The Microphones Rambles Book Two Traditional Irish Dance Tunes Gleaned from various recorded sources and Documented by Bernard Stocks *********************** These tunes have collected themselves over the years, in the sense that most of them come from tapes of various sessions and other gatherings. They are either tunes I regard as uncommon and thus worthy of recording, unusual settings of well known tunes, or settings of tunes (well known or otherwise) by musicians I regard as having a great way of playing. For personal reasons there is a bias towards the fiddle. It is inevitable that some tunes and sets of tunes here will be from commercial recordings I am unaware of. I have followed the splendid example of Brendan Breathnach in representing ornamentation (see 'Ceol Rince na h'Eireann'), except in cases were I have tried to represent a more unusual musical event. I had also intended to sort along the lines of tune type and key (again cf. Brendan Breathnach). However, it was easiest for me to just add tunes to the back of the list as I transcribed them, so the tunes are effectively sorted by session.. Note that key signatures do not denote the actual key of the tune, but the note spacings involved, e.g. a tune in 'A' with a modal feel will actually have a key signature of 'D' (2 sharps). Comments on the tunes follow the actual musical sections, together with some information on the players involved. If a tune is a transcription of an actual performance it is noted there, otherwise the notation is best seen as 'skeletal', or 'generic'. In the case of the latter I have not always indicated that a reel is played double, have often left out the 'lead' notes at the ends of parts, and have not usually credited the performer as most of the tunes were recorded at sessions. Names have been a real headache, particularly in the case of odd tunes gleaned from ancient tapes. In the first book I made a lot of names up, in this case I haven't bothered. The information in this book will inevitably contain errors, for which, apologies. The text was produced on Aldus Pagemaker (Macintosh), while the tunes were typeset using Chris Walshaw;s 'ABC' software, MusicTex, and Tex. The 'ABC' transcriptions were tested with 'abcplay' running on a Iris Indigo. A cheap Philips cassette player was used to slow down recordings to about threequarter speed when necessary. ********************** Further Comments '*' indicates an attempt to transcribe an actual performance. Tunes 1-7 from the Fleadh at Ballaghadereen, Roscommon, Easter 1977 (?) 1.* Gerry McCartney 2.* Gerry McCartney 4.* Gerry O'Connor 5.* Gerry O'Connor. An Ed Reavy tune. 6.* Deirdre Shannon Tunes 8-11 from Michael O'Raighallaigh Tunes 12-13 from a concert broadcast on Clare FM involving, among others, Vincent Blin on fiddle, although the sound is dominated by an unknown concertina player. 12. By Sean Ryan, Co Offaly fiddle player 14. From Orla McRory, who associates it with Mairead Mooney 15.* From Dianna Boullier. 16. From a session in Belfast 1984. A Paddy Taylor tune I think. 17.* From Paddy O'Neill. 18.* From a 70's recording of unknown provenance. Tunes 19-22 are from a tape of a concert in the Harcourt Hotel, Dublin 1991, featuring Noel Hill. 19. Jennys Chickens goes through a mangle. 20-22. Three slides from Padraig O'Keeffe. Tunes 23-25 from a session in Belfast in the late 80's. 24.* Dermy Diamond 25. Martin and Christine Dowling. Follows The Rainy Day Tunes 26-27 from a session in Bangor, Down in the late 80's. 26. Nigel and Dianna Boullier 27. Martin and Christine Dowling Tunes 28-57 are from a tape of Tommy Peoples. It sounds like a series of studio out-takes from Bothy Band times, and has Donal Lunny and Paddy Keenan in attendance. A word on Tommy Peoples. In my opinion the only genius in Irish Traditional Music, both in conception and execution. I started transcribing these tunes in the hope of aquiring something of his style, only to find that to play as he does requires a musicianship beyond my reach; something I feel that other copyists are probably aware of too. Also his technique is not a 'standard' one, so I would have to throw away a lot of what I already do. Finally, what he plays is probably not reducible to staff notation owing to both the complexities of his timing and his subtle tonality (especially a very mobile 'c'). See the note for Tune #41 re. rolls. I have ignored (through laziness really) his use of the 'Scotch Snap'. However, every now and again something rubs off, so the exercise is not a pointless one. 28.