[scots-l] I think Celtic is soothing:

[George Seto]

Found this at the Mudcat Cafe Forum::

Think anyone can do something with this?

--

   Subject: Toronto cancer centre seeks minstrels
   From: GUEST,Marion
   Date: 30 Jan 03 - 04:09 PM
   
   I found this announcement in a newsgroup:
   
   MINSTREL PROGRAM
   
   
   TORONTO REGIONAL SUNNYBROOK CANCER CENTRE
   
   
   The Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre and the Board of Bayview
   Support Network (a volunteer peer support organization in the Cancer
   Centre) have approved the creation of a Minstrel Program. This program
   is being developed to bring the healing sound of instrumental and
   vocal music into the Atrium of the Cancer Centre. The Atrium is a
   beautiful 2 level space where cancer patients wait for treatment.
   
   
   
   The Minstrel Program is a volunteer program of professional, amateur
   and student musicians and vocalists. The Minstrel Program welcomes
   anyone who would like to play light, quiet, soothing and uplifting
   music to help make the waiting time for treatment easier and more
   pleasant. The wait is often stressful and it has been proven that
   music can play a big part in stress reduction and helps in the healing
   of body, mind and soul (all of which are involved in a cancer
   experience).
   
   
   
   Minstrels can provide music in whatever format they would like; i.e.
   wandering or stationary and in solo, duet or group presentations. The
   music can be improvisational in nature or structured.
   
   
   
   Minstrel program volunteers are welcome to bring their music at any
   time from 8:00am - 8:00pm, Monday to Friday, once a week, once a
   month, twice a month. The program has been designed with built-in
   flexibility to accommodate personal schedules. There are no time slots
   to be filled.
   
   
   
   ** Volunteers are encouraged to attend a kick-off orientation on
   February 14th, 2003 at 1:30pm because it will include an opportunity
   to meet other fellow-minstrels who are helping to initiate the
   program; however, individual intake appointments will be scheduled to
   accommodate personal schedules.
   
   
   
   **Bring your parking ticket when you attend volunteer intake sessions.
   It will be validated for free parking.
   
   
   
   
   
   For more information about the Minstrel Program or to register for the
   February orientation call
   
   
   
   Sharon Hudson Moore
   
   Chair, Complimentary Therapy
   
   Bayview Support Network Board
   
   905 886 1539

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Re: [scots-l] Celtic Connections/SHSA Comps/fusions/the whole nineyards

[David Kilpatrick]

Cynthia Cathcart wrote:




I'm in a rather unique position with respect to the question of 
authenticity and history: I play the wire-strung clarsach, whose 
tradition was absolutely broken in the late 1800's, to lie extinct until 
the 1950's. So I have little choice but to look to history, there are so 
few of us playing it today!

Late 1800s? More like late 1700s, and the wire-strung tradition was 
already dying in the early 1700s if sources are to be believed. I find a 
mystery why the wire-strung instrument fell into disuse, as to my ear, 
it is the better instrument.


This leaves me somewhat stumped for why anyone would willfully ignore 
their history. The history is what ties us all together, it's our common 
thread. To be authentic, shouldn't we cherish every reference we can 
find of the ancient traditions? They are clues to a great mystery.

Of course there are dozens of references going back to Giraldus 
Cambrensis and probably before, though sadly almost zero in the annals 
of Celtic Britain - strange, when we think of this music as belonging to 
the Celtic world, that the Celts (in religious or other texts) left very 
little by way of clues.

Given that two musicians of different generations today will interpret a 
sheet of music differently, I think it may be impossible for us to know 
what people expected to hear 500 years ago - what the inflection and 
accent of the music was.

Much of it is probably down to intuition on the part of a modern player, 
and that's where folk like you come in useful :-)

David


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[scots-l] [Fwd: [START] Stolen bagpipes]

[Toby Rider]

