It’s getting to be that time of year…
What’s on your piping xmas wish list? New cd’s out? New piping toy that’s a MUST have? DO TELL!!
Try out Ronan Browne and Peter Loughlin’s latest CD on Claddagh, “Touch Me If You Dare”.
My XMAS budget is somewhat curtailed by the fact that I’m expecting delivery of a new Koehler and Quinn full set in the spring; narrow bore/flat pitch B, of ebony, brass, and hard white stuff. Should be mighty.
Pat
looking forward to the remastered bunch of keys{jhonny doran} i think its supposed to be out in december.the origanal is amazing, he was way ahead of his time.i have a great uncle from longford,he is 81 years old and is still playing.he has played with jhonny doran,maybe 40 or 50 years ago.he said that "we all do are thing"but he plays the pipes."like u would"nt believe"and still remembers him to this day,his name is peter carberry,and has recently been made patriot saint of the pipers club in dublin and has some great stories.
On 2002-11-13 18:01, danny wrote:
looking forward to the remastered bunch of keys{jhonny doran} i think its supposed to be out in december.the origanal is amazing, he was way ahead of his time.
I was told this week by the man who is writing the introduction t othe new release the sound quality of hte CD is stunning, the former tape was done from a tape recording while this new release was actually done from the original 1947 discs. It’s supposed to be stunning ‘Johnny without the cottonwool’.
But to say he was ahead of his time, well, he was great and so were other pipers from that generation and those before.
Apparently in the process of recording and transferring to tape, the recording ended up faster than JDs original playing. This may be only marginal, but it may inspire hope 
Cheers
Alan
The tapes were speeded up about a quarter of a tone. How that inspires hope I fail to see, it was hardly speed that mad him stand out.
I think the point was that hearing him at the correct speed may make him seem just a smidgeon less superhuman, even if it doesn’t quite drag him down off his pedestal.
If it’s not already too late, it might also just do a little to counteract the belief that you have to play at the speed of the tape recordings, i.e. too fast for comfort.
I have never been able to take any of the good things from that recording because of both the speed and [in places] the lack of clear sound.
So I think I see what Alan is getting at.
Boyd
On 2002-11-14 12:28, Peter Laban wrote:
The tapes were speeded up about a quarter of a tone. How that inspires hope I fail to see, it was hardly speed that mad him stand out.
Did you see the smiley at the end of my sentence?? I’m terribly sorry but I don’t have one with it’s tongue in its cheek Pete!
Cheers
Alan
Here are some smilies we could wish for this Christmas:
- “I’m being sarcastic,don’t flame me.” = ;sarcky)
- “Sorry old friend, I’ve over-reacted”
= :whoopsy() - “I am an angry twaddling prat. Pay no attention to me.”
= :$*#@%!( [;sarcky] - (this applies to me) “You’re in for the long haul, I tend to blather.”
= :&&&&&&&&&0
Something to think about.
Marc
Marc…when I first saw the “winker” smilie I was reminded of an old text in the proverbial papyrus biblica that said, “He that winketh with his eyes…he teacheth with his fingers.” (6:13) -sounds like a piper alright! 
PS..why don’t you dress us as Santa and play your pipes in the Mall this year?
Low priced plastic uilleann pipes go here:
A torturous gift for your enemies.
Dear Lorenzo,
Nah, I’m too skinny to dress as Santa. Anyway some kid would probably try to hop on me lap and end up breaking the chanter. 
Marc
Peter, what was the reason for speeding up the tape?
Alan, I was just after reading a discussion on speed on the ITM board next door. By now to me the whole debate is a bit of a non issue. That coloured my reaction rather strongly, but to elaborate on it, Johnny Doran’s music is very personal very complex, there’s an awful lot going on and there is no other piper that has that total integration of the regulators in the music. There’s so much there and very overwhelmingly so, to make listening to his music a very daunting sort of experience. But with all other stuff goign on, speed really doesn’t spring to mind as anything to worry about. That was the background to my reaction, tongue in cheek or not as the initial message was. I did sound a bit grumpy, didn’t I.
Having said all that, I never managed to sit down and listen long to Doran’s music. The last time I listened was two years ago and that was after the tape had been silent for at least ten years before. It is interesting, it’s impressive, some of it is extremely brilliant yet for some reason it never spoke to me like, say the music of Seamus Ennis or Willie Clancy. Johnny’s music has probably influenced everybody but I sometimes wonder how direct the influence really is. I know that all Doran aspects that have seeped into my music came second hand, through the tapes of Willie Clancy playing, from the music of Martin Rochford, not from listening to Johnny’s recordings.
On 2002-11-14 21:03, Tony wrote:
Peter, what was the reason for speeding up the tape?
Tony,
It was accidental. Recorded on a machine that ran slower than the one copies were taken from. And then the same for tape machines it was transferred to.
Was it done to restore the pipes back to their original pitch?
Tony,
I doubt that they would have been that concerned, but who knows? It’s likely that it was merely incompatible machines.
Cheers
Alan
For Christmas?
I’d like a mini-disc recorder/player …one that I can record on and then transfer the music to my computer.
Any of the UK/Eire guys got one that they think is good?
Boyd
Hi Boyd,
I’ve been thinking of getting a MD recorder, the SONY MZR909 look’s like a good one. I think you’ll need a program to record to your PC though. I can give you a list of websites, dealers, reviews etc if you like. Let me know.
Cheers Mac