what he said about crans in an air please..
Allright: You should allways learn airs from singers. And try to adapt their ornamentation. That would mean no crans, no very tight triplets etc.
Just quoting what the man said not long ago…
/Morten
I have a related question about airs.
A few years ago, I attended a class on playing slow airs taught by Séamus Mac Mathúna. He sang a couple of wonderful versions of Marbhna Luimni and Sean O’Dhuibhir A’ Gleanna and explained how a singer phrases the songs. He went on to say that, Sean Nos singers are a great source for playing slow airs, but he believed that they should not be slavishly copied as some expressions just don’t work on certain instruments.
One of my favourite slow airs is A Stór Mo Chroi, but I have always thought the first phrase sounds very clumsy on the pipes. Stressing ‘A Stór Mo’ with three notes adds a very heavy start to the tune. I like to play it with two longer notes missing out the Mo. I have heard recordings of Seamus Ennis and other pipers playing it with three notes.
Does anyone else feel the same?
This may sound pedantic, but please indulge me with your counsel.
Mukade
:roll: :roll: 
William Clancy’s CD, THE MINSTREL FROM CLARE contains the tune, but it’s called “Bruachna Carraige B/aine.” Altan also recorded it on BLACKWATER. Laurence Nugent also plays it on THE WINDY GAP, again called “Brauch na Carrige Baine.” It seems I’ve heard it on another recent CD, but I can’t remember what right now. Liam O’Flynn? Can’t put my finger on it right, now but didn’t Liam Og record this tune? Or is Brian McNamara? Anyway, they are fantastic slow air pipers and well worth studying. I think the secret, if there is one, is to keep it simple and nuanced, rather than flashy.