2005 Southern California Tionól

wolvy · Post by **wolvy** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 10:29 am

Wow, I enjoyed the tionol. Both instructors (Jimmy and Maire) were excellent - but different, so the material complimented each other well. Highlights for me were: Hearing Lia and Chris play fiddle/pipe duets in the key of C on Friday night, meeting Maire and Susanne (what nice people!), hearing Benedict play (wonderful) and hearing Patrick's "the Holy Order" up close.

...and again, many thanks to Gabriel, Eileen and the rest of the club for putting this event on.

So Justine and Fel - Have you learned "The Stoney Steps" yet? I am working on it. I have to ask a dumb question. Maire taught it to us with a lot of swing to it - kinda like a hornpipe, but I find music for it more as a reel. Does it "straighten out" into more of a reel feel when you speed it up? I'd hate for it to lose that swing feel too much.

- Tom Wolverton

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:26 am

fel bautista wrote:I used the method Benedict showed you to tune my drones as well

Would you mind sharing this method with the rest of the class?

Muchos Gracias to Gabriel, Eileen, Benedict, Jimmy, Máire and everyone else who pitched in!

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:42 pm

wolvy wrote: So Justine and Fel - Have you learned "The Stoney Steps" yet?

Well, since Maire told us to forget the tune and then come back to it again later, I am working on the first part of the instructions right now.

Actually I can only remember the A part, so I'm waiting for Bob or Fel to send me their recordings of it so I can refresh my memory.

It's a nice tune, alright. I enjoyed her "right-brain" tune learning method; it was a lot of fun to just play along without stressing about getting every note.

J.

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:48 pm

Chadd wrote:
fel bautista wrote:I used the method Benedict showed you to tune my drones as well
Would you mind sharing this method with the rest of the class?

Uh, oh, a test.

Ok, here goes...turn off the baritone and bass drones and tune the tenor to the chanter A. Play a tune and listen to how the tenor sounds with the whole scale, and make adjustments as needed.

Tune the bass drone to the tenor drone by listening for the wavering when sharp and flat, and placing the slide roughly in the middle between them. Do the same for the baritone.

Benedict also said to check whether the drone reeds vary a lot in tuning depending on the pressure, and if so to tune the drones accordingly. So since my drones were going sharp, he said to tune mine slightly flat.

Did I get it right? Huh? Huh? I will be working on this for a while.

J.

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:15 pm

Justine: Sounds like you have it right. It's hard to tune both bass and bari to the tenor, one at a time is much easier. BK taught me this as well.

In noisy situations it helps to lift the bag to your ear so you can hear the "beats". Thanks to Tim Britton for that little trick.

Wolvy: Although your reels should be fast enough to be distinct from your hornpipes, if you speed up a reel too much, too soon, you run the risk of flattening out the rhythms. This is a tragedy, especially with a tune as nice as Stoney Steps.

Stoney Steps sounds best at a moderate pace IMO, just practice it the way Maire taught it to you, and you will be able to play it faster and preserve the lift in time.

I'm still not well after the weekend.

Had a great time though.

Jumper · Post by **Jumper** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:45 pm

Pat Cannady wrote:I'm still not well after the weekend. Had a great time though.

I'm still recovering too, as I had to play at our Sunday night session here in San Diego. It was good, though, and Justine even played her new pipes for us. Her beau John is coming right along on the banjo.

I really enjoyed playing a tune or two with you and Karen at the tionol. Not much other "B" action though this year, was there?

Please let me know if you find anyone that remembers Dave Page from when he lived in Chicago. There must be a story or two to tell.

Cheers

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 6:33 pm

Jonathan- I never met David Page in person; I heard him on the Larman's radio show way back when (mid 70s). I am probably sure I still have a reel to reel of it somewhere ( along with my TEAC reel to reel). He was one of the reasons I wanted to start piping.

If you listen to Chris and Lia and they certainly are not playing a warp speed; I think if you play too fast you loose the accuracy of the ornaments and the swing of the music, IMHO.

I too am doing EXACTLY what Maire said to do and am doing a great job at it!!!!

I have the "tab" that Marie wrote out for me; when I get a moment, I'll scan it and send it to the usual cast of characters. Does anyone have "The Stoney Steps" on a CD from a reputable player? I'd like to hear it as an original tune somehow. Doing the original listening part that JOBM "drilled" into us.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 7:47 pm

I missed most of Saturday so didn't get to hear the tune being taught, but looking in my collection, I have Micheál Ó Raghallaigh playing The Stoney Steps on concertina on his album "The Nervous Man". Also on Noel Hill's latest CD "The Irish Concertina 2". Is this the same tune?

Michael

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:40 pm

The Michael O'Raghallaigh one is the same tune, I think. It's well worth learning his version, he has a nice way with that tune.

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:41 pm

I'm still recovering really. What a great weekend... thanks to all! I've put up photos on the So Cal Pipers website if you'd like to have a gander.

If you have any photos or comments you'd like to add please send them along to me.

See yee at the next one,

Patrick.