Favorite Styles of Playing

[LorenzoFlute]

If I like KC but not JS or mostly not MM what style am I liking?

KC's style?

[whistle1000]

Obviously Matt Molloy but I think that Seamus Eagan is a flute god. Not to mention all the other instruments. I haven't seen Brian Duke, of Cian, mentioned here. He's phenomenal!

[ImNotIrish]

Oh God! I just want to play like me! Whatever style that happens to be.... at least it is representative of ME!
And, I don't have to to try and be anything/one else!
Such as it is....
At least it is true to the source!
arbo

[talasiga]

yes, thats good! I want to play like me too but in dealing with traditions of music it is nice to be able to identify why we may like one very good musician more than another and whether it what distinguishes one form another could be something that may be recignised as a style.

It is also helpful to know what people mean by various descriptions. I had asked a question about how people would describe Kevin Crawford's playing on the video a I linked. Once I am given those standard descriptors I will be able to look out for other flautists similarly described with an increased margin of success in finding things to my taste .

[hans]

"If it’s music you want," Christy Moore sang, "then go to Clare." In 1989, flute, tin whistle, low whistle, and bodhrán player Kevin Crawford heeded those words. He left his hometown of Birmingham, a bustling industrial city in west central England, for rural West Clare. "One reason I moved was to up my game musically and get a bigger exposure to the tradition where it originated," he explained. "I never intended tomake it a permanent move, but I’ve been living here ever since."

Read all: Geen Linnet: ABOUT KEVIN CRAWFORD

Also this review may be interesting:
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/crawford.htm

[LorenzoFlute]

If I like KC but not JS or mostly not MM what style am I liking?

KC's style?

What I was alluding to is that KC and many other great musicians are beyond styles generalization, because their playing is very recognizable. They just sound like themself. You could try if you like Tom McElvogue, he has a new album they say. Also try Claire Mann, different from KC but you may like her.
But how could people really describe someone's playing? As I said before, what you may like is the "feel" a great player can give. You can try to describe what's "around" their playing and maybe you can generalize that and kind of put it in a recognizable style, but that may not be what you're looking for. And anyway there aren't THAT many recordings of flute players, so just listen to anything you can put your hands on, you will find something you like.
Your comment about that MM clip that didn't touch you untill 1:36 onwards made me think though. Are you listening to the style or to the tune they're playing? You may love a style but hate a tune and vice-versa. Maybe you just love tunes in a minor key (B minor in MM's clip from 1:36, E minor in KC's)...

[LorenzoFlute]

About hans and his quote about west Clare, in that region of Ireland they favour minor keys and a more flowing style of playing compared to regions more in the north. Try Paddy Carty and Eamonn Cotter...

[Gordon]

I think Othannen's right here. At this point, the players mentioned are not examples of any particular style; the nature of their playing has always been to push beyond borders of ITM and innovate; you would never site KC or MM as a clear example of such-and-such regional playing.

I don't think the point should be to try to sound like anyone, or play in any particular style. Rather, it's to find who's playing inspires you and why, and emulate that, either consciously or through osmosis (listening to those players you most admire). It's not enough to just play like yourself, 'cause we don't learn in a vacuum, but the point should not be how to sound like someone else, but how to play tunes in a way that most satisfies you.

[talasiga]

I am genuinely seeking your assistance as to how you describ flute playing. Whether one has a definitive regional style or eclectic or their own ground breaking style isn't the point. What are the ELEMENTS in their style and how do describe it according to the traditional types of descriptors used amongst ITMers

For instance, look at these excerpts from the OP (with my underlinings):-

....... prefer the real rhythmic chirpy style of playing utilizing lot’s of chuffing and rhythmic pulses. I on the other hand prefer the playing of Seamus Eagan, Matt Malloy, and John Wynne with a more flowing, smoother style of playing (at least that’s how it sounds to me). I find the more I listen the more I realize how different people play from one another. I really like John Wynne. Do any of you know any other players out there that play this way? Catherine said he plays in a very traditionally Sligo style but when I listen to Josie or Seamus Tansey they sound much more rhythmic than flowing.
........

So now,
how would you describe or contrast KC and MM for instance?

[m31]

I just want to play like me!

