What instrument do MC members like to play most for celtic airs?

[Bob Borzelleri]

Whenever I sit down to work on Irish/Celtic stuff, I reach for my Tacoma M3E. The Tacoma tone fills the bill and it gives me a chance to spend time on the best neck in the house.

[JeffD]

Originally Posted by mandroid

Maybe importing collaborative music to a 'winner take all' country just doesn't translate.

Yikes!

I have bumped into all kinds of jammers, in all kinds of situations, from all over the world, playing all kinds of music, and there is not enough consistency to justify the conclusion.

I have met and played with many very "competitive" players, some aggressively so, in Scotland and Ireland, as well as in the States, and also more supportive jams, on all sides.

While playing music with others is usually a collaborative affair, it can sometimes be competitive, and sometimes to good effect. It can be exhilirating to try and "run with the big dogs".

On the whole I prefer a collaborative jam, composed of collaborative folks, playing collaborative music, and such jams are not hard to find in most parts of the world.

But I don't think there is anything inherent in traditional music to make it more collaborative than other music, and I don't think "winner take all" musicians are limited to any region or country.

[Cathal Whelehan]

Originally Posted by improziv

Without knowing too much I would suggest that the Irish traditional scene is slightly below the surface. By that I mean it's not advertised much but probably has an email-based network and places to play. I live in New Jersey where (if you count NYC) there are sessions to play at on every single day of the week and sometimes you have to make a choice. Still- to the casual observers it's a total mystery. I was in Israel this past summer and got to play in both a pub session as well as a house session. It's everywhere may require a little digging.

By the way - a good flute player (and cracking Irish flute maker!) who used to play at our sessions moved to Berlin and is reporting good sessions. You just need to find the porthole and get connected.

Thanks improviz, very encouraging. It's something I do want to look more into once I feel more confident overall but it's good to hear that there are sessions out there somewhere and that they just have to be found. I look forward to some happy hunting in the future.

[Cathal Whelehan]

Originally Posted by mandroid

The one local ITM jam was in a Hard surfaced room, full of fiddlers, and sight readers.

I would bring my 4 string set up Banjo Mandolin, so I would have a chance of hearing myself.

But the resonance in the room and the unwillingness of the reading players to help those who don't rip thru standard notation, from years of training, to learn the tunes, I stopped going ..

I had a better time playing in the village pub in County Kerry, over There.

A few times I get together with a friend , a native of Galway, And do better .

Maybe importing collaborative music to a 'winner take all' country just doesn't translate.

Are you taking about a jam in Berlin, mandroid?

[gw16]

Hi Cathal, I do a lot of Celtic trad and Celtic rock stuff. I use mostly mandolin on stage (my two main touring axes are a 1918 Gibson A and a 1924 A Jr - both have killer tone for Celtic stuff). For the CBOM stuff I use an OM I've played for years and a new Nyberg carved-top short scale bouzouki as well. Both are great instruments but on bigger shows I find that it's harder to bring the OM and bouzouki out in the mix over the acoustic guitar so I prefer the mandolin as it cuts better. I lucked out and won the Herb Taylor bouzouki from the Zoukfest raffle this year and it's en route to me as we speak so the flat top might be better in a live environment. Time will tell!

[Randi Gormley]

Limited funds mean I use either of my two "real" mandos for sessions, and both are A mandolins with f-holes, my strad-o-lin and the kentucky. The strad, especially, has a nice sweet, carrying tone that seems to work well both in session and in duets with guitar or voice. i have a pick-up on the kentucky, so that's the one i take if we need better electronics than just sitting behind a microphone.

[Steve Baker]

Getting back to the original question, I Really Love my guitar-bodied OM/Zouk (that's it right over there in the corner) for playing slow airs. All that bass and the sustain lets it really ring on and on, a bit like a harp. The scale is too long for me to play fast tunes with any success but for the slow stuff it can't be matched. That Graham MacDonald is a genius is evident every time I pick it up.

