Greetings All,
I’m not sure if this is interesting to anyone else, but I thought I would post a quick highlight summary of Tionol St. Louis for those who couldn’t make it…
The festivites got off to a start with the Friday night session and ceilidh. The music at the ceilidh was provided by the Dorians, and I managed to squash a few toes through out the night (even my own a couple of times =).
Saturday was spent in intermediate whistle workshop with Grey Larsen. Grey was a fantasic teacher who focused more on technique than simply learning new tunes (which was good because I had trouble enough with the tune he was using to illustrate his ornamentation - The Walls of Liscarrol). His approach to cutting was very unique (he cuts, not with the note like most books teach, but instead with the note above, so a cut on G is done with A and the G finger stays in place), and I found it very useful and a bit quicker in some places (perhaps the quickness has more to do with my finger dexterity, or lack of it =). The other really useful technique he taught was a downward slide (which was actually an upward slide started a note below where you wanted to end up at), and, for me, learning this was whistle enlightenment (one of those “Yeah! I get it!” moments =) because I’ve heard this technique everwhere but never really understood how it was done (okay! So I’m new to the whistle =). The rest of his instruction on cuts, strikes, slides and rolls was equally useful, and he even took a moment out to help me sort out my rhythm issue (which is really a lack of it), and I’m feelilng much better now (Thanks Grey!).
The Saturday night concert was simply awesome, and for me the highlight was hearing John Skelton playing the Bombarde. However, Larry Nugent played one heck of a mean whistle (which is the best I can describe it). Everyone else played brilliantly, and seeing Kevin Burke in action for the first time was a real experience (I’m such a newbie).
Now, for those who don’t know, and I certainly didn’t, the Bombarde is a small obo-like instrument that sounds a good deal like the pipes. However, it looks like a real bear to play since I could see John’s face turning red from all the way in the back row.
Wrapping things up on Sunday was the sessions at McGurks. It was a great lazy day just sitting around listening to the players, and drinking a pint of Fat Tire (sorry, I just can’t do the whole Guinness thing). The big highligh was listening to all the big wigs (Kevin Burke, Grey Larsen, Ged Foley, Mark Stone, etc) play. Like the rest of the weekend, the playing on Sunday was awesome.
The only thing I missed was the announcement of who won the Michael Burke whistle (I guess it wasn’t me since I didn’t hear anything =). Also, Grey Larsen is going to be releasing a book later this year on his whistle style and techniques. If his teaching style sucessfully transfers to his book then I’d recommend it.
Well that covers my experience at Tionol St. Louis, and if there were any doubts this event is easily worth the price of admission.
See everyone next year.
