Key signature: Dmajor
Submitted on May 15th 2001 by Jeremy.
This tune has been added to 630 tunebooks.
Also known as The Box Will Hold No More, The Bucks Of Aranmore, Bucks Of Arranmore, The Bucks Of Arranmore, Bucks Of Bohermore, The Bucks Of Oran Mor, Bucks Of Oranmore, The Bucks, The Hearty Bucks Of Oranmore, The Hearty Bucks, Trucks Of Bohermore.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Bucks Of Oranmore, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|A2FA A2dB|A2FA BEE2|A2FA A2Bd|egfd edBd|
A2FA A2dB|A2FA BEE2|DEFG AFAB|defd edBd||
|ADFD A2dB|ADFD BEE2|ADFD A2Bd|egfd edBd|
ADFD A2dB|ADFD BEE2|DEFG AFAB|defd efge||
|a2fd edef|a2fd ed B2|a2fd edef|gefd edB2|
a2fd edef|a2fd edB2|faaf bfaf|gefd edBd||
|f2df e2de|f2df edBd|f2df e2de|gefd edBd|
f2df e2de|f2df edBd|faaf bfaf|gefd edBd||
|Adfd edfd|Adfd edBd|Adfd edfd|gefd edBd|
Adfd edfd|Adfd edB2|faaf bfaf|gefd edBd||
You'll find that there are a lot of phrases that repeat themselves, such as the endings of the last three parts, and if you learn these phrases well enough at the start so that you can play them on autopilot, it will prove very useful when the tune is being played fast and fancy.
I like to try to imitate the pipes when playing this tune, so I triplets are my preferred form of ornamentation. The first A, for instance, can be played as a quick ABA. The high F at the start of the fourth part can be played as FGF. Experiment with different triplets to find ones that fit the flow of the tune.
# Posted on May 26th 2001 by Jeremy
Seamus Ennis does a wonderful version of this tune.
# Posted on October 30th 2002 by Paddy
About that version...Ennis switches the fourth and fifth parts of this tune. Only time I have ever heard it played that way, but because of the rhythmical similarities between the first and fourth parts it sounds pretty good.
# Posted on February 21st 2004 by Paddy
Aaaar the Bucks, the Bucks, the splendid Bucks. An absolute cracker of a tune and I pity anyone who thinks otherwise. It's whole essence is the centre of diddley music. Listen to Matt Molly play it with such a delicate touch. Even Martin Hayes, who plays it with a kind of hornpipish bounce (urgh), can't ruin it. But best of all is Finbar Fury, he taught me to play it doubles and what a wealth of opportunity making the tune twice as long brings. (But don't be tempted to learn it from here, it's all wrong, as usual. This version is way way to repetative)
# Posted on June 24th 2004 by llig leahcim
So why don't you be constructive and transcribe it for us so we can all agree that your version is the right one?
# Posted on June 24th 2004 by Dow
The three I mentioned are all the same (exept for finbar's doubles) so learn it off them, far better than abc. And if Matt, Martin and Finbar agree ...
# Posted on June 27th 2004 by llig leahcim
Bucks in Boston
Boston seisiuneers have told me that this tune is the showstopper. No matter what time it is, when this tune comes up at a Boston seisiun, it's time to go home. (And the reverse is true: you can't go home until this tune is played!) This has sort of become de rigeur at my seisiun as well (Nanny O'Brien's in DC).
# Posted on July 13th 2004 by JHowley
I started up this tune at a sesh recently and someone leaned over and said, "Already?"
# Posted on July 13th 2004 by Phantom Button
the best version of this tune i've heard was by Paddy Keenan. It was in a live set with Tony Cuffe on the guitar. It was in Québec ccity, Canada maybe ten years ago.I understand now why he 's called the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes.
# Posted on January 4th 2005 by chinaski
The Bucks
I've only heard Seamus Ennis's version of this tune and it's amazing. I've never heard any other rythmic flow in ITM even close to Ennis's version. It sounds like jazz from the 1930's or 40's.
# Posted on March 22nd 2005 by Pete D
The Bucks of Oranmore
I've only heard Seamus Ennis's version of this tune and it's amazing. I've never heard the rythmic flow Ennis uses when playing this piece anywhere else in ITM. It sounds like jazz from the 1930's or 40's.
