doodles, UT xmas, first whistle lesson

The first two pictures in today's Blathering are part of The Flying Fire Hydrant collection, which are basically Corel Painter experiments I've been sending to my friend Rand over the past year as my Christmas present to him last year; he had made the mistake of expressing interest in seeing these experimental doodles earlier on :-). Originally I had tried to do this every weekday but it ended up as several times a week instead. A few days ago, I printed up all the pictures I've been sending him and sent them to him so he'll have a hardcopy record. It was a selfish gift since I likely enjoyed it more than he did (some of the pieces I sent him were VERY experimental), plus it motivated me to be more adventurous in trying different styles instead of sticking with the safe and familiar.

I've had great fun playing around with Corel Painter this past year, especially as my tendinitis improved and I was able to properly use my Wacom Artpad. The first image was created using the "Reed Pen" and gouache brushes with the "Multiply layers" turned on. The second was done with a "Croquil Pen" brush. You can click on any image to see a bigger version. I find that trying different brushes inspire me to experiment with all kinds of styles.

I've been posting some of my experiments in my Flickr Doodles Page, if anyone's interested. You can always find the link by clicking on "PHOTOS" in the lefthand navigation menu on any Blatherings page.

While browsing the Flickr Illustration group, I came across a weekly collaboration project called Illustration Friday, which challenges artists (of all different levels of experience) to post an image with a particular theme. The picture I posted for the topic "Home" is at the bottom of the page. I find the project lots of fun, and the images don't tend to take me more than a couple of minutes to draw.



Did a bit of Christmas celebrating with Allison and Jodi yesterday at the Frog & Firkin, where we did our Christmas gift exchange. Thanks, Allison and Jodi, for the lovely gifts! I got some chocolates, teas, a jingle bell snowman ornament and HMV gift certificate from Jodi; Allison gave me a firefly notepad, a sampler CD of Tolkien-inspired songs she's been putting together, and a blue plastic envelope containing a wonderful personalized calendar full of photos that she and I have taken over the past year. Afterward, Jodi went home; Allison and I decided to go see "Kinsey", which we both enjoyed.

Also had my first whistle lesson yesterday! Wow, I learned so much in an hour. Karen Light had me play through one of the tunes I've learned (I chose the Swallow Tail reel), then told me what things she can tell I already know, what things she's going to help me work on. She explained some of the different whistle-playing styles, said that she teaches in the style of Mary Bergin, but that in the end I should play in whatever style with which I'm most comfortable. I learned about where to tongue during whistle tunes, two different types of "cuts" (kind of ornamentation), how to do a roll (another kind), where to take a breath during a tune. Also found out that I've been misprouncing the word "Comhaltas"; it should be pronounced as Coltis.

My posting for this week's Illustration Friday. Topic: "Home."

She also strongly suggested I get a hand-held tape recorder to tape lessons. Some of the people at the Tranzac session suggested I begin recording sessions, so this has made up my mind. However, I have no idea what type to get; I'd like to spend as little money as possible but I'd also like a handheld recorder that has decent enough quality that I can pick out a tune. Size is also an issue; ideally, I'd like it to be as small as possible.

Any suggestions?

By the way, several of you have expressed interested in the "Black Book" for sale at my Tranzac session. Once I get my own copy, I'll write up a brief description so you can decide whether to buy one or not. I'll also have to check whether it's available to those not attending the session.

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Ballydesmond

So I went to my second Irish music session at the Tranzac Club last week, and this time I ACTUALLY PLAYED. (!) (For who missed it, here's the report from My First Session.)

Taking the advice of Denis, a very nice banjo player I met last time, I showed up an hour earlier this time and was thus able to attend the "slow session," which I figured would be geared toward beginners and those wishing to learn new tunes.

I wasn't exactly sure to expect. When I arrived, two younger women were just taking off their coats and chatting. Turns out they were both flute-players (the term "flautist" somehow seems too snooty in the Irish music setting), and one also played whistle. Hoping that they might be newbies like me, I asked them how long they had been playing. Their answer: several YEARS. So much for the slow session being for beginners. :-) One of them had a big binder of music with her.

Hey wait. She had SHEET MUSIC! So written music wasn't as forbidden as I had originally assumed, or at least not at this session. The flute player also told me about a Black Book that the Tranzac session people self-published, containing some of the tunes they frequently play.

When Denis arrived, he asked me if I brought my whistle this time. (I had actually brought it last time, but left it in my knapsack because I was terrified that someone might actually ask me to play it.)

"Er...yes," I admitted. "Don't know if I'll be brave enough to play it, though." He just smiled.

I found myself sitting beside an older and obviously highly experienced whistle player during the slow session. He was very friendly and was gracious about answering newbie questions I had about tuning certain types of whistles and tunes in general. He was playing a custom-made black whistle which is apparently no longer generally available.

Like the flute player, the whistle player told me about the Black Book, which is available for $10. I'm supposed to get my copy at the first session in the New Year, yay!

