Are you into it

On Sunday night a fellow musician, whose opinion I would respect, leant across and said to me; “I’ve been listening to you for 3 weeks now, you must be the best bodhran player in the world, you are really into it”.

Now the bit about being the best in the world is old hat, I usually reply “tell me something I don’t know” but the bit about being into it struck me as relevant. To play a bodhran, to really play a bodhran, you need to be listening carefully, head down, eyes shut, oblivious to all around you.

Liam Og O’Flynn once suggested this was true of all instruments. Well, are you into it, or are you a poser?

How much did he have to drink?

Is this the old “when the drinks in, the truth will out”. I don’t really believe that.

No Coment.

Well BB, I think that in this case it might be more along the lines of will he “Do sober what he promised drunk.”

KFG

Confucius say; If you can’t dance, you can’t drum

The question was in the second part of the quote, but let’s settle the first bit, “the best bodhran player in the world”.

When addressing this bit I always state that you may hear someone as good as me, but no-one better, because do we really have a best fiddler, piper etc in the world.

Now can anyone answer the second bit, or have you already?

thats very interesting that you say that bodhran bliss. Something us perfectionists need to constantly remind ourselves.

I am a poser, get it out and wave it around I say, more attitude all round, more guiness all round . Relax, it’s only music after all.

I don’t drink, nor am I an exhibitionist, well, not normally.

BB I’m sure you are right into it up to your whatever, and no you’re not an exhibitionist I’ve never seen you blow your own trumpet.
On a more serious note the music in a session is a bit of a conversation and if people close their eyes and block out everyone else there ain’t much communication happening. I’ve seen too many Bodhran players hunched over their instrument and so much into it that they keep going when everyone else finishes.

What does any of that have to do with playing the music or enjoying playing the music. Or, if not playing on a particular tune, to listening to the music. Sometimes I play with my eyes closed, head down (though that’s harder to do playing a fiddle than a bodhran -- and I think especially hard for a flute player or a piper), but even if my eyes are open and my head is up, I’m listening. Gosh, I probably even smile now and then. I think I’m more with mcknowall on this one, bodhran bliss.

You haven’t seen me Donough. Unless the “musicians” can’t count, it is impossible to not know when to stop.

One communicates between tunes, otherwise there is not much point in bringing an instrument out, at least I would like to think you don’t talk all the way through tunes, John.

If you play it right, by concentrating on the music and not the “scenery” you will enjoy it more.

I can’t talk at all while I’m playing --at least not so that anyone could understand what I was saying. But I can smile at the pleasure of hearing a well played tune or a well sung song. Talk is surely between the tunes/songs, but the simple expression of delight and pleasure can happen anytime.

How can you be “listening carefully” and “oblivious to all around you” at the same time, unless you’re only listening carefully to yourself? Your big-headedness is troll-like and boring.

Dow is just back from Tune Police Duty - just made another successful arrest I see. Now we’ll see who is “Shona agus Bocht”.

Just doing my job, Donough, just doing my job 😉

Let’s face it though eh. Bigheads are a bore. Anyone in the trad scene who goes around saying “ooh look at me I’m the best in the world I’m so amazing blah blah blah” has got to be a bit of a nutcase. Where do you pick up that sort of attitude from? Maybe they watch too much sport on TV or something 🙂

I can’t say that I’d agree that “oblivious to all around you” is a good state for playing any instrument in the company of others. Maybe they do things differently in your neck of the woods, though.

“To play a bodhran, to really play a bodhran, you need to be listening carefully, head down, eyes shut, oblivious to all around you.”

Unfortunately most bodhrán players are totally oblivious to what’s happening around them, and only seem interested in listening carefully to their own racket.

But they don’t usually have their eyes shut, otherwise I’m sure we could take more of them out! (Bag over head, bodhrán player immediately falls asleep, swift crack on the head…)

Heh heh, BB, come over to my place, let’s make an open session. About 90% of people who would come are oblivious to all around them - including harmony, dynamics and rhythm. Quite an experience.

A musician, whose opinion I would respect said:

“The more you research it and get into the music, the more you realize you don’t know, I think. As long as you know you’ve got something to learn, you’ll continue to improve. The way I look at it, by the time I reckon I’ll be good enough, I’ll be too old.” -Matt Molloy-

and that’s the truth of being into it, I guess.

I’m amazed that nobody has picked up on the fact that the listener had been sitting listening to BB for 3 weeks. I think BB had him tied to a chair and wouldn’t release him until a positive comment about bodhran playing was made. 🙂

Its a pity this is going nowhere, because BB has an interesting point.

I think it was perhaps an unfortunate choice of words, but I guess that by “oblivious to all around you” BB means oblivious to all EXCEPT the music. Notice that his actual words were “you need to be listening carefully, head down, eyes shut, oblivious to all around you” - so no implication of not listening to the music there then!

Yes - a session is like a conversation, but for a good conversation you need the participants to be concentrating on that conversation, and to be “oblivious to all around EXCEPT the conversation”. If you’re talking to someone and they are simultaneously messing with their mobile phone, or writing a shopping list, you know you don’t have their full attention. Of course, in the musical conversation of a session it is probably unnecessary to make much in the way of visual contact / smiling/ etc with the people you are playing with. Let’s face it - a session can take place in the dark - its about music.

