What makes a good slow air ?

[CHasR]

...in your opinion.
& dont just point me to "Doinna" (or something) altho its a great piece.

what im trying to discern are the key essential elements, for you, that need to go into the construction of a dramatic, riveting slow air.

is it scale degree motion? 'singability'? melodic direction? tension & release?
Tonally, is it the avoidance of certain notes that make or break the line?
Is adherance to a few specific ranges (ie tessiturae) on the chanter that give the piece its particular flavour?
Is it essential now to discard the drones and take advantage of the harmonic possibilities offered by a keyboard?
Are balanced, repeated phrases an asset, or is a throughcomposed piece now superior?
Do major or minor modes fall short of the sought after expression of the piece?
What role should melodic motifs play: central, or otherwise?
How much reg is too much?
How deep is the need for (other than purely technical) ornamentation?
Is it essential to exploit the chanter's timbral variations?

Ok, these are not easy questions imo and there's a fair lot of jargon in there. Looking for a little more than just 'play what you feel'. Be specific. Give examples. thx.

[rgouette]

Is it essential now to discard the drones and take advantage of the harmonic possibilities offered by a keyboard?

wow, you just alienated 99% of the fellows here probably with that one...

[John O'Gara]

Being in the shallow end of the piping pool and not much on music theory, I've heard and I believe it to be true, that you can do a much better job interpreting the air if you know what it's about in the first place, so do the research.

My two cents, brief and uninteresting as it may be.

[fancypiper]

Is it essential now to discard the drones and take advantage of the harmonic possibilities offered by a keyboard?

Down with keyboards. I can't stand a wash of synth music mixed with pipes. Pipes and solo pipes, especially the flat sets, make the best slow airs.

Listen to sean nos (old style) singers and get your pipes to sing like that as closely as possible.

[Ted]

The most important factor, IMHO, is to know and have in mind while playing, the words to the air, in Irish. I am always amused when some Chinese or whatever band tries to play an instrumental version of a song, which is familiar to me, but it always sounds odd to me, as I have the words in mind while they are playing it. It usually comes off not sounding "right", as the musicians are not aware of the words. It would be great to be fluent in the Irish language, but at least one should listen carefully and memorize as much of the words as is possible and keep them in mind when playing.

[Ceann Cromtha]

"I am always amused when some Chinese or whatever band tries to play an instrumental version of a song, which is familiar to me, but it always sounds odd to me, as I have the words in mind while they are playing it."

That's a great point and would even be better with a good example. I don't suppose you (or someone else) has a link to one?

[CHasR]

thx for replys !
ok so far the consensus tends towards singability (aka cantabile); lyricism, vocalization, word painting, and 'traditionalism'.

Let me clarify: - Im not concerend with the interpretation of an existing slow air, setting texts (new or old), in Gaelic, (or Mandarin). think more basic. in a pure musical, melodic sense. structural. fundamental. "urlinie",(if anyones familiar with that term)

Ought your ideal slow air to be built on a set of harmonic changes, ornamented melodic motifs, a directional line, or simply try to imitate plain folksong (range of an octave, within a scale or mode, metrically and rhythmicaly subjugated to the words)?

Or should it be impressionistic, idiomatic of the instrument (as opposed to voice) , have no set repeated structure, be more concerend with "the line", as opposed to reaching crucial tonal points within the scale or mode?

What is it that sets an emotional, quality, slow air apart from a mere strophic ditty played with exrtreme expresion?

go deeper gents- yer doing great ! give me more ! keep feedin the fire

[NicoMoreno]

The most important factor, IMHO, is to know and have in mind while playing, the words to the air, in Irish.

The only problem with this statement is that it pre-supposes two things that are not necessarily true:
1) The air has words; and,
2) The words are in irish.

Most of the airs I learn are from english language songs (still traditional irish songs, often sung in similarly to a sean nos song, but still.) The airs I learn from songs I learn because I like the words or the story, or the melody moves me. The airs I learn that don't have words, I learn because the melody appeals to me. I'm not too sure that the airs have much in common that could be analyzed at the level you're asking. I like it, I learn it... simple as that.

[learnthegrip]

In his book Traditional Music in Ireland, Tomás Ó Canainn discusses several factors (such as intervals, cadences, ornamentation) that make a tune "Irish." He devotes separate chapters to Sean-nós singing, pipes, and fiddle. His discussion is not so much about what makes a tune good as what makes it fit into the Irish tradition, but still, it might give you some good food for thought if you haven't already read it.

