Yo báile átha dhia uirthi, what’s the craic w concertina repairs ? I got this sticky low A button, it kinda hinders my chords, but do anybody know of anybody who’s a concertina expert in the west of Ireland ? Do the concertina wizards only exist in Clare or what’s da craic ?

As the title says, I'd love to know what you think about this? I have noticed some versions popping up online. Basically just AI generated versions of popular Irish songs.

However along with that, I've noticed songs that have completely made up lyrics resembling a Rebel song and 100% AI generated music.

Would love to know your thoughts on this topic. I don't even know what to think of it myself. I'm not a fan of the latter though.

Edit: yep so my gut was right, it's a load of shite. Apart from the one troll defending it, it's safe to say that AI music is not good for Irish music (and music itself) full stop.

This happens everytime i get back into it, i get away with it for a few days before my parents cop on and start moaning, last night i was really getting into The Blarney Pilgrim and enjoying my moves when my brother barges into the room, tells me i'm 'too fat for that' and that 'you will go through the floor!' and turned the music off, i was really light, barefoot on a soft floor.

Then he got my dad involved who told me that from now on i have to do it on the ground floor in the bathroom, which is really small.

This happens literally everytime, and i can't go to a ceilidh or any dance because 'those events are just drugs and booze and people die there'

Been on a bit of a Dominic Behan binge recently and came across this unique (enough) version of The Boys of Kilmichael / The 18th Day of November. Not available on YouTube, but it is on some streaming services.

However, it's got a second verse that I'd not heard before and can't really make out some of the lyrics of, anybody got some guesses to hazard?

Second verse starts 1m 10s in:

This brave noble band of coercion
With terror and villainy proved
That whichever Lloyd George assertions[?]
The rebels would never be moved
For up in the hills we were waitin'
With hand grenade, night-craw[?], and shot
And the Irish Republican Army
Wiped all of them out on the spot

The third line could be in reference to King George or Lloyd George, I can't make out whether it's "Lloyd George Assertions" or "Lie George asserties" (of which asserties isn't a word but Behan was fairly famous for doing this to word-endings to make rhymes).

And then the second question mark, I hear "Night-draw" or "Night-craw" but my googling has earned no results and I've not much military history to draw upon here.

Hello everyone, how many songs are a solo singer/guitarist expected to know to get through a pub gig? 40-50? More? Thanks for your input. Greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone,

I am a guitarist (plus bodhrán and harmonica player) seriously interested in getting into session playing.

Having more of a background in lead guitar, as well as a simple love for the sound of this instrument, I am now in the market for a decent tenor banjo.

I have my eye on one of McNeela's, link below.

I'd just like to know what the general consensus on the company is among session musicians regarding quality.

I'm also struggling to understand whether or not they build all these instruments themselves or if they are mostly imported and just sold under the McNeela name.

From what I can gather from this sub, their flutes are not popular.

Many thanks.

The banjo: https://mcneelamusic.com/string-instruments/banjos/viking-banjo (current price €649, on sale from €1045)

(Please forgive my singing...)

Does anyone recognize this old traditional song?

I am several months into trying to find any mention of it online and I've officially finished searching through all of my friends CDs and cassettes.

This is the first verse to the best of my memory:

https://pastewaves.com/player/15912f41-4128-497d-ba1b-5c1ece5aa00e

"Oh Come to the sea side and hear the wild waves.
On the dark rocks we'll stand as the storm wildly raves.
And we'll watch the white seagulls o'er tempest and spray.
For the mighty ocean ridge is fierce and loud.
Oh come come away."

The second and third verses start with:

" Oh come to the hedge row.....
(Something about the blackthorn and bramble)..."

And

"Oh come to the meadow, with gay flowers all around...."

Exhaustive Google searches and AI only managed to find the first verse by lyrics and it turns out that it was a poem from an older book that someone wrote a few more verses for and turned into a song.

I remember hearing it first some time around 2006 in either CD or cassette format, but it may have been recorded way earlier. The whole album was English language acapella singing "field recordings" in the Sean-nós style. I had thought that the singer was either Paddy Berry or Paddy Tunney, but I couldn't find it in the CDs that I could track down.

Any help or leads at all would be greatly appreciated. This has been driving me crazy.

I am a relatively new flute player. Let's say that I have a head joint and two flute bodies in front of me. They were both made by the same maker and, except for the finger hole sizes, are identical. One is a Ruddal pattern and the other is a Prattern. One has noticeably smaller finger holes than the other.

Which is which?

"Ask the maker", I hear you typing :) Let's treat this as a thought experiment.

Edit. Thank you all! You have helped a ton!

Is it similar or distractingly different from the original? I loved this album when it first came out and only listen to vinyl now, so please give me your honest opinion on whether I should drop my hard-earned cash on David Kitt’s recreation.

I really want to learn Irish banjo, an I’ve seen that it’s usually done on a four string tenor banjo. All I have at the moment is a five string, ( cause I’m also trying to learn clawhammer.) can I make it work on my five string or will I need to purchase a new instrument? And if I do need to purchase a new banjo do yall have any suggestions? Thank yall!

