Point taken, Francis. And Barry. Thanks for both. I was just using the harpsichord, (with or without over-excited skeletons), vs piano, as an illustration to make my point about using all the vocabulary an instrument can offer rather than cutting a bit out because it's heretical. And I agree detached doesn't have to mean staccato - comes of trying not to make my already meandering email even longer, with sub-paragraphs and conditions of interpretation :) And yes, Uillean pipes have not only two but three fingerings for most notes, IIRC: open, closed, and vibrato. (Oh dear, Vibrato. I can hear the approach of Rev Paisley-style tones thundering out about the antichrist of pure music coming on here....) I think I'll just go and quietly play a wire strung harp for a bit, it might be safer. Though I must be sure not to get too bogged down by whether to damp or not, and whether we should be using brass, silver, or gold strings, and which sort of brass anyway. At least it's not classical harp, where they fight about Salzedo or Grandjany technique. Or traditional Irish accordian where they used to get upset about whether you used single reed or multiple reed bank sound. Or... anyway, I'll just go and play something. Peace and oil. Richard. On 17/06/2011 20:51, Francis Wood wrote:
Hello Richard, I think we pretty much agree. Who, for example, would want to play Rothbury Hills in a staccato manner? (Who, indeed would want to play RH in any manner whatsoever, some might interjec t.) However it was composed by a significant piper who happened to be the official p iper to the Duke of somewhere or other. So like it or not, it's part of the trad ition. Often improved, if you get the chance to hear it, by Inky-Adrian's farmyard impr essions. That harpsichord comparison is mightily good, since that and the NSP have some p rinciples remarkably in common. However, I think we differ over the harpsichord's ability to play 'long-sustaine d'. That has as much to do with what the contemporary listener actually heard, knowing the style and nature of the music, rather than the acoustic output of t he instrument. While we're usefully on this topic, here's an opportunity to quote one of the gr eatest of harpsichordists in one of the bitchiest-ever remarks about taste: "Well, you play Bach your way and I'll play him his way". That was Wanda Landowska. Much quoted in that remark, though it turns out that i t was playfully said to a dear colleague and longtime friend, the cellist Pablo Casals. Baaaa! . . . Mooo! . . .. Oink-oink!!! Francis On 17 Jun 2011, at 13:50, Richard York wrote: Hello Francis, Quite so, but, playing devil's advocate for a minute, (and loving tradition exce pt where it becomes tribal), does the fact that we can play staccato and 99% of other pipes can't, mean it's all we should do? The harpsichord, after all, could only really play staccato or slightly sustaine d, and then the piano came in and could play long sustained, but it doesn't mean we don't still use staccato as part of the vocabulary on the piano. I'm not doubting the value of detached playing at all, it really is the best thi ng most of the time, but just wanting the occasional extra bit of vocabulary. An d as a matter of taste more than a tiny bit of smooth really doesn't suit the ns p's to my mind, but like some spices, the occasional addition can go a long way. I speak more as a listener than claiming great expertise in playing here. Best wishes, Richard. PS should the "proper" piping movement consider calling itself the "Real" piping movement? Hi Colin and others, The closed-fingering technique derives much more from the nature of the instrume nt rather than any opinions about style. Since the NSP chanter has a stopped end, there would be little point in adopting anything other than this fingering style, which allows separate notes with (usu ally) a distinguishable silence between each. This is something that no other ba gpipe can do. In fact it would be difficult to think of another wind instrument capable of silence whilst pressure is applied. At present I can only identify th e ocarina. The limits of any bag-blown chanter/ oboe are obvious. Almost no opportunity for dynamics, and very little for on-the-go tuning. The scale of the primitive NSP chanter is confined to eight notes. This is clearly a chicken& egg situation - the construction and the style of playing of instruments are closely related, and neither predates the other. What commonly happens with almost any musical in strument is that its limitations are adopted into the playing style as highly id entifiable and positive features. Hence, closed fingering. Operated by open minds. 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