So… tell me, how do these guys rate with you? (I love it!, but I’m not ITM pure. 
)
the band Bow Triplets playing The Butterfly & Fermoy Lasses
http://www.soundclick.com/pro/view/01/default.cfm?bandid=45728&songid=4103151&content=song
Not too shabby, really - the piping in ‘The Butterfly’ was to my liking, but ‘Fermoy Lasses’ seemed a bit too fast. And I could do without the bongos or whatever those big drums are called.
Overall, I give it an 85 - it had a good beat and was easy to dance to. 
Well, since you asked, I hate it when bands screw up the speed and rhythm of a piece to match a totally different style of music. This version is a good example. The fiddling is pretty uninspired. The pipes are in tune, but no great example of technique. No nyaa to Fermoy at all. Just another example of people trying to ride the ITM express to get by in other genres of music. I’d give them a 5.5 out of 10.
djm
I’ll give 'em credit for their efforts. The overall effect of the rhythms was the mainest thing for me, since there wasn’t much in the way of arrangement to notice and comment on beyond everyone just playing, not necessarily a negative in itself. There was a rhythmic backbeat thing going on, esp. in Fermoy Lasses, that has never set well with me in ITM except when done sparingly in its polkas. I don’t think you can ever get the “nyah” nailed down with rhythms like that. Others might like it, though. I thought there was a rhythmic unsteadiness to The Butterfly, too. If it was intentional - for it might have been - I think the device would have worked better played slowly. The speed of Fermoy Lasses I didn’t have a problem with.
The piping was crisp, I should do so well. The fiddler started off on unsure footing, sounded like, but got things in order by the time the reel rolled around. I would have liked a brief and clean, more punctuational break between the slip jig and the reel, but that’s just my taste. Like others, I’m also not usually a fan of nontrad drums. It takes good arrangement to make that sort of thing work, I think, and it has been done successfully.
But this is all just me.
Hello to Anniemcu, Brianc, djm, and Nanohedron.
And Happy New Year to You all with lots of music to brighten your days
By pure coincidence I spotted this forum and the topic opened by Anniemcu and was flattered by the attention. It’s interesting to see what people across the pond have to say about the work of the bow triplets.
Thank you to all for your honest opinions.
May be you will find it interesting to read that we started playing for a living 18 years ago but all band members were involved in playing already as children. It’s amazing how ones lives can be centered around music.
Here a piece of information especially for the Canadian djm.
The pipe player is Brendan Wade from Wexford, Ireland, who became world famous in the band Cry Before Dawn in the early nineties (rated the no. 1 Irish band 1990) and later in The Swans with Paul Bell. Brendan was born into a very musical family and has played ITM for nearly fourty years. With your permission, although Brendan has been involved in rock music in the past, he would certainly never “try to ride the ITM express to get by in other genres of music”
To real purists of ITM it may seem odd to use percussion instruments other than the bodhran but wee feel that the freedom to add your own personal flavour to the music you love is a great thing that keeps music alive. Irish blood runs through the veins of about 70 million people world wide, the inevitable mix of other influences is natural. At least we feel so
Thank you once again for your kind attention and my best wishes for your future musical lives.
Man… you certain your name isn’t Simon? 
So… tell me, how do these guys rate with you? (I love it!, but I’m not ITM pure.
I rate it as pretty cheeky posting a clip you can only listen to after paying
I didn’t pay.
When I click the link Annie posted I go to the bands website, I click low fi and end up on another page that offers me the options of one ‘song’ for 99 or 12 for whatever it is. And I did try it three times at this stage to make sure I am not making an arse of myself. But maybe I am still missing something. Not too pressed to hear it though so no worries.
the “low fi” and “high fi” buttons open a window, at the bottom of which is an inbedded player what plays the selection.
'doubt you’d like it much better if it worked for you.
Functional here. 
I find it a bit old how people start throwing the word “purist” around. If you dont like a band, by implication you must be a purist. If you dont like a usage of percussion, you must be a purist. FWIW I happen to dislike the clip but its got nothing to do with “purism”.
Cry before dawn wasn’t exactly a traditional band, it was a ‘guitarbased Rock band’ and your ‘pipe player’ played guitar in it.
PS Denny, thanks. I have all pop ups blocked so that probably explains why I couldn’t listen.
Cry before dawn wasn’t exactly a traditional band, it was a ‘guitarbased Rock band’ and your ‘pipe player’ played guitar in it.
Yes Peter, thanks for commenting on that.
Like I said, Brendan was involved with rock music, he was lead singer in Cry Beefore Dawn. I never said that CBD was a traditional band. I said that he has played the pipes for nearly 40 years. In his younger years he started a career in what he, like many young people, thought was “cooler”. He centred himself on trad music again at a certain time in life and has stayed with it since. Nice pic by the way.
I find it a bit old how people start throwing the word “purist” around. If you dont like a band, by implication you must be a purist. If you dont like a usage of percussion, you must be a purist. FWIW I happen to dislike the clip but its got nothing to do with “purism”.
Eldarion, sorry if I hurt your feelings. Never intended to offend anybody.
Ofcource you don’t have to be a purist to dislike percussion in trad music, all I intended to say was that pure traditionalists generally do.
I respect your or anybodys disliking of this track, some might like what one does and some mightn’t.
Man…it certainly seems to be easy to be misunderstood in this forum (do I sence a certain degree of aggression?)
All I wanted was object to the accusation:
Just another example of people trying to ride the ITM express to get by in other genres of music.
I don’t think we deserve that comment for in all the years of just playing the music that we love we have never put anybody down for what they do, but maybe I should have better just left commenting.
In case there is just one person out there who is interested, here is a link to what other people say about our work:
http://www.bowtriplets.com/critics.htm
Well, there are many Bow Triplets tracks that you might find even crappier so here is an offer:
Annie certainly has a free copy of our latest album coming to her if she sends me a private message with her postal address.
The following two people who send their addresses in a private message to me will also get a free copy of our latest album “Fair Play to You” in priority post.
I don’t think I’m taking a great risk here, from what I read it doesn’t seem as if anybody would take the time
Well, it’s up to you.
Bye all and best wishes
(as I wrote so much I felt I had to remove the signature
That sort of thing can happen around here. Not often, I’d hope, but, well, you know.
Anyway, welcome despite your reception, and thanks for the replies.
I think many of us are just old and cranky… 
…might lean a bit more toward the kitchen table presentation than the stage band, eh.
I thought the clip sounded nice. Then again, I’m evidently not so ITM pure that I want to nit pick over the ways this clip doesn’t ‘qualify’. Probably why I don’t post in this particular forum much.
Well, that’s it, entirely. I happen to do both, so it’s hard for me to exclude either. Each has its place. My heart is with the Pure Drop, but when it comes to stage bands, I have no problem with going for arrangement and texture, and the extent of that depends on the audience I’m trying to reach.
But that’s me.
me too…
My comment (about the clip) was addressed to Peter.
Perhaps I assumed too much reguarding his tastes…
You don’t have to pay to listen, only to download. I wouldn’t do that to anyone. Even you. I listened first, liked it and then bought it and downloaded it.
Well… I’ll certainly gladly accept that offer.
Consider yourself ‘welcomed’ in the traditional way… Argument about what does and does not qualify as ‘traditional’ in this music is always … um… er… ‘lively’ here.
Whatever the thoughts, and I’m sure there will be more, this track inspired me to learn the first tune, and though I’ve heard it before, I never ‘needed’ to learn it before. Thanks for that!
I look forward to the CD and to many further ‘discussions’ on the merits of different approaches to tradition.