Or, you could study the works of Komar & Melamid, who created paintings and music based on what people surveyed by phone considered good art. Their ideal American painting included a lake, deer, a family and George Washington:)

[PJ]

I think there's too much fuss made about knowing the words. I don't disagree that it helps to get the phrasing of the tune but I don't think that a piper should try mimic a singer.

But knowing the words does help the piper interpret the tune. Not all slow airs are laments: in fact, most of the slow airs I know are not laments. Knowing that a song is, for instance, that the theme of a song is love or patriotism, and not sadness, should make a big difference in how it is interpreted by the piper.

[bensdad]

A few thoughts:
I'm curious as to why you'd want to consider slow airs in a "purely" musical way.
Such an analysis may be possible, but why?

Slow airs, it seems to me, only achieve meaning in the context of memory and social relationships. To ignore that is a conscious analytical choice, but one that, I think, will result in a shallow and incomplete analysis. If I'm playing Anach Chuain in Connemara, the possibility that one of my listeners may be related to one of those drowned in the tragedy is more germane to the air's effect than a list of musical terminology that is irrelevant to, and not used by, the audience.

Why are you asking us for a prescriptive set of musical characteristics? We encounter the world of slow airs as a genre already formed, and it is varied and multifarious.
If you arrive at a set of prescribed musical characteristics, do compose an air using them, and then see whether anyone thinks it's any good. I have my doubts.

And I don't think you can make a "riveting" slow air. A performance is "riveting," not the air itself. "Riveting" just ain't guaranteed my musical structure.

Looking for the "urlinie" is reductive. Schenker demonstarted that Beethoven's 5th went I-V-I. Big deal.
There, start with that. It's an interesting subject.

[Jarlath.I]

And I don't think you can make a "riveting" slow air. A performance is "riveting," not the air itself. "Riveting" just ain't guaranteed my musical structure.

It's also entirely subjective. I have heard the same air played in a way I love , and the same air played not as well. I think it really, for me, comes down to mastery of the chanter.

I have wanted to get to a Tionol where someone teaches slow air playing, but haven't gotten to one yet. One thing I have noticed that I like is, at the end of a phrase, the use of vibrato at the beginning of the note, which then stops to let the pure note come through before the note is completed. Sorry, I know you are looking more for the structure of a good slow air, and this is not what you are looking for. I think you could spend a lifetime on musical analysis of what makes any music "good" or "riveting" and maybe never coming to a true conclusion, due to the changing tastes of audiences. It is a very interesting subject and I am looking forward to seeing other responses.

[straycat82]

But knowing the words does help the piper interpret the tune. Not all slow airs are laments: in fact, most of the slow airs I know are not laments. Knowing that a song is, for instance, that the theme of a song is love or patriotism, and not sadness, should make a big difference in how it is interpreted by the piper.

Bravo

[Cathy Wilde]

The slow air performances that have made the biggest impression on me are the ones the truly suit -- and exploit -- the instrument's (or singer's) voice so that they sound like they're just spontaneously springing forth. The "cri de coeur" ("cry from the heart"), I guess you'd call it; the true essence of the thing performing the melody.

I'm trying to learn Paddy Maloney's "An Speic Seaogach," (Gay McKeon does a killer turn with his C set on "The Dusty Miller"), and while my performance may never be suitable for public consumption, I've been struck by how obvious it is this tune was written by a piper. It uses every corner of the instrument and is just so ... well, right for it. It's totally in the pipes' voice.

It also has a beginning, middle and end which I kind of prefer in a tune.

[CHasR]

Good. Thanks again! so, thus far:
Vocalism, up to a point.
Context. Impressionism.
Mastery of technique.

What else? What else makes a good slow air? stepwise motion? unsetteld harmonic implications? Is the tunes' context an essential inseperable element? Does this context seperate and elevate a slow air from , again, an expressively played strophic ditty?
Should formal structure matter at all???

I'm curious as to why you'd want to consider slow airs in a "purely" musical way.
Such an analysis may be possible, but why?

dissection is more revealing than imitative interpretation. What makes slow aires ...tick..? whats going on ...inside the tune...hmmmm?

Why are you asking us for a prescriptive set of musical characteristics?

DEscriptions work fine. What do we see, what do we hear that makes a slow air satisfying, memorable, distinct?

What I'm interested in is cold, hard, incontrevertible, analytical musical evidence. Describe the musical elements that make any particular piece 'superior'...( havent had too many concrete exx's yet ) for instance
"Because so&so uses the upper 8ve here....it makes the piece"
"Because so&so keeps returning to this motif....it makes the piece"
"Because so&so uses non harmonic chanter tones against this interval on the regs, it makes the piece"

Please, please, please continue!