About 20 years ago I recorded something I heard on Public Radio onto a cassette tape, and I absolutely loved the music. I’m not really familiar with this genre, so I don’t know if you’d consider it Irish, Celtic, or something else. Since the tape is so old, and the tape is getting worn, I want to find either a high quality download or the artist/album information so I can purchase it. I’ve hosted one track that I’ve taken into my computer so that someone might help me identify it.
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Scottish to my mind too - sounds like a north east fiddle air, don’t recognise the tune, but I think it might be Silly Wizard playing. - Kenny might be the best person to do the tune/band identification.
Thank you for your responces! I do have a little more info regarding this music. I heard it in 1986, and I believe it is one compilation(album). Also there are no words in the entire album; spoken or sung. I also recall that the DJ said something about traditional Irish music.
All tracks are smooth and easy. I have searched many of the Silly Wizards albums and was unable to find any of the tracks. I also could not find any of thier albums that were instrumental only. I greatly appreciate all of the help that is being provided; Please keep it coming…
It sounds a bit like Clannad, but I’m not familiar with the tune. The accompaniment and intro has that ‘new agey’ feel that they (and others) were doing in the '80s.
Yes, the tune has that Scottish “kick” at the end of the phrase, although it isn’t a tune I recognise. It’s quite a long and atmospheric track, and, as Redwolf says, sounds a bit New Age-y.
I did wonder could it be something out of Llewellyn? This is a fellow that lives up in North Buckinghamshire and produces or used to produce a lot of new age music. Very nice for those that like that sort of thing. It’s not really Chiff&Fipple material though.
One of the reasons I thought of Clannad is there’s so much crossover between the music of Scotland and of Donegal…but I don’t have any of their new age albums (it not really being my thing), and their earlier stuff is more like Altan than like little sister Eithne (er…Enya).
Scarneys… beautiful, relaxing, paints pictures in my mind.Beyond that I dont know the artists. I do,however , have a suggestion for preserving your taped music until you find the answer. This is not a product endorsement of any kind. I had some absolutely irreplaceable tapes that were slowly deteriorating in my closet and my favorite computer geek people suggested a Plus deck 2c. Its a tape player that fits into an empty slot on your computer.You can record your tape onto your hard drive and then burn it to a cd. It costs about $75 US but compared to the music I was sure to loose it was well worth it. Ironically, some of the music I saved was from a local Public Radio show from 1990 of contemporary and traditional Irish music that started my whole world of Irish music. Good luck and thanks for sharing the tune. Gary
Samsdad… Thanks for your reply. I also live in MN; Mpls.
I am responding specifically to you regarding the music painting pics in the mind. I will share with you what my experience upon first hearing and taping the music. ~1986 I was lying in a hot bath ~1am;I was listening to a cassette tape and when the tape stopped the radio automatically came on. What I heard was music so strikingly familiar I flipped over the casette tape and immediately started recording it. I closed my eyes and found myself on a hill lying up against a tree with the warm wind gently blowing the tall grass. I felt peaceful and safe. I felt as though I was in Ireland. When the 45 minutes of tape was done the taping stopped with a sharp “click”…and I was shocked to find myself in a bathtub in an apt.
I am 90+% Irish. I have shared this recording with many people throughout the years. I shared the music with a woman who happens to be Irish as well and asked her what she thought of the music. She told me of the hill, tree and gently blowing grass. It is very deep…
PS.. I have with the help of “Audacity” and other programs been able to make a CD of my music of which I have posted a track of. Within the next couple of days I will post the next track to help in discovering it’s origin. Thanks again to all that have helped.
…Saints preserve us !!! An Irish lover lost in Uff-da land. I would venture a guess that MPR enthralled us both with the sounds and sensations of the Emerald Isle if you were living here when that happened. My ancestry is less Irish than yours with a spatering of Scottish and English. I would have to say 25% Germanic allows me the occasional bratwurst and an Easter kielbasa. It sounds like our experiences are similar, mine without the tub but a crisp night drive around Christmas '89 or’90. The sounds where ethereal, my drive ending quickly, attacking my tape recorder with a vengence. I was able to get about an hour of music. Ive re-recorded that tape wearing out several additional tapes. Ive shared the music with several others with less than equal enthusiasm.
I was however able to get several group names from mine… Clannad, Night Noise, Mouth Music, Talitha McKenzie to name a few. The beginning of something beautiful and the purchase of far too many instruments.
Another aproximation could be “Nightnoise” a band mixing New Age and Celtic touches, further from tradition than Relativity and of course Silly Wizzard. They certainly achieved in enhancing lovely gentle tunes. The band was formed for some time by the late and missed John Cunningham, Micheal O’Dohmnaill and Triona. I used to love them. I still do since they showed me the way to Irish music.
Here is another track that I pulled that actually has lyrics in it. I hope this might help in identifying the compilation. Again I thank everyone for their help…
Steve http://www.filefactory.com/file/c5dc55/
It’s ringing a Nightnoise bell (albeit dimly) for me … I think it was around '96 when they were pretty popular; in fact, I might have first heard them on NPR. Weren’t they on some “Celtic Christmas” compilation or something?
And then there’s the possibility of it being something from Windham Hill …
Oh, wow, it’s all coming back to me now. I feel so … serene.
First download gives me someone playing “The Old Torn Petticoat” and “Gilbert Clancy’s” [ not “The West Wind” , in my experience ] on flute.
2nd track is the late Michael O’Domhnaill, from a recording he made with Kevin Burke - “Promenade”, I think.
Track 4 is the song, so if that’s the recording, you should be able to figure it out from there.
There is of course the possibility that he recorded it more than once.
