[NSP] Re: small coals, and the peacock following the hen
To my ear the best thing about the Peacock with Gg drones is the prominent clashing f#, which resolves to a d; it is a strongly emphasised note in the 'C major' strains. BP would have a high g nat here instead but Peacock was stuck with f# on NSP and seems to have gloried in it. With Aa drones, f# dropping to d is just a d major chord - less exciting. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: March 2012 TOTM: Adam a Bell selected by Julia Say
I once wondered if the ballad fits the tune - can you sing it in 9/4? The answer is a tentative yes... But it isn't as obvious as I'd like. I have not checked every verse. The ballad seems to be a local analogue of a Robin Hood one, with Carlisle for Nottingham etc, Adam a Bell is not the Robin Hood figure - that job went to William of Cloudesley. But who had it first is a question I won't go into - except that the Borders, and borders in general, have always been better bandit country than middles of countries. (Duck!) John In a message dated 29/02/2012 05:53:51 GMT Standard Time, dir...@gmail.com writes: Many thanks to Julia Say for selecting a classic tune for March. Julia writes: William Dixon's Adam a Bell and its tune family - through the Peacock My Dearie sits ower late up (and the similar but not identical one in Clough). If any new players find these too intimidating there's a 2 strain version in the NPS first tunebook. Its an old tune whose title commemorates an even older event in West Border history - see the ballad of the same name. Dixon's version has 9 strains, Peacock's 5 - I'm sure others must have extended these or inserted strains of their own to suit their own taste for inventiveness. It would be interesting to hear the latest additions. I'm also interested in the different rhythmic emphasis occasioned by the 9/4 or 9/8 time signatures. It goes on both BP and nsp: if anyone wants a transposition of Dixon's version into G for nsp, I can supply either appropriate abc or the dots. I might even try to find the time to fire up my own recorder and register on soundcloud. Mind...I did say try! -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: NSP spotted on ebay UK
If that recent footage of a mammoth-shaped object fording a river in Chukhotka in the Russian Far East turns out not to have been faked, then presumably the species goes on the CITES list pretty sharpish, and carrying smallpipes across borders gets harder... John In a message dated 17/02/2012 21:48:50 GMT Standard Time, cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk writes: A lot of the ivory actually came from old billiard and snooker balls as well and a lot of of them (and other ivory work) came from mammoth tusks from Russia. Europeans used ivory mainly for piano keys and cutlery handles! I remember being advised to look out for them to make some bits for the pipes - mind you, that was when the recommended cane source was flower baskets from Spain :) I never did get any as my attempt to make a set went very, very wrong when the drill came out of the side of the chanter and I realised it was beyond me! I think I still have a few pieces of lignum hanging around somewhere though (drone size). Hippo teeth are a common source as well (and sperm whale teeth) and anything from a mammal tooth is ivory. All a bit gross really. Mammoth ivory is still legal. I'd rather have plastic myself. Colin Hill On 17/02/2012 21:21, Guy Tindale wrote: Hi All, The ivorycould possibly be walrus. Goeff Wooff used old walrus pieces that I think he bought in NZ years ago in the limited number of sets of pipes that he made. Then again am happy to be proven wrong!! Regards, Guy T --- On Wed, 15/2/12, John Dallydir...@gmail.com wrote: - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2112/4815 - Release Date: 02/17/12 - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2112/4815 - Release Date: 02/17/12 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] (no subject)
In response to an unmet need for harvest tunes, and incidentally tunes commemorating Northumbrian wildlife, I was inspired to write this after an afternoon's piping with Edmund in Northumberland, when Edmund, Gisela and I all went for a walk afterwards... X:1 T:The Harvest Mite M:9/8 R:Slip Jig K:G |:c|BAf gAB GAB|dBf dBg Aec|BAf gAB GAB|BAd eAc A2:| |:e|gGA fBc edB| gGA Bfd ceA|gGA fBc edB|cBe fAc A2:| |:c|dBf gBe GdB| gBf GdB eAg|dBf gBe GdB|AeB fAc A2:| If anyone feels this deserves a set of irritating variations, they are welcome to go for a walk in long grass in search of inspiration! The inspiration develops from the next day onwards but is relieved with antihistamines John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Harvest tunes
