[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Dear Colin, John et al. I think we should be distinguishing between Regional and personal styles here. Reels in the most of the British Isles (and elsewhere) have a pulse which can be interpreted as: Gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper. In Northumberland many of these tunes would be played as Rants which have a pulse: Tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony --- On Wed, 11/3/09, rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com wrote: From: rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes To: john_da...@hmco.com Cc: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 1:12 PM Dear John, No, it would not do at all for me to play the tunes as I would be imprinting my own style, whatever that is, on the tunes with all the bad habits of gracing I have picked up over the years. This would also apply to other pipers who have learnt from 'the old guys' and have developed a personal style of their own perhaps. Opinion would be divided as to who is the best and my solution of using a mechanical device to demonstrate a tune aurally for those who are unable to do this from the printed source would at least- and it would be the very least- give those folk an idea on how to tackle playing a tune and then go to a player or a recording of a player to get the spirit of the tune infused into it. Colin R -Original Message- From: [1]john_da...@hmco.com To: [2]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:26 Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Perhaps, you could make the recordings yourself, Colin. That way the bench would be quite clearly marked. It would seem likely that there could be all sorts of interpretations of a tune, or bad playing technique, if the sound source were another instrument. Last night I played tunes with a friend, an ear player who grew up in Morpeth, was active in the folk scene in Northumberland for many years before moving here. He plays stringed instruments, so the popping pipe sound goes nicely with the slurry string sound. He doesn't play any of the tunes note for note the way they appear in the books, because he picked them up by ear, having heard many from the time he was a lad. If I said, look, you're not playing that tune correctly, it would be like the anthropologist telling the tribesman in New Guinea he's hunting monkey incorrectly. One tune in particular, The Hesleyside Reel, is very difficult for me to play at his tempo without cutting out some of the notes. Was it written for the pipes? It's a lovely tune, but my right hand's ligature doesn't like it very much unless I play it at a rambling pace. Now, I realize, if I had Chris Ormston's technique I could do it properly, but I never will (I'm not alone, am I?). If the choice is mucking up the tune or adapting it to fit my technical abilities, what's a guy to do? John [3]rosspi...@aol.com 03/10/2009 10:40 AM To [4]j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk cc [5]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Dear John, When I was saying that I thought the tunes in the 'First 30 Tunes' might be better played on some other instrument than the small pipes to give an idea of how the tune went it was to avoid the copying of pehaps bad playing technique from pipers who had contributed tracks for the CD. I had no experience of using ABC copies of the tunes to generate audio copies but it seems to be a relatively straightforward way of getting the printed tunes out there to be heard. At the moment the NPS is only interested in producing a CD to accompany the '30 tunes' book but as we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. As you say the main problem is in finding someone to do the job. Colin R -Original Message- From: Gibbons, John [6]j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk To: 'colin' [7]cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk; [8
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
On 11 Mar 2009, Gibbons, John wrote: The other approach, less apparently prescriptive, is getting different pipers to record a few tunes each - and stylistic variations in rhythm, gracing etc will be there - new pipers can choose who they want to try to sound like. Which is precisely what I suggested (in place of one person recording the lot - there were two volunteers), and what is in the course of being implemented by the originator of the project. Using as many contributors to the book as are happy to provide recordings. Julia To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Hi Richard, Don't leave us hanging what did he choose to do? Tim - Original Message - From: Richard York rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk To: NSP group nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:10 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Some years ago I met a man who was responsible for some work on the musicians carvings in Beverley Minster, most famous of course being the pipers. His quandary was whether to simply clean them up as they were, or to restore them to what the Victorians had imposed on them, mistakes and all, or to try to restore them to what he thought the medieval carvers had intended, though that last was now very impossible to do with any certainty, given changes in their condition over time, so he'd be imposing on them. And whatever he did would be right for some people, wrong for others, and whatever he did they'd never be as they once used to be. Or he could simply leave them to fall to bits by themselves. Richard. Anthony Robb wrote: ... There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.10/1995 - Release Date: 03/11/09 08:28:00
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
