Just got Dicky’s An Phib, and must say I love the piping. I’ve seen a few dubious reviews, but I think he does some nice things with those pipes. Lots of music on this CD, and some really great airs.
Another one added to my favorites list.
Edited for more responses:
Dicky’s playing seems somehow a bit different. Very contemporary, yet also a little experimental? He is apparently mostly self-taught… But I see a great command of the instrument, and also an example of the pipes being pushed a bit…
Any thoughts on this, from those who’ve listened to this CD?
I posted some clips of him last year on C&F, or the year before, and the response was that he’s known for being a little showy, esp with his regs. I thought he had a good command of the instrument though, and a little wild in places.
Personally, I really enjoy Deegan’s pipering. With that said, I prefer The River of Gems to An Phib. I think that the former is more musically nice (?) than the latter. I think he’s a very competant piper and is quite talented.
However, I do tend to think, especially with the latter release, that his piping can be rather showy and full of wiz-bang routines. He drops beats here and there and sometimes his rhythm is hard to decipher.
For some background on my perspective . . . While I enjoy his recordings (the technical aspects of the recording are great), I much prefer listening to Peter [Laban], or say, Jimmy O’Brien-Moran, Robbie Hannan, Ronan Browne. Peter, man, I could listen to him nonstop! Pure enjoyment, for me anyway.
I have both albums and I would also put River of Gems before An Phib, but not by that much. I’m not at a level where I can make any credible comment on techniqe but his playing is very confident. I think he’s having a great old time on some tunes. If there’s such a thing as “humor” in playing, he has it. He plays like he’s showing off in a good natured way. I like one tune where he seems to doze off and holds a note for several bars than wakes up and gets back into it. Also he does some reg melody note fingering that was discussed in another thread.
I like some of his stuff…it’s too bad he tries to cram his playing with so much pizzaz, because he can’t fit it all in…his tempo constantly shifts in some of his playing to accomodate all the stuffing.
I personally think he’s a great player. The shere fact that he can make his music sound humerous is a major achievement! Have you ever tried to put personality into your playing? Not an easy task.
Sometimes I can’t tell what the hell tune he’s playing - Ask My Father, for instance. But a lovely player, gets a bit unhinged at times, too, which is admirable. I’d like to have a tape of just him playing the pipes, which are grand sounding, too.
I agree on some of this, but since I have only begun learning tradtional tunes, and most of them are all quite new to my ears, i couldn’t tell (at least for now) whether a tune was true or not. So, for the most part, what Dicky is playing sounds darn nice to me.
I rather enjoy the embellishments, even the showiness, and I wonder why that is off-putting to some. The pipes are a rather outstanding instrument, strange looking too, and should really shine with flashy playing.
Dicky himself is very friendly, answers emails and is very forthcoming with information… he doesn’t seem, personally, to be full of himself at all. Not that anyone suggested this. One tends to equate flashy musicmanship with flashy personalities. Just wondering.
I think his airs are amazing. An Buachaillin Ban is a treat, as well as his
Stor Mo Chroi.
By the way, he has this to say about his set of pipes: “There was a C# Coyne set discovered in Tasmania in 1984. My set is a replica of this set by Geoff Wooff who now lives in Miltown Malbay (12 year waiting list!). The D chanter is Box and was made in the 1950’s by Matt Kiernan. I slide the drones up to D when in the world of wide bore.”