We covered some aspects of this a few weeks ago - who was it that someone quoted saying something like “If I’m not looking at my fingers I’m not giving my best to the music” ?

I know exactly what BB means about being “oblivious to all else (EXCEPT the music)”, and I agree.

Whether or not he is the best bodhran player in the world - I don’t know. I suppose there is just the remote possibility that he put that bit in for a bit of fun.

This has got to be a wind up !

Does he mean he is the player of the best bodhran in the world, or that he is the best player of bodhrans in the world?

Looking at your fingers has nothing to do with how you play - if you’re any good at all you shouldn’t be doing this! It’s distracting - teaching beginners makes this crystal clear, as the time/thought process invested in looking for and finding notes gets in the way of the performance of the music.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that the guy was listening to BB for 3 weeks and heard nothing at all - then BB would be the Carlsberg of bodhrán players!!!

Remember this
https://thesession.org/discussions/5518#comment116783

Jack’s comments on starting wind-ups is priceless, plus it has
a link to this one.

Excuse me for staying on topic. I’m not as “into it” as I was on the long term basis, but I have noticed that I tend to zone IN. My brain and all of my senses go passive or get filtered out. EXCEPT THE TUNE. As long as we’re playing, I don’t hear the expresso machine, or anything irrelevant. I see people come in, I know they are there, but it doesn’t matter that I know….
So, I guess I’m “into it” and “out of it ”at the same time.
But yes, I pose every chance I get.

NOW: let’s see if I can bore Dow: I’m like Fezek in “the Princess Bride” === “It’s not my fault I’m better than anybody else, I don’t even practice” 8-P

People say I am the best accordionist in the world - especially when I am playing concertina.

Yes Bliss, I’m ‘into it’ on whatever instrument I happen to be playing, and that includes bodhrán.

I think you owe it to the session, the other players, to be ‘into it’ to respect their skill and dedication, to follow the music, be a part of it, to anticipate where it might be going and be ready for it, if or when it does.

I think playing a melody instrument has made me a more sensitive player on bodhran, although I know some good drummers who only play percussion, at least in a session anyway.

If for any reason I don’t feel myself drifting into ‘it’ then I simply stop playing and just listen, or chat or drink or leave.

Sometimes it pays to zone in to the extent that you are oblivious to everything except SOME of the musicians. Filter out the ones who sound like they are playing backwards (strange snatches of satanic messages appear and disappear in the murk of their playing) - ignore the four guitarists playing common time back up and push in G obliviously all the way through that gentle D Mix jig. Lose totally the row of drooling drunks banging coins and keys on ashtrays at the bar …..
Actually, I haven’t been to a session like that for a while now - weeks even. Now I can relax and pose. Catch the eye of that sweet looking thing sensuously caressing her Bacardi Breezer bottle in a suggestive way over there. Hold my flute at a rakish angle and try to sit in a way that minimises the shape of my beergut …

I find getting “into it” is the most difficult and essential part of playing with other people. When I’m playing on my at home, annoying the wife, I can rip through tunes in a nonchalent way that makes me trick myself into thinking I’m dead cool.

Then, playing out with others, I really have to concentrate to zone in to the rythm and the “phraseology” (is that even a word?) Sometimes it helps to watch my fingers, other times it helps to shut my eyes and wear a pained expression. This can sometimes look like posing, but it isn’t. That’s not to say I never pose though, because I do. I affect a contented smile and stare meaningfully into the middle distance. But then I usually play the wrong note, and decide it might be wisest to put the bloody thing down and get the beers in.

BB, by “Are you into it?” he meant -- do you get my joke. You thought he was serious? hahahahaha oh man… he was egging you on. Haven’t you ever heard that expression? I can’t believe you actually thought he meant you really were the best bodhran player. hahahaha That guy must have woke up the next day still laughing. hahahaha 😀

tee hee

Well, to get back to the original comment, obviously you are into it, or you wouldn’t sit there each week, lathering the goatskin.
As to how to “zone in”, certainly you need to filter out all distractions, but how you do it must depend on the circumstances - in a session shutting ones eyes may work for some, but then you have to get all cues aurally, and may miss some visual ones from the other players; if you’re playing for a dance, then you definitely need your eyes open to get the feedback from the audience as well.
As to being “the best b- player in the world..” does it get you anyware ? - free drinks at the bar, fame. fortune, wall-to-wall tottie ?
Or just a warm glow ?

Before I would dare to play a bodhran in a session(especially after all the things I’ve said about them 😉 ), I would really have to believe that I was the best player in the world.

Re the original point, I’m always wary if a fellow musician compliments me on my playing. They do it much less often these days so I assume that they were just being nice before 🙂

Sometimes, you can never tell what the other musicians are thinking. At the weekend, a bouzouki player kept on scowling at me. When he eventually spoke, it was to complain about a banjo player who had just joined the company. Sigh of relief. 😉 He’d obviously been wondering if I felt the same way, whereas I thought my playing was annoying him.