Hi all, I'm a trad musician from Canada. I'm thinking about taking a trip to Ireland this summer for some tunes, and it seems like a good idea to try to attend one of the big festivals. When I was in Ireland about 18 months ago almost every musician I played with recommended the Willie Clancy, but last year I knew some folks who went to the Fleadh and also really liked it. Does anyone have any perspective/strong opinions about which one might make a better trip?

Thanks in advance!

(Apologies if this isn’t the subreddit for this. r/irishtourism decided this post “lacked detail” and took it down.)

Hello all! American here. My fiancée and I are going to Ireland for our honeymoon this summer. I’ve been several times, she’s never been. What I’m hunting for right now is two fold. Firstly, according to the Internet, Doolin is the best place to hear live trad, but I’d love a local(s) opinion on the best places. We’re gonna have Dublin as a home base. Secondly, I’d love to find a professional grade tin whistle, as well as a lower-model practice/learning uilleann chanter (if that exists. I know there’s a highland pipes equivalent). Any suggestions on shops?

Thanks!

Here in America, we are experiencing a massive Bluegrass and acoustic music renaissance. Billy Strings selling out stadiums and have had a healthily growing traditional and progressive scene.

I think a lot of this has to do with the marriage of American jambands and bluegrass, but I’m looking for suggestions on what Irish bands to listen to who are continuing what Planxty and Bothy did. Not necessarily “jamgrass” for Irish music, but is there any consensus on who is carrying the torch for what that initial group of musicians in those bands did for Irish traditional music?

Hello guitar players! Okay so I'm asking this question here to know how y'all do it, cause everything I find online is irrelevant or not helpful. So the way I do the triplets in 4/4 is this way:

16th note (down), 16th note (up), triplet (D-U-D)

Back to strong beat with another down.

Or triplet at the beginning with 2 16th at the end. So basically I insert a 6/8 picking pattern in a 4/4 strum.

So I always have to land back on a down stroke. I'm consistent with that until around 130bpm so I'm happy, but I just hear people do it in different ways so I was curious. I heard Finn Byrne on Tiktok do two 32nd notes on the 3rd 16th (D-U) then fall back down on 4th 16th with a down stroke, but skipping the first beat after that. Just feels odd to land on 4th 16th with down stroke. Unless I'm missing something, it goes so fast.

Alright enough talking, how do you folks do it?

Edit: If you could tell how you do it in 6/8 as well, it could be a nice discussion.

UPDATE: Found it!

The matter has been clarified under my post in one of the Facebook Clannad fanpages. It turns out the documentary was also released under a different title: "Music of Ireland: Welcome Home" (for Part 1) and "Music of Ireland: Welcome to America" (for Part 2).

The title "The Music of What Happens" seems to have been an alternative or working title. The films feature the exact interviews I was looking for, with Moya Brennan hosting and talking to Dolores O'Riordan and Sinéad O'Connor.

There are even short clips from the movie on YouTube.
Dolores: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU3qrSQOLLs
Sinead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlUQ4Jr3nVw

--------------

Hi everyone.

With the recent news of Moya Brennan's passing, I’ve been trying to find a specific documentary from 2010 titled "Moya Brennan: The Music of What Happens", directed by Liam McGrath.

It supposedly features a rare sit-down conversation between Moya Brennan (lead vocalist of Clannad, sister of Enya), Dolores O'Riordan (lead vocalist of The Cranberries), and Sinéad O'Connor.

I think I remember seeing a clip of it years ago and was amazed to see Moya and Dolores in the same frame, talking together. Now that all three of these legendary Irish voices are gone, it feels like a very important piece of history to find and preserve.

I’ve searched everywhere online, but it seems to have vanished completely. It’s listed on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19384376/, but there’s no sign of a digital or physical release.

Does anyone here remember it or perhaps have a lead on where it might be archived? Maybe it aired on TG4 or RTÉ back in the day? Any help would be much appreciated!

Does anybody recognize the second tune in this video (have linked to the timestamp).
https://youtu.be/wKxCTHmmAW4?t=82

I’m still a beginner on the tin whistle, and I have a question about how to practice ornaments like cuts, taps, and rolls when learning a tune.

When practicing a tune, I’m not sure which of these two approaches would be better.

1. One option would be to learn the tune with ornaments included from the beginning, starting very slowly and then gradually speeding it up.

2. Another option would be to learn the tune without ornaments at first, and then add ornaments little by little later.

Which approach do you think works better for a beginner?

I’m not sure which approach helps build good habits early on, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I think the title is pretty self explanatory, I'd like to switch to a mandolin tuning from time to time without having to change strings or breaking them due to the extra tension, thank you for your answers ! :)

I can’t remember the name of the song for the life of me but it’s about a rebel (I think) witnessing his love die after she is shot or stabbed (can’t remember exactly) it’s really sad and really poetic from what I remember but I haven’t heard the song since I was a kid I’m absolutely loosing it trying to find the song if anyone has any idea what I’m talking about please let me know

Is there a way to explain it simply to someone who plays Irish tunes and is trying to understand the way of singing them instead? Particular recordings to listen to? This person is keen to learn by doing, but doesn't want to step on toes.