Two or three from Vickers - The Kirn Staff (Kirn = Corn, as in Kirn Supper) and the Threshers, also perhaps The Hare in the Corn, though the hare being in the corn is more of a problem before you have cut it. You'd expect musicians at a Kirn supper. There are probably a few more out there. Of course I nearly forgot Corn Rigs. John In a message dated 02/09/2011 12:45:27 GMT Daylight Time, theborderpi...@googlemail.com writes: Yes, Cut Dry is the obvious one. I did a survey of versions for an article in the NPS mag many (harvest) moons ago, and have since come up with more information and my own version, but one good version is enough (e.g. Peacock or Dixon). Others with appropriate titles are Jack's Gone A-Shearing (Vickers) and Robin Shure In Hairst [=Sheared in Harvest/Autumn] (in Dixon as Mock The Soldier's Lady), both fine 3/2 hornpipes. These have made me ponder about a connection between the lost 3/2 hornpipe and the physical activity of harvesting - I have read that pipers played for harvest workers. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Mr Dunk - Inspector of Public Nuisances
In a message dated 17/07/2011 17:07:14 GMT Daylight Time, oatenp...@googlemail.com writes: http://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk/pipersforum/viewtopic.php?f=18; t=206 Dave is right, Dunk meant it to be in ternary form. A, B, A', with A' being an ornamented recap leading into a coda. But there is no sign of a repeat mark or 1st and 2nd time bars in the MS, even though he takes the trouble to say 'Briskly and cheerily'. I think what Dave reads as 1st and 2nd time bars are meant to be bridge passages, but they don't work, as they don't join what comes before to what follows John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Mr Dunk - Inspector of Public Nuisances
In a message dated 17/07/2011 20:33:27 GMT Daylight Time, barr...@nspipes.co.uk writes: Just because a piece breaks some notional (artificial?) rules, doesn't make it bad music. Oddly, I don't think W on the W does break any rules in this sense. Except for our preference for 4 bar phrases, and Dave may have spotted the remedy for that. But is the best thing we can say about it that it's grammatical? So is Chomsky's 'Colourless green ideas sleep furiously', though it is totally meaningless. Was Dunk trying to write a paradox, or Northumbrian-style music? Certainly not succeeding in the latter. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] wholly keyed chanter??
One obvious response is that playing finger holes on NSP is faster and more 'positive' than playing keyed notes. Half of this may be down to the poor dexterity of the little finger, but I can't play even thumb-keyed notes as crisply as open-holed ones. There's something in Tom Clough's writings about most players being less fluent on keyed notes, so it isn't just me. Now the 20 open-holed keyless chanter played by two telepathic people with small hands might be worth a go John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Has there ever been an NSP with _all_ keys (no open holes)?
Adrian, I stand corrected Only the one known example, I take it? How do you mean part-Union? Do you mean a wholly keyed NSP chanter, cylindrical bored and closed ended, but with UP drones and regulators? I must go and look at it - even if they (it?) never caught on, and even if it never deserved to John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Shellac
UHU is a pain if you need to get in there, though. Shellac is at least easy to soften. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: re-conditioning ... (dangers of brass tarnish?)
Brass is not gunmetal. With gunmetal, iron oxide forms a thin airtight layer for a while, protecting the metal underneath, at least till proper rust gets going. With brass, the same is not true for copper and its alloys. So corrosion doesn't prevent further corrosion. Further, the verdigris expands, relative to the metal that was there before, so mechanisms can be jammed. And it looks vile as well. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: re-conditioning ... (dangers of brass tarnish?)