Elements of me but not all me. Otherwise I'll be just another Woody Allen playing himself in his own movies over and over again (despite the different tune titles).

[LorenzoFlute]

how would you describe or contrast KC and MM for instance?

That's hard to answer, it would take some time (that I don't usually have) and I don't see the point in translating music into words. You can try it yourself, it might be a good excercise for the ear.

[talasiga]

There is nothing wrong with my ear mate. What is wrong with me is the choice of words for what I am hearing. What I am after is the right choice of words that are usually used within a tradition so that people used to to talking about the music within the trad lingo understand me and I can understand them.

So if some of the apparent experts here in IT music criticism could describe whats happening in the MM clip from 1.36 onwards that is different from the earlier portion (and I AM NOT TALKING of modal shift but the the actaul attack etc) then I would be most grateful! And PLEEEZE dont tell me that the only diff is the change of tune becuase that would mean that my ear can hear more than you and I cant believe that would be the case.

Thanks.

[talasiga]

.
....Enough of that, someone help me here.
If I like KC but not JS or mostly not MM what style am I liking?
.........

Just a clarification. This isn't a general statement about JS, MM or KC. Its about the clips in question. Why, even this morning I woke up with a flute in my head and it turned out to be the flute played by MM on a cassette tape I have, a tape I haven't listened to for many years until today when I was trying to work out where that flute in my drowsy morning head was from.

It has actually upset my plans for the whole morning because now I just have to go for a little country drive to honour that music .......

[oakuss]

There is nothing wrong with my ear mate. What is wrong with me is the choice of words for what I am hearing. What I am after is the right choice of words that are usually used within a tradition so that people used to to talking about the music within the trad lingo understand me and I can understand them.

So if some of the apparent experts here in IT music criticism could describe whats happening in the MM clip from 1.36 onwards that is different from the earlier portion (and I AM NOT TALKING of modal shift but the the actaul attack etc) then I would be most grateful! And PLEEEZE dont tell me that the only diff is the change of tune becuase that would mean that my ear can hear more than you and I cant believe that would be the case.

Thanks.

So what I hear: At 1:31 or so he starts the new tune; Musical Priest in Bm. He's playing it with really dense ornamentation at a fast tempo, and punching out honk tones which are what tells me what the pulse is; without those I would not be able to get it from the dense ornamentation. The punched out honk tones are somewhat syncopated so I have to interpret the syncopation to get the pulse; it sort of makes my ear and mind work a little harder to figure out the pulse. This is also similar to the styling he uses on the previous tunes in this vid.

So at 1:38 or so, he gets to the B section of Musical Priest, where he goes more melodic without as much ornamentation. He's now letting the melody carry the rhythm. It's more ... regular, more of the sort of thing I'd usually hear from (really good) flute players.

At 1:46 he goes back to the A section of Musical Priest. He's doing it differently than the last A section at 1:31: Similar in that there is lots of ornamentation and accented notes to define the rhythm (this time using high notes as well as honked low notes) but the ornamentation is not as dense; it's more rhythmic, and the accented notes are not syncopated so you hear the pulse a lot easier.

So part of what he's playing with in this tune is how hard does he make you work to find the pulse? It's alway there ... but he's contrasting sections by how prevalent he makes it. He does this in a lot of his "showpieces", like Mason's Apron. He's being adventurous, risk-taking: how crazy can he get it before the time becomes indistinguishable? And then in another section, he lightens up on the craziness to give you some relief; otherwise it would fatigue the ear.

Now: The KC vid. His style in this vid is very similar to what MM is doing from 1:38 to 1:46; playing the melody rhythmically, which a fair amount of ornamentation to spice it up. Just really good modern-style Irish flute styling. BTW, I've heard KC live with Lunasa, and I've heard him do stuff similar to what MM is doing in the MM clip.

BTW: I don't claim that any of this is what an experienced ITM critic with all of the right trad lingo would use. I'm just sayin' what I'm hearin'. And BTW, I love both clips.

[talasiga]

Hooray!- that made my day Oakuss!

I am going to have to read that several times and watch the videos over and over.
(The download takes me about half an hour for each one!).

You have linked the Kevin Crawford whole and the Matt Molloy part that I love and given me an explanation of the coalescence.