In a way, that's the least important part of the story :) It struck me at the time what a parallel it was with our treatment of music which comes to us from before our time, or at least before deadly accurate sound recording, whether it's medieval or anything else. But to answer your question, Tim, if I remember aright, he treated them each variously according to how much was evident from the original form, how much damage the dear Victorians had done, and in what condition and how stable each was. Perhaps that's relevant too. Best wishes, Richard. tim rolls BT wrote: Hi Richard, Don't leave us hanging what did he choose to do? Tim - Original Message - From: Richard York rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk To: NSP group nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:10 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Some years ago I met a man who was responsible for some work on the musicians carvings in Beverley Minster, most famous of course being the pipers. His quandary was whether to simply clean them up as they were, or to restore them to what the Victorians had imposed on them, mistakes and all, or to try to restore them to what he thought the medieval carvers had intended, though that last was now very impossible to do with any certainty, given changes in their condition over time, so he'd be imposing on them. And whatever he did would be right for some people, wrong for others, and whatever he did they'd never be as they once used to be. Or he could simply leave them to fall to bits by themselves. Richard. Anthony Robb wrote: ... There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.10/1995 - Release Date: 03/11/09 08:28:00
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Hello Colin What I am trying to get across is precisely the fact that the tunes themselves were played as rants at musical gatherings with no suggestion of dance involved. Yes, there are similarities to the polka rhythm but Rant tunes tend to be crotchet rich and have, to my ears, quite a different feel (as anyone familiar with Will Taylor's rendition of the Pearl Wedding or Nancy Taylor will realise - polkas they ain't!). Dancers can indeed just get on and rant along to most reels. In fact 3 Rothburys ago I Ranted the whole of a very long Dashing White Sergeant set to full-on reels played by 422. Not as satisfying as rants but acceptable and more fun than a gym workout. It was the labelling of tunes such as Whinham's Reel and Lamshaw's Fancy as marches which I found particularly misleading. Perhaps calling them Polkas would have closer to the mark. It's funny you know, but back in the late 70s I remember a music evening at the Dickson's near Wooler when John Dagg chipped in over a similar reel/rant discussion instigated by something the Toonies (in this case represented by Foster Charlton) had said. Foster had apparently suggested that there were so many notes in such and such a tune that it had to be a Reel not a Rant . John's comment, I don't give a doodies [sic] how many notes it has you can still give it a good rant rhythm, remains etched in my memory. This discussion is far from new and only goes to emphasise the differences in understanding and approach across a mere 40 miles of countryside! Regards Anthony --- On Wed, 11/3/09, rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com wrote: From: rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes To: anth...@robbpipes.com Cc: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 4:20 PM Dear Anthony, Since you are now on the List I feel I can respond to your fascination with gobstoppers and tomato soup. I was going to comment on what you were saying about playing Rants and how deeply disappointed you were that none of the tunes in the 30 tunes collection were called RANTS. I think the reason is simple enough in that the rant is a dance step and not a specific tune rhythm. A tune with that rhythm consistently throughout the music would be a polka. The tune Hesleyside Reel only has it specifically written into the music at the end of the four bar phrases in the A part and at the end of the tune. The dancers however are stepping throughout the tune so in calling it a reel we were not wrong only in not mentioning in the forward that Julia wrote that tunes like this can and maybe should be stepped with a rant step. I have been playing this tune for many years now with the High Level Ranters and concentrate on keeping a good bouncy rhythm along with other tunes that can be called reels or hornpipes like the Morpeth Rant and leave the dancers to get on with their footwork. Cheers, Colin R -Original Message- From: Anthony Robb [1]anth...@robbpipes.com To: [2]john_da...@hmco.com; [3]rosspi...@aol.com CC: [4]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:52 Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Dear Colin, John et al. I think we should be distinguishing between Regional and personal styles here. Reels in the most of the British Isles (and elsewhere) have a pulse which can be interpreted as: Gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper. In Northumberland many of these tunes would be played as Rants which have a pulse: Tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony --- On Wed, 11/3/09, [5]rosspi...@aol.com [6]rosspi...@aol.com wrote: From: [7]rosspi...@aol.com [8]rosspi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes To: [9]john_da...@hmco.com Cc: [10]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 1:12 PM Dear John, No, it would not do at all for me to play the tunes as20I would be imprinting my own style, whatever that is, on the tunes with all the bad habits of gracing I have picked up over the years.. This would also apply to other pipers who have learnt from 'the old guys' and have developed a personal style
[NSP] [NSP]Re: First 30 tunes
