I like the sound of those transitions, and have heard them on several CDs: Bothies, Altan, Lunasa. I guess that tells you right there that it’s beyond the boundaries of Geezerland, but perhaps not. Anyway the Diddley-Diddley to YAHdudadi-YAHdudadi throws me a bit. Any advice?
BTW: Are Noonday Feast and Scatter the Mud the same jig? Sure sounds that way to me. Or did someone get confused when writing the tracklist? (Lunasa: Lunasa, track 3)
I do an A minor medley: Battle of Aughrim-Liltin Banshee-Knot the Chord.
Three time changes, march (or polka) to jig, to Reel. It works but you are ready for a new key by the end o’ it. When yer into the tunes, the time changes just happen though some bodhran players may git confuzzled.
I think the important thing is to keep the beat steady through the change. Nothing really changes except the number of of notes between beats. Does that make sense?
On 2002-11-14 13:09, energy wrote:
I think the important thing is to keep the beat steady through the change. Nothing really changes except the number of of notes between beats. Does that make sense?
Oh, it makes perfect sense. It also doesn’t help. 
I was hoping for a secret trick, or at least an incantation of some sort to help me brace myself, some way to have the reel in my head while finishing off the jig.
Here’s an incantation -
“apricot, apricot, apricot, watermelon.”
Apricot represents the jig beat, and watermelon the reel. It sounds ridiculous but it does work. And makes my friend Max crack up, too.
Bloomy:
Maybe think of the next tune in the set as a variation of the previous. What makes The Leitrim Fancy/The Sword in the Hand work so well is the similarity between them; Sword virtually sounds like a progressive variation of Leitrim.
Teri
I think the important thing is to keep the beat steady through the change. Nothing really changes except the number of of notes between beats. Does that make sense?
Oh, it makes perfect sense. It also doesn’t help. >
I was hoping for a secret trick, or at least an incantation of some sort to help me brace myself, some way to have the reel in my head while finishing off the jig
Bloomfield,
I’m working on Knocknagow into Sean Sa Cheo and I love the sound and feel of the change from jig to reel. Energy is right, of course. But when I try to go plowing right in I almost always stumble. What I’ve found is that just taking a little stop, a little collecting moment, makes all the difference. I know this sounds obvious, but it worked wonders for me. I think of it in the terms my son’s baseball coach used for fielding a double play: set yourself first. Not even as long as a second, but just long enough to “have the reel in your head,” or at least a glimmer of it. Honestly, it seems to sound better that way too.
For what it’s worth…
Carol
Bloomfield-
Here’s what Alan Ng’s comprehensive Irish
Traditional Tune Index has to say about
Scatter the Mud and The Noonday Feast:
“Scatter the Mud / Scaip an Puiteach / Rambles with Rory / The Noonday Feast / Port Jack Walsh / Jack Walsh’s Jig / Smash the Windows (compare The Maids of Tramore / The Maid of Tramore included here, which has different 2nd part)”…are all names for the same tune.
There’s also a quite similar version of both tunes in JC’s Tunefinder.
If you are playing with a band, or with a guitarist, while you hold the last note of the jig, have the guitarist switch to the reel pattern using the first chord of the reel (like a bridge) Then it is no longer your problem - you just jump in when you feel ready!
If you are playing with yourself (figuratively speaking) practice singing the jig going into the reel. Most jigs are faster than reels so don’t necessarily try to keep the beat constant or your reels may be too fast. As long as you have a strong, definite transition it should work.
Most jigs are faster than reels?!??!!?
It is all relative.
What I mean by faster is the Metronome would be set at a faster tempo. Because jigs have 3 notes per beat and reels have 4, reels will sound faster. The actual beat is slower.
Example: try setting metronome at 120 forjigs
at 112 reels
I am not very good at math, so I don’t know how to work out how fast each eighth note is at a specific metronome marking
…If two trains are travelling towards each other at 112 bmp…
Ahhh, I don’t have a metronome, but I understand what you’re saying… Just play a jig, keep the same beat, and switch to a reel, it will sound faster. Thanks for opening my eyes 
Azalin,
Were you at the James Morrison festival just outside of Sligo?
Well, there’s a few nights that I don’t remember where I was, but I don’t think I’ve ever been to this concert. I was in Sligo for a few days, but not at any festival. Why?
Azalin,
There were a couple of people from Canada there that I chatted with for a moment. I remember you saying you had a lesson with Sean Ryan - he performed at this festival, so I wondered if may I met you there! Oh well, maybe next time.
Although they’re not uncommon on commercial groups’ recordings, and seem to be common in Scottish music, mixed-tempo sets are a bit of an anomaly in Irish music.
The best way to handle them is to hold the last note of the first tune for a couple of beats, which signals the fact that you’re going to do something funny, then launch into the new rhythm. If you have accompanying rhythm instruments, they can stop momentarily during the bridge note, and switch into the new rhythm for a couple of bars before the melody gets going.