Irish contacts

Irish Flute
1

Unusual request as it is not those long clumsy Irish flutes/players I’m trying to get in contact with :slight_smile:) Anyone over there/here know of any bands that play the smaller military type flutes, Bb.. F and piccolos in F or Eb and the basses etc.
Known as BAND flutes?( Keep out of it Jem:-))

There are many in NI (Ulster) however a great number have changed over to the silver flutes & the other system. So it is this simple system type of band/player I’m seeking to contact, if anyone can assist?

Additions…why I want contact, I am trying to find some flutes to buy there, because in the UK in general the flute bands have fell out of favour even in the Army due to other duties etc. In NI these older flutes I’m after have been replaced by newer models and system a lot so if I can tap into some of these bands in IRELAND (making that bold as not to confuse the areas,) there maybe some folk who stashed them away & are unused now. I didn’t want to turn this post into one of those WTS ads referring to the UIE board as I’ve put my WTB on the UIE board many times withoiut any luck. So again if anyone knows of flute Bands in Eire, perhaps you could drop me a line?

2

Hi Neil,

This may not be Irish but it is certainly a Celtic flute tradition, currently going through a resurgence.

Look to Galicia! Requintas are these flutes in F, G (old pitch) and G that the Galicians in NW Spain play with their Gaitas. I am too, as I am very much into Galician music more than any other kind (as far as playing is concerned). These flutes are essentially based on the old Napoleonic era military band flutes from France that were left behind after the French were kicked out of Spain. In the 1920s the Gaita bands wanted to spice things up a bit by adding Rumbas, Fandangos, Tangos and even Foxtrots to the repertoire and wearing the modern dress instead of traditional village costumes. Keeping up with the times. This music eventually petered out thanks to Rock and Roll not to mention Franco’s suppression of Galician music (ironic since Franco was from Galicia! Just musically uninformed) but is now undergoing a resurgence, including on the west coast of the US, thanks to efforts by some of us out here.

Here are a few links. This first is one of the best bands reviving this tradition “A Requinta de Xian”, led by Pablo Carpinteiro. He’s a great Gaita player, maker and researcher who is also doing the same with the Requintas. This video was broadcast in Galicia a few years back and is in Gallego. But still very much worth watching.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YrTCd03XH1o

Here is my friend Cano (Alexandre Cadarso Suarez) from Galicia talking about a G Requinta that I made for him in 2011.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGPzHOvRR3o

This last spring he ordered an instrument in F, with 3 keys. For years I have used an old American made Firth flute in F as my template for these higher flutes. However, the Requintas play up into the 3rd octave and require slightly smaller bores. This summer I found a continental-made flute on eBay that was perfect and this became my template for several Requintas, including Cano’s new one. Reaming involved using an old Napoleonic-era Belgian bayonet as the reamer. Here is a picture of the finished 3 keyed requinta and the bayonet I used.

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I made a number of keyless versions including prototypes and brought these with me to Lark Camp. Cano taught us there as well as at a 2 day Gaita Symposium in Berkeley after Camp. We performed at the end of this at the Freight and Salvage. Here is the concert, recorded with my GoPro cameras so the audio isn’t the best. We play the Requintas around 40 minutes into the second half of the concert.

First half: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-zzc__de8
Second half: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1NiBcbCyM0

Cano has also written a new book of Requinta repertoire. Here is a link to that:
http://www.gaiteirosgalegos.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2357:presentacion-de-a-requinta-adobadaa-bertamirans&catid=27&Itemid=18

Let me know if you want more information on Requintas.

Casey

3

Thanks Casey for taking the time to reply and the links etc…I’ve put additional info on my original post, so not to have others make the effort wrongly. Like the reamer, I’d say more 1853 than earlier but it is not British so can’t be sure, hope you have not altered the leather scabbard to accomodate the clamp:-))

As for the 1st link…it took me long enough to read music, so to get out the Spannish dictionary would do me in, but I see you done subtitles on your other link good thinking and work:-)) Thanks again for the reply, there’s hope and if I could find a Spannish Senorita who played and spoke Scottish like the one there, I might be converted:-))

4

That reamer has some history. Its Belgian. It was owned by Robert Thomas who used it for reaming bagpipe chanter bores. Tony Bingham had it in his possession long after Bob left us. Eventually my friend Brian Steeger received it along with one other and he gave me this one. Brian has a document on the history of this type and they are from the 1820s or so.

In Galicia, a speaker of Gallego might prove more useful than a Spanish speaker. There is quite a bit of difference.

Casey

5

Not important Casey, if you have time can you turn the bayonet over and take a pic of the socket please maybe send direct in case the Mods or any one else objects using up the space? The “or so”…is the reason, from the Belgium section of Watts & White bayonet book p35 the nearest I can get to… is the P1841 percussion musket or for the 11 mm Albini Braendlin rifle.

Got the “point” so to write, on the different tongues in Spain, in fact some times the BBC TV put subtitles under, for interviews with the Scots:-))

Back on topic…do you have any connections who can make GS keys to exact copies of the original styles?