Hi Mike and List As someone who was trying to join in on accordion at Halsway during the Sunday evening playaround. I suppose I had a slight advantage over those who had never heard the tunes before, but it was a new experience to try and play them all in the key of F which has slightly different fingering patterns to G due to the different use of the thumb! For some it was possibly a new experience to play in the key of F, full stop. May be there is a market hear for unemployed accordionists who can play in F? Alan Corkett -Original Message- From: Mike and Enid Walton [mailto:mikeande...@worcesterfolk.org.uk] Sent: 07 March 2009 06:53 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] [NSP]Re: irst 30 tunes If tunes (the first 30 in the current context, but it holds for all the NPS tunes) were posted in abc format on the NPS website, it would enable people with the necessary programs to print them in whatever format they wished, hear them as midis, transpose them etc. It might, of course, reduce the sales of NPS books. I thought about this when we were playing tunes on F chanters at Halsway with other musicians. The music books proferred by pipers were of course no good to the other musicians unless they were really expert at transposing on the hoof. Mike Walton -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
I take the point. I should have pointed out that the book I referred to was a collection of traditional music and was also out of print. The tunes were freely available and had just been collated into one place so no original works were involved. I was suggesting, in this case, the abc/midi version should be included in the book or as an authorised download by those who have purchased it. A code to download could be included and making a secure/obscure site wouldn't be that difficult. For the odd tune, there are plenty of programs available to copy the dots into to see what it sounds like and plenty of sources where they have already been converted anyway. I wasn't suggesting doing any unauthorised copying of existing and available books. Just really a suggestion to the complaints about no CD of existing and well known tunes and, of course, aimed at beginners or those who have difficulty in reading the dots - even after years of trying. My problem with learning off music CDs is that they are invariably made by excellent, professional musicians and also reflect their own style. An abc or midi is just the bare bones which is of (in my opinion) more use to someone who is still learning. Speaking for myself and listening to some very simple, easy tunes (so it was said) played by members of this list, I would have happily burnt my chanter and given up years ago. However, playing the midi version gives some hope that you are, actually, playing a tune! Colin Hill - Original Message - From: Gibbons, John j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk To: 'colin' cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk; nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 4:41 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes An abc pipers' tunebook should ideally - * Not be a copy of a printed source. It might affect its sales. Let alone copyright questions. * So should be mostly traditional unpublished material. * It could contain new tunes too, if submitted by the composer - copyright again. * It should be communally authored - wait for a single author and it will take a long time, and will mirror his taste; be it excellent or otherwise, someone will disagree! It is a view of the tradition that we are after, not just Joe Bloggs' bit of it. * Abc's could be submitted to the nsp mailing list, and someone web-literate could put it online. * So we need a willing able volunteer. * Here the plan falls to the ground. John -Original Message- From: nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu [[1]mailto:nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of colin Sent: 10 March 2009 16:23 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] Re: [NSP]Re: irst 30 tunes I'm glad you wrote this. I suggested something similar but my post never appeared (that happens quite often and yes, I did send it to the list, not the person who posted it). As I said there, I've been trying to do something similar with a book of hurdy gurdy tunes but some other player beat me to it by playing all the tunes on the piano and making it available as an mp3. The cries of ah, that's how that bit goes continue to echo. Colin Hill - Original Message - From: Mike and Enid Walton mikeande...@worcesterfolk.org.uk To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 6:53 AM Subject: [NSP] [NSP]Re: irst 30 tunes If tunes (the first 30 in the current context, but it holds for all the NPS tunes) were posted in abc format on the NPS website, it would enable people with the necessary programs to print them in whatever format they wished, hear them as midis, transpose them etc. It might, of course, reduce the sales of NPS books. I thought about this when we were playing tunes on F chanters at Halsway with other musicians. The music books proferred by pipers were of course no good to the other musicians unless they were really expert at transposing on the hoof. Mike Walton -- To get on or off this list see list information at [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. mailto:nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