* 29.* Played as set with 30 and 31 30.* 31.* 32.* 33.* Played down a string i.e. in G, but notated in more usual 'D' here. Played as set with 34. 34.* Played as a reel here, and generally played as a reel, but has a hornpipe flavour. Cf. Limerick House played by the Byrnes of Donegal. 35.* 36.* Played with 37 and 38 37.* Reel version of 36 38.* Reel version of another tune usually played as a highland 39.* Played with 40. The initial 'd' in the third part is slid. 40.* The long 'd' in bar 13 is slid. The 'f's at the join of bars 25 and 26 are an example of what some call 'crushed' bowing - the same note taken twice in the same bow but with a pause in between. 41.* As usual with TP, the 'c' is quite mobile in this tune, and its value probably depends on the phrase in which it occurs; e.g. in an 'EcE' or 'cAF' phrase it's low, while in 'ACE' it's sharper. At a guess I'd say that a strong feel for chords is at work. The 'f~g2' phrase badly represents a kind of hammered roll which is a trademark of TP's playing. This type of roll is typically a 'long' roll, i.e. occupies a dotted crotchet and in 'ABC' is represented by '~B3', which usually translates as 'B{d}B{A}B'. The hammered version is either 'A{d}B{A}B' (replacing the leading note of the roll with the note below it) or 'AB{d}B{A}B' (hammering onto the first note of the roll, but in the same period of time). The ABC notation for the last is of course incorrect. The resulting sound is markedly different from that of a 'normal' roll. Thanks to Josie Nugent for showing me all this. Played with 41 and 42. 42.* 43.* 44.* A version of Munster Buttermilk, itself a version of Donnybrook Fair. Played with 45 and 46. 45.* 46.* 47.* With 48 and 49. Highlands style tunes tending towards reels. These are reportedly his own compositions. 48.* 49.* 50.* 51.* With 52. These are played in 'C' on a viola, i.e. they are down a 5th and then a 5th again from their 'normal' keys. I have assumed normality. 52.* 53.* With 54 and 55. 54.* A strange tonality; the first part A modal (2 sharps) apart from phrase in bar 2, the second part in A minor (modal), with 1 sharp but based around 'c'. The 'c#' in the first part is played flatter than 'normal'. 55.* 56. From Seamus Creagh, taped in Doolin sometime in the 80's 57.* Learned from Tom McGonigle, and is more or less what I play. 58.* Paddy Canny. 59,* Paddy Canny. A major version of what is usually a minor tune. The 'Bb's are slid 'B's which never quite get there. Another player whose style cannot be formally annotated 60 and 61 are from a session tape and were played by a fiddler following the air 'John O'Dwyer of the Glen'. The first sounds like The Foxhunters, the second like Top it Off. 62. From a session at Pats Bar in Belfast in '82. Played by a flute player who might be Dessie Wilkinson 63. As above, but this time Dermy Diamond Tunes 64-71 are from Sharon Shannon, and were taped at a session in Doolin in 1987. They are not close transcriptions of what she does. 64. A Micko Russell tune I think. Cf. The Walls of Liscarrol. 65, Follows The Primrose Lass, and is followed by 66. 67. Box version of The Yellow Tinker. 70. Follows The Hare's Paw. Tunes 72-74 are from the same session as 64-71 but the musicians are unknown. 71 And 72. Rare examples of 'true' Em tunes, i.e. 1 sharp. They sound made up to me. ****************** The Players vi - fiddle, bj - banjo, acc - accordion, cn - concertina, fl - flute Where a tune has been taken from a single player, rather than session, the number of the tune follows the artist. Gerry O'Connor (vi) Dundalk, Louth 4,5 Gerry McCartney (bj) Belfast 1,2 Deirdre Shannon (vi) Belfast 6 Michael O'Raighaillaigh(cn) 8-11 Vincent Blin (vi) Paris 12-13 Orla McGrory (vi) Belfast 14 Dianna Boullier (vi) Bangor, Down 15,26 Paddy O'Neill (vi) The Moy, Tyrone 17 Noel Hill (cn) Clare 19-22 Martin & Christine Dowling (vi,fl) Wisconsin 25,27 Dermy Diamond (vi) Belfast 24 Tommy Peoples (vi) Clare 28-55 Seamus Creagh (vi) Cork? 56 Paddy Canny (vi) Clare 58,59 Tom McGonigle (cn) Belfast 57 Dessie Wilkinson (fl) Belfast 62 Dermy Diamond (vi) Belfast 63 Sharon Shannon (acc) Clare 64-71