Clancyesque off the knee stuff

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myles
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Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by myles »

Try as I might I don't seem to be able to get that particular exaggerated slide up to the second octave f sharp that he often uses - e.g. when playing the second part of the West Wind. I either end up dropping the octave...or doing a sort of very polite, gutless version.

Anyone got any tips?
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by Mr.Gumby »

How do you approach it now?
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by myles »

I've been trying raising the chanter slightly into an off-the-knee E, ring finger up and little finger down, then raising the middle finger as the chanter gets a bit further off the knee, and finally a roll.

As this is based on watching film of better pipers than I am I really don't know if I'm getting the timing right or if I'm making a hames of the finger positions somehow.
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by benoit trémolières »

I think it rather is something like a sliding opening of F#, doubled with a popping.
The popping increase the sliding effect, and you then finish with the roll on closed fingering.
All this part of Willie's playing obssesses me since years. Basically, there's nothing very complicated. Everything is a matter of timing, measure and synchronization, but Willie Clancy is really a tightrope walker at that:second octave open playing and attacking attacks with poppings (I hope it's the same word in English and French?)
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by benoit trémolières »

I'm wrong: the sliding is not on F#...
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by myles »

benoit trémolières wrote:Everything is a matter of timing, measure and synchronization, but Willie Clancy is really a tightrope walker at that:second octave open playing and attacking attacks with poppings (I hope it's the same word in English and French?)
Yes, this is one of the things I love about his playing. The second octave work in particular sounds right on the edge, though of course in reality it's all very much under his control, and set off nicely by crisp tight playing as well.
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by Mr.Gumby »

There is a recording he made for John Joe Tuttle of him playing The Bucks that is so beautifully controlled and stylised. He starts off pretty much doing the Bucks as he does in many of the recordings, tight and controlled but as he goes into the second playing of it he opens up the playing and towards the end there is some wonderful, superb open stuff. There is a perfect balance in that particular playing, building it from tight playing into open wildness. Really a culmination of playing the tune for years and trying different takes on it, trying different approaches and then eventually bringing various elements of playing together into a perfect mix while recording it for a friend.

I only heard that recording recently, Mitchell played it as an example of Willie's taste and skill. He couldn't have picked a better example of mastering and using different techniques for maximum impact.
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by Mark Ward »

Mr. G--- Is this recording available to listen to any where? Thanks----
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by Mr.Gumby »

I don't think so. I had not heard it before. It was not among the Clancy/Tuttle tapes I have. Interesting thing is, when it started I thought I knew it but it took a turn different from the other recordings of The Bucks I have of him. Taking elements of all but organising them in a gradual, wonderfully considered way and then adding some new bits for good measure. And beautifully executed to boot. A three minute masterclass in piping if ever there was one. Mitchell played it at an event to mark Willie's 100th birthday.
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Re: Clancyesque off the knee stuff

Post by Mark Ward »

OK-- Thanks. Your description makes me misty-eyed....
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