First, I should say that I’m not a step dancer, so I’m probably not qualified to judge whose music is more suitable for dancing. I ask the question because it seems to relate to the other thread concerning old-timers vs. current players. I would appreciate it if the rest of you guys would mention some pipers, whether or not they are famous or recorded, who play for dancers, as well as describe what you think makes a good “dance piper.” I know highland pipers have a lot to say on this subject (Gaelic vs. Army style); please feel free to add to this thread, too.
Chief O’Neill’s favorite piper was his brother-in-law Barney Delaney, although he detested Delaney as a person. He always emphasized what a great piper he was for dancers, and how he could endlessly vary his tunes, of which he had a great many. The two recordings I’ve heard of Delaney certainly have these characteristics in full, and an amazing swing as well. I’m told they’ve dug up more recordings of him, too; and found his set of Taylor pipes as well.
O’Neill mentions other pipers in the old days who were said to be great pipers for dancing, but by and large he never heard them himself, and doesn’t provide much detail of their music in his brief biographical sketches. But certainly being able to provide a good beat and keep a steady tempo were very valued qualities then as now. One piper told me that he never really cared for Leo Rowsome’s playing until he tried playing for dancers, and realized that the more rhythmic noise you can provide the better they like it!
In another post I mentioned the quote about Seamus Ennis refusing to play for dancers. Strangely enough in one of John Cullinane’s books on dancing there’s a picture of Ennis’s father playing for four dancers. A radio program about Johnny Doran included a mention about how Johnny’s brother Felix was more popular with dancers, being a steadier, not so lightning fast player. Tempo is a big deal with dancers, of course. Some of them want this pathetic dirge tempo for hornpipes, for instance.
Edward, a good place to start would be NPU’s six cassette series “Music for the Sets”. It is all ensemble playing, but includes pipers Neillidh Mulligan, Padraig Mac Mathúna, Ronan Browne, Declan Masterson, Eugene Lamb and Sean Potts. These are not examples of solo piping, but they give a good idea of what playing for dancers is all about, and when you compare these albums to the more piping-focused recordings, you get an idea of the contrast between Irish piping for listeners vs. piping for dancers.