According to the FAQ, this is the forum for the discussion of “roll-like things.” I’m a tin-whistle-playing musicologist with an interest in ornamentation from both practical and historical perspectives. Documents relevant to the latter indicate that the distinction between the Irish roll and the classical turn is less clear cut than it is commonly taken to be in current tutorial and performance contexts.
The blurriness varies from instrument to instrument. I’ve started examining this with mid-17th-century accounts of ornamentation practice on the flageolet and its kin. Anyone who is interested in the upshot will find the first in an envisioned series of reports
here. (The flute and forebears of the uilleann pipes are up next.)
