I typically use cuts to emphasize notes and taps when I do rolls. I came to the tap quite late in the game, only discovering them when I finally figured out the roll. Do you use taps instead of cuts in certain situations, and why?
I was wondering in particular about Cooley’s Reel, which starts out D E B B A B E… I normally cut in between the two B’s, but I was wondering if a tap would be better. I still can’t get the cut on the B as crisp as I want it, so this may be why I’m dissatisfied. When you are as fast as you should be, is there a difference in sound between the tap and the cut where you would use them in different circumstances or is it just whatever is convenient?
And now about double taps: When do you use these? I’ve listened and watched a lot of videos and I see double taps used as people go down the scale, so I’ve been trying to practice them that way (double tapping on the B hole and the E holes).
When someone like Mike McGoldrick is going really fast on a piece and it sounds… bubbly, I guess, is he just using well timed cuts, taps, rolls, double taps, and cranns, or is there some additional ornamentation that I’m missing? It seems like on a lot of these tunes, the notes seldom “rest”. They just roll around. My ornamentation kind of stands alone. Are good players just connecting a lot of ornaments together? Like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAvIOvU_EKI
There is only a tiny difference in sound between a cut and a tap, and I would expect people to do whichever is convenient.
At that particular spot in Cooley’s, I would normally do a cut between the Bs. That means the you’re doing something with the B finger first and then the A finger an eighth note later, spreading the work across the fingers much like in a roll. But that’s purely a personal preference – if you can make your notes sound crisp when you’re playing them, no one really cares how you did it.
I’m only guessing but the bubbly sound you are hearing is something pipers do.
Basically, as your finger comes down on the hole, it briefly flutters, making the sound ‘bubble’. This is skill that takes a long time to master and one I’ve been attempting for months. I spend some time each day running down the scale attempting to bubble each note and it’s coming, slowly. Sounds nice, though, in tunes.
I use cuts when wanting the note to have more of a snap,
taps are when going for more of a bounce or smoother accent, and both when wanting a bouncy snap or a snappy bounce.
I might use either a cut or a pat in several situations. It does make for a different effect, even though the duration of the gracenote is short.
It sometimes sounds really nice, and unexpected, to put a pat on the beat where one might expect a cut.
It brings to mind something that a great fiddler told us at a workshop: that when he was doing gigs with Kevin Burke he was struck by the way that Burke at certain time would use a gracenote to articulate between two notes while keeping the bow going the same direction rather than changing the bow direction.
On the whistle I’ll sort of do that by continuing to “blow through” a phrase using a pat to articulate the note that occurs on the next strong beat.
About double pats, it’s a real pipers’ thing to do “double pat rolls” like Paddy Keenan in the The Kesh Jig where he begins the tune
Thanks for the “Double Pat Rolls” tip. I’m very excited because it has helped my identify and replicate a sound I was hearing in the tune “Annam Cara” on Michael McGoldrick’s album, “Aurora”. On a D whistle, the tune starts A B Cnat E G with a double pat roll on the G. He may be using an F whistle on this one. Slowing it down, I can hear the cut and then the two taps (or pats). Before, I was doing a straight roll, and it was close, but not the same. This ornamentation seems a bit more forceful, like you’re spitting it out rather than rolling it. I think I’ve heard this same thing at the end of a downward run. It’s always seemed as though the notes were kind of bouncing to a stop, but I couldn’t quite get the same sound when I tried. I feel as though another “Great Ornamentation Mystery” has been unlocked for me.
This makes it sound as though Kevin Burke was doing something unusual, but actually it is very basic Irish fiddle technique - as the equivalent practice is on whistle I would have thought.
I’m reminded of the old joke - “don’t bother to spell it; just write it down”.
Play what feels right, but don’t put the same ornamentation into the same tune every time you play it. Interpretation and variation are important in establishing your playing style.
