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Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 35, Page 8

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 35, Page 8
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
2
issue Content
AN OPINION--on a book& SURVEYI recently purchased a copyof Pocket Guide to Ir ishTraditional Music by CiaranCarson. As you reproducedthe Uilleann Pipes sectionin full, perhaps you willallow me to comment onsome of the points Mr.Carson makes in the bookand discuss a number of re-lated matters.Firstly he asserts (pagei i) that there is no suchthing as a traditional instru-ment. I disagree here andsuggest that the instru-ments upon which Irishmusic was composed cansurely be defined as tradi-tional instruments. If thosewho composed this music inpast centuries had accessto bouzoukis, accordeonsetc. Irish music would begreatly different to what itis today - probably chro-matic and certainly not re-stricted to the familiarmodes. However, the tradi-tion is changing with timebut I doubt if many tradi-tional type tunes are beingcomposed on instrumentsother than pipes, fiddle orflute. Indeed, some of thenewer wave tunes sound abit mawkish on the pipes atany rate.It is possible to rendertraditional melod ies on avariety of other non-traditional instruments andthe definition is a bit looseadmittedly, as can bedetected from Fleadh com-petitions, but the musicalpetitions, but the musicaleffect may range from goodto terriblel I believe Mr.Carsons statement is nomore tenable than to say apiano solo, so composed,may be rendered effectivelyon the bouzouki or trombone or a pipe tune playedon the piano and regardedas a piano piece.He states (page 13) thatmodern Uilleann Pipes arepitched in I ) and Eb, andwere developed in the lat-ter part of the 19th century. This is not so. Thereare quite a number of sets,especially chanters, in 0and some even sharper,which were made prior tothe changes brought aboutby Taylor. What the Taylorsand those who came afterdid was:(a) to increase the rate oftaper in D chantersfrom around say I in52 to 58 approx. to Iin 43 to 45, and(b) open up the throat fromsay, 3.7mm to 4.6mmdiameter, to 4.8mm to5.3mm diameter;(c) Enlarged the note holesfor greater volume.These dimensional differen-ces may not appear toosignificant to the casualreader but as regards musi-cal quality they make theworld of a difference. Thelate Breandn Breathnachonce remarked that whenwide-bore concert pitchinstruments were devised,they should have beencalled something other thanUilleann or Union pipes todistinguish the worst ofthem from the old narrow-bore, sweet-toned instrument.Mr. Carson raises a ques-tion which hardly needsasking, were the pipes aninstrument of the people ora plaything of a wealthy,leisured class?, and arrivesat the conclusion that theywere out of the financialreach of the peasantry.However, if he reads 0Neill s Irish Minstrels andMusicians again, as well asCar lton, Kohl, CroftonCroker the Halls and allthe other contemporaneousaccounts of the 19th cen-tury, he will find dozensmore references to ordinarypeople playing pipes thanthose referring to thewealthy. Apart from these,photographs of the Reillys,Cumbaw, the Markeys, MacCartney etc. etc, all peopleby no means wealthy, wereequipped with full sets,6expensive though these mayhave been. Surely the num-bers of wealthy personswho played the pipes wouldhardly have provided thevarious pipe-makers withsufficient business to keepthem going and earning aliving. Furthermore, thesignificant influence of thepipes on Irish Music as weknow it today could hardlyhave been exerted by asmall number of isolatedwealthy pipers. Undoubtedlythere were 3ackson, LordRossmore and others but inthe era before mass com-munications and transport,the way the pipingtradition could have evolvedwould be a widespreadscattering of pipers aroundthe country, especially tra-velling itinerant and moreup-market professionalpipers to whom hundreds ofreferences exist. This is,I believe, the answer to thequestion Mr Carson poses.On page 14 he goes onto speculate if the man inthe street or the bog couldhave afforded these instru-ments (pipes) how manycould have afforded fiddlesand flutes? (which accordingto ONeiJI are the twoother traditional instruments). Evidently therewere sufficient of all instru-ments to bring the musicand dance to the degree ofdevelopment reached In pre-famine Ireland. It is diffi-cult to understand why hefilled so much of a slimbooklet with such pointlessvalueless speculation.Mr. Carson goes on tocite evidence that boor-tree (Elder, it is morewidely know as, I think)was used for making pipes.This species has a largeamount of soft pith and tomy belief could not byscraping, boring or reaming,produce a stick with the in-ternal characteristics of achanter, drone or regulatorhut there is evidence thatElder was used for reeds,indeed and I (and doubtless
issue Number
35
page Number
8
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
1987-05-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 2, Issue 35

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