Careful what you wish for.

I'll do the one:



Soundchecking at Bantry House. It was really a magnificent location and a lovely festival. And we were very well looked after too. We headlined the evening concert. I don't recall who were on before, Maire Ni Maire Ni Gallachoir sang beautifully, there was also a group including Paddy O'Brien and Patrick Ourceau. Christy Moore and Steve Cooney did a night concert, we stayed on for that, stayed on the surfboard as it were (and yes he sang that one too, at the request of our concertinaplayer whom he took quite a shine to, and who wouldn't).

_________________
My brain hurts

Were there any recordings from this festival? Quite the group there.

RnaG recorded it and broadcast the whole concert some month after it took place. Some tunes from that ocasion, as well as a selection from a later concert with an extended group at Glór in Ennis, are on this CD. I have further recordings from a galaconcert at the Feakle festival the previous year that had Maurice Coyle playing the guitar. I twisted Mick's arm to play this gorgeous solo piece on the harmonica, The Leipzig waltz. That man is absolutely brilliant. I perhaps preferred the Feakle one, more relaxed.

We did a few in memory of shorts, first for the concertina cruinniú last year and another one just before christmas, I played the whistle for the last one, less hassle than getting the pipes to acclimatise for just a few sets of tunes in winter.

_________________
My brain hurts

Thank you!

There's the famous Jill Freedman shot, a series of them actually, of Micho Russell sat on the Piper's Chair' down below Doonagore:



I walk the Cliffs of Moher fairly regularly, usually from the Hag's Head side and sometimes all the way down to Doolin. If you know where to find the Piper's chair, it's hard not to be tempted to sit in it for a few moments and be surprised how comfortable a piece of rock it actually is.

There's a tune named for it. It has view of the Atlantic and across to Inis Oirr and usually an audience of inquisitive cattle and horses, it is as tempting a location as any to take the whistle out, if you're into that sort of thing.

_________________
My brain hurts

That's lovely, quite the scenic view.

Early 2000s I went on several Mission trips to central Mexico staying in city of San Luis Potosi. The first time we went out to desert village called Guadalupe Victoria. I don't recall which whistles I had with me. They had some sort of small community building in the village with a little stage. We had few other musicians from our team and from church in San Luis. I had taught them a few jigs and reels - I can't remember which ones as I was still fairly new to whistle playing. As soon as we began playing pretty much the whole village turned out and began dancing! I had the same experience on other trips in other towns and villages. They really seem to like Irish trad south of the border.
I also played a few solo tunes for fellow guests on Colorado River smooth water raft tour Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry.

Many, many years ago (late seventies?), I was working in the Electronics lab at the Research School of Physical Sciences at ANU. A task I was presented was to design and build the electronics to drive the dome at the 48" Schmidt telescope up at Siding Springs, in the Warrumbungle ranges. The electronics simply had to keep the slot in the dome in front of the telescope as it ever-so-slowly followed the distant stars across the sky, and in particular to accelerate and decelerate it gently when moving it, to minimise rumbling the telescope.

And, having built and tested it, then to go up there and install and test it in operation. Our team would be away for a week. Needless to say, I packed a whistle. Never leave home without one....

I had plenty of time to myself, as the job of installing the massive hydraulic system that actually moved the dome far outweighed the time I needed to install my control system. So I spent quite a bit of time walking in the simply gorgeous bush, and finding nice places to play. I couldn't play in or near the staff areas, as stargazers are nocturnal creatures, and need their uninterrupted sleep. But I enjoyed many outdoor experiences, including locations where you could hear the whistle reflecting from the next mountain along....

And while installing the equipment in the dome, I recognised its remarkable acoustics. Its essentially a half-sphere, so stand in the middle and you are at the focal point. Anything leaving there comes back there. Woah....

You can get some idea of the size of the telescope and its dome here. It's daytime, so the telescope is in its rest position, rather than peering through the slot as it will in the night to come. The whistle felt a little puny by comparison. But with those acoustics, really loud!