Our session (well, most of, as of late 2007) on the stage of O2TV “Take alive!” channel. Pics made this saturday.
Two more:
http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/b/r/breqwas/o2_1.jpg
http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/b/r/breqwas/o2_2.jpg
That was not our session, actually. That was a concert of Slua Si, a local ITM band (very I and very T). Yury Andreychuk, the leader of the band, is also one of the main “irish volunteers” here - he’s the guy who promotes irish culture and irish language here (yep, he speaks gaelic 
).
O2TV is “alternative” semi-underground music channel, and they have weekly live music show. This week Slua Si were there. Yura was going to make a session at the end, but was out of time. We still played one set, but the cameras were off.
Why don’t these people gather on “usual” occasions, but only when there’s smth like TV show or Solas afterparty?
Ah, yes, afterparty. It was… well…
Solas were tired and did not play. Local musicians played in their bands - there were at least 3 local bands there. Common session lasted only one set.
I was a bit disappointed. Listening to local bands is cool, but I can make that on their own concerts.
Told you you’d love the Harper! 
Still playing mine but have a new love I picked up about a month ago…a Paul Busman Blackwood high D. Wonderful whistle that’s a bit louder than my Burke brass session, very pure with a nice woody tone. Plays like a dream with an amazing high end.
Yep, the harper is great. It takes time to make it sing, but then it does sing!
Found out that it has good crossfingering for 2nd octave Fnat. If I find good fingering for 3rd octave D also, I will be able to play one of my favorite tunes on it
Had a chance to try the d/c set in kiev (Rut, the leader of their session, owns one). It differs from my classic - it’s louder, has a bit different timbre and has much more backpressure.
Yes, Kiev. I finally got there
It was great. Both the city and the session. I fell in love with the city last spring - I was there in May, and it was full of sun, young green leafs and chestnut trees in blossom. It was beautiful, but I was not sure whether it’s the city itself, or just the spring. Now I was there in february (+6C, thick fog, no snow, no green, very wet, lots of mud) and it’s still beautiful. Kiev, mother of all russian cities, I love you
And the session. Most of time when I play tinwhistle I feel like I’m just making sounds. They may have the right pitch, right rhythm and such, but these are just sounds. At their session, they play music. Great music. And I felt that I’m doing the same That’s priceless. And when I didn’t play (I don’t know too much of their tunes yet), I was just listening to their great music, and was happy
I wish I could share, but my mp3 player could not handle the 4 hours recording, so I lost the file. But I still have that in my memory. And I have the big list of new tunes to learn also.
I will go there again as soon as I can.
Was in Kiev again a week ago. The session was great again
Some youtube stuff here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hfG4lrSv-o (does anyone know the names of the tunes?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKhw0-HAWBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ypjwfXpyJw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwBPC0B7gDQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy81hqvBvaw
…third post on the same occasion
I was in Kiev again, at their session. Well… Previos two times that was a small quiet session. Fiddle, guitar, bouzouki/flute, low whistle, and me with the high whistle. But not this time.
I don’t know why (and no one knows, most likely that was an accident), but this time the session was VERY big - all, or at least most of ITM musicians of Kiev came. Four fiddles, three guitars, two bouzoukis, mandolin, box, numerous flutes, whistles and percussion, and even a bayan duetting with gaita sometimes
Just look at it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4XBIiLsfw
At TSO when discussing sessions people often use word “craic” - as far as I understood, that’s “fun”, but in different manner. This session was full of craic, indeed!
The average level of musicians was suprisingly high also. I had a voice recorder on the table, and here’s what it recorded, cut into tracks:
http://lirinis.com/breqwas/kiev_session/Patrick%20pub,%20March%2022%20'09/
The sound quality is, well, not too high (but better than you might expect of $80 thingy), but it’s not about the sound, it’s about the music. The music is… Well, if you start fom, say, 10th track, you can listen that as a real ITM CD - at least I do that.
…that was great. Such moments ensure me: yes, the two years I spent on a tinwhistle were worth spending.
Хэй!
