For all the Reg Hall fans out there, do check this out: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ceilihouse/rams/28may.smil
A particularly nice episode of Ceili House IMO..
I love it (when properly done of course). I have a very nice CD of Willie Hunter, the Shetland fiddler, accompanied throughout beautifully by Violet Tulloch on piano.
But: “Last edited by Eldarion on Apr 25, 2005 1:34 pm; edited 100 times in total” - which word were you having trouble with, mate? We’re here to help! 
Steve
OH, I like this alot! Also, a song sung by Des Hall (couldn’t quite catch his name) called “John Mitchell” maybe? It was about a ship. It was very beautifully done. I will have to look more into Reg Hall and also this radio show and the Old Triangle House Band. I need to investigate what a “ceili band” is exactly. I have come across this term a few times and I like the music but I don’t exactly know if it is really different.
Anyway, thanks for the tip. I’m enjoying it right now.
Céilí bands started being formed in the early 20th century when Ireland tried to crack down on street parties and genearl public brawling and drunkeness (the RC church had a lot to do with this, as well). You could get dance music, but only in approved church halls. It was the birth of the professional musician in IrTrad. Accordians quickly became favoured because of their loudness. Fiddles, flutes, the odd banjo, and the nfamous trap drum set were soon added. If the parish could afford it, a piano’s loudness was also added in. As Ireland became more modernized, you would see other instruments like saxophone and trumpet dumped into the mix. It has become a fairly distinct sound in itself, ostensibly for dancing, but there are large Comhaltas competitions just for céilí bands now. Not to be confused with the sounds of sessions.
djm
Hi djm,
Re: your comment “Ceili bands … being formed in the early 20th century [were] …the birth of the professional musician in IrTrad.”
From the little reading I have done on this subject I would say that there were professional musicians in Irish traditional music long before the twentieth century. Some have said that it is to these professionals that we owe the development of much of the style and repertoire – and especially the quality – we still admire today. Professional fiddlers and pipers (often but not always associated with dancing masters) were common throughout the 19th century and before. Earlier still there was the tradition of the professional harpers that extends way back. In fact I once saw an old video interview with Sean O’Riada where he put forward the argument that, in its depth and virtuosity, fine quality Irish traditional music is best considered an orally-transmitted “art music” comparable to the “unwritten art music” of India, rather than a “folk music.”
I realize this last point of view may be controversial and reflect in part O’Riada’s own particular interests. For a long time, professionalism and home-made music have coexisted and intertwined. It seems that from early days, a certain amount of the professional-quality music “leaked out” of the professional musician class, to be enjoyed by amateurs (some of whom we know became excellent players), and by the early twentieth century, famine, emigration, and the advent of the inexpensive free-reed instruments, whistles, and “orchestrally outmoded” simple system flutes seem to have contributed to a dominance of amateurs in many parts of Ireland. (I think I remember reading a great comment on this change, from the “folk” perspective, in the liner notes to the old LP by the late melodeon player, Michael Kennedy). To paraphrase Brendan Breathnach, by this time the professionals were in a bad way.
Breathnach’s books “Folk Music and Dances of Ireland” and “The Man and His Music” (a collection of short articles) have many more examples.
If it seems I am belaboring the point, maybe it is because I sometimes sense a romantic “nostalgia for what never was” among some music hobbyists today, who often make explicit or implicit arguments that “traditional music should be free” etc. While you may not hold these views, some folks (some of whom I really like, personally) do, and it irks me, since the performance of fine Irish traditional music is demanding enough, and the music “gives enough” to those who hear and dance to it, that it should be valued enough to allow its best players to make a good living. I notice that music hobbyists usually practice some other profession for which they are happy to be paid!
With greatest respect,
Paul
Thanks for the information djm and Paul.
It is interesting to hear why the sound of the ceili band is different, djm. I couldn’t really identify what I was hearing. It will be interesting to hear some different bands. I liked the unorchestrated, unsmoothed out feeling of this Old Triangle House Band alot. I don’t know if other bands would be sort of Lawrence-Welkish or not.
I need to do some reading! I have heard of one of the books Paul mentioned. The collection of short articles might be a good place to start.
Paul, sorry, I meant professional groups of musicians. There were, of course, professional musicians playing individually long prior to this.
Cynth, I have never heard a céilí band even approach the smooth orchestral sounds of Welk, but playing in time and everyone actually hitting the same notes at the same time is a big scoring factor in competitions. 
What is most strikingly different between céilí bands versus the Welk-type orchestras is that nearly all the instruments play the melody, with little or no polyphony, and only piano or accordians adding chords.
I value the Céilí House shows not for the band music, but for the opportunity to hear so many great amateurs that solo between the band cuts. The band music is not to my personal tastes.
djm
Hi again djm,
I suspected it was a slip since I have read your very knowledgeable posts before. But often I have heard people argue very intentionally that professional Irish musicians are a modern (and usually the implication is, a bad) development, so I took the opportunity to make a case for the other point of view.
Cynth,
Speaking of Reg Hall, he edited a classic LP (re-released 78 recordings, in part) for Folkways called Irish Dance Music that was more recently itself re-released on Topic as a cd with slightly different tracks. The recordings and the liner notes will tell you a lot about the evolution of the ceili bands. Great music. Then Ted McGraw has also created a cd (or maybe more than one by now) that reissues classic early recordings of the great ceili bands. If you can’t locate sources for these, PM me.
Years ago when very sick for a long time, I spent many hours listening to a few recordings of the original Ballinakill Traditional Dance Players, one of the first bands to broadcast and record. They seem to have been a unique combination of tradition and innovation (see Reg Hall’s notes on that Lp or cd). The lovely pulse, phrasing, intonation, and settings especially of the flute players and the weirdly beautiful piano style will hypnotize you if you let them.
Paul
Thank you very much Paul. It’s great to get steered in the right direction when I don’t know the first thing about something. I’ll definitely let you know if I can’t find the CD’s, but with what you’ve given me I think I should be able to.
→ ack! ← → cak! ← Sorry, not me. I’m feeling my way along the same as many others here.
djm
Thanks for the link! And speaking of, I recently became the lucky recipient of a great Paddy O’Brien (RIP) session recording from … ??? (It’s got “Dusty Windowsills” on it so it shouldn’t be too terribly old)
Anyway, does anyone know of this recording, and if so, who played piano with him on it? It’s lovely schtuff, just perfect.
Thanks!