Talbert St Claire posts Low whistle videos to Youtube

[Nanohedron]

Yeah. And before anyone asks what we're on about, we're just chewing the fat, here.

Ribbing each other, as it were.

[benhall.1]

Yeah. And before anyone asks what we're on about, we're just chewing the fat, here.

Ribbing each other, as it were.

Well, we are probably at the rump end of the thread, rather than the top side, after all.

[Nanohedron]

Always a customary indicator here that it's time to chuck it.

[whistle1000]

Thank Cod!

[Nanohedron]

Seriously? Fish??

[whistle1000]

I've always wanted to participate in one of these clever games that you guys sometimes get up to....that's all I could come up with... to be expected from one from Talamh an Eisc, I 'spose....but it seems that my attempt is just a pile of baloney.

[crookedtune]

Well, considering you came in cold. I'd say you made the cut.

[ubizmo]

I was going to try to add something, but decided not to brisket.

[Wanderer]

I don't want to turn this into a roast, but I'd be remiss if I sat on my loins in this debate.

Let's look at a piece of music most everyone might know: Silent Night. If someone were to play it in a different key, or with a slightly syncopated rhythm, or perhaps even changing the melodic structure slightly, we'd all probably still recognize it. Push things a little further, and perhaps we might say "well, it sounds a little like silent night, doesn't it?" Push it even further, and the original song is lost. That's not to say that that last version is tripe, or that it should be scrappled. But it's hardly the original tune. I guess the question becomes, is the improvisation the meat and potatoes of the tune, or the gravy? It's certainly something to stew over.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done.

[ytliek]

While everyone is feasting on the smörgåsbord the best part is pigging out on the ham and the low D hocks.

[fearfaoin]

Huh? ... doesn't sound like any Scandinavian people I have heard speak.

Sorry, let me translate fearfaoin speak for you:

For some reason, I had him pegged as Scandinavian, but...

means "I had thought he was Scandinavian, but now that I hear him speak I see that is not true."

I assume it's a standard US accent from somewhere, but I can't place it. It's not exactly Californian, it's not really stereotypical Minnesotan or Wisconsin... I can't attach a place to it, is what I'm saying.


Also, .... I don't know... something about pink slime, I guess.

[O'Briant]

I sold him a Kerry Pro in the last year (which he then promptly tried to flip for +$100 on ebay) -- he lives in Chicago.

[Steve Bliven]

Is there really a Talbert St. in Clare ?

Best wishes.

Steve

[greenspiderweb]

I was just listening to Davey Spillanes's version of May Morning Dew on the low whistle, and found it here on Youtube, if anyone would like to hear it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T0O7WPKMtU

Some might like to compare it to TSC's and Sean Keane's (links given before in thread) to hear the differences. Or not.

[cboody]

Well said, cboody, and thanks for those examples of other variations on a theme. I think some people just color outside of the lines, where others need those boundaries. Nothing wrong with knowing where the lines are either, for that matter, just for reference. To me, making music is more important than what colors I choose, or lines I may blur in the process.

But that is the issue, isn't it? In order to color outside the lines - deliberately, creatively, artistically - you need to know where the lines are. And in none of Talbert's recordings does he show any indication that he knows where the lines are. Not a single "straight" dance tune or air, played in a way that demonstrates an understanding of the traditional materiel from which he purports to draw. To compare this to disciplined artists like Gould, Landowska, Segovia or Casals is a bit disingenuous. They all knew exactly where the lines are that they chose to extend.

The same can be said of great trad players known for pushing boundaries - Liz Carroll, Brian Finnegan, Natalie MacMaster, Davy Spillane, Sharon Shannon ... it's a long list. I'm a great believer in paying your dues to earn your artistic license. And without that qualification, you're literally just faking it. Some knowledgeable listeners may like the result anyway on purely aesthetic grounds, and in other cases you can fool some of the people some of the time. But to then claim, even implicitly, mastery of faking it to the point of posting "tutorials" is presumptuous to say the least.

I haven't listened to enough TSC to argue with MTG (and besides he's probably correct and would win ). And I certainly agree that if TSC has not produced anything to show he is aware of the boundaries he's not coloring outside the lines. Rather he is forcing his own aesthetic onto the music. That is probably a questionable practice. But...

I have to quibble just a bit with his comments about the "disciplined artists." Gould certainly knew the lines he was bending. The other three less so. Not because they lacked study, but because (1) research had not yet reached the point where the lines were clear and (2) they all came from an era when romantic interpretation was considered both appropriate and correct. Still, they did know what to do with their music and were clearly working with known boundaries that were just a bit misplaced. That is quite different as MTG notes.