It’s been quite a while since I’ve last been here… I recognize some old names and lots of new ones too. Some of you might remember that I went away to college last year, resulting in a serious decrease of tinwhistling time. Since playing “Fields of Athenry” on my beloved Elfsong C with a guitarist at the school talent show, I unfortunately haven’t much touched my whistles. Sadly enough, I didn’t even bring them to school with me this semester. Boy do I miss it, but I’m not allowed to play in the dorms!
Anywho, what inspired me to revisit this place was a concert I recently went to. “Floggin Molly”- anybody else heard of them? I know, I know, they’re far from the trad music scene. But they were really good, weaving traditional tunes with modern punk/rock sounds. And! The most important thing: the fiddler also played tinwhistle, on more than a couple songs.
Thanks guys! It’s been tough going here in FL these past couple of months. My home and family is on the west coast, my school is on the east coast; needless to say there’s been lots of damage on both sides. Seeing all these (okay, three) fast replies sure helps to cheer me up!
I’ve missed you since I missed you at WC week last year! There I was at the Ceili in the Mill, wearing my C&F t-shirt for purposes of identification, dancing with Avanutria! I have photographic evidence!
Written any more good tunes lately?
bests, M
p.s. You can whistle in places other than the dorms you know!!!
Or you sing it in Hindi whilst walking through a crowded market, not realising that the film’s main antagonist is glaring at you from behind the flower-seller’s stall…
Yeah, one of the first places I practiced was in the music practice rooms at my university. In fact, the first few times I played with other people were in those very same practice rooms…you ought to check it out…we just had to buy a key for the year to get in…but other schools have them open to everyone…
At my university, there was a student who was a piper (GHB, not Uilleann). He started out the semester practing in the parking lot across the street from the dorms. He was soon asked to move further away. By the end of semester, he was practicing around the hill in a side-canyon over half a mile from the dorms. The scary thing was that even there you could still hear him indoors if you listened for it (but it was, finally, low enough to ignore).
Play the GHB indoors a time or two and they’ve probably view whistle playing with relief.
I think it was maybe because I didn’t play my pipes in the dorm (except that one time when I gave them a quick tune-up before playing for a trustee cocktail party) that I was tolerated.
As far as piping I had pretty free rein. It helped that my college had a pipe band. It was just expected that you often hear pipes on campus. The college even hosted a Highland games on campus.
Hey Martin!
I missed you too, I was so disapointed! We swung by, but we only had a limited time and no Ceili’s were going on that we could find. I wandered around for awhile in my C&F shirt, but alas! No sign of fellow Chiffers. Ah well, someday! I am however jealous that you got to meet Beth. Where the heck is she anyway?
And, no… no new tunes. Though I think I still have the music for that little ditty we started to write. We should get back on that!
As for whistling other places, the only really viable place would be in one of the music practice rooms.. and those are usually taken up by music majors. I’d feel bad taking one up!
And very funny Walden… actually WC= Willy Clancy, as in Willy Clancy Week.
I’m here, I’m here! Actually I am in London for the next year, taking a Master’s programme in linguistics. I don’t have net access from my dorm room so I won’t be in chat very often probably - and the prime US chat times are early in the morning for me anyway!
Beth, good to see you! And how cool!! I’m majorly jealous over here. What kinds of classes are you taking for linguistics? A bit of Irish, I hope? I love languages.
