Kenny's flute recordings

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Gromit
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by Gromit »

Thanks Conical - will use Dropbox
kenny
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by kenny »

https://youtu.be/gkTo2-VIpss

Seamus Tansey - "The Maid Of Mount Cisco / Kisco" - "Tom Ward's Downfall".

Thanks to Mr. Gumby for that link to the Clare library. That's going to keep me busy for months. Especially pleased to find more recordings of Joe Cuneen. Ta !
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
Gromit
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

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Terry McGee
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by Terry McGee »

kenny wrote:https://youtu.be/gkTo2-VIpss
Seamus Tansey - "The Maid Of Mount Cisco / Kisco" - "Tom Ward's Downfall".
OK. Dominant annoyance is the background noise., so let's have a shot at that:

http://mcgee-flutes.com/Sounds/Seamus%2 ... wnfall.mp3

Here I've used a form of adaptive filtering, just called "Noise Reduction" in Audacity's drop-down list of "Effects". This is possible when you have a section of recording free of program content, but that includes the noise. I took a sample of the noise from after the end of the music, and used it to "train" the adaptive filter. Once trained, you apply the filter to the rest of the recording, and if all goes well, most of the noise disappears.

Being a bit pressed for time (there are flutes to be made, remember?) I just used the default settings of the filter, and it seems to have done a reasonable job. You can fine-tune the filter to reduce artifacts. I added a little presence boost and topped and tailed it to remove the remaining noise at the ends where it is more exposed.

If you listen closely, you can still hear some noise, and probably more could be done with it, but hopefully you get the idea. If you overdo adaptive filtering, you can introduce a more annoying effect called "noise modulation". You can "hear the filter working" as if someone is breathing along with the music. Moving sounds are harder to ignore than standing sounds.

You're certainly finding plenty of jobs for Audacity, Kenny!
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Terry McGee
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by Terry McGee »

Incidentally, an observation on doing Before and After comparisons of sound restorations.

Having done the Before and After comparison, and concluding that "yeah, that's probably better on the whole", or "nah, I preferred it warts'n'all", it can be very revealing to go back and listen to the Before again. The ear has a short memory!
Seanie
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by Seanie »

Mr.Gumby wrote:He is still around.

Apologies. I am glad that Seamus is alive and still making music and singing. He collected a lot of great material in his day.

I haven't has any luck in finding his cassette. Maybe he didn't make one.

I'll keep looking. I have already discovered stuff that I had forgotten I had. Some nice Tommy Peoples from 1981 and some lovely duets with Tommy Peoples and Matt Molloy from around the same time..
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by Terry McGee »

Gromit wrote:Original telegraph 6 recording -

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ajf4oqael5vob ... 6.mp3?dl=0
and a tidied up version:

http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Sounds/Telegraph%206.mp3

This recording struck me as dramatically lacking in bass and over-bright, so I introduced a downward trending tilt right across the audio spectrum. There was some low-end noise, so I also did some low frequency tilt from 70Hz down. You could probably come up with a better approach, but I felt that was enough for a first attempt.

I haven't attempted to deal with the shambolic ending when somebody's chicken curry arrived at the table, but happy to if directed. Some options would be to:
- fade out after the last 2nd B part
- fade out before the yelp that pushes down the level at around 2 minutes in
- steal the missing parts of the tune from a previous repeat and fade out
- other, please specify....
Gromit
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by Gromit »

Thanks Terry I'll have a go at the rest of the tape. The 'chicken curry' reference was Marcus Hernon and Austin Dawe fooling around after someone messed up the second tune of the set.
kenny
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by kenny »

Seamus Tansey : "Farewell To Gurteen / Morrison's".
https://youtu.be/ykzTaJ-D2mQ
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
kenny
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by kenny »

Roger Sherlock : "Dowd's #9 / Jack Maguire's" [ Audio only ]

https://youtu.be/tQCzAoxx3ww
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
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bradhurley
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by bradhurley »

Terry McGee wrote: I haven't attempted to deal with the shambolic ending when somebody's chicken curry arrived at the table, but happy to if directed.
Please don't! This kind of stuff is the magic of field recordings. I have an old tape of Lucy Farr and Chris Ferguson playing together in Lucy's flat in London, and at one point Chris Ferguson struck a match and you can clearly hear the sound of the flame growing as it caught. And there's almost as much chat on that tape as there is music. This is traditional music in its context; I can't even listen to most studio recordings anymore as they sound too sanitized.

Another favourite moment of mine is an old recording of Tommy Potts made in the early 1960s by an American woman who was traveling with her toddler son. At one point Potts is in the middle of a soulful rendition of the air, "The Blackbird" and the kid starts banging away on a toy xylophone. What I love is not the interruption but the fact that Potts carried on playing without losing any of his concentration.
kenny
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by kenny »

Roger Sherlock : "The Duke Of Leinster / The Duke Of Leinster's Wife [ The Ladies' Pantalettes ]"
https://youtu.be/sDTmGcIZcrU
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
kenny
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by kenny »

Hi Brad - did you ever meet Chris Ferguson ? I did, once in 1980 in London, at the same concert where I took the photo I've been using of Seamus Tansey. Chris was a good friend of John Skelton, whom I'd met a few years before. I think I may still have a recording of the 2 of them playing a duet together at that concert, and maybe even a solo by Chris himself, but I'd need to check. I remember him as a very accomplished player, but I think he died quite young, not long after that. Good to know that someone else remembers his playing, although I'm sure many in London do.
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
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bradhurley
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

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kenny wrote:Hi Brad - did you ever meet Chris Ferguson ? I did, once in 1980 in London, at the same concert where I took the photo I've been using of Seamus Tansey. Chris was a good friend of John Skelton, whom I'd met a few years before. I think I may still have a recording of the 2 of them playing a duet together at that concert, and maybe even a solo by Chris himself, but I'd need to check. I remember him as a very accomplished player, but I think he died quite young, not long after that. Good to know that someone else remembers his playing, although I'm sure many in London do.
Hi Kenny, I never did meet him; I do remember John Skelton mentioning him in an email exchange we had years ago. The recording I have of him with Lucy Farr has him playing a fantastic version of Jim Donoghue's reel with some unusual bits compared with the way it's usually played...this is probably my all-time favorite recording of this tune; have a listen! https://www.dropbox.com/s/t8nqsoz8kgrcy ... l.mp3?dl=0

The tape I have came from the late Bill Ochs, who I think got it from Lori Cole many years ago.
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Re: Kenny's flute recordings

Post by kenny »

AUDIO ONLY : Roger Sherlock : "The New Policeman / The Rabbit's Borrow" - Flute & Whistle recital, Willie Clancy Summer School 1980.
https://youtu.be/Wbe7IGspEN0
"There's fast music and there's lively music. People don't always know the difference"
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