Posting clips

[LorenzoFlute]

Where are you up to on the flute repair?

one of these days i'll go to a music shop and see if they sell pads, for now the key holes are covered with blutack. it's clean and well oiled and the cracks are filled with beeswax (sometimes i have to fill them again, but it takes 1 minute). didn't change the cork yet. the two joint are still jammed.

Hope i'll soon be able to make decent recordings of jigs and reels, my grip is getting more stable, even if i can't play well as with the piper's grip yet.

[Akiba]

I bought an inexpensive PC mic today and made some recordings. Had a geocities site already so I can host this for free. It's a rather large wave file so my apologies in advance.

I'm playing my newly aquired Cochran delrin Rudall/Pratten (Hawkes?) hybrid that I got through Doc Jones.

Just one tune downloaded on the site so far--Flowers of Edinburgh.

Let me know what y'all think. Any and all comments welcome.

Thanks.

Jason

http://www.geocities.com/jpollack2000/JasonClips.html

[Rob Sharer]

Nice playing! Lovely, lyrical style. Cheers,

Rob

[Akiba]

Added another tune to my site, Jimmie Ward's. Also upgraded my site so if you tried to download but couldn't, you should be able to now.

Again, any and all comments welcome.

Thanks.

Jason

http://www.geocities.com/jpollack2000/JasonClips.html

[monkey587]

I've been working on this air on and off for a while, based on a few sung versions I've heard.

A Stor Mo Chroi

Playing this has helped me with my tone a lot lately, but the place where I was sitting in relation to my laptop's mic made it such that the high notes are a lot softer than they sounded to me in the room.

After listening to it a few times I think maybe I'm laying it on a bit thick, or something. Does it work?

edit: the background noise is the rainstorm outside, in collaboration with my gutters. hopefully you can hear the tune over it.

I just developed my first two rolls of 35mm film in years, and screwed them up pretty badly, hence the melancholy tune.

[chas]

Good news and bad news. First the bad news. I was inspired by Michael's posting that included Hag at the Churn. It's a damn simple tune that I love to pieces and I've been playing for a couple of years at least. But I don't get it. It's a pipe tune, and I just can't seem to turn it into a flute tune. It's all breath management. Here it is, warts and all, I'd appreciate any comments:

http://www.box.net/shared/8onkbzj0gw

Good news, although largely irrelevant. Someone in another thread mentioned Bach's Bouree (the one that Ian Anderson did, there are actually many). He expressed a sense that it would be difficult on a simple-system flute. This is on my Cameron Grenser one-key at A415. This is far from perfect, but it's a neat tune, and I think I've captured the essence of this guitar tune much better than I captured the essence of the pipe tune above.

http://www.box.net/shared/m45zsi144w

Thanks in advance for any comments.

[sbfluter]

After listening to it a few times I think maybe I'm laying it on a bit thick, or something. Does it work?
.

I think you did a nice job. Maybe add more vibrato?

[Akiba]

Added one more tune to my clips page: Rolling in the Ryegrass. Probably my roughest take, by I like the feel and the tone in places. Any constructive criticism welcome.

Cheers.

[ImNotIrish]

Jason, I listened to the Rolling clip. I love the tone of your flute. What are you playing? I thought the rolls sounded great
and to my ear your phrasing seemed good (but, look who is commenting!). I did notice that you seemed to speed up dramatically and therefore the rhythm got a little shaky. This seemed to happen on the B parts. I couldn't keep tapping evenly all the way through. I like that other people are posting. I am taking a little reprieve.

Arbo

[Akiba]

Arbo, you're right, I speed up a bit. It's a tune I'm still working on nailing. I probably speed up because I'm trying to drive it hard, and, as these tunes have a tendency to do, I accelerate as a result. Thanks for the heads up. I'll re-record it at some point. Have a listen to my other clips--they're more solid rhythmically I think--and let me know if you hear the same tendency. I'd appreciate the feedback.

The flute I play is a Cochran(Jon Cornia) delrin with Rudall fingering and a Pratten bore which I just recently picked up through Doc Jones. (You can see a picture of it on Doc's site under the "Sold" category as Cochran Rudall.) I think Jon also mentioned it's a hybrid that has some similarities to a Hawkes model--so take your pick.

Thanks again for taking a listen and commenting.

Jason

[Rob Sharer]

For what it's worth, Jason, I didn't mind the little bit of speeding up. Sure, what harm if you're on your own? I've heard the jigs now as well, and I think it's all very nice. As I said before, it's a lovely, older style of playing that I quite like. Carry on! Cheers,

Rob

[monkey587]

After listening to it a few times I think maybe I'm laying it on a bit thick, or something. Does it work?
.

I think you did a nice job. Maybe add more vibrato?

Thanks. I am not sure about the vibrato, I feel weird doing it the bit that I do, but that's a personal problem, I guess. I still feel unconvinced by my playing on this. I asked a friend about it, which is a lovely player of airs, and he said that the rhythm and the phrasing aren't quite there yet. His suggestion (right on the mark, I think) was to listen to hundreds of airs until it all makes sense.

[jemtheflute]

Not me this time! Check out these links to Ceri Rhys Matthews playing with fiddler Christine Cooper that I've just put on the video thread - the last one with the Welsh title (Deuair Byrrion) is especially nice.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... ht=#756140

Enjoy! (And I'd be interested in all you ITMers' reactions too....)

[johnkerr]

His suggestion (right on the mark, I think) was to listen to hundreds of airs until it all makes sense.

Excellent advice. But better yet, listen to hundreds of singers singing the songs that the airs come from. That will keep you from phrasing your playing of the air in a way that is at odds with the words of the song, it will let you know which notes to stretch out or emphasize or ornament because there is something happening there with the words, and it will help you understand the underlying emotion of the air that you will want to communicate to the listener. Of course all this is easier if the song is in a language you speak yourself, but even although many songs are in Irish it's still possible to learn a lot more about them from hearing them sung than from hearing them played, no matter how good the player is. Really, the purest expression of an air is in the song. (Except of course for airs that were written as instrumental pieces, like Tommy Peoples' air <i>An Feochan</i> aka <i>The Gentle Breeze</i>.)

But I think you did a very nice job with that one as it is, William. Sure, there are always things that can be improved, but you're pretty close to it already.

[ImNotIrish]

Okay, here's one of those airs I believe was composed on its own. I learned this from the band Pendragon, of Providence , RI. I believe the whistle player played it during a concert where my old band was sharing the stage with them. I am sure I have changed it somewhat over the years, but this is what I remember of it. The playing is a little rough, especially at the beginning where I was trying to remember the tune. Sorry about that.

Arbo

http://www.box.net/shared/rtuc2ud4w0
(a cry for peace)