Just got information from the NPU web site for this years Belfast Tíonol.
Ireland Date: 5/03/2004 - 6/03/2004
Belfast Tíonol with pipers Máire Ní Ghráda, Emmett Gill, Robbie Hannan & Andreas Rogge | Venue: Belfast
Contact: Tom Clarke Phone: 04-890-208-909 tom.jean@ntlworld.com
The Belfast Tíonol usually is at STELLA MARIS SEAMEN’S HOSTEL 28-34 Gaimoyle Street Belfast.
Friday night is usually when the Tíonol starts when pipers swap tunes.
Saturday morining and afternoon is the class day where you can learn the pipes or learn how to make reeds.
Later that evening about 9.30 pm the recital starts called the pipers chair where the chair(s) is left free for any pipers solo or duet to play a few tunes.
Anyone going to the Belfast Tíonol Saturday 6 March 2004 10. 30 am at the STELLA MARIS SEAMEN’S HOSTEL 28-34 Gaimoyle Street Belfast.
I heard on BBC Radio Ulster on Sunday evening a programme presented by Robbie Hannan that piper for the Belfast Tíonol was Nollaig Mac Carthaigh, Emmett Gill and Robbie Hannan but no mention of Máire Ní Ghráda
Tom Clarke rang me to let me know about the Tionol and he told me that Andreas Rogge was coming over.
I will be getting some spare reeds for my B plumwood, C snakewwod and D plumwood and any other work that may be needed on the reg/drone reeds while.
Last year at the Tionol Nollaig Mac Carthaigh had the Coyne B full set that was restored by Geoff Wooff. If I remember the chanter reed was not playing well so John Hughes gave one of this reeds made by him self?
I would strongly encourage the adoption of the notion that people who complain consistently about their reeds not working properly should be made look at their own playing habits and the conditions they are playing in. I have found that this is the reason that 99.9999999% of people have reed problems, assuming the reed is a good reed. I encounter people regularly whose pipes work very well but they can’t get a note out of them because they can’t figure out the pressure the set is happiest being played at or some other such excuse.
I do hope that you are not trying to insinuate that Nollaig is a shite piper who blames reeds for having problems with playing the Coyne set, this is after all third party information, Nollaig is not present on this board to comment. Where do you get off thinking he complains cosistently about his reeds. Please reconsider what your saying and retract the remark aimed at Nollaig. If you don’t mind me saying, I think it shows particularly bad taste that you should include that quote about Nollaig and then proceed to slag off anyone who has a reed problem by questioning their playing habits. As a comment it holds merit, but you have deliberately included Fergus’s comment giving the impression that you are aiming it at Nollaig. Nollaig is a class gentleman and top quality teacher and top quality piper who deserves better than these ill chosen comments,
sorry for whining everybody, but it had to be said,
Mark.
I wasn’t intentionally saying anything negative about Nollaig and wouldn’t dream of it. What Fergus said just raised some issues I have encountered repeatedly and spurred me to write what I did. Elbogo took what I wrote and made something more constructive of it in another thread which was well done.
I was “trying” to address tone of the instrument and it being up to the piper to be able to figure out what any particular set needs from the piper to make it play at it’s best. Granted some sets are just unplayable and some reeds are attrocious, in these cases new reeds and possibly further work by their maker is requiered.
I definitely could have worded my original post better and didn’t mean to imply that Nollaig was the culprit. I think we all know otherwise.
