Well, here’s my $.02 or maybe even $50.00.. whatever.
I’m just glad the site stayed up as it started … I started what was formerly Cliips&Snips when I first brought it up as a SHARING SITE for people who just wanted to post and share their tunes with the world, and not to mention be able to play all their different whistles and such and see and hear what they had accomplished online and out in the world… whether they were novice or expert.
THAT’s the point. FUN and community. It’s was never meant to be a whistle tutor site, a daily column site, or anything other than what it was and fortunately… from what I can tell… for the most part still is.
But I digress. I no longer run the site, nor am I responsible for what happens or what is said / done / is ok or not, so I’m just rambling
All I can say is that in contrast to what I’ve just said… if you want to come right down to it… when I’ve been itching to learn a new tune on the whistle??? I’ve gone straight to Tin Whistle Tunes, most likely found it, grabbed it whether it was a novice or expert playing, and I had myself a nice, whistle based piece to go off of (since I learn by ear alone) and irregardless I was able to learn my OWN rhythm or canter when I had grasped the basic tune… then add my own ornamentation and style to it.
So either way you look at it… it’s not designed to be anything other than what it says it is or Tony says it is, but for people that have enough skill to extrapolate just the tune and add their own style fine, if not then go elsewhere if you need something more. It’s only a matter of what you’re looking for and some of the fantastic sites on the web you can go find it.
Ok, I’m off my soapbox. Sorry about that.
Tony… I have extra storage space at my site if you’d like to have some link space.
Well, I can’t resist giving an advice to beginners, as I know how bad it can get when you get a bad start.
If you are a beginner, just DON’T use anything you find on this site, on Clips, or any other player’s site, as a learning tool. The best clips you will hear around will have good technical proficiency and perfect rythm, but it will lack something very important: The SWING! That special touch that makes a reel a reel, a jig a jig and hornpipe, a hornpipe.
I am working on my swing, and still have loads to go, but at least I’m conscious about it. Beginners should try to find recordings of pure ITM, and tape other “masters” around, and get a feeling of the music from there. I would say, try to learn from Stephen Jones and Peter Laban, they both lived around the music for a very, very long time, but be careful about the others. Don’t forget that the best musicians don’t post on clips, they’re out there playing
You don’t want to learn from 99% of the posts on Clips, but it’s still nice to listen to.
Posting your own clips and asking for comment is a great idea, and there certainly is a lot of educational value in that. I never used C and S for this, tho we’ve occasionally dissected a student’s recording on the live chat.
Admittedly, you can get on the wrong track by downloading other people’s submissions and using them to learn, under the assumption that they must be authoritative examples; this is a bit like learning how to write by reading other student homework assignments, ungraded. (Believe me, even essays from college seniors at an ivy league school will occasionally use “X is like when you Y” as an opening sentence.) But by posting one’s own, a newbie can probably get some help.
So I wouldn’t go so far as to say that CandS has no educational value, any more than a study group or discussion group for any other subject. Put a hundred students in touch with one another and ultimately it helps them.