I don’t think that keeping your head up and being in ‘contact’ with other musicians, say via body language, makes you a poser. It’s possible to be ‘into it’ either way, with your head up or down, eyes open or shut or whatever…however it isthat you can stay tuned, no pun, to the set from front to end. Some folks need to see whats going on to not get caught on their heels… sometimes you have to stay on your toes, sometimes you don’t. Either way doesn’t a poser make. I’d say a poser is someone who walks around with a bodhran and never plays it…and they’re probably wearing those cool Oakly pro M-frame sunglasses that cost 300.00 too and have never set foot on a sports field.

Isn’t a poser someone who goes around saying they are the best?

Exactly !

Now now BB. That’s a challenge! If you’re BB, I’m the king. where do you play? I’ll be along ; BB King anyone?

(: Joe

I prefer to play with my eyes open or someone may pinch your drink.

and … as if closing your eyes isn’t saying, “look at me”.

The only time I close my eyes when I’m playing is when I’m playing so badly that I need to concentrate on my playing and my playing alone. (The next step is to stop playing entirely.) Well, and when I’m about to fall asleep but can’t quite bear to stop playing yet. I expect people will see a lot of that in the next three weeks. 🙂

BegF, of COURSE it’s a windup! It’s BB! What else would it be!? I’m still waiting for jfiddlerh to come along and virtually laugh his fool head off.

If closing your eyes is saying “look at me”, how do you know if its working?

Oh sh*t I must be a poser - I never play the bodhran, my sunglasses cost $300.00 and I’ve never set foot on a sports field.

As well as closing your eyes I wonder if you could get someone else to hold the bodhran, so you could have one hand up at your ear, while the other beats the drum.

At the risk of being accused of racism(yet again) or of gloating over winning The Olympic Games bid, “Do you have to be French to play the part of a poseur well?” 😉 A “poser” asks questions, whereas a poseur poses in the manner discussed above.
Sorry for being pedantic.

Dow, some of us have the ability to do more than one thing at a time.

I thought I had wandered unto a childrens’ site, unable to grasp basic English, but Showaddydadito and Curlew were able to understand "oblivious to all but the MUSIC.

Matt Molloy never said that much to me except; “you’re f####ing good”.

And Plinkey-Plonkey, thank you for your defence of me with M.G, but it is rather wasted. If I was to say Edinburgh was in Scotland M.G would disagree. Strangely enough, he agrees with the sentiment of this post because he is always ranting on about show offs playing to the crowd. If one ignores the crowd, he now accuses them of being posers. No winning there.

As for the best bodhran player in the world bit, it was the other musician who said it. I have always said you will find people as good as me, but not better, because when all is said and done, a bodhran is for keeping time, and there are not too many variations on how to do that.

As for being big headed, you confuse honesty with big headedness. If Roger Federer was asked if he was any good at tennis, and he said “no, I just struggle along” we would dismiss him as a condescending git. If he said “I am maybe the best ever, bar McEnroe” I would call that honesty.

But the question remains, “are you into it” or do you sit there looking about you to see what reaction you are getting. Bodhran players or any other players listening to themselves are not into it, hence their inability to know when the tune ends.

As for learning the tunes on a mandolin say, I believe that a well played bodhran enhances Irish music, more so than a mandolin, and I am a lot better on the bodhran than mandolin by choice.

By the way BegF, you’re scorn for the likes of the legendary Ewan McColl is contemptible. The old finger in the ear helped McColl and others to be “into it”.

Who mentioned the mandolin? The mandolin was my first melody instrument and I chose it because it was easier than the fiddle. I’m honest, at least. It’s not actually easier or better, in the long run, but a good starting instrument.

Anyway, if there were two instruments in a session, i.e mandolin and bodhran, I know which one would be playing the tune!

By the way BB, you’re logic is amazing.

I mentioned the mandolin John, it gives my name at the bottom of the post (-).

I play the mandolin, that was the point of mentioning it.

Michael, if you had the vaguest familiarity with the principles of body language you’d be aware that closing one’s eyes while playing is the OPPOSITE of saying “look at me”. It’s saying, “Not only do I wish you would stop looking at me, I have no interest in looking at YOU, so I shall imagine you aren’t there at all.” Being stared at is incredibly distracting and the resulting self-consciousness screws up my playing / talking / walking / ability to sip my beer without slopping it all down my chin. If I could have my eyes grafted shut permanently, I’d seriously consider it - I’d be much more at ease in the world.

That bracket thing above is a smiley.

Is it a “holding a mirror just below my nose and allowing my smile to be viewed from below” smiley?

Bliss - As you say, the question remains: “Are you into it?” So, to try to give you my answer, I HAVE to be into it, because unless I am 100% in “the zone” (for want of a better expression) I just can’t play along with other people without my playing going wrong. As I get more experienced it might come more naturally, but right now I really do have to concentrate on listening intently to the other players and to the flow of the tune. Whereas when I’m playing home alone, I find it really quite easy to knock out a few tunes with the minimum of fuss.

Now, in my book, playing home alone in this way isn’t really *playing* the tunes, it’s more like *rehearsing* the tunes. Playing out is quite new to me, and I find it really exhilirating to rip through a reel with a group of people. But for me at the moment, being “into it” isn’t so much about “feeling” the music, it’s more like “hanging on for life”. It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

I knew it was only a matter of time before BB’s wind-ups started again!

