Hi eveyone…it’s me, Dr. E, that gun-toting pain-in-the-arse Irish Catholic who should be shot from a giant electric powered bellows.
Now, on the following point, don’t get me wrong. I love the U Pipes. But when I heard Paddy Keenan play I realized that a lot of the things I like about them have to do with the NOISE, not the music. Paddy’s playing is so perfect it removes a lot of the stuff I like. Suddently I heard myself listening to an instrument that (for me) was as interesting as a clarinet. I’d rather listen to a “less perfect” player snorting and huffing. I’m sure the pipers in the audience were enthralled. I was bored. Any comments?
Sometimes I like my sushi with absolutely no wasabi or soy sauce. Other times I love a dip of soy sauce with a nice spread of hot green. Some people like theirs dipped into wasabi mixed in the soy sauce. Some people don’t like sushi at all.
I love the SOUND of the pipes and could listen to that sound non-stop. Long after my family has run screaming from the room I’ll be playing the CD over and over and over…
Its the slight imperfections which add character. That’s why live music is so enjoyable, its always different…
Hey, Dionys, did you know that real wasabe costs about $70 dollars a pound, and is rarely ever, and I mean rarely ever found in any American restaurant, including sushi bars? It’s really too expensive, and most chefs don’t even know where to get it.
American wasabe is nothing more than horseradish, mustard and bright green food coloring!
Also, Brie and Camembert… it’s not, since it is illegal to import cheeses made from nonpasturized milk into USA.
I’d rather have good fingers and a fine running instrument than the admiration of people who like the noisy bits. If character equals squeaks, screams and reed howls; just soak your reeds before playing and you’ll have all the character you can stomach. If you really like “character” I’ll gladly sell you the first chanter and reed I made.
Marc
It’s funny, but Paddy Keenan never seems to please anyone, It’s always “It’s ages since he released anything/His last one was badly recorded/the new one is too smooth”. I suggest going to concerts over a period of 5 years and then see the “perfection”. He’s a live musician (and I mean musician) and is best heard in that context. And… If you want to hear the best squeals and “noises”, listen to him…
I love my yellow key-lime pie. We’re lucky to have one of the best sushi places in the US here and I know the owner so he almost always gives me the real wasabi (thank goodness). Plus I was lucky enough to date a Japanese girl in college. She made sure I knew the difference. Thank goodness for cross-cultural exchanges.
Dionys
P.s. It’s hard to get Key Limes here on the west coast, but every time I see them I buy a bunch.
If any of us had (maybe some do) the skill, the reeds, the pipes, experience and knowledge of Paddy…I don’t think any of us would object to playing the pipes pure and perfectly, at least for one evening.
Beware of becoming to use to the squeaks and imperfections that they start sounding normal!
I remember one of his early albums, PADDY & PADDY, where he explains that the album is recorded in the studio, but with the feeling of a live session, and you hear plenty of foot tapping and even some squeals from the reed.
But still, take “The Dublin Reel” from that album, has anyone ever been able to play the tune through one time perfectly? It takes a pretty darn good reed to get the octaves back and forth (DF#DF#EF#D)at any speed.
I fell in love with the pipes back in Ireland as a teenager. At that time Jimi Hendrix was the big name in pop music. I loved him guitar playing for the same reason. He used noise and distortion and squealing and such. It was part of the music. This next question will confirm to you all that I’m not a piper. Is it possible for a piper to control the noise part of the music? Can he deliberately create it and master it in the same way a good rock guitarist can? (Those Gaelgores who have moral objections to electric instruments may feel free to foam at the mouth)
On 2002-09-06 18:10, E = Fb wrote:
I fell in love with the pipes back in Ireland as a teenager. At that time Jimi Hendrix was the big name in pop music. I loved him guitar playing for the same reason. He used noise and distortion and squealing and such. It was part of the music. This next question will confirm to you all that I’m not a piper. Is it possible for a piper to control the noise part of the music? Can he deliberately create it and master it in the same way a good rock guitarist can? (Those Gaelgores who have moral objections to electric instruments may feel free to foam at the mouth)
Yeah, I’ve got one such ‘Electric Hendrix’ reed… it throws some wierd harmonics from time to time.. but it sings in the second octave like none of my other reeds. I put some tape on it to calm the thing down.
But still, take “The Dublin Reel” from that album, has anyone ever been able to play the tune through one time perfectly? It takes a pretty darn good reed to get the octaves back and forth (DF#DF#EF#D)at any speed.
E=etc.,
It is possible to create an imitation of electric guitar feedback on the pipes,I won’t go into the description, but perhaps read Peter Labans reply about Willie Clancy saying the pipes are close to the human voice . Imitation is one of the pipes strong points. And finalluy, it was written in blood and stone and probably etched on everyones brains.. Paddy Keenan was oft described as the “Jimi Hendrix” of the pipes. So, open that part of your brain that has idled for too long and just listen to music, don’t get bogged down in fads or stereotypes, use your ears.,not general concesus. Sheeeep!