Perfect imperfect peformances

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myles
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Perfect imperfect peformances

Post by myles »

It's a discussion I've heard a few times before but I think sometimes the rough edges on a performance are what make it musically interesting.

Take for example Ennis playing 'The Nine Points of Roguery" in 1974 (well done NPU for making all this stuff accessible):

http://pipers.ie/source/media/?mediaId=9839

Ennis is in his declining years I suppose, he says at the start he doesn't play this on the pipes...then we get a false start and he mixes up the parts a bit first time through. But the second repeat he's got his bearings and is absolutely steaming, he pushes the pace almost imperceptably and gets the crans bubbling away - so relaxed and so, well, Ennis, it's like he'd been practicing it for weeks.

So in spite of the fluffs I think this snippet really demonstrates why he was one of the greats. Perhaps this is why I barely own any studio albums of piping.

Anyone else know any rewardingly flawed performances?
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rorybbellows
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Re: Perfect imperfect peformances

Post by rorybbellows »

Wabi sabi pipeing is the way to go ,its just that some of us are better at it than others and beauty is in the eye of the beholder or in this case, ear.


RORY
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myles
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Re: Perfect imperfect peformances

Post by myles »

Fair points Rory.

I had to look that up:
It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō), suffering (苦 ku) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (空 kū).
Well...suffering, anyone listening to my piping knows a lot about that.
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MadmanWithaWhistle
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Re: Perfect imperfect peformances

Post by MadmanWithaWhistle »

John Carlos pulled off a miraculous save in one of the tracks on the "flute geezers" tape. He's playing Garett Barry's reel, and dips down to the G prematurely during the bit rocking back between Cnat and B. He somehow manages to get back on track with high E in a fraction of a second. You wouldn't know if you weren't listening closely!
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Tell us something.: I play the uilleann pipes and would like to converse with other pipers. I'd also like to keep an eye out for "for sale" ads for used pipes.

Re: Perfect imperfect peformances

Post by truckley_howler »

I've always liked Ennis's blunder in his recording of The Lark's March. Even though he completely loses the notes and stalls, he stays locked in to the tempo and rhythm of the tune. There's a lot to be learned from that.
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