One more youtube video from that session (tracks 5 and 10 in mp3 tracklist): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFLokS89q3A
And yes, I got a digital voice recorder, a simple “consumer” thingy for $80. Quality is, well, good enough for me. I have a good mic at home, and I have voice recorders in some other gadgets, but a separate device is more handy. You could hear the examples of its work above.
Another good thing about it is that I actually don’t need to “record myself” anymore. I did not do that very often beforem as I had to deal with my laptop and to play into mic. With the recorder, I can just turn it on and practice as usual, and then get a pile of recorded tunes: http://lirinis.com/breqwas/me/2009-03-29/
Learned some new things about my playing. First, I’m squaking a lot - I didn’t even know I have that problem. If, say, this one did not have squeaks on high notes, it would have sounded less harsh, I think.
Second is that - yes, I sound harsh. That’s not only about squeaking. There’s some reason, most likely the same one that prevents me from playing slow tunes (I do play them, but they sound ugly). Poor quality of the recording adds a bit, but just a bit. I wish I knew what to do with that.
Third is that I sound rushed. That has something to do with the second also, I suppose. In most cases I don’t speed up (or am aware of that when doing), but it sounds like I’m trying to catch up with the tempo all the time, even when I’m setting the tempo myself. Or am I just playing too fast? Most likely not, this one is played just like in Slainte’s CD, but there it sounds slow and relaxed, while I sound rushed. Hmm.
Fourth is that what I play and what I think I play are different things. Sometimes I don’t play the tap in A or F# roll - I moved the finger and in my head it’s OK, but it did not reach the fingerhole, and the actual sound is not OK. Same with some cuts and some {Bc}BA ornaments becoming {c}BA, etc. That’s someting I at least know what to do with.
Maybe I should go play classical music? There I’ll always have a teacher who will tell me what to do ( sigh )
( does anyone still read this thread? )
Dude…you played it like a motherf***ers!!! 
Altough i’m very very new to playing ITM and hadn’t been to any session, i find these videos quite stunning, and can only hope that i will upgrade to that level. 
And, isn’t Kiev in Ukraine? 
and can only hope that i will upgrade to that level
Well. Playing these polkas is not a very big deal, actually. (playing them well is a big deal, but that’s a different story). Moreover, when hidind behind good musicians, you can play your egan’s or butterfly on your newbie level, and still get a doze of that session/ensemble playing drug. But that works only if you have a session to attend. That leads to next:
And, isn’t Kiev in Ukraine?
Yep, Kiev is in Ukraine, and I’m in Russia, and I go to Kiev from time to time just to visit a session. As you’ve seen the video, you understand why.
Wow, seems like a great time!
Do you know the names of the Polkas played in that clip?
The third one (starting at 3:00) sounds like it might be
from some tradition other than Irish. I like it a lot. Do you
know its origin?
Do you know the names of the Polkas played in that clip?
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/20824 - these are 2nd and 3rd. 1st and 4rth are well known. 5th… We call it McGlinchey’s, but that’s the wrong name. See 12th track of Danu’s “Danu” CD, but no name there - just title “polkas”.
Uh, plenty of time have passed.
In May’09, soon after my last post here, I gave up playing the tinwhistle, still not sure why. Just stopped practicing and put my Harper Classic to the shelf (and it’s still there). I actually thought that had been the end of the story, but I was wrong.
In August’09 - again, I’m not sure why - I’ve got another instrument. 9 months of practice is nothing for any instrument, but still - here’s some result: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46oAKNXmhpc
Hello to those who still remember me And goodbye, as I don’t think I have any good reason to stay here anymore. Thank you, C&F! You’re a great community, it’s the friendliest place on the web I’ve ever seen, it was great to be here. Good luck to you all
See you on tinwhistle.ru? (Or maybe even IRL?)
Elvellon, дык.
No need to say goodbye, breqwas. You’re welcome here anytime. We have the other forum, you know. And one day you’ll will pick up your whistle again and wonder why you stopped. After your session last week with Brian Finnegan, maybe that day will be soon … 
Take care … До свидания, еще раз …