McGoldrick & the fiddle

smoro · Post by **smoro** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:58 am

I heard that McGoldrick is playing the fiddle for the last 2 years and he played some tunes with it in some concerts. Do you know anything about this?

pixyy · Post by **pixyy** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:14 am

Never seen him play it on stage, but saw him play whistle, pipes and flute in a session. Then, as he was taking a break, picked up (Donal O'Connor's) fiddle in the middle of a tune and finished the set on fiddle as if it was his main instrument...

I find this both inspiring and infuriating at the same time

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:20 am

He might well know the ropes. Years ago, he spent half a session playing the mandoline.Not same instrument but ... There may be some recorded live stuff anywhere?

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 10:18 am

he's also quite accomplished on the banjo.

rh · Post by rh » Fri Mar 24, 2006 10:21 am

yes but can he play spoons?

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:16 am

Or edit a textbook?

*sigh*

treeshark · Post by **treeshark** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:15 pm

I hear his shakey egg playing sucks.

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:18 pm

rh wrote:yes but can he play spoons?

"Can he?" is one question but "does he?" is a more imprtant one.

Discretion is the better part of valor.

smoro · Post by **smoro** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:00 pm

So at the moment we have:
Flute
Whistles
Mandolin
Uillean pipes
Guitar
Bodhran
Banjo
Fiddle

and maybe spoons,

Not too bad...

Cheers!
Serafin

michael_coleman · Post by **michael_coleman** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:02 pm

Yeah, but how many at the same time?

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:19 pm

This brings me good memories. In that session he played the mandoline I happened to take a bodhran I had finished that very same morning for the fun of trying it. After some hours playing and some more pints, he saw the bodhran into a worn out paper bag and said '...hey... thats's a bodhran, isn't it?' I was unwilling to take that thing out made as it was with poor tools by a very unexperienced fellow (me) and I modestly refused with some pseudo-technical explanations about the rough craftiness and so on. He went on and I said '...look, this is home made, I wasn't even able to achieve in giving a perfect round shape' and then he goes laughing: '...what the f**k are you saying, thats' sh*t, a bodhran is a bodhran, who cares about the shape?'

Said that, I gave him the thing and he played it fiercely for some sets, beating hard, pressing, pushing the skin, pouring beer onto the goat while I thought: '...no instrument will ever have so glorious birth and such a short life...'

smoro · Post by **smoro** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:06 am

And I forgot the Highland bagpipes. Someone told me but I never believed him completely, but now...

seizurebot · Post by **seizurebot** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:37 pm

at a capercaillie soundcheck i watched mcgoldrick go through bass, drum kit, keyboard, bouzouki, and the percussion set. for what it's worth...

i'd pay money to watch that guy play the percussion set solo. he kicks ass.

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:41 pm

Do you think he'd qualify as a high functioning savant? I wonder what a brain scan would reveal.

I saw a show about the brain on the Discovery channel the other night. Kim Peek, who is the true story behind Rain Man, has no corpus collosum and has minimal use of his left hemisphere.

Not to suggest Mike McGoldric has brain damage or is autistic. I'm just suggesting that his talent could be neurologically expedited. He's like a Daniel Tammet of the UK/Irish folk scene.

Daniel Tammet holds the European record for recounting pi to the 22,514th digit in just over 5 hours.

=

See how it all ties together?

Cheers,
Aaron

dyersituations · Post by **dyersituations** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:49 pm

mmm.... pie....

oh... sorry off-topic...

It's fun playing different types of instruments. Also, I find it gives a better overall feel of the music, since you can approach it from different aspects.

-Casey