I noticed the name Iarla O’ Lionaird in Three Marys post which brings to mind a track (7) from his CD “The Seven Steps to Mercy” CDRW67.
Question of the day - whose doing the piping and any idea on why the track was done ala retro. Also track 10 “Aisling Gheal” is v/interesting from a production viewpoint any suggestions on it?.
Where’s the sound detectives?
yours unreg
I’ve heard that the piper on that track (“Cuir A Choladh An Seanduine”) was Ronan Browne, though I’m not certain of that. Apparently, Iarla had originally wanted to do a Nat/Natalie Cole-style duet with an archive recording of Padraig O’Keefe but he couldn’t get permission to use the recording. Too bad. I’m sure it would have been Unforgettable.
Instead, he decided to do a duet with a piper and to try and get a “pre-Seamus Ennis” kind of sound–hence both the style of the playing and the post-production hissing and crackling sounds.
I think the Aisling Geal recording was done by Peadar O Riada (Sean’s son–ironically, I think he plays the accordion), director of a choir in Cuil Aodha, Co. Cork and apparently one of the first people to discover Iarla’s talent.