--- Begin Message ---








Passing this on – Sheena


From Fin & Hamish Moore,
Fungarth, Dunkeld, Perthshire PH8 OES Tel. No. 01350 728 838, 07739 174 766 
In an unfortunate incident on the evening of 11th January , a set Scottish
Small Pipes and a set Border Pipes were stolen from outside Sandy Bell's Bar in
Forest Hill Lane, Edinburgh. As you can imagine the sense of loss is profound
and any help in their recovery would be greatly appreciated. 
Description of the Pipes: 
Small Pipes : Made from Box wood
(a golden coloured wood) with gold plated ferrules and cocobolo (an almost
black coloured wood but with a deep red tinge) mounts. Although these pipes
were not marked with the makers name they have the hall mark of Hamish Moore
Pipes i.e. the distinctive three steps between the upper narrow part of the
drone and the larger diameter section which houses the tunung slide. These
pipes in the keys of "A" and "D" have four drones set in a
common stock. The chanters : The "A" is made of African Black wood
and has a box wood mount. The "D" is made of Lignum Vitae (a dark
green wood ) with a cocobolo mount. These pipes have a dark green velvet bag
cover covering a black hide bag. 
Border Pipes : Made from Box Wood
with gold plated ferrules and cocoboo mounts.The box wood on this set of pipes
was "flamed"( having a randomly spiralling grain ) making the pipes
particularly distinctive. The design of these pipes is copied from the Bryson
and Cox drawings dated circa 1740. These pipes have a green suede bag, and no
bag cover. 
Bellows : one set of bellows were
present in the case. Made of American Cherry with a box wood inlay these
bellows have highly ornate gold plated plates to hold the leather hinges,arm
and waist straps in place.All screws are ornately engraved and both the buckles
and the main hinge plate have the name "Moore" engraved on them.The
leather is a particularly attractive "ox blood " colour. 
Highland Chanters : One black (either Ebony or African Black Wood ) highland
chanter with makers name "Lawrie" marked on the neck and with a
silver, thistle engraved sole was also present in the case. Also black
(Blackwood) chanter with makers name "shepherd" marked on the neck.
No silver mount. 
Case : a plain black carrying case
--- dimensions : Length - 23". Depth - 5". Width - 11" >

 










 

 








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Re: [scots-l] Celtic Connections/SHSA Comps/fusions/the whole nineyards

[David Francis]

Toby wrote (re Shine)
>  Do they have an album? I have to hear this stuff!

They do indeed.  It's called Sugarcane and you can get it from
www.musicscotland.com   Their website is at www.shine3.com

Cynthia asked about harps taking the lead in bands:  Phamie Gow was one
harpist who led her own group at Celtic Connections.  Mary MacMaster (who is
one third of Shine) had a reprise of her piece written as an 'in memoriam'
for Joel Garnier, the man who invented the Camac electro-harp.  It comprised
music for the harp, written and improvised, combined with percussion, voices
and sampled tape recordings of Garnier's voice.  It was very moving.

If you talk about harpists taking the lead, then Corrina Hewat, another
third of Shine, was well to the fore at Celtic Connections.  She and her
partner, David Milligan, put together a 30 piece 'folk orchestra', called
'Unusual Suspects' and featuring a rhythm section (piano, guitar, bouzouki,
drums, double bass and harp), 10 fiddles (5 men and 5 women), four pipers/
whistlers/ flautists, three accordions, and a killer brass section led (and
scored) by trombonist Rick Taylor, who has worked with Frank Zappa among
others.  It was an outstanding concert, and demonstrated how the boundaries
of traditional music can be pushed while still honouring the spirit and
flavour of the original.  There are a significant number of musicians in
Scotland now, who are actively engaged in that whole area, and I don't think
we've heard more than a tiny fraction of the possibilities.  The talent,
invention, and adventure coming out of Scottish music at the moment is very
exciting, and there is a real sense of things moving up to a new level.  Now
if only there were enough venues for these great musicians to be heard in,
or promoters willing to give them a chance outside Celtic Connections.  But
that's another story.

What will interest members of this group is that this pioneering, boundary
pushing stuff sits along side the grassroots, informal tradition of music
making and teaching, and is in fact intimately linked to it, often through
the same individuals.  That's one of the things that makes it so good - the
fact that these adventures start on and return to solid ground.

David Francis


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Re: [scots-l] Celtic Connections/SHSA Comps/fusions/the whole nine yards

[Cynthia Cathcart]

At 04:28 PM 2/2/03 +, David Kilpatrick wrote:

Late 1800s? More like late 1700s,


Are we talking brain dead, heart dead, or loss of consciousness? Patrick 
Murney, the last harper we know who played on wire strings, died in 1880. 
Of course, Denis Hempson died many years earlier, in 1807 and since he was 
the last wire harper we know who played with his *fingernails*, I 
personally think that's the death knell. Of course, for things to get to 
that point, the harp was certainly in decline long before then.

<>

I doubt it will come as a surprise to anyone that I agree with you! True 
Story: when I first inherited my wire harp, I called a local celtic harper 
looking for lessons. She suggested I get a nylon lever harp, and get rid of 
my harp! (I believe her exact words were, "get a real harp.") But the whole 
reason I was attracted to wire was for its sound! The nylon harp has 
nothing like the same sound.

<>

Agreed. I played harpsichord in a chamber orchestra when I was in college, 
and we had inflamed debates over how Mozart would have played his music! If 
we can't find ready agreement on the "inflection and accent" of Mozart, how 
can we hope to find agreement for music far older, often of no known 
composer? But don't let that stop people from playing that music.