Jim

“If I could have my eyes grafted shut permanently, I’d seriously consider it - I’d be much more at ease in the world.”

Kerri, do you need a hug ?

It’s too bad to bea na actual wind-up.
Wind ups can be funny, when you look back at them you
say “ah, he got us there”

But I forgot my own advice to remind myself of his childishness and flawed logic from this discussion

https://thesession.org/discussions/6713#comment143860

Speaking of which, I know this guy who has conversations with his eyes closed - He’s a certified Mensa member and likes to go on and on about the latest knowledge he’s been drinking in - could be anything from nanotechnology to newly discovered solar systems - I’m assuming closing his eyes allows him to completely focus his razor sharp mind on whatever he’s trying to express “in layman’s terms” for my benefit. Last time he trapped me in one of these conversations I snuck out of the room to see how long he would keep talking before he realized I wasn’t there any more. (Unfortunately it turns out geniuses have no talent for laughing at themselves and he may have been befuddled and purturbed rather than amused).

Oh, yeah, I could use a hug, as a matter of fact. It’s a shame they make me so uncomfortable.

If you catch someone looking at you, they will instinctivly look away. So closing your eyes is the sure fire way of atracting stares

Well, how would I know that? My eyes are always closed. Besides, most of the people I catch looking at me don’t look away. They smile lecherous little half-smiles, then sometimes they come over and talk my ear off all night.

Great. I’ll never close my eyes again without feeling paranoid.

Can’t sleep.

lol, plinkey - that’s right. As soon as you lay your head on the pillow Michael Gill and ten of his closest friends are going to creep into through the window and stare at you, maliciously whispering amongst themselves what an attention seeking git you are when you sleep.

Hey, Bliss, you might want to accompany this with your eyes closed.

http://www.extremestuff.net/devil/demo2005/Devil%20In%20The%20Kitchen%20-%20Hook%20of%20the%20Hamate.mp3

Are you still into it? 🙂

Jim

For me, “getting into it” is a balancing act on very sharp blade. If all turns out well when I get into it, I can easily impress the best of them. The problem is…when I get into it I have a tendency to loose my place, forget repeats or sometimes forget the next segment of the tune all together.

Jim, I could always play along with something like that, with my eyes shut as the saying goes. The bodhran enhances it actually.

Now now Dow… You’re not a poser… you know what I meant…. I shouldv’e lef tof the glasses part becasue it’s more of a personal thing. It’s been my experience that some folks have the best equipment but have no need to use the stuff…. and that goes for those people who drive SUV’s in the city (we call them Urban Mommy Mobiles here).

“He’s a certified Mensa member . . .it turns out geniuses have no talent for laughing at themselves ”

Geniuses don’t join Mensa, smart posers do.

KFG

I would have thought you’d be all over a club where they’ll debate with you for ages about how physics pertains to butterfly flight patterns and how that ties into sound waves and cardiovascular cholesterol build-up without snarling at you about how uppity you are.

(my friend stopped going 25 years ago but said while he was there, even though he found the other members to be self-righteous pricks, it was nice to be able to have conversations with people who didn’t go bug-eyed at the first tri-syllabic word he used).

That just sounds so chaotic Kerri… oh look…what a nice set on Julia! Bloody Mandelbrot spouting, causal pathway, James Gleik readin’ posers!

… If I play a tune here in Canada, and It’s out of Key, will someone in Ireland win the lotto? Discuss…

Yes, tulloch. The real question is whether or not the playing out of key *caused* the lotto win, and how this can be proven or disproven.

Oh, I’ve done a certain amount of hanging out with people with Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, although the one that was most my peer was Bucky Fuller, who had neither and got thrown out of Harvard, twice.

In any case, they make clubs for such people. They call them “universities.”

It doesn’t take a lot of brain power to figure out that Mensa is designed to filter in the self rightous pricks who think passing some test imbues them with moral superiority and that that would make a good foundation for a *social* club.

My experience of the meetings (I married a member) is that they mostly sit around complaining that they don’t get along and wondering why.

Well d’oh! It’s because you have nothing in common. Go join a club based on one of your interests or something.

KFG

Yeah, like thesession.org, where we mostly sit around complaining that we don’t get along and wondering…

… hang on a second!!

Not a lot of clarity in the answers, Showwaddydadito being a notable exception.

So I suspect many of you are posers. You know, play enough to attract a woman/man and that’s as far as your interest extends.

Or the “oh, look at me” brigade.

Well, which is it?

Touche! 🙂

But at least here we have some idea of what it is we came here to disagree about, even if that isn’t always what we end up talking about.

Mensa meetings tend to devolve to arguments about what it means to be a Mensa member. If they ever figure it out I might regain interest, but I doubt it.

In any case, closing your eyes while having a conversation is silly. It’s not like the answers are written on the insides or your eyelids or something.

Everyone knows the answers are written on the ceiling.

KFG

I can afford to be part of the “oh, look and me” brigade. *I* play musical instruments.

KFG

I’m too smart to be in MENSA.

