The defining performance of the Blackbird for me (both the air and the set dance) was Paddy Keenan's on his solo UP album. That probably owed a bit to Johnny Doran's famous recording.
But Chris achieved a tremendous lot on his recording of the air - proving that NSP can be powerfully expressive, if you know how to play them, and respect their limitations. Less is more... ________________________________________ From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Anthony Robb [anth...@robbpipes.com] Sent: 18 December 2010 14:04 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; gibbonssoi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: Doubleday John, I know what you mean. I also think that fiddle and pipes in duet are a Northumbrian version of 'Himmel un Aed'. If I may rewind the discussion and with particular reference to the Chris Ormston's "Blackbird", I have to say it is a far superior track to anything I managed to offer on that album (or indeed in the 10 years either side of it - that was a dreadful period for me stuck in the music doldrums). The thing about the Blackbird was that in about 1985 Greg Smith recorded it for me (with his own variations) on my trusty old Dansette tape recorder. It was breathtaking. Visits over subsequent years produced more recordings of the same tune with yet more mesmerising oramentation/tune development. This piece with its rises and falls, embellishments and softness of song going into harshness of the alarm call had everything and had been firmly implanted on my brain for years before I heard Chris tackle it. When he did, he made a fine job of it but even in a master's hands the pipes failed to touch me as the fiddle version had. I did listen to that track again this morning and I can understand its appeal. I also had the misfortune to hear the embarrassingly unsuccessful attempt at trying to play two lovely Northumbrian Rants after it. So, it's apologies all round for the rubbish perpetrated in the name of piping by yours truly during the years '85-'05 As aye Anthony --- On Sat, 18/12/10, gibbonssoi...@aol.com <gibbonssoi...@aol.com> wrote: From: gibbonssoi...@aol.com <gibbonssoi...@aol.com> Subject: [NSP] Re: Doubleday To: cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk, nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Saturday, 18 December, 2010, 12:35 One thing I like about NSP is the way vibrato alters the colour, rather than the volume of a note. You can emphasise higher harmonics this way, and Billy Pigg seemed to use this a lot in The Lark in the Clear Air, for example. As for apples and potatoes - in Cologne they have 'Himmel un Aed' - Heaven and Earth, meaning apple kompott and mashed potatoes served together with eg, Bratwurst. There's a place for both - not necessarily far apart. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html