My old piano professor made his specialty the music of the American Ragtime 
era...Scott Joplin and all those cats. We have recordings of Joplin playing 
(actually, I think they might be some sort of piano-rolls that were made by 
him) and they're really awful. If that's what Ragtime is supposed to sound 
like, I've had enough of it...  Of course, it's the terrible recording, and 
not Mr. Joplin's talent! But does that mean we give up on studying those 
piano rolls? Do we abandon that music? Certainly not, we'd only be robbing 
ourselves.

There's also the whole issue of *context*. Chant is the clearest example. 
Someone might sing chant precisely as it was sung 800 years ago, but what 
if it's in a concert hall instead of a worship service? Is it still 
authentic? Will it sound the same to us today?

David Francis wrote: <
fact that these adventures start on and return to solid ground.>>

Hear Hear! We need the solid ground so that we can move ahead, innovate, 
and create music that won't "fizzle out before becoming part of the 
tradition" (apologies to Toby.)

--Cynthia Cathcart
http://www.cynthiacathcart.net/

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Re: [scots-l] Celtic Connections/SHSA Comps/fusions/the whole nineyards

[David Kilpatrick]

Cynthia Cathcart wrote:




My old piano professor made his specialty the music of the American 
Ragtime era...Scott Joplin and all those cats. We have recordings of 
Joplin playing (actually, I think they might be some sort of piano-rolls 
that were made by him) and they're really awful. If that's what Ragtime 
is supposed to sound like, I've had enough of it...  Of course, it's the 
terrible recording, and not Mr. Joplin's talent! But does that mean we 
give up on studying those piano rolls? Do we abandon that music? 
Certainly not, we'd only be robbing ourselves.


I've been reprimanded for playing ragtime (not that I play much) too 
fast - even on the guitar. Scott Joplin's original pace and phrasing was 
pointed out to me... really clunky and slow! Seems like ragtime has been 
 smoothed out and speeded up. Was that what you have heard in the piano 
roll recordings?

David

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[scots-l] ANNOUNCE: Dave Gibb at Kelso Folk Club, Fri Feb 14th

[David Kilpatrick]

Dave Gibb, Kelso Folk Club's guest artist for Valentine's Night, is part 
of the big tradition of Scottish songwriters who can alternate humour, 
nostalgia and hard-hitting lines while still picking a mean guitar.

Dave hails from the wild reaches beyond the source of the Tweed (where 
Robin Laing has fostered a very active Lanarkshire songwriters' circle) 
and this is his first gig in Kelso. Because it's Valentine's Night the 
folk club will start at 9.00pm giving people who've been out for a meal 
a chance to keep civilised hours and still catch the entertainment. The 
pub does serve meals, quite reasonable prices and good menu.

The venue is the Cobbles Inn, upstairs room, February 14th 2003, 9.00pm. 
Tickets on door B#4/B#3 concessions. There will be supporting local acts 
and a raffle as usual, with an informal music session downstairs 
afterwards. More info from Pete Gillespie at Pet Sounds music shop, 
Woodmarket, Kelso, 01573 225097; or reply to this email; or call the 
Cobbles Inn, 01573 223548.

Floor spots welcomed and last month our closing session was pretty good 
(greatly aided by Jack Campin's huge bass recorder, et al). First time 
we have moved everyone downstairs after concert nights, and I think 
we'll do that in future rather than wind up in the half-empty function 
room. Our weekly sessions are coming along very well with new musicians 
made welcome (and rapidly growing our resident ensemble), every Friday 
night apart from concert nights, from 9.30pm.

For a look at/listen to Dave Gibb's stuff see http://www.davegibb.co.uk/

- David Kilpatrick

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[scots-l] Tam Reid

[Jack Campin]

I was told today that Tam Reid died last week - went out to see to his
sheep in a blizzard; his wife found him dying in the snow a few hours
later, and the weather stopped the emergency services getting through
fast enough to help.  Apparently there were something about it in the
Aberdeen Press and Journal, anybody see it?  I can't find anything on
the web.

A very fine singer; I'm posting this to two lists and I think there
are people on both who knew him well.


-
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
 * food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files, and my CD-ROM "Embro, Embro".


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Re: [scots-l] Celtic Connections/SHSA Comps/fusions/the whole nineyards

[Jerry Agin]

Interesting that Scott Joplin comes up at this time.  I'm taking a
course on the History of Jazz, and we just listened to what is probably
the same recording.  It's a scratchy 78 RPM recording of Maple Leaf Rag
from a player piano playing a roll recorded by Joplin.

I actually heard it before the piano player was identified, and my
reaction was "this is awful!"  The left hand accompaniment was clunky
and overpowering.  I was extremely surprised when I heard that the
artist was Joplin himself.  But when I learned it was from a piano
roll, I realized what had happened.  Player pianos are not able to
reproduce dynamics, and all the subtleties of expression have been
wiped out!

