Music

Hillside Festival and Riverside Celtic Society (Updated)

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It is an exciting year for award-winning Canadian bodhran player/teacher Jacob McCauley. Apart from the upcoming album launch, his hands are busy playing and teaching:

Looking forward to teaching a Bodhrán workshop at the Hillside Festival this year! I’m also very happy to have some musical support from James M Law and Graeme McGillivray playing some good ol’ traditional tunes mixed up with some of our own modern compositions. Should be a hoot!-Jacob McCauley

http://hillsidefestival.ca/#/performerInfo/performer/drum_dance_bodhr_n_with_jacob_mccauley

Below is a slideshow from the recent Riverside Celtic Society Performance, plus some old pictures they have. According to Jacob:

“We sadly had a recent friend and musician pass away so we uploaded many of some old photos”.

And of course a nice update:

“My trio’s EP is releasing soon and I should have a track to post soon as well so I will let you know about that as soon as I have more info. I also have been testing the new drum. Fun times!”

They have a nice site: https://www.facebook.com/RiversideCelticSociety

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‘Seisiún’ show at Áras An Mhuilinn, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath tomorrow night, Wednesday 18th July @8 30pm

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Are you in Ireland, or visiting Ireland? I got this from Enda Seery. I featured him before because  his style of playing the whistle is fascinating. There is an amazing show he is producing. I am a snoop so I have to know more. The resident group at the centre is called ‘Ceoltóirí an Mhuilinn’. I asked him for a bit of info:

Seisiún provides a unique entertainment experience for holidaymakers and local communities alike at various CCÉ Seisiún nights all over Ireland. Seisiún Áras an Mhuilinn is staged in the ‘Teach Ceoil’ in Áras an Mhuilinn, the Comhaltas Regional Centre in Mullingar. The setting in Áras an Mhuilinn is ideally suited to a Comhaltas Seisiún Show, an intimate setting of formal and informal traditional Irish entertainment of the highest quality. Light refreshment is offered as part of the very reasonable entrance charge while bar facilities are also available. Seisiún concludes with an informal traditional session where visitors are encouraged to participate as they so wish. Seisiún Áras an Mhuilinn is staged in the historical town of Mullingar, the town in which Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was founded in 1951. Seisiún audiences return year after year- Bígí linn ag Seisiún Áras an Mhuilinn!

Seisiún’ show at Áras An Mhuilinn, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath tomorrow night, Wednesday 18th July @8 30pm. lLots of talent on display! Artists from Offaly Comhaltas on stage for the second half. First half line-up as follows:
Enda Seery-MC, Producer, Whistles, Flute
Sarah Hennessy-Button Accordion
Sharon Morgan-Flute
Hilary Gaffney-Fiddle
Seamus Kelly-Guitar
Niamh Glynn-Dancer
Thomas McCormack-Dancer
Doreen Farrelly-Singer
Mary Hughes-Storyteller

www.arasanmhuilinn.ie

Buzzing Harps: Bray Harps (Popular in the 14th to 18th Century Wales)

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Mike Parker 16thC. style gothic harp with bray pins on some notes. Bass ronde misattributed to Beatrix of Dia, 

I heard Bill Taylor perform music using his bray harp (also known as gothic harp) and it was something. These harps sound like they are buzzing when you play them. So totally different from the harp sound we came to know. According to the BBC 3, these harps were popular among the Scots of the lowlands and this was commonly played in Welsh society. Along with the Clarsach, these two became popular from the 14th up to the 18 century. I can’t find any video of Bill Taylor playing the bray harp for my example so I am using this video by Mike Parker. Just check this info I got from Ardival Harps:

Bray harps, also referred to as “gothic harps”, are characterised by their long, slender shapes, which resemble the wings of angels.  But the real difference is in their sound:  they buzz.

Said to “bray like donkeys”, these harps are fitted with tiny L-shaped wooden pegs called bray pins. These bray pins hold the strings in the soundbox and also lightly touch them. This light point of contact causes the buzzing sound as the string vibrates.

Although it may be a strange sound to us today, this was the familiar sound of the gut-strung harp across Europe for several hundred years, played between the 14th and 18th centuries, and heard in Wales into the early 19th century.  They were the classic harps during the Renaissance, and described by Michael Praetorius in his 1619 publication as “the ordinary harp” (illustrated right).

With the wire-strung clarsach being the choice instrument of the Highland Gaels, the gut-strung bray harp appears to have been the harp preferred by the Lowland Scots.  Bray harps have long strings, with often narrow spacing, and over time tend to develop a slightly arched back due to tension of the strings.  Evidence from the Welsh manuscript of Robert ap Huw points to their use with fingernails; otherwise, classical fingerpad technique is also appropriate. http://www.ardival.com/index.asp?pageid=200766

 

Also, check out the website of Bill Taylor: http://www.billtaylor.eu

Harp Music: Tradition of Music Making pre-1700 in Wales

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For those who aren’t part of The Celtic Music Fan via facebook, this is a good link. If you think you know all there is to know about Welsh music, wait until you listen to this radio show. The hosts  gave informative materials and also played samples of the music throughout the show. Composer Robert ap Huw chronicled the music of his time and made his own odd tablature which became a source of debate and amazement among musicologists. I am attaching the link here. Facebook makes music blogging so easy..and yeah this neat screenshot app helps a lot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kntn7

Jamie Smith’s MABON in South of Wales this Summer! Thursday, 19 July 2012

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Bout this pic: Adam and Matt modelling the new tour bus. A slight upgrade from the last one!
— with Matthew Emyr Downer, Jamie Smith, Adam Rhodes, Oliver Wilson-Dickson and Iolo Whelan.

Welsh readers, get ready for J S Mabon @ The Muni!Thursday, 19 July 2012.

Apart from the much anticipated new album from this amazing Welsh band, fans in their homeland will be thrilled to see them perform live.  Here is the news event posted by Iolo Whelan, the band’s  drummer:

Our only ‘home turf’ gig this summer – come out, South Walians!
Ein unig gig lleol haf yma – dewch yn llu!

Jamie Smith’s MABON emerge from the recording studio, blinking in the daylight, and champing at the bit to play for real live people again! Tucked in amongst a list of UK and European festivals, our only local gig this summer will be at THE MUNI CENTRE, PONTYPRIDD on Thursday 19th July.
We’d be delighted if you could spread the word, and join us at this great venue for a intimate evening of music. (:

Wele Mabon yn ymddangos o’r stiwdio recordio i chwarae ein unig gig lleol yr haf yma, yng NGHANOLFAN Y MUNI, PONTYPRIDD, nos Iau 19eg o Fehefin.
Fasech chi gystal a lledaenu’r gair? Basai’n hyfryd eich gweld chi yno! (:

Be part of the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/362339267168366/

This is an aside but that bus looks inviting! That band’s poster is also amazing. They surely hired a great photographer.

Jamie Smiths Mabon perform The Tale of Nikolai, The Dancing Bear at Priddy Folk Festival 2012