This recording is a companion CD to "50 Irish Fiddle Tunes", as arranged and played by Tommy Peoples.
The book, together with the CD, is published by Waltons of Dublin, copyright 2003.
The book alone is Order # wm1370,
ISBN 1 85720 149 3.
The CD edition is Order # wm1370CD,
ISBN 1 85720 150 7.
The contents page of the book has a couple of errors:
The Boys Of The Town is CD track 9 (not 8);
The Drunken Landlady is CD track 38 (not 28).
The contents of the tracks listed on this database are correct.
The tunes are clearly and boldly printed, 2 or 3 to the page. Some ornamemts are indicated, but only a few, bearing in mind that the details of Tommy Peoples' playing defies accurate transcription!
One little quibble about the book's contents page: each tune is given a page number, but the tunes in the body of the book have their individual numbers (which aren't listed or used elsewhere) and the page numbers aren't all that clear, so there is some scope for confusion when looking up a tune.
The book also contains 6 pages of useful information about Tommy Peoples and Irish music.
The CD contains 50 tracks, 1 track per tune. Curiously, the fiddle is always on the right- hand channel and never on the left. The left-hand channel is frequently blank or may contain a guitar or bouzouki accompaniment by Manus Lunny, which, incidentally, is not audible on the right-hand channel. The accompaniment occasionally was a bit too loud for my preference, sometimes necessitating a bit of twiddling of the balance control to bring out the fiddle more.
My personal preference would be not to have any accompaniment on this particular recording (this is certainly not to denigrate Manus Lunny's fine playing), so that Tommy Peoples' fiddle playing comes through in all its glory without the distraction of another instrument. If one has the right sort of audio editing software it is easy enough to copy the CD onto a computer, remove the accompaniment and copy the right-hand fiddle track onto the left-hand channel - strictly for one's own personal listening, obviously.
The tunes are well-known standards - no surprises here, except possibly that some players may not know that "The Corofin" is another name for "The Rose In The Heather"- but all receive the inimitable Peoples treatment and interpretation which is a delight to listen to on all levels.
My thanks to Jeremy for making a quick alteration to the database so that 50 tracks can now be listed (it used to be 40).
Shouldn't you be complimenting the producer/publisher (rather than complaining) for separating the instruments on two distinct tracks so you CAN listen to one, the other, or a blend of your own choosing? That type of "stereo separation" is so absurd in a disc intended just for listening that it HAS to be intended to maximize the utility as a teaching tool.
I found Mulhaire's in another key, the key of G major, in the Fiddler's Fancy instruction book. It starts on B before middle C, instead of the F above middle C. I like this version better. I just love the low notes. Here it is, if anyone wants it:
Mulhaire's
Key: G
I was listening to this CD again last night and felt distinctly unimpressed. TP's playing (on this CD) is just not quite my cup of tea but it is the backing that really grates. Fiddle is wholly on right channel and backer wholly on left.
It sounds (to me) as if the backing track has been put down after the fiddle track was recorded - the two seem disjointed somehow. This is compounded by the way in which the LHS (backing track) is 'switched' on and off.
"Fiddler's Fancy", by Tommy Peoples
This recording is a companion CD to "50 Irish Fiddle Tunes", as arranged and played by Tommy Peoples.
The book, together with the CD, is published by Waltons of Dublin, copyright 2003.
The book alone is Order # wm1370,
ISBN 1 85720 149 3.
The CD edition is Order # wm1370CD,
ISBN 1 85720 150 7.
The contents page of the book has a couple of errors:
The Boys Of The Town is CD track 9 (not 8);
The Drunken Landlady is CD track 38 (not 28).
The contents of the tracks listed on this database are correct.
The tunes are clearly and boldly printed, 2 or 3 to the page. Some ornamemts are indicated, but only a few, bearing in mind that the details of Tommy Peoples' playing defies accurate transcription!
One little quibble about the book's contents page: each tune is given a page number, but the tunes in the body of the book have their individual numbers (which aren't listed or used elsewhere) and the page numbers aren't all that clear, so there is some scope for confusion when looking up a tune.
The book also contains 6 pages of useful information about Tommy Peoples and Irish music.
The CD contains 50 tracks, 1 track per tune. Curiously, the fiddle is always on the right- hand channel and never on the left. The left-hand channel is frequently blank or may contain a guitar or bouzouki accompaniment by Manus Lunny, which, incidentally, is not audible on the right-hand channel. The accompaniment occasionally was a bit too loud for my preference, sometimes necessitating a bit of twiddling of the balance control to bring out the fiddle more.
My personal preference would be not to have any accompaniment on this particular recording (this is certainly not to denigrate Manus Lunny's fine playing), so that Tommy Peoples' fiddle playing comes through in all its glory without the distraction of another instrument. If one has the right sort of audio editing software it is easy enough to copy the CD onto a computer, remove the accompaniment and copy the right-hand fiddle track onto the left-hand channel - strictly for one's own personal listening, obviously.
The tunes are well-known standards - no surprises here, except possibly that some players may not know that "The Corofin" is another name for "The Rose In The Heather"- but all receive the inimitable Peoples treatment and interpretation which is a delight to listen to on all levels.
My thanks to Jeremy for making a quick alteration to the database so that 50 tracks can now be listed (it used to be 40).
Trevor
# Posted on July 9th 2004 by lazyhound
Shouldn't you be complimenting the producer/publisher (rather than complaining) for separating the instruments on two distinct tracks so you CAN listen to one, the other, or a blend of your own choosing? That type of "stereo separation" is so absurd in a disc intended just for listening that it HAS to be intended to maximize the utility as a teaching tool.
# Posted on July 9th 2004 by GaryAMartin
Or so ye can play without Tommy and with Manus? :D
-Pádraig
# Posted on October 23rd 2004 by Pádraig
Mulhaire's in G
I found Mulhaire's in another key, the key of G major, in the Fiddler's Fancy instruction book. It starts on B before middle C, instead of the F above middle C. I like this version better. I just love the low notes. Here it is, if anyone wants it:
Mulhaire's
Key: G
|:DC|B2,DB, G,B,DB,|C2EC G,CEG|FADF ADFD|GFGA BADC|
|B2,DB G,B3,|CE3 GE3|DFAB cAFG|AGGF G2:|
|:Bc|d2BG dGBG|dGBG AGDG|AGAB cBcd|eA(3AAA eAce|
|d2BG dGBG|dGBG AGED|B,A,B,D CEGE|DB,CA,G,2:|
# Posted on August 21st 2006 by enirehtac
Mirror image
I found the photo of TP at the start of the book a bit odd - it appears that he is playing left-handed!
# Posted on July 3rd 2007 by domnull
"Fiddler's Fancy", by Tommy Peoples
What is unexpected is that close inspection of the photo reveals that Mr Peoples evidently also has his shirts tailored to unbutton on the left ...
# Posted on August 29th 2007 by lazyhound
Tommy Peoples - Fiddlers Fancy
I was listening to this CD again last night and felt distinctly unimpressed. TP's playing (on this CD) is just not quite my cup of tea but it is the backing that really grates. Fiddle is wholly on right channel and backer wholly on left.
It sounds (to me) as if the backing track has been put down after the fiddle track was recorded - the two seem disjointed somehow. This is compounded by the way in which the LHS (backing track) is 'switched' on and off.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by domnull
Domnull, please have a look at my review of this album on the Musical Traditions site - http://www.mustrad.org.uk.
# Posted on July 4th 2008 by Floss the Tethers