# Posted on March 22nd 2005 by Pete D
Mick Coyne's setting gives new life to a cliche, IMHO
I was so tired of the bucks. It's such a cliche. Sort of like the Sally Gardens became with the whole ceili band movement, which caused that beautiful tune to be shunned for decades.
And I didn't have a good setting of it for my pipes, which might have dampened my enthusiasm for the tune. But I've just heard Mick Coyne's setting of it, on his website (mickcoyne.com), and it is really incredible. I can't say that it's better than Ennis's, Furey's, or Keenan's version, but it has revitalised my interest in what I consider an over-worked tune. It's got the energy and flow of the latter two, with the control and tightness of the Old Man. It's like he found an old coin in a drawer, and polished it up till it shines like new.
Highly recommend LISTENING to Coyne's setting (and for all I know, it's similar to the others): ABC notation is great, but it's really only mnemonic - it's too laborious to attempt to write down this setting (though I may try some day, in which case I'll drop it in here). You have to HEAR it, first with your ears, and then with your mind.
# Posted on August 10th 2005 by Frank Gibbons
I always wondered is this a five part tune or are they variations
# Posted on July 27th 2006 by oh
Here's a good version for the pipes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHcDY76a_eY&mode=related&search=
# Posted on January 8th 2007 by llig leahcim
And another pretty good one in C this time
http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_199_1_echoes_of_erin_michael_harrison/
# Posted on March 5th 2007 by llig leahcim
Something to go after it?
It's a hard one to follow this one, isn't it? It's a good tune to end a set with, or a night of tunes, but it's also good as the first tune of the set, and you really have to find another big reel to go with it. The only common one I can think of that would give you a nice key change and lift is maybe the Foxhunter's in A.
# Posted on March 15th 2007 by Dow
I don't believe that Dow!
You know far more tunes than that....
# Posted on March 15th 2007 by Hugo Chavez
Joe Cooley
I prefer Joe Cooleys laying of this tune.
He keeps it Simples and puts heart into it.
# Posted on June 28th 2007 by dinn2
No matter how many times it's played it's still a mighty tune! Someone started it last night in the new Kilrush Teach Cheoil as a finishing tune and everyone of the 20 plus musicians present joined in with gusto as was also the case when it went into the Foxhunters in the more common key of "G".
# Posted on June 28th 2007 by Bannerman
I lived down in Dingle for about 5yrs and this tune followed by the foxhunter's was like the national anthem was on U.K. tv. 30yrs ago..time to go to bed! Seriously, at least 40% of sessions i heard or sat in down there ended with these 2 tunes in a set.Like the Kerry anthem or something. Oh and sometimes they do the Foxhunter in G and then take it up to A, so it's almost like set of 3.Great stuff.
# Posted on July 27th 2007 by hakanozel
i love matt molloy's version...
# Posted on September 21st 2007 by tinwhistler10
I love Paddy Keenan's rendition
# Posted on January 20th 2008 by tin_whistler
If you must follow it with the foxhhunters, make it the foxhunters in G, not A.
# Posted on January 21st 2008 by llig leahcim
Matt Molloy's transcription
I would like to ask the special favour for someone (whoever has the skills) to transcribe (more or less) the way Matt Molloy plays this tune.
The video, as already posted here, is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHcDY76a_eY
Thanks very much!
# Posted on February 3rd 2008 by cesarpim
This is as close as I can get. Problem is, each time I listen to it I hear more and more detail in his ornamentation. Not being a flutist myself, I'm not altogether sure what he's doing with his crans, but I'd guess they're his classic 3-cut ones. Also some of his cuts are so short it's impossible to tell what fingers he's using to grace with, e.g. {a} or {g}. Once you start trying to transcribe all the grace notes of those, the whole exercise becomes ridiculous. What I've posted below is simply some of the notes of what he's playing. If you want to try and play it in a similar style, you're going to have to listen hard for all the other stuff like when he's tonguing, overblowing, altering his airflow in subtle ways, etc. It's basically impossible to transcribe what he's doing in any kind of notation. The most important thing about his playing is his rhythm, which is so tight it makes you think he's playing slower than he actually is. In actual fact towards the end he's well over 120bpm. Most trad musicians would have a hard time trying to keep up with him, let alone make it sound good at that speed.
