Woof!

[BillChin]

I may be off base, but in certain dances, a hoot or holler is a traditional accent for certain formations. It adds energy to a dance, but can see where it might be distracting at a concert.

[Cynth]

Okay, I'm confused. Are we talking about people whooping or actually saying the word "Woof" like a dog?

[NicoMoreno]

Yes.




I think the Woofer was actually a whooper. See the "Whoop" doesn't always end in a hard "p". That'd be messy, unless the musicians were playing in the bathroom, like a certain pipe maker was at a certain recent Toronto piping weekend.. um... where was I going with this? Oh right... it often sounds more like whoo, or even yip, or... well... onomatopeia aside... it could easily have been mistaken for woof. And of course that guy went home thinking: "geeze, what was wrong with THAT guy?"

[PJ]

Woof? Are we talking about the yelp? If so, be very careful. A good few years back I was at a class given by Martin O'Connor. He spoke extensively about the yelp. It's a build up of emotion on the part of the musician or the audience. So what's the appropriate moment to yelp?

1. Changing from one part of a tune to another (part A to part B)
2. Changing from one tune to another (in the same set)
3. Changing tempo (going from jig to reel or reel to polka)
4. Changing key (with the same tune)

It's considered wrong to yelp at any other time.

[I.D.10-t]

Anyone else have a good comeback?

A guy I listened to got so angry with a crowd that requested it that he said “you want the F’n Unicorn song! I’ll give you the F’n Unicorn song!…. A long F’n time ago, In a place far F’n away…”

It is even more requested now. With the swearing thought, and usually a joke right before the part where the unicorns dieing.
“…and this the sad part, it is as sad as wining the masters as an armature…”

[NicoMoreno]

Woof? Are we talking about the yelp? If so, be very careful. A good few years back I was at a class given by Martin O'Connor. He spoke extensively about the yelp. It's a build up of emotion on the part of the musician or the audience. So what's the appropriate moment to yelp?

1. Changing from one part of a tune to another (part A to part B)
2. Changing from one tune to another (in the same set)
3. Changing tempo (going from jig to reel or reel to polka)
4. Changing key (with the same tune)

It's considered wrong to yelp at any other time.

Nope, not true.

Simple fact is that traditionally, people yelp whenever they want.

That was the joke running through my post, see. And I got it from whatever book it was (pretty sure it was Carson's.)

[PJ]

Nope, not true.

I don't think it was meant to be the law. MOC had a funny bit about how, if you got the yelp rightly timed, it was a great emotional release, good for mental health. Whereas if you got the timing of the yelp wrong, you ran the risk of sever emotional damage (not to mention rottweiler looks etc).

[Jack]

It means "Up Sligo!" in Irish an is really spelled Bhaouriaghthbhaieaghbh.

I love it!

[rebl_rn]

I would take a woofer, although it sounds very bizarre, over a jumpy screaming woman any time.

The absolute worst is a jumpy, screaming preteen girl. A few years ago I martyred myself for my nieces and took them to a Christina Aguilera concert (this was before Christina turned into a slut). I came armed with earplugs, but the shrieking girls behind me (who shrieked everytime Christina moved, or stopped moving, or sang, or stopped singing, or talked, or stopped talking, or danced, or stopped dancing....) were still enough for an industrial-sized headache (especially topped with the "music").

Beth

[Cynth]

You are a saint!
Nieces are worth it though.

[The Weekenders]

Since most of us are whistlers, this doesn't concern us, because we are busy playing and have neither air nor opportunity. So let somebody else yulp, hup, whoop, woof, Up Sligo, Up Clare, Up Yours or whatever...

[cowtime]

This thread reminds me of lots of stuff-

All the whooping during playing? Well, here in the mountains no group of players are worth listening to , much less dancing to if they can't bring out a whoop, yell, ye-hi or somesuch.

At a Metallica concert the guy behind me yelled "Seek and Destroy" constantly, throughout the concert. This was one of the most calm, orderly concerts I've ever been to. I think most were MUCH too relaxed.
Even the moshers were kinda slowed down.......

Way back when, I took my daughters to see New Kids On The Block. It was unreal. A constant roar from the time we entered the building until we got out several hours later.Those kids never stopped screaming. Literally. I remember thinking at the time that this was how the Beatles concerts "sounded".

[spittin_in_the_wind]

At many Celtic-y concerts in the East Bay area here, a rather large and somewhat unhygienic woman gives very vocal support via that Middle Eastern ululation thing. Just about knocked me out of my chair at a Battlefield Band concert.

Now there's a visual (and audible)!

Robin

[The Weekenders]

A third sense was involved too but hard to convey. Just imagine rarely washed cottons, perspiration from the kind of person who ululates at BB concerts and in the old days, would periodically have to burn the straw spread on the dirt floor, or West Berkeley communal house, whatever the case may be. We had invited guests to the concert, and my ex-sister-in-law got to sit right in front of said world's number one BB fan.

[Walden]

At many Celtic-y concerts in the East Bay area here, a rather large and somewhat unhygienic woman gives very vocal support via that Middle Eastern ululation thing. Just about knocked me out of my chair at a Battlefield Band concert.

I grew up among Pentecostals. I just thought it was some kind of religious thing.