Hi all, despite my last thread degenerating slightly I found the discussion about my playing and playing in general quite useful. So here are two more clips of me huffing away. Any and all criticism/ suggestions would be appreciated (constructive, naturally).
-Thanks
http://www.box.net/shared/9dbfu7lrm9cpe0xxnkce
http://www.box.net/shared/82n0gb1hcbv3l0aljpjl
Hey,
I’m not sure how long you have been playing, but good work here and fair play for putting up some clips. Keep it up. Here are some things that I heard, which might be helpful.
Rhythm - At times, you are rushing the beat. I think that this is happening for a couple reasons. In some places, you clip the beat sometimes to take a breath. At others, I think you are trying to create drive and pulse but it ends up just feeling rushed. The tunes sound erratic and lack that nice pulse that you want to achieve. There are a couple things that I think you could try that would help - 1) try to get more of an upbeat in your playing. Think about adding lift and bounce to the tune. Listen to some good bouncy flute players or box players. Try playing along to with Joe Cooley a bit. Great old dance tunes and he adds great lift and life to them. The other thing that can help is working on your phrasing…
Phrasing - I think you could benefit from being clearer in your phrasing. At times, the phrases just flow together and it ends up sending just like a string of notes. One thing you can practice is to really break down the tunes into phrases and overemphasize it for a bit. Once you get used to it, it will become more natural.
Ornaments - The rolls are all coming out clean, but you may want to try putting more of a pulse on them. Right now they are very even in some places and take away from the rhythm of the ornament and the overall tune. Maid Behind the Barrel is a great tune for working on that. Lots of great versions out there. Check out Seamus Ennis’ if you have not already.
Hope that helps. Nice playing.
Brendan
Thanks for the advice. Do your comments apply to Rolling in the ryegrass or kiss the maid, or both? Or possibly some parts to one and some parts to the other? I’d appreciate it if you could clarify that/ be a bit more specific regarding which tune you were referring to.
Nothing else? I see a lot of views… someone must have actually listened. 
These two clips just didn’t capture my attention like your other clips did. I think it had way more to do with the choice of song than you.
Of course many people listened, but it’s not easy to give good advice unless there is something obvious enough that needs to be corrected. After Brendan’s advice, what else could you add in written form? The things that you need to improve in your playing are more subtle than the average beginner that asks for feedback and generally may require the physical presence of a very expert player that is also a good teacher.
This being said, I think you can improve your tone with a more focused and intense blow, on the second octave but especially on low notes and low D , that are loud but have a tendency to be a bit dull.
Speaking of the playing in general, the first clip came much better than the second one. The rest has been said by Brendan.
It’s a tough crowd. Take Brendan’s advice. I second that. Don’t be discouraged…keep at it. Everyone has an opinion. Some are more willing to share than others. My personal advice? Slow down and keep it steady. Much harder to play slowly… but, I suppose you have heard that before.
Arbo
p.s. what do I know? I have been at this too long, and not long enough it seems.
Ditto both Brendan and Othannen. Your basic playing is good; you’d be very welcome at our session. But as dance tunes, they could use a bit more pulse and lift, Ryegrass is pretty good, but the second set just kind of sits there ploughing along. And I suspect that’s something you can fix by concentrating on it. Make it so. 
In Teampall an Ghleanntáin you do lose the rhythm and ornament a few times. But I take that as performance error, which can (and does) happen to anyone.
Keep it up!
Sorry for not being clear, but the comments were intended for both recordings you posted. Your playing is pretty consistent across the three tunes, although as MTGuru pointed out, Teampall an Ghleanntáin is probably the weakest of the three.
I don’t know if this helps make my comment about phrasing a little more concrete, but the B part of that tune gives you some clear phrases that you can really pull out. It starts with two short clear phrases - the one ends on the strong C natural, the next on the F#. I learned that tune from the first Mick O’Brien and Caoimhín O’Raghaillaigh record and I really like the way they play the tune. Making the phrasing clear and distinct helps provide rhythm and makes it more musical in my opinion. Obviously, you don’t want to make it the same each time, but pulling out those phrases and building in some dynamic would make the tune stronger.
Again, this is all just my own personal taste.
Brendan
Thanks for the clarification Brendan.
Othannen: Consistent tone’s always something I’ve had trouble with, I’ll keep working on it.
MTGuru: Appreciate your taking the time to listen and comment. You’re right, I do find if that I’m not focused 100% on playing that musicality suffers.
ImnotIrish: Thanks for listening. It’s always good to hear feedback from someone who’s style is different from mine.
MY style is different from everyone. I was playing one of my own compositions in a local session the other week and the session leader looked right over at me after the tune and said, plain as day, " that’s not Irish trad." To which I replied, " Never claimed it was. I said, It was a tune I wrote."
arbo
I hear a couple of things that I’ve had to work on in my own playing.
Tone: it’s pretty breathy and not focused as much as it could be. While you’re playing try to hear the fatness, or buzz. It’s a hard thing to do, especially when most of the concentration is going on fingering. To me, it sounds like you may be blowing a bit too high in to the blow hole and not realizing the full tone that can be there. For me, I can feel the buzz on my fingertips. I try to achieve that sensation each time I play.
Rolls: You’ve got an excellent G roll - clean, fast, well articulated. The A and B rolls, however, are not even, or tonally distinct. Try to find a couple of tunes that focus on the A roll, and another on the B roll, until they become comfortable. This may take a while as they are single handed rolls that ask one hand to do all of the work. If you’re having trouble recognizing the evenness of the rolls use a metronome to help keep a steady beat.
Hope this helps,