OK - I give up! What does NYAH mean?
- Leel
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- Tell us something.: Hi All - I am a Celtic music performer with a band called Beyond the Heather, located in the Lawrence, KS/Kansas City area. I sing, play whistles, SSP and bodharan. I've been a C&F member since 2003 but haven't posted much recently.
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OK - I give up! What does NYAH mean?
Hello All - I have seen the term "nyah" bandied about in several threads.
I get the general sense that it means something to the effect of the "feel" or "aire" of the music being played.
But, I've done a search on the forums and even gone to several on-line celtic language translators and have yet to find anything definitive on the subject.
Help appreciated.
LEE
I get the general sense that it means something to the effect of the "feel" or "aire" of the music being played.
But, I've done a search on the forums and even gone to several on-line celtic language translators and have yet to find anything definitive on the subject.
Help appreciated.
LEE
- Nanohedron
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Not necessarily so easy to define as demontrate.
Plenty of "nyah" here, especially in the first tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-uhowyUuqE
Plenty of "nyah" here, especially in the first tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-uhowyUuqE
Last edited by Nanohedron on Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Actually, no, it doesn't. It's a quality in the playing. When some one says "s/he's got (the) nyaah", what's being referred to is not talent per se, although no doubt talent will play its part.Baglady wrote:It means talent.
More "nyah":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-cmK0WX ... re=related
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
- djm
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It is more a style of playing, the "lift", "lilt" or "swing" (choose your favourite adjective) that sets Irish trad music apart from others, gives it life, sets the room to dancing, makes you want to jump up out of your wheelchair, regrow your hair, etc.
djm
djm
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The trad equivalent of "soul" or "groove" in jazz or blues, that comes out in the "lift" and spirit of one's playing.
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- Nanohedron
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
That gutsy upsliding into a note has a lot to do with it, too. Also, really digging in to a note for sonority.
Take my diddly of "Farewell to Erin", for example:
NYAAH de Dum deedle Diddly-idle eedle-idle NYAAH de Dum diddly Up-a-dydle eedle um.
Like that.
Can a banjo have "nyah" at all?
Take my diddly of "Farewell to Erin", for example:
NYAAH de Dum deedle Diddly-idle eedle-idle NYAAH de Dum diddly Up-a-dydle eedle um.
Like that.
Can a banjo have "nyah" at all?
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
- Nanohedron
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Heh. Although on further reflection, I must say that I once heard a kitchen recording of a woman playing a reel on banjo that came pretty darned close to the "nyah" factor. It was dark, deliberate, inexorable, and, surprising to me, full of emotion. Sheer mastery. I'd never heard a banjo played quite so...um...thoroughly, before. Quite the eye-opener, it was.
So yeah, in the right hands, I'd say it's possible.
So yeah, in the right hands, I'd say it's possible.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
Nyah is notes that make you stretch your neck when playing or listening - bending notes or perfect phrasing. Key or mode changes also give a lot of nyah.
In my book, Tiarnan Ó Duinnchinn has to be the current king of nyah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8blbyNHg ... re=related
Mukade
In my book, Tiarnan Ó Duinnchinn has to be the current king of nyah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8blbyNHg ... re=related
Mukade
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Or "duende" in Flamenco, "sodade" in Fado, etc.MTGuru wrote:The trad equivalent of "soul" or "groove" in jazz or blues, that comes out in the "lift" and spirit of one's playing.
~~
Literally, it's an onomatepoeic term for sliding into a note; one of many ways that ITM has of accentuating important notes. Figuratively, it's a term describing the property of music (or the player) in which the important notes have been identified and accentuated correctly, adding immensely to the emotional impact of the preformance.
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Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps. - Location: Lefse country
Yep. Well put. Thanks. I also think Mukade's mention of key changes contributing to "nyah" has merit, too. Also, "odd" notes, such as the Fnat as often played in An Buachaill Dreoite, have the potential for "nyah", but it's all in the playing. A MIDI file won't have it even if the notes are there.s1m0n wrote:Literally, it's an onomatepoeic term for sliding into a note; one of many ways that ITM has of accentuating important notes. Figuratively, it's a term describing the property of music (or the player) in which the important notes have been identified and accentuated correctly, adding immensely to the emotional impact of the preformance.
It's not just one thing. But when you hear it, you know it.
Last edited by Nanohedron on Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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