As we chatted, another player in the circle offered me a sheet of paper printed on both sides with tunes: Thrush In The Straw, The Maid In The Meadow, The Green Fields of America, and three polkas: Maurice Manley's (Ballydesmond=2), Ballydesmond, Egans. From doing research online, I know that some session players sneer at those that "read dots," so I was pretty happy. My goal is to memorize these tunes next.

During the slow session, we went through some of the tunes on the sheet. I read the music and played along, or at least tried to. Though the speed was certainly slower than the usual session pace, I found it pretty challenging to sightread so quickly. But inside, I felt like cheering...at least I was PLAYING!

Once the slow session eased into the regular session and more musicians arrived, I set my whistle aside and just listened. They actually did play one tune (Cooley's Reel) that I had learned...but I only recognized it when it was nearly over because it was being played about a zillion times faster than I had been practising it.

Most of the session was what filkers call "chaos style" in that pretty much anyone could leap in at anytime, but at one point the circle turned "bardic" in that the lead went to each person around the circle, one at a time.

When it got to me, I passed. But then Denis asked, "Are you sure there's nothing you'd like to play, Debbie?" One of the flute-players I had chatted with earlier gave an encouraging cheer, and I realized that as nervous as I was, I couldn't and shouldn't pass up the opportunity.

Not sure if anyone would know the tunes I'd learned on my own, I asked if it was all right if we played one of the tunes we'd been practising in the slow session. Hm, but which one?

"You did fine with the polkas," whispered the whistle player beside me. "How about those?"

They wanted me to set the pace, but I was too nervous so asked the whistle player to help me. And so together, we launched into Maurice Manley's Ballydesmond. My hands were shaking and I stumbled a lot the first few bars, but then the music caught me up, and the fact that I was here PLAYING MY WHISTLE AT A SESSION. By the time the tune wound to a close, I had a silly smile plastered over my face; quite the challenge, really, trying to play whistle while smiling.

The smile lasted all the way home. I'm sure the other people on the subway must have thought me a bit off my gourd.

Thank you so much, Mary Bertke, for setting up that amazing session at OVFF! I'm definitely hooked.

And I can't wait until the next session. :-)

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Return of the King, Turkish chicken, and penny whistle lessons

Xmas ornament made by a niece years ago.

So of course the first thing I did this morning was to buy the DVD of the Special Extended Version of Return of the King. I've promised Jeff not to open it until tonight, when he, Craig and Ray arrive for a ROTK evening. I'm in the mood to cook, too, so am going to make Chicken Breasts with Yogurt, Garlic & Coriander (Turkish recipe I got from my friend Justin's mom), coconut ginger rice, and Sugar Snaps in Lemon Butter (Moosewood recipe). Ray's bringing dessert, and I'm also going have some chocolate-dipped strawberries around for munching on during the movie.

Geez, I am SO hyped. :-)

My friends Luisa and Allison are highly amused, of course, since five years ago I hadn't yet even READ Lord of the Rings. And now I'm a gibbering fangirl breathing steam on the package of our spankin' new Collector's DVD Return of the King Extended Version Gift Set, gloating over my mini Minas Tirith. Go figure, eh?

Had a great evening with Luisa and Reid last night at Milestones. One of the wonderful things about our friendship with them is that all four of us are good friends, making it much more fun to do couplestuff. Just wished we lived closer.

Session tunes update (tunes I've learned so far):
The Swallow Tail, The Donegal Reel, The Galway Rambler, Cooley's Reel, The Boyne Hunt, The Sligo Maid, Drowsy Maggie, Ms. McLeod's Reel, The Green Groves Of Erin, The Bank of Ireland, The Earl's Chair. Next project: The Fermoy Lassies.



After learning The Fermoy Lassies, I'm not going to learn any more new tunes until I have the 13 tunes I know so far learned so well that I can play along with the fast version of my CD recording without hesitation. I figure I'm already going to be way nervous playing with people, so I'm better off knowing fewer tunes at first but knowing them really, really well.

AND I'm going to take some penny whistle lessons every other week, starting in January! Through the Tranzac session, I was introduced to a whistle-player named Karen Light. It's been a while since I've taken formal lessons of any sort (I took Celtic harp lessons in Philly for six months a few years ago) and I'm pretty excited.

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First Irish session at the Tranzac

So I attended my first Irish session at the Tranzac last night!

As I've mentioned in earlier Blatherings, I enjoyed the informal Celtic/Irish session at OVFF at the end of October so much that I resolved to learn more about the tradition as well as how to eventually be a more active participant at future sessions.

So I did some research online, talked to experienced session-types in message boards (and Blatherchat - thanks, Mary & Bill!), got some coaching from Ju Honisch and Dave Clement, started learning tunes. Found some sessions in Toronto.

I was pretty nervous when I arrived at the Tranzac Club last night. I had no idea what to expect and didn't know anyone there. It turns out that the Tranzac is actually a community hall; the bar is only one small room in the building with several function spaces. Snooping around, I heard what definitely sounded like Irish session music from behind closed doors in one of the rooms.