And gold is amazingly soft, so won't wear well. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: oil - and for other instruments?l
Almond is still popular for woodwind, and has been for 250 years or more. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] (no subject)
Is 'The rotting of the cotton threads' the title of a tune I haven't learned yet? -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: A 70 cent divergence
7066.6... = 2/3 semitone = 1/3 tone. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Doublin' (Keenan Glackin)
A 70 cent divergence between one set of pipes and another is alarming! More than a third of a tone in old money. We are approaching the territory of that Irish flute player I mentioned. A tactful cull of the outliers might be a good idea - 'Your pipes are more suitable for solo playing' perhaps? -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re:
It might be worth analysing recordings of a good piper or two playing in E minor and in G, to see if they squeeze the B that little bit harder in the minor tunes, to bring it more in tune with the E/B drones. They may not do it consciously, but the B that's a true third above G is a bit below the one a true fifth above E; at least if the fifths from G to D, D to A, and A to E are tuned (almost) justly, which you need for playing in G D and A minor. Squeezing a little harder could easily compensate this. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Intonation
As many notes on an NSP chanter can be bent about a quarter tone without putting the drones far out - at least on a good reed day - I guess one difference between a good piper and a fairly good one is the former will squeeze notes into tune unconsciously and accurately, the latter consciously and only fairly accurately. I often think of singing the note, so I have an idea of the pitch in my head, to aim for. Listening to the chord with the drones - if these are in tune - also helps with some notes. It is the notes that harmonise with the drones which are most exposed if out of tune, so recognising a just 3rd or whatever tells you you've got there. The singing trick doesn't work so well if you are still thinking equal-tempered, mind. So chords are better. Long notes are good practice for this - I wonder if this is one reason Tom Clough liked playing hymn tunes? 'Oh God our Help in Ages Past' (aka St Anne, or 'The Goldfish') is a good one for this, dead slow. I sometimes use this to see if the drones are 'really' in tune. When I started playing NSP after playing the flute for years, my embouchure would bend to try to bring notes in - ineffective of itself, but I found I was doing something useful as well, as the notes came more into tune (I pinched a non-existent thumbhole to get the top octave on the whistle, as well). That first set I had needed a bit of variable squeezing to bring some notes close to where they should be. Intonation is a mystery on most instruments, and the hardest part to get right. A related issue is tone colour - finger vibrato alters the harmonics of a note substantially, changing the colour a lot; pressure vibrato much less so. Taking a lower finger off the chanter may vary the pitch up or down, so you can use finger vibrato to improve the intonation as well as the colour. Or worsen the intonation, if you use the wrong finger. Knowing which lower finger moves which notes in which direction is something one ought to learn. I tend to use the same finger whatever, if it works. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Doubleday
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 http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Where hast though been all the night?
With me, the addiction only in the severe writing form since I got some NSP in 97 - but I'd been a Peacock addict since Cut and Dry Dolly came out in the 70's, and I bought the facsimile edition which I treasure to this day. Writing set in once I realised Peacock, Bewick and Clough had slowed down of late. Once FARNE let me do comparative playthroughs of different versions, I started collaging to assemble versions with all the good bits in, and before too long I'd got hooked. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: The Golden Eagle
Thanks for the hint, Matt. I went back and found it in Ryan's Mammoth Collection - I'd missed it before. For those that don't know this collection, it was published 'about 1883' in Boston, Mass. The Golden Eagle certainly doesn't sound like it was written too long before that, with all the chromatic bits. But lots of tunes like that were written on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid 19th C. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Will the Barber
Well remembered! It's also a grand tune. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Open competition tunes
Julia, What was set in a competition 15 years ago may no longer be of as much interest as it was then, and is surely going to be a pain to retrieve. But is there a log of what non-set tunes people have actually won with more recently? John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: key springing.
Bob, I know nothing about pipemaking, but in good years there is one nsp event in Scotland (only just) - see [1]http://www.newcastleton.com/intro.html. But the nsp competition will be uncontested if nobody goes there. This has happened some years, I think. John -- References 1. http://www.newcastleton.com/intro.html To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Holy/Holey Halfpenny
Breathnach is a good source of advice here - I recall he said something I'd paraphrase as: Tune titles are dummy labels for the tunes, without a 'real' meaning of their own. It is futile to enquire about 'The Mason's Apron' whether a stonemason's or freemason's apron is meant. But I'd add that if one found hard evidence it had been written for a Masonic Ball, one might hazard a guess. Such hard evidence is naturally thin on the ground after 2 centuries or more John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Pedantry alert!!