And you’re head’s too big to fit in the door.

I’m tho thmart I can make thome thtring on a wooden bockth vibrate just by pulling horse tail over it. Hmmmm…. Gut Vibrator….skin whaker…. hey BB, you an I might have something in commmon 😉

New subject….Lanth Armthtrong Rulthes!

You in MENSA Jack?

OK, KFG. I see your point. Mensa members endlessly debate what it means to be a Mensa member, while here at thesession.org we debate what it means to play in a ….

… hey, wait a second!

Sorry i’m late Zina!

I can confirm the incident actually did happen on Sunday.

I think Bliss has revealed the true extent of his macheavellian wit with this one!

He has obviously calculated the windup/serious balance so accurately so as to draw me in to this discussion on one side of the fence or the other. If i mention it at our session as a windup he’ll go into a long-winded explanation as to why he was serious. If one the other hand i try and address the point in earnest he’ll laugh and exclaim it as another one of his jovial exploits.

You can all rest easy now, this discussion had me in mind!

I still suspect it is the former!

That is libellous. I thoought you had been thrown off this site for being contentious?

By the way JfiddlerH can play with his eyes closed so it cannot be that difficult.

How do you know, if you also play with your eyes closed? Can you just sense it?

As mainly a bodhran player, I use my expert judgement to decide where and when to play on tunes. And if there happens to be two other bodhran players, well I just watch the others.

When I watch the others I usually have my eyes open.

Don’t you want to play and show them how much better you play than they do?

They are not stupid, and indeed are quite discerning. They already know that I am a lot better than them. I mean, I don’t see federer playing tennis this week.

How could they not know? You’ll have been telling them over and over again :-p

Finally an honest answer. By his posts we can safely assume that Dow plays to impress people, to “show them how much better he plays than they do”. I admire honesty.

Anyone else want to confess?

I am getting really curious as to whether behind all this bravado is someone who can or can’t play the bodhran. For the record I can’t. My two weeks in Skye will include a day of bodhran and I have little doubt that after this I still won’t be able to but statements like:

‘…when all is said and done, a bodhran is for keeping time, and there are not too many variations on how to do that.’

really lead me to doubt BB’s abilities. If BB has seen Martin O’Neill play, for example, he will know what rubbish that statement is. There is a huge range of styles and abilities on the bodhran from mikemcdaid’s “women of a certain age” to the likes of Martin, Mark Maguire, John Joe Kelly and James Bremner. I personally dont care if someone can play well or not but they don’t need to brag about it ALL the time.

No that’s not getting you anywhere BB because everyone who knows me on this board knows I’m not like that, and I don’t give a scheidt what anyone else thinks, as long as they don’t think I’m a bodhran player. Your troll powers will not work on me, boy!

Personally if I was playing in order to attract women I would need to aim for the sympathy crowd. 🙂

When playing I do occasionally look around but mostly I am looking either down at my guitar or at the person leading the set for some indication of a change coming up.

As for closing my eyes…. I play in Glasgow. If I did that I would lose my drink!! 🙂 🙂

Nice one Alistair, and I apologise Dow, someone must have put those words into your head.

And I have never claimed to be the best bodhran player in the world, the other people on this site usually bestow that title upon me, and most of them have never heard of me, or heard me play.

By the way Alistair, you CAN play a bodhran in various ways to different types of music, but I was confining my remarks to ITM. A jig = boom, diddledey, a reel = boom, boom, diddledey.

That’s it with a few embellishments over the years.

Nonsense. Martin can play a jig rhythm over a reel and a reel rhythm over a jig - or so I have been told by someone with a better sense of rhythm than me (and it works).

You can synchopate the rhythm. You can add triplets. There are a variety of ‘notes’ within the head of a bodhran and if you can use your hand properly you can play a ‘scale’. The emphasis can be changed depending on how forceful you play or what you use as a tipper/stick. And so on, and so on and so on.

Anyway you have just mentioned jigs and reels. What about marches (2/4, 4/4 and 6/8), slides, polkas, hornpipes, mazurkas, 5/4 reels and all the other different time signatures.

And in a slow air in 4/4 time would you go BOOM BOOM DIDDLEDEY or would it be DIDDLEDEY, DIDDLEDEY, DIDDLEDEY, BOOM???

Alistair, you have just explained the reason why a lot of bodhran players are not very good. Trying to do too much, and too much theory. Why would anyone, piper, fiddler, shakey egg player, anyone, want to play a reel style to a jig. It would just put the others off.

Get your basic rhythm, practice, and triplets and all that come naturally. Do not look upon the bodhran as some complicated instrument.

As for scales and such, forget it. I say all this Alistair to help, not to sound disparaging. And I do not recommend bodhran schools either.

Above all, listen to the music when it is being played, and forget all about “taught” rhythms.

“And I have never claimed to be the best bodhran player in the world, the other people on this site usually bestow that title upon me, and most of them have never heard of me, or heard me play.”

Not quite Blisster boy… no one on this site has ever said you were, “the best bodhran player in the world.” The only one who made that claim is you. Usually, you will cloak your self- venerating statement by claiming that others have said this about you, but we have yet to ever hear it directly from the people who have supposedly said it. Telling us that others have said it is no different than saying it yourself. It might have carried a lot more credibility had it come unsolicited from others -- but it hasn’t.

