I just wanted to get an understanding of how others feel on this. Like many on these forums, I listen to various artists and bands looking for different settings of tunes and seeking out variations which I like to play. As a fluter, I have discovered that I prefer listening to recordings of tunes where the flute is the only instrument and not so fond of recordings with other noise in the background.
Don’t get me wrong I can happily listen to any music and will enjoy it but, when wanting to really listen to the tunes, I prefer hearing a solo flute player, am I alone in this?
I like listening to solo anything. As an old time fiddler (yeah… I know) I always prefer a lone fiddle to one with accompaniment, and if it must be accompanied then guitar is better than banjo (I could be in hot water for even admitting that). Same with the flute really but for learning tunes, I’ll take any instrument but prefer the two mentioned and like Uilliann pipes anytime, especially on slow airs.
I like to hear solo flute playing, especially the slow airs, but also enjoy listening to flute being accompanied with just one other instrument when it’s done in an unobtrusive fashion. For example, I have listened to recordings of Matt Molloy with Donal Lunny on guitar and bouzouki which are splendid. On " Heathery Breeze " there is a great example of this tasteful style of accompaniment with Michael O’Domhnaill’s guitar work on track 8. " Idir Deighric 'Gus Breo. " Everything Michael plays subtly and totaly enhances the sound of Matt’s flute. Oh, and I think Donal makes a ghostly appearance on synth - so I suppose that makes two in this case Not the same instrument I know, but a real master of this Dark Art Of The Minimalistic Approach is Dennis Cahill ( again on guitar ) when accompanying Martin Hayes on fiddle.
With solo playing the musician is free to do whatever and whenever he or she wants in terms of variations etc.; there’s no need to worry about clashing with someone or remembering how many times you’re going to play through the tune before switching to the next. I like listening to solo unaccompanied playing for those reasons: it’s probably closest to the player’s true expression. Solo melody with minimalist accompaniment is good too, although even there I think you often lose something. Very few guitarists understand the internal rhythms of Irish music, and I always play differently with guitar accompaniment than I play on my own. I prefer a good piano player, honestly, but solo with no accompaniment would be my preference overall.
But there’s a social aspect to Irish music too, and a long tradition of duo and group playing, and I love listening to flute and fiddle especially. It’s just a different form of the music, there’s more attention to playing together and blending, coming up with a whole that’s more than the sum of its parts. There can be more energy and spontaneity as the players take inspiration from each other. When I’m playing in front of other people I prefer not to play solo because when I’m playing with someone else it’s easier for me to focus on the music rather than on listening to my own playing. In that regard, pure solo playing can sometimes suffer from self-consciousness.
Listening to an entire album of solo flute can be hard for most listeners unless the playing is really compelling: Conal O’Grada has no trouble pulling that off, and John Creaven’s CD was mostly solo (with a few tracks having very subtle bouzouki accompaniment by Denis Cahill). There are a few others (there were many solo tracks on Marcas O’Murchu’s album for example), but most flute recordings either have some accompaniment or are duets with another melody instrument.
While I’m not a flautist, whistler here (still newbie-ish), I do prefer to listen to whistle or flute recordings specifically, while also listening to the broader Irish traditional music trajectory. And I also prefer to listen to whistle/flute tunes composed by these instrument players. Yes, I know any music can be played by any instrument, but, the tunes composed by a whistle/flute player have more of an appeal for my learning and playing style.
One new flute recording I’m currently listening to is ‘Kindle the Fire’ by Marcus Hernon (a forum member here). http://www.marcushernon.com/index.php
Cheers for the comments so far, good to hear that I am not alone then. I appreciate your comments Brad regarding playing ITM as a sociable thing and that is very much part of why I got involved in the first place. When I want to listen to a player then definitely solo, raw as you like with no reverb or other trickery going on is my preference, And I totally agree Tootoots, minimal accompaniment sounds great as does a full band but it may be just that fluter’s prefer to hear fluter’s and Fiddle players prefer to hear fiddles, sounds pretty natural now.
Marcus Hernon’s playing is great, I will check both his and Shannon Heaton’s recordings. At the moment my inspiration is very much led by recordings of Harry Bradley, James Murray, and piccolo playing of John Doonan.
Got all excited when I saw you list James Murray there, but then I remembered that Ollie Ross is on the cover of his CD. Still want a copy, of course, but it’s obviously not entirely unaccompanied flute. Oh well.
Following along Brad’s line of thought, I’d like to put in a pitch for duos with both players on melody (and no further accompaniment). There’s some great stuff out there, though now I’m having trouble thinking of flute examples other than The Merry Love to Play.
Some, although there are also a lot accompanied by 1 backing (not melody) instrument (bodhran, guitar, bouzouki). Only a couple ended up being ensemble recordings, and of course the production varies in terms of reverb & effects, depending on what the flute players wanted. I do have most of the Belfast recordings (primarily for WFO2) in raw form before any reverb was added, but it was decided to add a little.
Not the same instrument I know, but a real master of this Dark Art Of The Minimalistic Approach is Dennis Cahill ( again on guitar ) when accompanying Martin Hayes on fiddle.