I think what I'm trying to say, cesarpim, is, if you can't hear what he's doing (well enough to transcribe it) then even if you play the transcription I've written out below, you're still not going to be able to get anywhere close to the real thing. I'd almost say it's a complete waste of time trying to transcribe it, but I learnt quite a lot from it, since it made me listen closer to what he's doing with ornamentation/variations etc, without just letting it float past me. Anyway, FWIW:
X: 1
T: The Bucks Of Oranmore
S: As played by Matt Molloy on YouTube
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
dB|{G}A2FA ~A2dB|~A2FA BE~E2|~A2FB ~A2B/c/d|ed{g}fd efdB|
~A2FA- ~A2dB|AzFA BE~E2|DE{F}ED ~A3B|dzfd efdB|
AD~D2 ADBD|AD~D2 BE~E2|AD~D2 ~A3B|dzfd efdB|
AD~D2 AD~D2|AD~D2 BE~E2|~D3F ~A3B|dzfd efdf||
Ja2{g}fd efdf|adfd edB/c/d|azfd ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
azfd efdf|adfd edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdf-||
~f2df efdf-|~f2df {f}edB/c/d|~f2df ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
fzdf efdf-|~f2df {f}edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdB||
Ad{g}fd ed{g}fd|Ad{g}fd edB/c/d|azfd ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
Ad{g}fd ed{g}fd|Ad{g}fd edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdB||
~A2FA- ~A2dB|~A2FA BE~E2|~A2FB AzB/c/d|gBfB eBdB|
~A2DA- ~A2DA-|~A2Fz BE~E2|DE{F}ED ~A3B|dzfd efdB|
AD~D2 ADBD|AD~D2 BE~E2|AD~D2 ~A3B|dzfd efdB|
AD~D2 ADBD|AD~D2 BE~E2|d2fd ~A3B|dzfd efdf||
Ja2fd efdf|ad{g}fd edB/c/d|azfd ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
~a2fd efdf|ad{g}fd edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdg||
~f2df efdf-|~f2df {f}edB/c/d|fzdf ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
~f2dz efdf-|~f2df {f}edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdB||
Ad{g}fd ed{g}fd|Ad{g}fd edB/c/d|azfd ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
Ad{g}fd ed{g}fd|Ad{g}fd edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdB||
~A2FA- ~A2dB|AzFA BE~E2|~A2FB ~A2B/c/d|gdfd efdB|
~A2FA- ~A2dB|~A2Fz BE~E2|DE{A}FD ~A3B|dzfd efdB|
AD~D2 ADBD|AD~D2 BE~E2|AD~D2 ~A3B|dzfd efdB|
AD~D2 AD~D2|AD~D2 BE~E2|dzfd ~A3B|defd efgb||
azfd efdf|adfd edB/c/d|~a2fd ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
azfd efdf|adfd edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdf-||
~f2df efdf-|~f2df {f}edB/c/d|~f2df ~e3f|gzfd edB/c/d|
~f2df efdf-|~f2df {f}edB/c/d|fa~a2 bzaf|ea{g}fd efdB||
Ad{g}fd ed{g}fd|Ad{g}fd edB/c/d|azfd ~e3f|{g}fe{f}ed edB/c/d|
Ad{g}fd ed{g}fd|Ad{g}fd edB/c/d|fa~a2 ba{b}af|ea{g}fd efdB||A2.F.E D4||
I love how James Galway starts watching what he's doing intently in the 2nd part. I bet he's trying to figure out how to do those D crans. Haha.
# Posted on February 4th 2008 by Dow
Wow! Thanks a lot, Dow, for all your work.
I wasn't expecting such a detailed transcription, I had in mind just a sketch of the way Matt plays this because it's quite different from the ABC posted here at The Session.
Such a detailed transcription is more than I can ask for, thanks very much, Dow, for all your trouble.
Regarding me getting close to the real thing, Dow, don't worry, I don't even dream of ever playing even close to how Matt Molloy plays it. I am a humble begginer/intermediate whistler that plays what he can, just to have a bit of fun. I asked for this transcription just to have some general guideline of the "version" played by Matt, simply because it's a version I like very much. I intend to to play only a simplification of his "version" that fits my skills.
Once again, thanks a lot Dow!
# Posted on February 4th 2008 by cesarpim