Geez, what do I do now? I had assumed the session would be in a pub, open to the public, and figured I could hide in the corner and just listen without being noticed.

Rather than knock and interrupt the session, I decided to just go in. At first glance, the session looked a LOT like a typical filk circle. There were about 15-20 people in a small room, all seated on chairs in a circle. Unlike a filk circle, however, they ALL had instruments, and there was no singing. I saw fiddles, different types of pipes, whistles, flutes, a guitar, concertinas and accordions.

Everyone looked at me as the door closed behind me (I imagined them all thinking, "Who the HELL is she??"), and I realized there were no more chairs. I asked a woman with an accordion whether it would be ok if I brought in another chair. She gave an uncertain smile and nodded, so I went out and got one from one of the other rooms.

I got settled and started listening to the music, relieved that no one had tried kicking me out. At least not yet.

Once I got over my nervousness about whether I'd be welcome or not, I relaxed and enjoyed the music. Which was WONDERFUL. I think I had a silly smile plastered over my face for most of the time I was there; it was impossible not to be caught up in the atmosphere, the friendly trading of tunes, musical fellowship, support and encouragement of one another.

Reminded me a great deal of a good filk circle, in fact. :-)

They didn't play any of the tunes I've learned so far, but I did recognize one or two others. Occasionally someone would call out a title, and I'd write it down in hopes of eventually learning it myself. Seeing this, a fiddle player sitting beside me passed me a piece of paper on which she had written some other song titles.

"In case you're curious about what we've played so far," she whispered.

Yay, I thought.

Although a new tune began as soon as the previous ended, I noticed that some people got in quick snatches of conversation in the transition periods. In that way, I got to talk a bit with the accordion woman who had told me it was ok to bring in another chair. She was extremely friendly and encouraging; I suspect that at first, people in the room thought I might be someone wandering in from the nearby pub area to just listen. Although the session is obviously welcoming to newcomers, I get the impression it's not open to the general public. Understandable, with the limited space.

Anyway, the accordion woman gave me a flyer about an Irish music weekend at the Tranzac next month. Workshops include instruction on uilleann pipes, fiddle, tin whistle, flute, and accordion as well as song and dance. How very cool; I'm definitely interested in attending.

I also chatted with a very nice fellow who is in charge of the mailing list for the group. He told me about the session schedule (this month the schedule is somewhat different because of the holiday season), and that if I show up an hour earlier before the regular session, there was a slow session for beginners ("slow sessions" are sessions where tunes are played at a slower speed).

"Is there a membership fee?" I asked.

"No," he said but then as an afterthought, he added with a twinkle in his eye, "Just buy me all the beer I want!"

:-D

I think I'm going to really enjoy this, and plan to attend the Tranzac sessions from now on. And eventually, I'm hoping to actually start PLAYING as well. :-)

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Christmas shopping poll, Irish session music

Ok, I have to know: how many of you have finished your Christmas or holiday season shopping already? I've only just gotten started. Do you do most of the gift shopping in your household? Do you enjoy it? Do you have any strategies on making the process more enjoyable?

Abrupt change of topic: Avenue Q. Have any of you heard of it? I just found out about it through Erin's blog comments, and LOVE the lyrics. I want to go see this play!

Session tunes update (tunes I've learned so far):
The Swallow Tail, The Donegal Reel, The Galway Rambler, Cooley's Reel, The Boyne Hunt, The Sligo Maid, Drowsy Maggie, Ms. McLeod's Reel, The Green Groves Of Erin, working on The Bank of Ireland.

Slower going these days because I'm putting as much focus on reviewing old tunes to makes sure I remember them as I am on learning new ones. I'm finding the memorization process much different than the process in memorizing piano pieces. Happily so.

After using sheet music to learn and memorize the tunes, I rely on my memory of the tune itself and recreating by ear to review. In piano, I always mentally pictured the sheet music in front of me; I found that if I relied too much on how a piece "felt" as I memorized, things could go Terribly Wrong if I happened to have an off day, or I was playing on a different piano, or the acoustics were different for some reason.

Also, learning tunes on a penny whistle is easier because I only have to focus on one note at a time. On piano, multiple lines could be going at once, plus many levels of dynamics and other nuances that make a character of a piano piece. There are nuances to whistle tunes as well, of course, but at least I only have to focus on one at a time. :-)

My updated Irish session tunes book arrived from Homespun Tapes a few days ago! As I've mentioned before, I already have this music but the new version includes chording as well as four CDs. For each tune, there is a slow learning version as well as one played at normal tempo, both with instrumental accompaniment.

I've already uploaded the recordings onto my iPod and am doing a lot of listening. I've already noticed subtle ways I need to change my playing style to make it more Celtic/Irish; right now, I tend to play the tunes too straight. Must loosen up, add a bit of fun. I played some penny whistle over the phone for Dave Clement a couple days ago and he was pretty encouraging. :-)

Going to see Feist in concert tonight with Jeff, Ray, Carmen, Roxanne and Parki!

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