The reel seems like the most pleasant and exciting rythm to play, listen to, or dance to. And, it sure feels good. We think 6/8 (the jig) has roots in African music, perhaps from the natural sway of the body or motion of the arms on the marimba and drums etc., but what do you think brought on 2/4, the reel?
I was riding the horse up in the mountains the other day, it wanted to gallop, and I was already humming a tune (a reel) in my head. Seems like we were perfectly synchronized–the horse and I. I wonder, historically, if riding these animals had anything to do with the clopidy-clop we feel in the reel. Maybe riders liked it so well tunes just came naturally to the rythm.
Ever wonder how things like this got started? Any ideas? I ask the pipers because they’re so advanced in their thinking and experience.
okay, let the jokes begin
6/8 rhthyms appear in Western and Eastern European traditions, Middle Eastern and South Asian (Indian) music going back a long way. I’ve never come across 6/8 as being uniquely African.
A lot of folks give Carolan all of the credit for his compositions but forget that he went around on Ireland on a horse. Listen carefully again to Carolan’s Concerto - you can hear the hoof beats.
Sure did, gold ring. It actually sold twice within the first few minutes, but took a couple days to confirm.
lol on the 7/8 bad hoof! I’m thinking 2/4 has something to do with being 5’8" or so even though the rhythm must have came before the dance. At least we can rest assured musicians didn’t learn it from the woodpecker!
I can just see O’Carolan writing tunes in his head on his horse. What was that one popular jig he wrote? That must have been a one trick pony tune. I’ve heard the Norwegians write walking fiddle tunes to the cadence of their stride.
Yeah, that cool fresh mt. air and all it does, Pat. Love it! The guys from the county planning dept. came out to check setbacks, etc., for building in a wildlife zone, and were stunned by the location. I’ve got a couple small cliffs with Tamarack trees and alpine fir right above the cabin site and an aspen grove down below below. The aspens play a paper-leaf orchestra tune for me when the wind blows. 20 elk (8 adults and 12 young ones) came down at dusk last weekend to wallow in the pond. A cinnaman bear rambled over to the old apple tree for a treat, and the coyotes all howled at the moon. Saw fresh cougar tracks in the dust on the road I just finished building. The starlight is almost blinding–well when you’re not use to clear skies anyway–and almost had to pull out the sun glasses.
That’s incredible, isn’t it? To be in truly dark-sky country in the summer and see what a night sky is supposed to look like. I find it impossible to even find a constellation, the sky is so full of stars, and you can literally see shadows from the starshine! Enjoy!
We’re getting OT here but I had to mention the night sky over the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. I’d never seen so many stars. Must have been the dry air.
BTW, cantering is more in 3/4 time - like a fast waltz or an average planxty. So maybe there’s truth to the Carolan theory. Trotting is 2/4 - slow polka.
I’m in transition right now, glands…living two lives. Within a couple weeks I’ll be up at the mt. most of the time, till snow flies. Then back here in the valley for the winter. Got hung up on building permits earlier this summer, etc. The Dept. of Environmental Quality here in Oregon took about 6-8 weeks to approve the septic system. One employee inspects all of NE Oregon. So, I’m still among the dead and dying till I get the lodge built—probably next summer before it’s ready for a final inspection/occupancy.
Speaking of living off the grid, I found a solar powered refrigerator, 8 cu. ft. that operates on one panel–21"x48". Pretty cool, no pun intended. http://www.partsonsale.com/sundanzer.html
Six to eight weeks for approval of a septic system seems pretty quick. More like 6 to 8 months around here. As an engineering geologist I have been involved in quite a few of these. I take it you are putting in a leach field?
I once did a geologic investigation for a piece of property that the Girl Scouts had acquired. The police had seized it from some drug lords who had built 38 cabins on it. The police said the Girl Scouts couldn’t use it until a proper septic system was put in, yet the police had been using it as a base for two years. Go figure.
The DEQ actuallys says it only takes up to 3 weeks, but the inspector had a tree fall on her truck during a wind storm and that set her back a week. And that’s only for approval of the application (perk test). The construction plans then have to be approved–which can take another week or two. All this has to take place before the building blueprint is submitted to the county for approval. Luckily, I’m done with the planning dept.
Yes, I’m putting in a standard 1000 gal. cement tank with 450 ft. of drainfield (3-150’ lines) using rock as the media. The only thing different on this project is the hillside requires a drain curtain–which is basically another line, except the perforated 4"pipe has to be laid a little lower in the ditch. The curtain line has to be above the others and has to loop around the ends and drain out through a screen. The other thing is the soil. we hit hard surface at 2’ (clay) so I have to cap the leach lines with about 11" of top soil.
Yeah, I hear ya. Gov’t, esp the PD, seems to think they’re entitled to exceptions. They write the laws and enforce them, right? Good thing some environs never found out–they would have taken them to court and bankrupted the dept.
I ride to my ipod all the time. I have a lot of different stuff on my ipod, which is good for thinking about how the horse is moving and what assorted people are doing with the rhythm of tunes. For some reason, it also has the benefit of getting her more forward and motivated.
Strathspeys and hornpipes work best with the trot. Not a sprawling around the arena trot, but a dressagey collected trot. Strathspeys especially encouraging collection (in twenty five words or less, the horse carries more of its weight on its hind end than its front end and should – not that my horse often does – move in dance-like, balanced, cadenced gaits).
Reels with lots of swing work very well in the canter. Encourages a forward, springy canter. Reels played very straight don’t work as well.
Slip jigs work with a super collected canter. Especially when played slowly and bouncily.
Anything played fast and with high energy works well with galloping flat out on the trail. Say what you will about Lunasa, I can use it to get my horse into her fifth gear and haul a**.
Anyway, that’s my comprehensive Irish music and equine gaits analysis. Is there a dissertation in there somewhere?
Hey Lorenzo. Thanks for the update. Just back from Denver… and envious of your opportunity. Too bad the bears and cougars and whatever else roams the property freely take a crap in your yard and yet you cannot. Unless the rainwater from your property washes into a local water supply the septic system inspection is pointless. Damn…the west would have never been settled if Environmentalists had been in existence in those days when trailblazers went there looking for something they did not have in the East. That environmentalist is doing more damage driving her car…or probably big ass gas guzzling truck… in those parts of the world than would the uninspected septic systems. Gotta love the irony!
Check out R. Murray Schafer’s classic book “The Tuning of the World.” It goes into, among many other fascinating things, his theory on how ambient noise in a society effects how music is created and listened to. He mentions the clip-clop of horses, the rise in use of carriages, and the enbsuing popularity of the Alberti bass during the Classical period in Europe (as one example that comes to mind).
I just got back from Denver myself Lewis! Got the pipes working after a bit of spitting and tugging (very old complicated technique of reed adjustment… please consult your maker for further information).
Great place altogether… I’ll be in Teluride in another few weeks… should be interesting… might have to break out the super glue and neatsfoote for that one!
The humidity was actually perfect - amazingly. There was an amazing thunder storm last night. It was the elevation that sharpened everything… air pressure or something I suppose? Got them going great though just by re-seating the chanter reed a little further out, sliding out the reg reeds and tuning down the drones… deadly!
