Just when I was getting so bored with the soul-less, lifeless, frustratingly clinical modern-day precisely accurate piping, both (paradoxically) well executed and badly, with the ubiquitous strumming guitar and/or bouzookee, that seems to pervade you-tube, along come videos of yet another of the ‘older’ generation such as Tommy McCarthy, John Rooney and the like, not afraid to make a woops-it and apologize in the same bar (3:55 in the video below), …oh Lordy, how wonderful it is to hear some piping which actually lives…I could listen to this stuff all day, whereas with most of the modern stuff I hear on the 'net, I’d be lucky if I didn’t pull the plug after a few bars - it all sounds well, the same - no individual character. Where has the piping gone? All too busy piping to be worried about the internet and you-tube, I’d suspect. It’s pipers like McCarthy that I aspire to.
Didn’t Simon & Garfunkle make a song about that? “Where did all the piping go”? Something along those lines, anyhow. But I wholeheartedly agree, I much prefer soul in the playing to technical proficiency, although it seems that the latter is what it’s all about these days. I blame the radio! All polished and perfect and whatnot…
Needless to say, it’s fine that the old school is still alive and that there are pipers like that around.
Erm I hate to break this to ye over the net and all 
but he is deed as are most of the old timers 
Uilliam
A viewers comment is telling in a way:
Lovelyy to hear this stuff. Not technically perfect, but damn, the soul in that stuff! Gets your fingers itching and the eyes wandering off to the pipe case…
I guess the standard has been set, and less than perfect playing will be recognised as such…
Part of what keeps me playing at home, and not in the company of perfection…
That’s the problem, the standard is for ‘perfect’ piping. So now it’s more and more difficult to tell one piper from another because of the standard that has been laid down, which is, it seems, that technical accuracy trumps everything else. Sooner or later Uilleann piping will become what GHB piping has been for a long time - prioritising precise fingering over musicality.
For me, ‘perfect piping’ is piping that stills retains some roughness around the edge and a good degree of unpredictability.
With the old guys, at least you never know what’s just around the corner. I like the roughness of John Rooney’s piping on the Doran DVD with his execution of his regs (pupilows) coupled with his penchant for actually separating the chanter from his knee, which also seems to be a dying art, if you-tube is anything to go by. I like the roughness of Clancy’s chanter work on both concert and flat pipes.
And I don’t mean the roughness of a learner piper.
An experienced piper whose playing is rough around the edges is very different (and far more pleasing to the ear) compared to the lack of skills displayed by a learner.
Thanks Aus, very nice. Thanks to Peter L and Swier for letting us hear/see these cuts of Tommy, too. The Dutch club had very good taste in guests.
You can hear more cuts of Tommy at the BBC archives: Traditional music in England - Archival Sound Recordings. Nice piper, full of character as you say.
Thanks Kevin, the link you gave looks like a great resource. Unfortunately, although I can access the site ok, I can’t seem to get any of the files to load using either Firefox or Internet Explorer. I’ll keep trying though. My thanks also to Peter L for the McCarthy videos.
Those of you that agree with Ausdag and are in NPU should log on to the site now and have a wee keek at a friend of mine, Trevor Stewart, playing a couple of jigs.
Seems the NPU team have finally managed to get some footage of Trevor playing, and very lovely it is too.
He aquired an old set from a guy in Belfast a couple of years back now, (Trevor had a Rogge 3/4 set for many years after a having a Rowesome hybrid before that), it is in C# or thereabout.
Enjoy !!!
Thanks Boyd, yes, very nice.. I scrolled down after that and found some great stuff by John and Larry Rooney, Leo Rickard and a nice one by Leonard Barry too.
Indeed.
He aquired an old set from a guy in Belfast a couple of years back now, (Trevor had a Rogge 3/4 set for many years after a having a Rowesome hybrid before that), it is in C# or thereabout.
It’s this set, by R. L. O’Mealy, as described in the Seán Reid Society Journal Vol. III. See also the associated files. We owe Trevor our thanks not only for finally playing out (above) but also for letting us/me poke and prod this very significant set.
boyd, you may recall I have an album (LP) of Trevor playing an earlier set yet–by Frank McFadden. I think he won the all-Ireland championship around 1976.