Jerry Agin

David Kilpatrick wrote:
>
>
> Cynthia Cathcart wrote:
>
>
>
>> My old piano professor made his specialty the music of the American
>> Ragtime era...Scott Joplin and all those cats. We have recordings of
>> Joplin playing (actually, I think they might be some sort of
>> piano-rolls that were made by him) and they're really awful. If that's
>> what Ragtime is supposed to sound like, I've had enough of it...  Of
>> course, it's the terrible recording, and not Mr. Joplin's talent! But
>> does that mean we give up on studying those piano rolls? Do we abandon
>> that music? Certainly not, we'd only be robbing ourselves.
>>
>
> I've been reprimanded for playing ragtime (not that I play much) too
> fast - even on the guitar. Scott Joplin's original pace and phrasing was
> pointed out to me... really clunky and slow! Seems like ragtime has been
>  smoothed out and speeded up. Was that what you have heard in the piano
> roll recordings?
>
> David


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[scots-l] player pianos

[Jack Campin]

> Interesting that Scott Joplin comes up at this time.  I'm taking a
> course on the History of Jazz, and we just listened to what is probably
> the same recording.  It's a scratchy 78 RPM recording of Maple Leaf Rag
> from a player piano playing a roll recorded by Joplin.
>
> I actually heard it before the piano player was identified, and my
> reaction was "this is awful!"  The left hand accompaniment was clunky
> and overpowering.  I was extremely surprised when I heard that the
> artist was Joplin himself.  But when I learned it was from a piano
> roll, I realized what had happened.  Player pianos are not able to
> reproduce dynamics, and all the subtleties of expression have been
> wiped out!

There are two kinds of player piano technology.  The cheap rolls
used by domestic pianolas (like the one I've got but haven't got
working) were intended to have tempo and dynamics added by the
user.  The very much more expensive "reproducing pianos" like the
Welte-Mignon system encoded everything, and are about as accurate
a representation of what the pianist was doing as a CD and a lot
better than MP3 (the only thing they couldn't get was Glenn Gould's
groans).

Pianola rolls usually don't name a pianist, they were an encoding
effort like ABC and the only instruments you need to know how to
play are a punch and a sharp knife.  Neither is "better" than the
other - the pianola was intended to allow creative input after you
bought the recording, which makes it an interesting category of
musical production.

I thought Joplin's recordings were done on Welte-Mignons?  In
that case, assuming the equipment was adjusted right for both
recording and playback, they will be *exactly* what he meant.
And if they don't sound like Fats Waller, too bad, maybe he
didn't *want* to sound like that.

There is no earthly point in listening to a 78 of a piano roll,
whether pianola or reproducing piano.  The equipment still exists,
the rolls still exist, so they can be played live or re-recorded
onto present-day media.

There are probably zillions of pianola and reproducing piano
websites.


-
Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760
 * food intolerance data & recipes,
Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files, and my CD-ROM "Embro, Embro".


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Re: [scots-l] Celtic Connections/SHSA Comps/fusions/the whole nineyards

[Toby Rider]

On Sun, 2003-02-02 at 13:08, Cynthia Cathcart wrote:
>
> Agreed. I played harpsichord in a chamber orchestra when I was in college, 
> and we had inflamed debates over how Mozart would have played his music! If 
> we can't find ready agreement on the "inflection and accent" of Mozart, how 
> can we hope to find agreement for music far older, often of no known 
> composer? But don't let that stop people from playing that music.
> 
  Let me guess. Those debates ended up getting nowhere, except for
getting people all worked up? :-) I look at it this way. It would be
cool to actually know what Mozart's style was like (or any other great
players in any musical genre for that matter), but I personally wouldn't
even waste the energy to debating it. 
  The reason being is I guess I've become pretty pragmatic about music
here recently. Why should it really matter what Mozart's inflection and
accent were really like? Since there's only one Mozart, just like
there's only one Cynthia, and one Toby, and one of every other musician
on this list. Everyone has a unique voice and I am alot more interested
in hearing each individual's take on the music, then I would be in
hearing alot of clones of Mozart. 
 Since all of his music is written down, just take it as a general
guideline as far as how to play his pieces, and roll with it and develop
your own interpretation of it. Who knows, maybe if we did actually know
what Mozart's style was like, we might not actually like it and it would
lessen his greatness in the minds of some people. 
 So I guess I'm agreeing with you here Cynthia, in that it's fine to
agree to disagree on something that we're all basically just guessing
about (since there were no ancient tape recorders to record ancient harp
music), just as long as it doesn't stop people from trying to create
their own unique take on the music.


Toby
 

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