I’ve finally got my rolls, cuts, and taps down pat. They’re crisp. They’re in the rhythm of the tunes I play, mostly.
I want to learn how to cran.
Can someone direct me to a good learning spot? Or suggest a good book?
Thanks. 
I like the discussion on crans in the Bill Ochs book.
The Grey Larsen and L.E. McCullough tutors also cover the subject in good detail.
–James
Heres how I do a short cran, basically using cuts in this order:
XXXXXX (Tonguing and holding this first note longer)
XXXXOX
XXXOXX
This for me works nicely in both octaves and also for the E note. If you have Apple quicktime or anything else that can open ‘cell phone’ .3gp files you can have a look at a clip I made that has lots of them in it. Keep in mind I only learnt the tune and how to cran that night and I’m a n00b so it’s probably not the best example. I think perhaps I should have held the first note even slightly longer than I did here. Anyway you’ll get the idea of how effective this can sound played really quickly.
http://www.esatclear.ie/~lorenzo/Video(4).3gp
Theres a few different ways of doing crans but perhaps a more textbook way is like this:
Short cran:
XXXXXX
XXOXXX
XXXOXX
Long cran:
XXXXXX
XXOXXX
XXXOXX
XOXXXX
I think this is a harder way though and I’m sure others will post their own versions.
http://www.whistletutor.com/advanced.htm
has a section on crans.
Also see http://www.whistletutor.com/requests.htm especially “Toss the Feathers”
Good luck. I have started on crans as well. Wasn’t there a commercial about 10 years ago about cranberry-apple juice that was made by Crans?
I tend to go with…
xxx oxx
xxx xox
xxx oxx
If i use what seems to be the standard…
xxo xxx
xxx oxx
xxx xox
It works on the bottom D but when i do it on the upper D the xxo xxx sounds shite and ruins the whole thing. So rather than have two different crans for each octave i just stick with the one that works on both.
Hi Blaydo, the above was a good explanation until you went and complicated it with the rest. The cran you have shown above is used by Brian Finnegan and his crans are very good.
Matt Molloy, Kevin Crawford and Mike McGoldrick use this one:
XXXXXX
XXXOXX
XXXXOX
XXXOXX
That second one is basically a bog standard piping cran.
As for all the other crans, such as the ones that badly confused me when I was starting with the Fintan Vallely flute tutorial book “Timber”; I think they are not needed. A standard cran does the job. I am baffled as to who comes up with these other crans and why. Most pipers don’t use them, so why would flute players?
I have played pipes and had a good command of the of the second cran, but I found there wasn’t much difference in the sound on flute. I therefore use the first one listed above.
Are you venting that upper D? Because if you’re not, on most of my whistles that very cut sounds like dookey as well, untill I vent that D and it comes out crisp.
-Eric
I do the standard piping cran:
XXX XXX
XXX OXX
XXX XOX
XXX OXX
For high d, you can vary the sound of the cran by playing high d with or without the first finger- L1 for a right handed player. One (finger down) gives cran with notes higher than the D used, like the cran on a low d. The other (finger off) gives a nice alernative that gets notes below the high d.
Is it me or is there something wrong with the fingerings shown up till to now?
For instance:
XXX XXX
XXX OXX
XXX XOX
XXX OXX
If this is a cran on D, shouldn’t it be
XXX XXX
XXX OXX
XXX XOX
XXX OXX
XXX XXX
?
(I realize it could be me)
Really, it should be
xxx xxx
xxx oxx
xxx xxx
xxx xox
xxx xxx
xxx oxx
xxx xxx
Imperative to sound the D between cuts. And really it should be one more cut, and a tripletty feeling.
Same here, I don’t vent the high D and find the cuts sound better using the E or F fingers, so I also use these 2 for crans. Both the cuts and crans sound fine in both octaves for me this way. Also sounds fine for a cran on E.
Hi Eric
I don’t vent the D when i cut it, i do at all other times though. If you cut with the vented D you get a C natural or thereabouts and it doesn’t sound quite right to my ears.
If you’re getting C naturals… That to me, sounds like your cuts need to be a little faster, quicker… For middle D, (or second D, or 2cd octave D which ever you like) I almost exclusively vent that note. You Can get away with not venting it, but I save that tactic for tunes that are fast, (drowsy maggie for example) or for tunes have “trickier” passages which would also sort of coincide with the faster tunes area… Even then, however, I still like to practice venting that D, for two reasons: On Most whistles, that note comes out truer, clearer, etc. vs. not venting. And the other reason like I mentioned, cuts on that note come out more crisp.
The fingers I use mostly for this “vented D” I’ll call it, are the F and G fingers. The E finger will also work for most whistles, so that’s up to the player for this particular note - In my experience.
But if you’re getting C naturals, either your cuts aren’t snappy enough, or something else is wrong. If you plan to learn cranning, then quick crisp cuts are a must. But I think quick, crisp cuts are a must anywhere in Irish music.
Some players will argue that not venting for faster tunes, is just as good as venting (but without the “hassle” of having to lift the B finger up) so they’ll take that route. And it’s not entirely wrong either… For example, I’ll use Drowsy Maggie again… When played up to speed, (about 120 beats per minute say) there’s a jump in the A part from low E to middle D, and you can get away with not venting as the note is played for such a short time, you really don’t get a chance to hear the clarity differences between venting or not venting. But that’s only because the note is played… So quickly. And the only real reason for not venting that D, is for an “easier” fingering sequence in the tune… But I hear that if you go to a whistle competition, they’ll deduct points for not venting D.
But like I said, in my experience, every whistle I’ve played, (even whistles in other keys) the “middle D” always sounded better, clearer, nicer, truer, versus not venting it. Also makes for more pleasing cuts.
-Eric
Just curious, where do you crann on drowsy maggie? Don’t think I’ve heard people do that before, sounds like a good idea.
I didn’t say anything about cranning in Drowsy Maggie, because to my knowledge there isn’t a place to do such an ornament. Unless you change the tune, there’s a few spots for short rolls and at least one spot for a long B roll.
What I was talking about in Drowsy Maggie, was the venting or not venting D. =)
you can cran the E s in the first part and obviously the d’ starting the turn. If you would want to
Eric, as i mentioned, i do usually vent that D. The only time i don’t is when i’m cutting it.
Cutting with the unvented D gives a different sound to the vented D no matter how crisp your cuts are. I personally prefer the sound of the unvented D when cutting, i personally don’t like the cuts coming from underneath the note which is what the vented D gives.
I’m not saying anyone is right or wrong here, this is simply my personal taste and what i’m used to doing.
You can do that. Matt Molloy does lovely crans in Drowsy Maggie on his Heathery Breeze album.