PS 'Inverted' is upside down; inside out is 'everted'. Ask any topologist, or classicist... John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Goat to pipe-bag
[1]http://www.answers.com/topic/zampogna-2 says, inter alia, Traditionally the bags are made from goat hides that are removed from the slaughtered animal in one piece, cured, turned inside out, then tied off just in front of the rear legs, one of the front legs serving to house the blow pipe with its simple leather valve (soffietto), and the other tied off. The typical round stock into which both chanters and drones are fixed goes into the neck of the skin. The hair is left on, and is contained in the inside of the bag (otre). Good old photo ther, too. John -- References 1. http://www.answers.com/topic/zampogna-2 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: bag shape
I always understood the point of the open-cell foam in the neck is to remove the neck resonance problem referred to earlier. The frequency of this resonance depends critically on the shape - if you model the bag as a big cavity with a narrow tubular neck,like a bottle, the formula for a Helmholtz resonator applies - see wikipedia for this. The formula will be quantitatively off as the shape doesn't really fit the 'bottle' model well, the neck broadening smoothly into the main cavity. But the order of magnitude should be fairly good. If this frequency falls in the range of the chanter, the chanter notes near this pitch will couple strongly to it and the pitch will be well away from what you would get with the same chanter in a different bag. Killing the bag/neck resonance means the chanter pitches will be truer. As air can flow easily through the foam at low frequencies but not at higher, the rapid oscillation of the bag/neck resonance is damped out, without badly affecting the supply of air to the chanter. I dread to think what clagging the open-cell foam with seasoning would do to the airflow, though... John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: NSP
or the difference between a Scottish smallpipe player and a small Scottish pipe player -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Remembering titles
A lyric fragment, sung to the tune, eg 'All the Night I Lay with Jockey in my Arms', or -failing this - a dummy lyric including the title, can help - make up your own examples, as daft ones of your own invention stick better. Remembering the first bar or 2 of the tune, with the sound of yourself announcing it out loud before you start to play it, can help too. Remembering sets of tunes in order like Morpeth Rant/Jock Wilson of Fenton/ Cheviot Rant, or Hesleyside Reel/Roxburgh Castle can peg one to another usefully. But everyone's memory works in a different way - find what works for you. Don't try to learn a whole tunebook full at once - start with 2 or 3 of your favourites. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: From notation to music
The trouble is some think 'reading music' and 'reading music notation' are synonymous - the trick is to read the dots and put the music back into them. I guess the player who can only play from a notated copy she'd just written down, on hearing,, would be a good ear-player if she believed in it. Notation has its uses, particularly in complex music, but the people who can't play unless they are reading are limiting themselves. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Synthetic key pads
Francis, Is the widespread use of synthetic pads in (mouth blown) orchestral woodwinds nowadays down to the fact that they operate in (often very) moist environments, which would presumably affect leather much more than a water-repellent plastic foam? The bore of NSP is oily, but not moist - so the most obvious advantage of plastic over leather disappears. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: [NSP]website
Makes more sense than 'Hyperacoustics', anyway -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Cut and Dry Dolly
Can anyone with access to an OED or a Northumbrian dialect dictionary check this possible meaning of 'dolly' = peat-stack? It would be plausible enough if 'dolly' used to hold this meaning. Though is 'a small peat stack, ready to be taken from the moor for burning' a likely topic for a popular song? Song lyrics, from either side of the Border, (fitting this tune and title, Barry!) would be the clincher - but if they existed, they are probably lost. Occasionally an alternative title will extend or complete a line of a lyric - eg 'All the night I lay with Jockey in my arms'. But here, no version of the title I've seen adds any more words than 'Cut and Dry, Dolly', unfortunately. If it is just a dummy phrase attached to a 'pure' dance tune, of course looking for a lyric is a waste of time... I can't even work out a plausible underlay of the title under the tune that fits, unlike 'All the night..' which fits its tune perfectly. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Cut and Dry - underlay
Perhaps if we take the John Bell version (on FARNE) as the basic tune, the tag at the middle and end of the strain has the rhythm | qq c qq q...| this would fit ...|Cut and Dry Do-ol-ly ...| But you need to stretch the first syllable of Dolly across two notes. These 2 notes do tend to group together as I play them - how would a fiddler bow this bit of the tune? John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Cut and Dry Dolly
A couple of other meanings in [1]http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ but none that seem to fit the Cut and Dry context convincingly. John -- References 1. http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: [NPS-Discussion] British Library NSP Recordings
A lot of these BL recordings are annotated with helpful titles like 'Unidentified Tune' or 'Hornpipe'. I have identified a couple so far. If anyone can point to a specific recording, and identify the sequence of tunes, I can add a note. Non-UK-academics aren't trusted, apparently. Let alone non-academics John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Halcyon days gone by
