Patting/tapping Ds on the flute.

[ChrisCracknell]

(I have posted this question to thesession.org as well)

I have got some pipe (GHB) music with D being played with taps of C separating the Ds (second octave D). Cutting the Ds just doesn't sound the same, especially since the first two Ds are followed by a third which IS articulated with a cut.

The best I can come up with is lifting the two left hand fingers to sort of tap with a c sharp, but it isn't really very crisp and doesn't really sound like a tap. It might become better with practice though...

I guess this is related to how to "roll" a D - descriptions of which were where I got the suggestion of using the c above.

Other options that I am aware of are cranning it, i.e cutting the D, but with two different fingers, and possibly doing a tongued cut on the second on?

Or, transpose the whole tune so the the Ds become As and play it on a flute with a low C natural to cope with the low G-naturals on the pipe chanter. Unfortunately all my simple system flutes have D-feet... And, no one would play it with me in a session then:-( Or transpose it so that the As become Es, but then I need a G-Sharp (and possible a D-sharp too? - need to check the tune closely...) And still, no one would play it with me in a session.

The tune is of course, Jig of Slurs, but I have seen the problem in other tunes too.

Suggestions anyone?

Thanks,

Chris.

[BrendanB]

Hey Chris,

One thing to keep in mind is that even though GHB music is written as if it is in A, most chanters are still tuned to somewhere around Bb, so don't take it quite as literally as you are doing. The other thing is that piping has its own set of grace notes/ornamentation that really only work on the pipes, so basically what I am saying is that it's probably an exercise in frustration to try and play pipe music on the flute exactly as it is transcribed. My suggestion would be to check out someone playing the tune on the flute. Matt Molloy does a great version on Stoney Steps (I think - not positive about the album).

B

[Guinness]

If you must ornament them, then perhaps triple tonguing the middle D's will sound the best.

[AaronMalcomb]

Like Brendan says, how the tune plays on GHB is different from how it will play on flute. This is why I play the tune on pipes but not flute. Scale wise, because of the pitch of the chanter, it is more like Eb on the pipes.

Do you vent the second octave D? If you do you'll technically get a Cnat when you cut the vented D. Methods for rolling the D vary. I usually play d-glottal-d-cut-d.

[Ro3b]

Part of the genius of Matt Molloy's recording of the tune is that he pretty much eliminates all those repeated D's.

If I really wanted to keep to the canonical setting of the tune, I wouldn't use cuts between those D's; I'd tongue instead.

[jemtheflute]

I learnt Jig of Slurs (aka, flippantly, as The Jug of Slugs) many years ago from a late 1970's Tannahill Weavers album. They of course had Phil Smillie on 8-key concert flute as well as a GHPiper in the band. I play it, usually on flute but also on whistle, (I think it is really just the A section that is at issue here) with pseudo-cuts on those repeated Ds by cutting with R3, which actually produces an indeterminate flat C naturallish cut-tone. Works fine to my ear. The pitch of cut-tones doesn't usually matter, it is the break in the main tone that they supply which is the issue. Cutting with L3 or R1 will also serve, producing a sharper C natural cut-tone, but I haven't practised that, so can't do it fluently. I believe (i.e. was told once - don't know for sure????) that in GHP ornament notation the grace notes marked are not intended to signify note pitches, but rather the finger (associated with the written note) that is to be moved to achieve the cut. I also sometimes tongue those Ds for a variation, similarly the (rather awkward on flute/whistle) rising figures in the D music (GBB Bdd | dee edB) - sometimes I tongue the repeated notes, sometimes roll/cran them.

I think the point has already been made that it is a mistake punctiliously to try to play the ornamentation precisely as prescribed for a different instrument (can be interesting to try out though - how else would flutes and whistles have acquired the cran?). Rather approach the tune's melody from the technical and idiomatic capacities of the instrument you are using. By all means seek to imitate or emulate the efects achieved on another instrument, but using the techniques of your own, and don't be frustrated if a particular detail cannot be satisfactorily copied: rather find a way around it within the instrument's and your own abilities.