Your threads are still fun, but I have a difficult time taking you too seriously. It’s hard to believe anyone would be so blatantly egotistical. That’s why your threads always come across as a “wind-up.”

Read the replies on this thread and see how many people refer to me as the “best bodhran player” in the world. As I said, bestowed.

Read my thread near the top. There is no such thing as best piper, fiddler, etc in the world. Lots of very talented ones.

Now if youse would only read what is written instead of being prejudiced.

All I ever said about myself was that you wouldn’t hear better than me. That by the way is not a wind up, it is a statement.

Obviously everyone has their own opinion as to the merits of different players. Some people rate Eric Clapton as a guitarist above Jeff Beck say, another will differ. But basically both are very good.

And don’t confuse humble honesty with egotism.

“Read the replies on this thread and see how many people refer to me as the ”best bodhran player“ in the world. As I said, bestowed.”

I can’t find one. You’re the only one who’s said it… hello?

You didn’t look hard enough. Dow, Max F, BegF, Michael Gill, Guernsey Pete, John J, all said it, and Geoff Wright referred to it. And I only had a cursory glance.

Joe Quinn also made a good comment, and you could call him “the best bodhran player in the World”, because he can play. A bit like the reference to Clapton, Beck and Peter McFaul.

McDonough, Hayes, Mercier, O’Kane, and thousands of “mute Milton’s” scattered throughout the world. All great players.

But not “better” than me.

I have the only boron pliers in the world.

Mr. Bliss,

I can only wish that others would have the common sense to not get engaged in any thread you start. The threads are tedious and boring, and have virtually nothing of value. You throw out flame bait, and you catch people. Good for you. Now if only Jeremy would have the good sense to delete threads like this one. They make this board much less valuable.

The thread was about “are you into it”. You know like committed to the music, or do you play to be noticed, to pull women/men, or to look good at parties.

Can’t blame me if everyone is so obsessed about me that they missed the essence of the thread.

Some more discerning members did answer the question. My thanks to you.

Bliss, your wind-up totally beat my wind-up by, like, 30 angry replies. You must be the best winder-up in the world. You’re really into it. Do you give lessons?

I don’t know what you mean. Sorry, I cannot be of help.

Just read Eliot’s profile. Maybe if there was a “Nobel” for bodhrans things would be better. I can only say thanks to the almighty that I am humble.

“You didn’t look hard enough. Dow, Max F, BegF, Michael Gill, Guernsey Pete, John J, all said it, and Geoff Wright referred to it. And I only had a cursory glance.”

Not one of them said you were “the best bodhran player in the world.” You remain as the only one who said it. Your ego is only surpassed by your delusion.

I do give reading lessons by the way Kerri, if you know anyone who might be interested.

Hey Mr Bliss - why don’t you share your awesome talent with us all - let’s hear you play some of your stuff on the Mighty Craic Online. Go on - it’s a genuine invitiation from me. You know you want to. We all want you to.

But I know you won’t.

Jim

Blisster, give us one example of someone on this thread declaring you are “the best bodhran player in the world.” People on this thread have referred to you claiming it, but no one has themself claimed you to be. So let’s have it -- exact quotes.

Look at Joe Quinn’s thread. I tried twice today, can’t even get the mic to work. But I probably wouldn’t send it, Dow would accuse me of letting people know how good I was.

You might not be able to read it Jack. Look, take the time to read the whole thing. It starts with a musician saying that I must be the best etc, not me, a musician. I then explain my attitude, about the fifth post.

Later on Dow starts it off, “If someone goes around saying he is the best in the World”. Who do you think he was referring to? And remember, Dow is saying the bit about “best in the world”, not me. Dow. And I love Geordies.

Beg F, M.G and all the others mentioned join in.

Thank Jaysus Showaddydadito understood the thread, and plinkey/plonkey, and prize fot the best comment goes to “Div”.

I know I said there is no best on a chosen instrument but I am watching a programme about Rory Gallagher. Let’s just say he would be my favourite electric guitarist.

And I believe he knew he was good, shock horror, isn’t that dreadful. Maybe he should have been blissfully unaware.

No one has said you are “the best bodhran player in the world,” they only refer to you having said it. You have yet to provide any substantiation.

Remember now, this is what you said:

“Read the replies on this thread and see how many people refer to me as the ”best bodhran player“ in the world. As I said, bestowed.”

People didn’t refer to you AS, they refered to you CLAIMING TO BE. Big difference.

I often brag about being one of the 10 best button accordion players in the state of Rhode Island. Since our musical world is a small one, and I only know of four other people that even own button accordions, I feel that this is a pretty safe boast to make. 😉
I don’t see that BB claimed anywhere to be the best, only that he found someone who took that notion into their head, and let him know what they thought.
And as far as being into it, I find that keeping my eyes open, even when I am ‘into it’ is very important. Especially when the room is not a good one acoustically, you can watch the leader’s bow to help stay on the rhythm. You can also see when people are planning to go to the next tune from a raised eyebrow, pointed toe, etc. And you can see how the people around you are reacting to what you are doing, which is especially important when singing or playing an aire, you might realize that the one more verse and chorus you were planning would not be appreciated, after all!

