All I can say is holy crap…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8uHVu4Res&mode=related&search=
All I can say is holy crap…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8uHVu4Res&mode=related&search=
This Mikie Smith clip and many more are on the YouTube thread at the top of this forum.
djm
Oops, my bad…I forgot!
Holy Crap is right!
Serious virtuoso regulator playing there.
All the same, I have to say stylistically I prefer this slightly sparer version:
http://www.uilleannobsession.com/audio/121403_latesession.mp3
(Mick O’Brien - from RTE’s The Late Session via Pat D’Arcy’s site)
Yes, my preference lies along the same lines. Mikie is a brilliant player and his reg playing is spectacular, but my simple mind appreciates something a little less demanding. ![]()
I don’t want to dis Mikie, and I don’t mean to upset anyone here, but to my uncultured ears, Mikie’s chanter playing suffers greatly when he goes for the regs. That’s not to say that I am not impressed with his reg work, but to me there seems to be a real drop in how well he plays on the chanter when the regs come out.
It seems to me (and this is only my opinion) that real mastery of the regs would require that you be able to maintain the same level of quality playing on the chanter when you add the regs into the mix.
djm
Masterful pipering - gives true meaning to the term “Irish organ” and Mikey really does justice to a great set of pipes. Very inspiring regulator playing. I’ve seen Mikey play live a few times and it always inspire me to put the pipes on and practice. Mikey’s worked very hard to be able to play like this so fair dues to him. Some other masters of the regulators are of course Mick Coyne, Peter Laban, Geoff Wooff, Paddy Keenan, the late Johnny Doran, Big John Rooney, Kevin Rowsome, Leo Rickard …
A couple of videos down there is Dennis Brooks playing some hornpipes. Now it looks, and sounds like he is playing a Leo Rowsome set, am I right?
Is anything known about this set, has Dennis had it since new?
It sounds quite squeally/bright, which could be the acoustics, looks like he is playing in a kitchen, maybe with a tiled floor, and the chanter does sound a bit sharp. This is the first time I’ve ever heard Dennis playing the pipes.
Some more great regs and chanter work: ![]()
I can only disagree here, for I have seen Mikie play quite a few times, and all I can say is his chanter work doesn’t suffer at all from his regs playing, unless he’s making the choice to do simpler things. He’s really amazing and he’s one of the few pipers who can take a tune and play it 5 or 6 times, doing all he wanna do with it.
Also there’s some pipers who speed up when they start to play the regs in a tune and Mikie doesn’t really.
I thought that he was making the choice to simplify the chanter work in order for the regs to provide the intricate portion. His chanter playing on the first few times through is tight enough that I have a hard time imagining that he can’t do that whilst playing the regs. But, I’m a hack player myself to it’s tough to gauge!
Kennedy of Cork. Yes, Denis is the original owner.
I disagree with djm and agree with Oliver. I’d also add that from what I’ve heard of MS’s piping, he has a tendency to take a tune and play it every way he knows, first without regs and then with regs. I think what you’re hearing when he starts the regs is just the beginning of another level of development of the particular tune he’s playing.
but to my uncultured ears, Mikie’s chanter playing suffers greatly when he goes for the regs.
No it doesn’t.
In fact, of all pipers out there I’d say Mikie is one of a small few whose chanter playing does not suffer while playing regulators.
Tommy
Some other masters of the regulators are of course Mick Coyne, Peter Laban, Geoff Wooff, Paddy Keenan, the late Johnny Doran, Big John Rooney, Kevin Rowsome, Leo Rickard …
I would add Tommy Martin to the mix too.
t
Unbelievable!
And this one is also unbelievable, but in a slightly different way:
…OW!
t
Reminds me of a contract I had 2 years ago playing pipes at a medieval dinner (I know, I know, but I needed the money). Anyway, the other entertainment was a bunch of costumed “knights in armour” who re-enacted a battle with swords and axes. At the end of the evening, I had a beer with the knights, a large number of whom had only 9 fingers.![]()
By the way, what are the pipes in this clip? Swedish? They sound kind of similar to UPs at times.
… what are the pipes in this clip? Swedish? They sound kind of similar to UPs at times.
Those are Estonian pipes called “Torupil”, played by Priit Moppel from the viking-metal band “Oort”.
When torupil virtuoso Catlin Jaago was in Norway a few years ago, we had no problems doing uilleann pipe/torupil duets together. The torupil uses single reeds in both chanter and drone, like Swedish pipes. Catlin’s reeds all have composite wood bodies with flat clarinet-like reeds tied to them. Modern torupils also have some nifty tuning screws that could usefully be incorporated into other types of pipes…
http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/4570
http://cdbaby.com/cd/rotoro
http://www.users.on.net/~kustas/torupill/
Thanks for the information.
Modern torupils also have some nifty tuning screws that could usefully be incorporated into other types of pipes…
At least one uilleann pipe maker (Andreas Rogge) uses a tuning screw for tuning the back D.