Steve - yearning to be worthy of my instruments
MacDonald Type 3
Fylde Octave mandola
Fylde tenor mandola

[kevincoffey]

My tuba gets first call and, if that is in the shop for adjustments, why the hurdy-gurdy, of course.

[Cathal Whelehan]

Just revisiting this thread and drooling a little over the choices some of you have.

Can I just expand the question a little for the mandolins (but by all means give the same info for your other instruments)? I'm just wondering what strings you use (and picks too - it's my new obsession).

Suppose it's getting technical now, but I've been doing a lot of listening to different picks on my current two sets of strings (an f-shape with a set of 9 gauge, and flat top oval hole with a set of 11 gauge strings).

The 9s on the f-shape (I think they're Martin strings) sound fantastic, with lighter and medium picks I'm sure I could go up at least to 10s and still retain a lot of that nice twingly sound in trad tunes.

The 11s (ghs) on the flat top are harder to find a good pick for as the soundhole seems to act like a microphone and make the pick noise stand out too much. While mucking around with these picks, the most common sound I hear from the strings is a really pronounced chime-like tone so I'm kind of missing that twinglier tone I'm used to in reels and jigs. Triplets and their like are all pretty hard going on the 11s too, I find. That all said, I've also discovered that playing the heavier strings with a really thick pick - 2mm - makes it really nice to play amazingly quiet tremelo phrases late at night, so my Trinity College is now "relegated" to nightshifts.

But, am I correct in suspecting that 11 gauge strings have got maybe a little too much chimey fullness for the more intricate picking needs of twingly tunes?

[Jill McAuley]

I use D'Addario J74's on both my Pomeroy and Gallatin, pretty standard choice of a lot of folks - the gauges are 11/15/26/40, but my Red Line Traveler, a flat top, is strung with lighter strings - GHS A250's 10/15/24/36. I don't have any problem playing intricate passages of a tune, or triplets or trebles using the J74's - as a matter of fact I prefer the response I get from the J74's vs. the lighter GHS strings.

I think your choice of .72mm pick might be making you find the heavier strings difficult. When I first started playing I used .72mm picks as well, but after a while I found that they felt like they were "dragging" a bit and I couldn't get the speed or tone I wanted. Then I had a lesson with an awesome local trad player, Marla Fibish, and she was using 1mm picks and let me try one - the improvement in tone and volume was immediate. My triplet playing improved as well, so I ditched the thin picks and ever since then I've been using picks in the .88 - 1mm range, currently using a Blue Chip TD35.

That's just my experience - string and pick choice is an individual thing, everyone has their druthers. It is interesting that you have the lighter strings on the F, which has a carved top, and the heavier ones on the flat top. Not a lot of folks would use strings that light on a carved top instrument, and, not to generalize, but most of the folks I know with flat top mandolins string them with lighter strings - over on the very long running Flatiron Pancake thread folks who've just got one are always told to string them up with light strings (on the Pancakes, the builder's recommended light gauges are even listed on a sticker inside the mandolin).

Cheers,
Jill

[Cathal Whelehan]

Hi Jill, I have to correct myself on the strings on the f-shape. I ordered a set of 9s and a set of 10s and asked them to set it up with the 9s so that I could try all the gauges going up from there (with fairly simple adjustments to set up as the strings gets get thicker) so that I can get the mando set up again properly (new nut etc) once I've found the strings I like best and mucked around with my old nut and saddle about as much as they'll let me.

Turns out they put the 10s on it and stuck the 9s (and the empty 10 packet) in the case pocket where I hadn't looked.

Ah well. So it's the 10s that are really good. I'll be onto 11s when I break these. Might stick the 9s on ebay

I now think my problem with the TC flat top is the frets rather than the strings. At least I think what I'm hearing is the string and the fret chiming; they're kind of thick for my liking and the wound strings don't get to touch the fretboard very often (G string not at all). Might have to get it looked at again.

[catmandu2]

Slow airs, especially, but everything else celtic too is what I play on HD. I also enjoy playing celtic music on fiddle and concertinas, and 12-string guitar, mandola and OM...less so on mandolin.