On 10 Mar 2009, rosspi...@aol.com wrote: I had no experience of using ABC copies of the tunes to generate audio copies but it seems to be a relatively straightforward way of getting the printed tunes out there to be heard. we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. This is one of the features being discussed / proposed by our new NPS website developer. The site is based on Wiki software, and an abc player is one of the options (I think - I haven't quite got my head round it all yet). However the site will have a members' only area, passworded, and I suspect such an option will reside there. the NPS is only interested in producing a CD to accompany the '30 tunes' book The current state of play is that four of the contributors have so far supplied tunes in a suitable format. The originator of the project has just (today) received his book copies and is now keen to pursue the CD contributors. We had several other promises before Christmas, but nothing was forthcoming. We have transatlantic uploading sorted, and a mastering volunteer (in the USA). Instructions for recording the tunes have been issued to folk wanting to do it themselves. Once the master is available, it is a simple organisational matter to get it copied, with a simple cover. Julia To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Perhaps, you could make the recordings yourself, Colin. That way the bench would be quite clearly marked. It would seem likely that there could be all sorts of interpretations of a tune, or bad playing technique, if the sound source were another instrument. Last night I played tunes with a friend, an ear player who grew up in Morpeth, was active in the folk scene in Northumberland for many years before moving here. He plays stringed instruments, so the popping pipe sound goes nicely with the slurry string sound. He doesn't play any of the tunes note for note the way they appear in the books, because he picked them up by ear, having heard many from the time he was a lad. If I said, look, you're not playing that tune correctly, it would be like the anthropologist telling the tribesman in New Guinea he's hunting monkey incorrectly. One tune in particular, The Hesleyside Reel, is very difficult for me to play at his tempo without cutting out some of the notes. Was it written for the pipes? It's a lovely tune, but my right hand's ligature doesn't like it very much unless I play it at a rambling pace. Now, I realize, if I had Chris Ormston's technique I could do it properly, but I never will (I'm not alone, am I?). If the choice is mucking up the tune or adapting it to fit my technical abilities, what's a guy to do? John rosspi...@aol.com 03/10/2009 10:40 AM To j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk cc nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Dear John, When I was saying that I thought the tunes in the 'First 30 Tunes' might be better played on some other instrument than the small pipes to give an idea of how the tune went it was to avoid the copying of pehaps bad playing technique from pipers who had contributed tracks for the CD. I had no experience of using ABC copies of the tunes to generate audio copies but it seems to be a relatively straightforward way of getting the printed tunes out there to be heard. At the moment the NPS is only interested in producing a CD to accompany the '30 tunes' book but as we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. As you say the main problem is in finding someone to do the job. Colin R -Original Message- From: Gibbons, John j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk To: 'colin' cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk; nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:41 Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes An abc pipers' tunebook should ideally - * Not be a copy of a printed source. It might affect its sales. Let alone copyright questions. * So should be mostly traditional unpublished material. * It could contain new tunes too, if submitted by the composer - copyright again. * It should be communally authored - wait for a single author and it will take a long time, and will mirror his taste; be it excellent or otherwise, someone will disagree! It is a view of the tradition that we are after, not just Joe Bloggs' bit of it. * Abc's could be submitted to the nsp mailing list, and someone web-literate could put it online. * So we need a willing able volunteer. * Here the plan falls to the ground. John -Original Message- From: nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu [[1]mailto:nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of colin Sent: 10 March 2009 16:23 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] Re: [NSP]Re: irst 30 tunes I'm glad you wrote this. I suggested something similar but my post never appeared (that happens quite often and yes, I did send it to the list, not the person who posted it). As I said there, I've been trying to do something similar with a book of hurdy gurdy tunes but some other player beat me to it by playing all the tunes on the piano and making it available as an mp3. The cries of ah, that's how that bit goes continue to echo. Colin Hill - Original Message - From: Mike and Enid Walton mikeande...@worcesterfolk.org.uk To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 6:53 AM Subject: [NSP] [NSP]Re: irst 30 tunes If tunes (the first 30 in the current context, but it holds for all the NPS tunes) were posted in abc format on the NPS website, it would enable people with the necessary programs to print them in whatever format they wished, hear
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
On 10 Mar 2009, john_da...@hmco.com wrote: One tune in particular, The Hesleyside Reel, ... Was it written for the pipes? Yes, it was. Question is, which ones. T J Elliott was apparently a fan of GVB Charlton family and his tunes were written at the time the Hesleyside family were very active in piping (1920s/30s - pre-36 anyway). Hesleyside Reel, Gunnerton Fell Cuddy Bellingham Fair are also playable on Border pipes (or whatever you want to call them), which were GVB Charlton's primary interest: The Chipchase Reel is not. Hope this helps Julia To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