“I don’t see that BB claimed anywhere to be the best, only that he found someone who took that notion into their head, and let him know what they thought.”

He has often claimed things like that, but on this thread he claimed that someone else did. That’s pretty close to saying it yourself actually, but that wasn’t my point. BB said that several people on this thread bestowed him to be the best bodhran player in the world. That simply is not true. He insists that it is, now I’m asking him for the exact quotes because I don’t see them.

None of this really matters to me that much, but I do appreciate honesty. If he’s just taking the p*ss… then maybe I’m just not getting it. I can’t tell really. BB, are you?

I’d leave it Jack. It’s just wind-up factor and that’s all. A bit like the pathetic way you try and wind me up about my English concertina only to have me make some clever comeback and beat you every time 😀

Dream on brit-box boy. 😀

“… can’t even get the mic to work. But I probably wouldn’t send it…..” - didn’t I tell you that you wouldn’t? Well, that’s my question answered anyway.

Jim

Bodhran bliss is the best bodhran player in the world… I love these wind-ups… Eliot…unless you’re now trying to wind us up as well. I’d say there *is* value in this kind of thread, because it gives us a real glimps into the light-hearted, or not so light-hearted, portion of everyone’s personalities. This is afterall “The Session” keyword being “Session” right? Eliot, do you sit around and discuss the music academically all the time at your session, or do you goof off periodically as well? Besides, there was an *actual* question posed, it’s not like bb just encited flames and cheapshots, people did that all on their own.

Perhaps nobody wants to answer the question seriously becasue they know they will come up with “Ok, I’m a poser”. 😉

Hey, I’ve given it some thought bb, I think I’m a poser sometimes, when I’m playing with friends who don’t know much about the music. But with people who really know it, I try so damn hard to play well and try to get into it. But like you, I’m afraid to put my stuff up on Jim’s site because I’m sure it won’t measure up…wait… are you afraid of that, or are you just a poser?

There may be irony in this yet for bb 😉

Carefully listening, head down, súile dúnta, ear to the skin.
Into it is right, the only way to play.
Most ‘top-enders’ are guilty of poncing; revolving their heads to see who’s watching them + over-elaborating at every given chance.
Well Bliss, you certainly got some replies.
They really must be warming to you. Really.

Good lord, jfiddlerh dahlink, I was convinced of BB’s ability to keep a windup going longer than I would have thought humanly possible a long time ago! Either that, or everyone is incredibly bored and needs something to do while waiting for life to start up again. I’d love to hear him go on at you about how he was serious the whole time about the subject! If he does, could you please be sure to catch it on tape or something and send it to me? I figure it’d be worth money! 🙂

BB, I hope in all of this I didn’t give the impression that I am making a concerted effort to play the bodhran. That is not my intent. Marc is running the day’s bodhran course because the other courses that week are only 4 days long. It was decided therefore to keep the whistle to 4 days too and stick a bodhran workshop on the end to give the opportunity for people from all the classes to do a full five days.

I would agree that it is important to get the basics right first and this goes for all instruments but behind your moniker we do not really know much about you or who you are. I know Martin. I know his playing and I, and everyone else, loves it. If you do not heard much of Martin’s playing here is a link to his biog on the Brolum website:

http://www.brolum.co.uk/martin.htm

He also plays with Dochas and Beneche and has played with Flook, the Michael McGoldrick Band and Deaf Shepherd. Who have you played with BB?

Anyway, I do’t mean to sound nasty. Apologies if it comes across like this. I am sure this is just a wind up on your part - and a very successful one but it does get a little tedious at times.

That should be “I don’t mean to sound nasty”

Oops

I’m with tulloch. I enjoy the bit of a goof-off from time to time, and BB is the clown prince of goof. I hadn’t thought of the possibility that Eliot’s note was a wind-up, but that could make sense alright.

I generally play in a session where many players are a lot more skilled than myself. Oftentimes I can’t afford to *not* be “into it” or I’ll lose my place in the tune. If the speed picks up or it’s a tune I’m not totally comfortable with I’ll stare at my knees rather than close my eyes. It’s not posing - it’s panic!

If we’re hammering out an old favourite that I can play on autopilot, I’ll take a look around the group to watch the other players get “into it.” It’s like enjoying being a punter and a player all at the same time

Thank the Lord for Al Brown, Tulloch, and jdcorcra who knew exactly what I meant about some bodhran players.

And before I forget, Dow, the one you pulled on Jack had class written all over it. Told you I loved Geordies, especially Sunderland supporters.

Jack, I’ll meet you half way. You show me where I said I was the best bodhran player in the world, and I’ll read the other comments for you.

Alistair, you ask who have I played with? I know it is holiday time here in Norn Ireland but I go back on Thursday, haven’t the time. Just start a thread asking what well known people have played with Bliss. You’ll beat Jack’s 400 post record.

As for ging on The Mighty Craic. I seem to lack the IT skills, and secondly I don’t have to. I KNOW.