The Most illuminating was in response to that message of John Dally's beginning, eloquently, SG93IG5vc3RhbGdpYyBJIGFtIGZvciB0aG9zZSBoYWxjeW9uIGRheXMgb2YgYmxpc3NmdW wgaWdu b3JhbmNlIHdoZW4gdGhlIGdvZHMgb2YgdGhlIE5QUyBkaWQgbm90IGNhc3QgdGh1bmRlciB ib2x0 cyBkb3duIGZyb20gTXQuIE9seW1wdXMgb24gdGhpcyBodW1ibGUgbGl0dGxlIHZpbGxhZ2U gb2Yg YSBuZXdzZ3JvdXAsIGJ1dCByYXRoZXIgYnVzaWVkIHRoZW1zZWx2ZXMgb3JkZXJpbmcgc2l sdmVy... I don't know if the References were added by the mailer or by Dartmouth, though. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Transposing etc
Are these the guys at Dflat house in Camden? -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Transposing etc
Is there any software available which will input interminable arguments about the Pipers' Society rulebook, and output intelligent discussion about the instrument and its music? John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Reel of Tullochgorum
In a message dated 14/01/2009 00:24:15 GMT Standard Time, richard.hea...@tiscali.co.uk writes: http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-579-620-C UP chanter all right, on the knee, but more like BP drones? The artist doesn't show what the tune looked like though! -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Reel of Tullochgorum
Printing does give a mirror image, so unless the artist flips it in his head, that's what you get. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Reel of t
Are you saying these words 'Come gie's a sang Montgomery cried ...' fit the 'Reel of Tullochgorum' tune (they do) or the ex-strathspey that's found in Peacock (they fit that too). The difference between gobstopper and tomato soup is obscured by the stress of the verse. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Reel of t
SMM has the strathspey tune - see [1]http://www.burnsscotland.com/database/record.php?usi=000-000-499-837 -CPHPSESSID=mogu4k310q5f4sje49tpggju04scache=1i8i6q4yllsearchdb=scra n -- References 1. http://www.burnsscotland.com/database/record.php?usi=000-000-499-837-CPHPSESSID=mogu4k310q5f4sje49tpggju04scache=1i8i6q4yllsearchdb=scran To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: An ear for drone music
Good point John Dally made - perhaps this explains why there's such a split in repertoires? If you like the effect of drone harmony you will like Peacock, Bewick, Clough tunes - but if the drones are just something you tune to the tonic and dominant, then forget about, you prefer tunes with more modern harmonies - whether or not they fit the drones -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Learning to tune drones
In a message dated 18/11/2007 11:58:54 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: http://www.milecastle27.co.uk/simulator/ Rob, Well done! A very useful instructive widget - installing the soundbank was a bit terrifying, but I managed once I started reading the instructions - doing what they said was the difficult bit, mind... I can now tune the simulator to Gdg, so all remaining errors bugs are my own. Now you need to get a colour button for real pipes as well as the simulator John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Practice and Exercises
Exactly - just the melodic motifs that are used to build the variations in Peacock. Things like BAGABG or G2 BcdB or, building into an exercise... GABG ABcA BcdB cdec defd efge g4 If you can play the Peacock variations fluently, you are doing fine. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: German word
_www.bagpipe.de_ (http://www.bagpipe.de) says 'Bordunen' John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Kathryn Tickell on Radio 3
Regular readers will know I'm not a fan of KT's usual playing style, but Max has got some good piping out of her. Some of the crispest rapid staccato I've ever heard her play. Some open fingered trills too, mind - are they Max's or hers, or did they agree on them? The piece is good to listen to - but Max didn't attempt to stick to a Northumbrian style - what traditional elements there are come from Orkney. At least with this he has accepted the necessity with NSP of working within the range of the pipes - the harmonics in his 'Cross Lane Fair' were very unhappy. Cor anglais playing with NSP gives a blend of sounds worth hearing again, and perhaps this is enough justify the piece. The mic placement was maybe a problem - but string quartet, cor anglais and double bass can make quite a loud noise together if the players have to - NSP is stuck with a steady mf. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Rothbury rules
I must say that some of the best competition music I ever heard at Rothbury was a variation set that should have been disqualified if the rules had been enforced - on the other hand, last year's smallpipe competition, when the rules were strictly applied, was relatively unsatisfying - there wasn't enough space for the best players to express themselves fully. If the a bad rule is not enforced, a player who complies feels unfairly treated; if it is enforced, the audience hear worse music. The solution is to change the rules. Is the venue only available for a short time slot, or is the rule only there for uniformity? There is no musical justification. John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] New Highland Laddie
Not much help in playing the variations, but the words of this broadside ballad fit Peacock's tune. _http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside.cfm/id/15803_ (http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside.cfm/id/15803) John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Penguin Cafe Choyting
Edwin, I'll refer you to the original email. Don't recall ever reading that one though John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
