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Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 2, Page 10

Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 2, Page 10
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music
volume Number
1
issue Content
10Ceol na hEireann Irish Music11A SideF gure 4 A) Plan view of ioop wireB) Cross-sectional viewpiece of wire and soldering only the base ofthe loop into place (Figure 4). The top ofthe loop was then bent downwards to forma lip to which the tailpiece could beattached. To finish, a soundpost wasinserted. In the end, the joints over theentire instrument would be inspected andeither tapped or filed to ensure joints weresecure and no sharp surfaces remained.The fiddles were made from whatevertin plate was available. This could be from old cans etc. though shop-bought tinplate was considered the ideal. The thickness of the plate varied with 30 gaugeappearing to be the most common, though some fiddles were made using plateas thin as 28 gauge. The latter are so thin that both the back and belly can beeasily flexed by pressing with the hand, yet they stand up to the pressures ofbeing tuned to concert pitch. The weakest part of these instruments is the fixingof the neck. In most cases there has been, at minimum, a noticeable pulling ofthe neck so that the fingerboards almost rest on the belly but the necks are stillquite strongly anchored in place by the riveted box structures. Where downwardwarping of the fingerboard occurred the player or the maker often madeadjustments by shaving down the height of the bridge to bring the string actionin line with timber instruments. Traditional players commonly played flat-handed, i.e. they rested the base of their wrist unto the back of the fiddle asopposed to arching out and away from the fiddle in the classical hold. The thinflange formed by the join of the back and the sides could easily irritate or diginto the wrist. To counter this, the flange at this point was sometimes rolledaround a piece of wire and soldered to make a smooth, rounded surface whichdid not press sharply into the wrist. Lastly, it should be remembered that tinplate is sandwich-like in manufacture. It has an iron core which is thinly coatedon both sides with tin. With time, the tin coating eventually wears, exposing theiron core. When this happens the instrument will continually rust. As such, tinfiddles have a limited lifetime of approximately 100 years, if not otherwiseprotected.USES AND ADVANTAGESThe clearest advantage of tin fiddles within the community in which theycirculated was their low cost. The basic construction materials were extremelycheap and readily obtained. Where a neck from a timber fiddle was alreadypresent to be added the construction time was minimal, thus potential buyerscould be offered a virtual on-site immediate supply. The notes compiled by JackieSmall which accompany recordings of Mickey Doherty 4 describe how Mickey wasable to make a fiddle for raffle at the end of an evenings card playing.As the tin fiddles were generally made in the same shape and dimensions ofa standard, full-size, timber fiddle, they could be used for the exact samepurpose as the latter. Though they were played for normal performances such ashouse dances, their muted volume did restrict their regular use for this purpose,typically demanding playing by duets or larger combinations of fiddlers. Tinfiddles were also used by players to practice and play in their homes. In thissetting, they did show some noteworthy advantages over their more popularwooden counterparts.The cottages in which traditional fiddle music was played were typically verysmall, often no more than three rooms. Families were large by current standards.Prior to the advent and wide circulation of modern mutes Donegal fiddlers madeseveral efforts to reduce the volume of their wooden instruments to permitpracticing without disturbing the sleep of children in such tight quarters. JimmyLyons of Teelin commonly practiced with clothes pegs wedged onto his bridge.Neillidh Boyle of Cronashallog,Dungloe, also used this method.He also took it further to devisedifferent patterns of peg attach-ment to affect different soundswhich altered the tonal relationsbetween the upper and lowerstrings (Figure 5). He sometimesemployed this technique in hispublic performances, particularlyin airs.The low volume of tin fiddles was seen as an actual decided advantage overtimber fiddles for evening practising in cottages. There were no complications asregards cutting down the sound output of the instrument and fiddlers weregenerally of the opinion that tin fiddles were sweet in tone.Another point relates to children in musical houses. As fiddling was acommon social pursuit in the past, children often aspired to playing. When aparent had what was considered a decent instrument its safety in the hands ofchildren could not be assured. A small bit of rough handling often resulted inbroken necks and cracks. As luthiers were not known in Donegal damage suchFigure 5 An arrangement of three pegs whichNeihidh Boyle favoured when playing airs.--4
issue Number
2
page Number
10
periodical Author
[Various]
issue Publication Date
1994-01-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Ceol na hÉireann / Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 2

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