Ok, enough about pipes on eBay and the sub-prime debacle.
I’m currently working on improving my reg playing. I’ve started by listening to many different pipers and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are three main styles of regulator playing in dance music (slow airs are not considered):
Regulators not used for accompaniment but rather to play a counter melody
Having noted that, as with the whole tight vs. open piping debate, very few players fit neatly into any one of the above categories, but rather tend more towards one. To get the debate going, here are some examples of some pipers separated into what I think are their appropriate category of reg playing:
Category 1 - Primarily rhythmic
Leo Rowsome
Willie Clancy
Johnny Doran
Mick O’Brien
Jerry O’Sullivan
Mikie Smyth
Category 2 - Primarily harmonic
Seamus Ennis (paticularly as he got older)
Liam O’Flynn (except his very early stuff - pre-1970)
Neiligh Mulligan
Brian McNamara
Paddy Keenan
Cateogry 3 - Counter Melody
R.L. O’Mealy (so far the only one I can find although some pipers do play exhibition pieces in this style)
I think you ve got a good topic.
Harmonic, rhythmic + contrapuntal reg usage..hmmm
the genius lies in knowing when + how to combine / mix/ match all three, would you say?
I was taught firstly, (baby steps here) apply regs as a “moving drone”, discovering where exactly harmonies fit in to the melody,
Then venture into rhythm + counterpoint.
3 instances:
Leo Rowsome does a track (on ‘Gentlemen Pipers’, maybe) in which use of the bottom 3 regs resembles a zampogna-like accompaniment;
Keenan’s rhythmic use of regs goes so far beyond tapping out the beat: you get dotted rhythms, syncopes, interspersed with that ‘moving-drone’ idea. exotic.
There’s an Ennis video on you-tube , a slow aire, where at one point, just beyond halfway thru, while holding hi e (F#, maybe) he’ll reach over and sound b on the top reg, sending shivers out liberally.
Thrilling, all 3 examples.
Please, please, PLEASE share that link! Is it the one where he’s playing “Were you at the Rock?” That’s the only Seamus Ennis air video I’ve seen on YT.
That young upstart Tommy Martin fits all three categories. He’s got that Rowesome thing going, with some O’Flynn harmonics, and quite alot of free-hand note playing.
T
Yep yep, that’s the one! Great, great song…I have a recording of the same song (it’s from Alan Lomax) and he plays it in avery similar fashion, with the same use of regs, albeit a tad quicker.
I would categorise the approaches to regs differently perhaps.
As far as their use in jig and reel playing, there seem to be two diametrically opposed approaches:
use of the regs as an ever-present rythmic device, contantly tapping out clipped or chopped chords, four beats per bar in jigs and reels (a la Finbar Furey).
use of the regs as a sporadic harmonic device, playing long chords from time-to-time (a la Liam O Flynn).
Of course these two have more variety in their playing than that. I’m just talking about their most common approach in the recordings I happen to have.
Most players fall somewhere in between, using a mix of long chords and chopped chords, both on the beat and syncopated.
Air playing is a different matter altogether and many pipers mix wrist chords and fingered single notes.
My son, who plays trombone, finds regulator playing of any style in jigs or reels distracting for whatever reason. Interesting the viewpoint of someone coming at it from the outside.
I think the rhythmic approach to can be divided a number of ways - those who favour the down beat and those who favour the off beat. The latter tend to be more sporadic (like Mick O’Brien) than the former (like Leo Rowsome).
My approach was to think of Finbar Furey’s playing (on the two old c1970 albums I have) as the extreme example in ever-present rythmic playing, as he hits all the beats and the offbeats, putting in four hits per bar in reels and jigs alike.
Reels: 8/8: ONE two THREE four FIVE six SEVEN eight
Jigs: 6/8: ONE two THREE FOUR five SIX
Approaches which selectively leave out half of these hits, putting in only two per bar either on the beat or off the beat, are what I was thinking of as falling in between the ever-present rythmic approach and the sporadic long chord approach.
Is it the one where he’s playing “Were you at the Rock?” That’s the only Seamus Ennis air video I’ve seen on YT.