“Jack, I’ll meet you half way. You show me where I said I was the best bodhran player in the world, and I’ll read the other comments for you.”

I said you often claim things like that, and that telling us someone else we don’t know told you that is almost like saying it yourself. The following quotes from you are what I was referring to actually.

“And I have never claimed to be the best bodhran player in the world, the other people on this site usually bestow that title upon me, and most of them have never heard of me, or heard me play.”

“Read the replies on this thread and see how many people refer to me as the ”best bodhran player“ in the world. As I said, bestowed.”

You claim here that people on this thread have “bestowed” on you the title of “the best bodhran player in the world.” I haven’t seen it, could you please find a quote from this thread to substantiate your claim?

For any of you familiar with The Andy Griffith Show, BB is the Earnest T. Bass of the session.org. 😀

Bodhran Bliss = Take the P*ss! …but we’ve all learned a lesson from this one.

Jim

Jim Dorans: Since Bliss was unable to overcome his fear of IT, I’ve gone ahead and field-recorded a sample of his work for the MightyCraic. Send me your e-mail address again and I’ll forward it to you.

I hope it’s not the one with Molloy, he kept making mistakes.

My God, I’ve just been into the other thread. The recordings were sent to Max who vanished.

Someone might have been making millions out of my work.

A narrow escape.

That’s kind of you , greg., I did the same thing for Jack. Can’t wait to hear it!

I think someone must’ve sent it to me… I’ve been using this bodhran track I receive anonymously as a metronome! It’s soooome accurate… better than any *real* metronome I’ve ever had! I bet the guy playing the drum had his head down, and was just totally into it!

Just back from playing tonight and indulging in stuff straight from Amsterdam.

OK Jack, sorry for winding you up earlier. I AM THE BEST.

…..and there’s now a clip on the Mighty Craic to prove it!

Jim

…at http://worldfiddlemusic.co.uk/mightycraiconline/

Jim

That’s not me playing, I’m not that good. A rival emerges, must get practising, look up flight times to Amsterdam.

Now THAT is a classic piece of bodhran playing. Nice work, bliss. I can almost HEAR the melody dancing over top of that solid beat of yours.

Practising all day, still can’t play it as good as that on the bodhran, but I have mastered it on the mandolin. Must add it to my tunes list.

J. Gilder, eat your (f.ing) heart out.
You tried to slay us with your faux naif rendition of the weasel song (us otters hate weasels) but Mr. Bliss has shown us the true way (in context too!).
As your countryman, Homer, said: "Weaseling out of things is important to learn.
It’s what separates us from the animals … except the weasel."

Sorry, I forgot to say, it’s at
http://www.worldfiddlemusic.co.uk/mightycraiconline/
Home of all good music!

So, Ottery ol‘ ’friend‘(?) ~ are your knees bleedin’ after whacking them against the side of an emaciated cow?

You do know, I’ve no doubt, that facing a corner is a ploy. It produces a ‘cone’ which amplifies any tones reflecte from it, and if you sit just so you are the axis for the return, so ideally you’ll only be able to hear yourself and little else…whether that’s heavy breathin or the instrument your squeezin, or ‘beartin’…

But, on another point, I like the top of your head, and the recording of the recent sea otter cull in the Faroes… I’m glad you escaped by the way… 😉

I’m still convinced that a ceolachan is a kind of fish with legs.

I never touched that emaciated cow!

I started downloading Blisster’s track and I had to leave suddenly when I heard my neighbor take a tumble down the stairs. I went to see what happened and no one was there -- weird. Then I tried it again later, and wouldn’t you know it, my neighbor took a tumble again. He wasn’t there when I looked that time either. I’ll try again tomorrow.

I’m was surprised that BB was so slim. He didn’t fit my stereotype ---fat, bald, with one ear ring---of a bodhran player at all, although he wore the obligatory “top”. 😉

Yes, Showa, a ‘ceolachan’ is a fish with legs (mistakenly thought to have been extinct), and a ‘coelacanth’ is someone who publishes animal stories on yellow discussion boards. I think I’ve got that the right way round.

Jim

Oh, we’ve been moved. Obviously, BB isn’t worthy of having a whole thread dedicated to his bodhran playing skills. 🙂

Thanks Jim - I was beginning to think it was just me.

It’s not me. Are you sure it’s not John Joe?

I tried it again and realized that the sound I heard of someone taking a tumble down the stairs was actually Blisster’s track. Amazing playing -- Blisster could get gigs doing sound effects.

😀

OK, I am too much of a gentleman to deny the playing bit, otherwise it has to be Grego and I could not destroy his credibility. Yes it’s me, The BEST IN THE WORLD.

I have no credibility since the Britfolk thread. (Perhaps that makes me “incredible.”)

Note that “most underrated” does not necessarily mean “best.”

Didn’t I start this by saying there is no such thing as “the best”. Just trying to keep Jack happy.

No Bliss, you started this by saying “On Sunday night” - its at the top of the thread.

Whats this about “keeping” Jack happy? You need to get him happy first. How about we buy him an Irish cocktail - pint of Guinness and a potato on a stick.

Weasling is what sets us apart from the animals - except the weasel.

Woody Allan? He plays the clarinet.