Chiff and Fipple Forums

Steve, the Sailor & The Maid sounds like a good one, I'll have to look it up. Here are some of my favorite tunes to "toot" and the harmonicas I use to play them: The Girl I Left Behind- G Arkansas Traveller- C or D Turkey in the Straw- G Oh Susana- G St. Anne's Reel- C or D Fisher's Ho...

Hi, I'm Dan from Alabama. Like you, I love to hear, and play, Celtic and old-time American music on the harmonica. Although I admire the technical expertise of some blues players, I find most blues music a little monotonous and lacking in melody. I love experimenting with new harmonicas; I have play...

I definitely prefer the sound of an oval-hole mandolin, especially in ITM and folk music. Some A-style or F-style mandolins are louder, it really depends on the particular mandolin, but mainly they're used in certain types of music because they don't resonant, they have a "choppier" sound....

What is your opinion of these accordions and concertinas (http://stores.ebay.com/Great-Tunes_Acco ... idZ2QQtZkm) that are sold on Ebay? I know they're made in China, but are they a decent instrument for someone who's on a budget?

Does anyone know what happened to Martin Fay, the fiddler who played with the Chieftans for years? Did he pass on or did he simply retire?

I sat in with a Bluegrass band's practice session once. One of the wives said, "It sounds like that Celtic crap to me!!", I grew up around bluegrass music and that type of attitude is one of the things that turns me off about playing with many "bluegrass" musicians. I think they...

I just got the L.E. McCullough book and CD package "The Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tunebook" yesterday. I really like it, but I'm a little overwhelmed by the quantity (4 CDs) of tunes it contains. Being relatively new to IrTrad, I'm unfamiliar with most of the tunes. For those of you who ha...

Jason, I totally agree with about "Another Country"; one of my all-time favorite albums in any genre and a classic for sure. I must admit I was a little disappointed with "Down the Old Plank Road", but I guess they had set the bar so high with the first album that it was hard to ...

Of course, modern bluegrass shows a heavy Irish/Scot influence. If you don't have the CD's already, get a copy of the Chieftans' "Another Country" or "Down the Old Plank Road" to hear the beautiful, and sometimes seamless, connection between bluegrass and IrTrad.

Pure trad. with a little contemporary thrown in. For example, I have the CTL album that has Dan Fogelberg's "Leader of the Band" on it, and I love how they took this beautiful ballad and made it sound like a traditional Irish song.

I'm looking to buy a decent low G and/or low A whistle(s). PM me or send an e-mail.

rh, thanks for the info- I didn't think I'd seen the Tombos here in the U.S. I'm looking for a G, D, or A chromatic right now if anyone has one they'd like to trade. I have some new Suzuki tremolos to trade, and I'd be willing to pay boot. It's amazing how hard it is to get chromatics in any key bes...

Steve, thanks for the informative post. I totally agree with you on the Chinese tremolos- I've heard they have plastic reeds! They sound like crap and blow out in a matter of days. Disposable. The lower-end Hohner tremolos aren't very good either, IMHO. I really like the Suzuki Tremolos a lot. I hav...

The tremolo harmonica is a poor man's squeezebox for sure- that's why I own serveral! :lol: My favorite two, at the moment, are a Suzuki Humming Tremolo G and a Hohner Comet Octave C (wish it were a D). Does anyone have any suggestions for good-sounding tremolo harps? Sorry: I didn't mean to post th...

I love seeing this new forum. I'm Dan from Alabama. I've played harmonica for years, and I'm looking to expand to either/or concertina or accordion. I play some IrTrad, but I also play a lot of AmTrad! My main inspirations have been the music of Patrick Street and Altan- and I'm embarrassed but I ca...