Happy New Year!
Suzanne MacDonald asked:
"........Also I have hand-written music notated by the leader of one of
Scotland's best known Strathspey and Reel groups which included tunes
composed by Dan R. Mac Donald in which the birls were eliminated.
Astonishingly, one tune in particular "Trip to Windsor" had to have been
copied from a commercial recording of Winston Fitzgerald because Winston's
version
differed from all published versions [parts of Winston's version are
Mixolodian], did of course include birls, but in the notated version they
were eliminated. Perhaps someone from Scotland would comment."
Commenting from Scotland, I would agree with Skinner and Johnson that the
birl is an important and surviving component of fiddle music here. However,
for many "refined" players and players of a "classical" background have
worked to remove it from the music because 1. it is seen as something
"coarse" and 2. becuase they just can't do it convincingly! Also, in fiddle
ensemble playing, such as in strathspey and reel bands, the conductors have
long frowned on the practice as it is impossible to get scores of fiddlers
all birlin away at the same time and in the same manner.
If only we could ask Scott Skinner! Well, can I offer the next best thing?
I've been working on some old Skinner recordings, clearing out some of the
noise so that you can hear just what he was doing and I've extracted a birl
from his "The Devil in the Kitchen" and posted it as an MP3:
www.sol.co.uk/w/whistlebinkies/birls/birl1.mp3
Through the wonders of modern science I also slowed the recording doen to
twice the length while retaining the pitch (which is sharp of modern
concert):
www.sol.co.uk/w/whistlebinkies/birls/birl2.mp3
I've also posted an image of the wave pattern for the birl woth the notes
attached:
www.sol.co.uk/w/whistlebinkies/birls/birl1.gif
The principal conclusions are:
1 Skinner could certainly do it
2 The birl is very fast ( 0.320 sec, approx)
3 The third note is considerably longer than the first two in the
proportions 1 : 1 : 3
This is a birl as part of the melody of the tune - for many fiddlers its an
optional extra or ornament but I would suggest that the principal is the
same.
Any other thoughts and comments?
Stuart Eydmann
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