Wormdiet wrote:Jeff Stallard wrote:Wormdiet wrote:I'm convinced that 99% of the people who dislike bagpipes have not figured out the difference between in-tune competent playing and out-of-tune warbling with shoddy, slurred embellishments.
:roll:
Sorry, but that's ridiculous. I don't like mushrooms. Is that because I haven't had "good" mushrooms? Someone else might say that 99% of people who LIKE bagpipes only like them because they haven't heard what GOOD music sounds like.
Obviously 99% was a bit of an exaggeration. BUt - how many Joe Sixpacks have heard really first-rate piping in an environment that it can be appreciated? I would guess the majority of the population here in the U.S. has not. Even when hiring professionals. I had a piper at my wedding who looked pretty darned good on paper - years of experience, claimed to a be a teacher, etc. He wasn't even close to being in tune and his fingering would have been appropriate in grade IV competition. I *speculate* (can;t prove it) that this is the type of thing a lot of people hear when they form their initial impressions of GHB.
And of course,
de gustibus non disputandem even for properly exposed ears. I like some heavy metal too, which I'm sure several "well-informed" listeners don't.
I'm thinking UP, not GHB. Even great players on CD, I'd rather hear the tune played on something else, fiddle, flute or whistle preferably.
For my taste, the fiddle is the most easily expressive of the ITM instruments (but of course that's because I play one). I love the woody throatiness of a well played flute, and the burbling cheerful stream of notes of a whistle. Banjo is a bit plonky, accordian usually just played unsympathetically (but well played is a dream). Concertina is a refreshing change, and well played is again a joy, but all too rare to hear one these days.
Pipes, I dunno, often I have trouble catching the phrasing, so I can't always tell when the tune proper starts, until something else comes in to keep the time clear. The dry-fartiness combines with the often out-of-tuneiness, to produce a sound that is just less pleasant than most of the other possible melody instruments.
I loved Peter's playing in Milltown, and maybe the room being played in made a difference, but I chose not to attend the Uillean Pipes concert, though the concerts I attended (flute/whistle, fiddle, concertina) went on too long for posterior comfort, which helped me decide not to.