Any videos of this back D triplet being demonstrated. Its not just a case of brushing the thumb over the hole three times. Seems more complicated than that. Or is it ?
Ballygo
It’s hard to catch but is this what you mean.
Davy Spillane from about 4.10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYF4mo1Ze7I
RORY
There are different pipers who use different methods. I do actually use a down up down thumb movement and with quite a lot of persistent practice you should be able to get rhythmic accuracy and control.
Other pipers I have seen just use the movement from the first joint. Other s use the whole thumb.
Many pipers shun the back D triplet as not legitimate to Uilleann pipes… I use it a lot as does Finbar Fury.
I think it was Seamus Ennis who termed the back d triplet as " Tinkers Tricks" !
Are you referring to back D triplets or cutting the back D? Not the same thing.
I was told I had to move the thumb in a figure eight motion with the tip of the thumb. Didn’t work for me, I use the whole thumb up and down technique.
Listen to Planxty´s (Liam O´Flynn´s) “Humors Of Ballyloughlin” (track 11) (sroll down):
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1016831/a/well+below+the+valley.htm
(repeating) Now thats what I call piping!!! But - how is that done?
Its spelt out in Heather Clarke’s Tutor; can’t remember if its played on the accompanying CD.
For another clear(!) example, listen to Jerry O’Sullivan playing Col. Fraser on his The Invasion CD. The third part has repeated examples, and if you have slow-downer software, it should help in identifying how it sounds, played slowly. You should then be able to find your own method.
I have never heard the way described as a figure eight movement of the thumb before. More like opening and closing back D, and then wiping the thumb across and back over the hole, to sound two very short d’s, and finishing on a longer d.
Sort of; dee dit di di dee
Hope that helps a little
Three thumb swipes down up down? Wouldn’t that make a quadruplet?
D (swipe down) D (swipe up) D (swipe down) D
To make a triplet I swipe down and up
D (swipe down) D (swipe up) D
and the same movement, but slower, makes sort of a long roll on back D.
I first heard this on those old Finbar Furey albums.
What’s interesting is that Highland pipers started doing it too, probably in the 1950s or 1960s. It’s not a traditional Highland pipe ornament, I don’t think, but Donald MacLeod began putting in some of his compositions back then.