: rosspi...@aol.com said as we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. As you say the main problem is in finding someone to do the job. Colin R If we do actually have tunes in NPS publications in abc format there shouldn't be a lot of work in compiling them into an abc file for each book and posting them on a web-site. The work of converting them into abc is the biggest part. Presumably the Society would have to agree that was the way it wanted to go - is the volume of book sales, or the dissemination* of the information most important ? The copyright tunes could be omitted until or unless we got permission. I assume there are no copyright issues on the traditional material. If we do have the majority of the tunes in abc, I'd be willing to give a try to one book. If I found it too much, I could always do as much as I'm able. I could put the file in my web-space and someone with the knowledge could link from the nps site (new or old). Mike Walton * Not spell-checked, so please no lengthy correspondence on my spelling ability. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
If an online digital tunebook is planned, then abc is the most flexible format to do it in. I'd be happy to abcify (not spell-checked) some tunes, but couldn't put them on the website. John -Original Message- From: Mike and Enid Walton [mailto:mikeande...@worcesterfolk.org.uk] Sent: 10 March 2009 23:06 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Cc: Gibbons, John; rosspi...@aol.com Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes : rosspi...@aol.com said as we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. As you say the main problem is in finding someone to do the job. Colin R If we do actually have tunes in NPS publications in abc format there shouldn't be a lot of work in compiling them into an abc file for each book and posting them on a web-site. The work of converting them into abc is the biggest part. Presumably the Society would have to agree that was the way it wanted to go - is the volume of book sales, or the dissemination* of the information most important ? The copyright tunes could be omitted until or unless we got permission. I assume there are no copyright issues on the traditional material. If we do have the majority of the tunes in abc, I'd be willing to give a try to one book. If I found it too much, I could always do as much as I'm able. I could put the file in my web-space and someone with the knowledge could link from the nps site (new or old). Mike Walton * Not spell-checked, so please no lengthy correspondence on my spelling ability. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: first 30 tunes
What a good idea. I must confess to liking CDs to hear what tunes sound like (being very poor at reading dots - fine on the actual notes but poor on phrasing, length etc - especially when new to the tune). I find that a Midi of a tune works well enough to give a rough idea what it sounds like if it's totally unknown - as many are to new players. Maybe someone with the right equipment could make them and post them to a website somewhere? True they would be rather clinical and probably not 100% accurate but would, at least, help a newcomer to learn (roughly) what the tune should sound like. I know I had some very interesting sounding tunes when I started which bore little resemblance to the actual tunes blush. On the plus side, the individual piper's style wouldn't be passed on to cause more grumbling :) I'm already trying this with a large collection of hurdy gurdy tunes (presently out of print) but just can't seem to make the time so do realise the work involved. Just a thought. Colin Hill - Original Message - From: rosspi...@aol.com To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 6:21 PM Subject: [NSP] first 30 tunes The NPS has just published a small tune book inpsired by the Boulting brothers who found they couldn't join in at a session I was leading at the North American Pipers' Convention at Killington in 2007. They asked a number of pipers to contribute their collection of 30 tunes that they thought should be essential basic repertoire that everyone should know, to help themselves and other pipers from different airts and parts when they got together and could all join in. The book is now printed and available from the NPS. At the time they wanted a CD to accompany the book to help folk who found it difficult to pick iup a tune from the dots. Unfortunately we could not find any one to mastermind that part of the exercise and it has not been produced yet. If any one out there is willing to collect recordings of the tunes and is then able to produce a CD please contact Julia Say the Secretary of the NPS to arrange this. It has already attracted criticism from one of our pipers who is 'deeply disappointed' that the CD is not with the book as originally planned and who thinks that it will do real damage to what is essentially an oral tradition. He quotes the late Tom Anderson of Shetland who 'rightly' said 'Never try to learn a tune you don't already know'. This of course is a matter of debate,i.e. oral v learning from printed music. It is interesting that the same piper never found any course to complain that I had taken most of the music for the Cut Dry#1 LP from printed souces as there was no one alive who had those old tunes in their repertoire that they had learnt from a previous generation. This narrow view in my mind would prevent any advantage to be taken from Matt's recent publication of the 1777 Vicker's MS. I have my own views on presenting recordings of tunes with tune books as the style of playing from the various players would be imprinted on learners which could be a bad thing in some ways as suggesting that this was the 'right' way to play the tunes. Maybe a neutral instrument should be used to just demonstrate the way the tune may be played. Colin R AOL Email goes Mobile! You can now read your AOL Emails whilst on the move. Sign up for a free AOL Email account with unlimited storage today. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
