It seems Comhaltas are offering downloadable trad videos. 20 weekly videos, each 20 minutes long, 20 euros for the series. The content, they say, is the "purest of traditional Irish music." Here's the link:
I've tried it, because I was filmed for it and wanted to see meself on film!!! They are a good way to learn new tunes. The resolution is not great, but I think that's just my computer. I'd say they're worth it.
I subscribed to Comhaltas Live last year and by now have some excellent material on my hard drive. There is also a new format in the programmes now, with weekly archive specials presented by Seamus MacMathuna as well as tutorials from Kathleen Nesbitt.
Willie Fogarty, who puts the programmes together, was at the Comhaltas Monkstown session last week and recorded some of the tunes. He says he'll broadcast them over the next few weeks. At the time it struck me that this could be a great way of seeing other peoples sessions - maybe have a session spot on each week's programme. I put it to him and he was interested although he said he'd have difficulty getting to some of the more exotic places on this site (Perth would definitely be out of the question for some time to come)! If anyone would like to pursue this with Willie, you can e-mail him on the Comhaltaslive site or drop him a line to: Lissenhall, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
"some of the more exotic places on this site (Perth would definitely be out of the question for some time to come)!"
Hi Bannerman
What a pity but I can wait, and nice to know we are officially classified as exotic here in Perth.
Anyway, I personally would love to see some of the other sessioneers' sessions from around the world.
Cheers
I went to the web site to look around, and this looks very interesting. It's the first I've heard of it.
They are not clear about one thing. Are all previous programs available for download? How comprehensive is the description of each program? I'm sure there are some I would be more interested in watching than others.
You can download programmes from the day you sign on but at present don't have access to the ones that went before. Programmes can be downloaded each week as they appear or at any time during the 20 week registration period. As regards descriptions, these are very comprehensive and I'm pasting in the one for this week's programme below.
_________________________________________________
This month we are introducing some new elements to ComhlatasLive in order to:
make it more beneficial to musicians and students of the music
make the programme more enjoyable for the non-musicians
by increasing their insight into the music.
The new elements are:-
1. Regularly featuring a different well known musician. We commence next week with Banjo maestro Gerry O’Connor and in the coming weeks the great Joe Burke on button accordion.
2. The Archive Corner , also commencing next week will regularly feature some of the great musicians who have been recorded over the last 50 years and form part of the huge Comhaltas Archive. Many of those items have never been broadcast or aired previously and include examples of the great regional and personal styles of the music. The feature will be presented by Seamus Mac Mathúna who played such a huge part in recording and setting up the Archive.
3. Develop your Repertoire/Technique. A tune is selected and played at an easy to learn pace. It is then played at a normal speed and includes examples of interpretation with ornamentation and ovariation. The tune notation is also provided. Commencing in this weeks programme the feature is presented by well known fiddle player Kathleen Nesbitt.
Programme Information - Echoes of Ireland: 06-12-04
Programme Time
Programme content
00.00 to 02.06:
Introduction by programme presenter Anne-Marie McGowan and Seamus Mac Mathúna.
02.07 to 04.43:
Two reels Jimmy McHugh’s and Martin Wynne’s No. 3 played on piano accordion by Colin McGill, from Co. Laois.
04.44 to 07.20:
Fiddle player and composer Jimmy McHugh lived most his life in Glasgow, Scotland and called the reel played by Colin “The flood on the road to Glenties.” Katie Boyle, also from Glasgow now plays the reel on fiddle. Notice the contrast in styles and interpretation by two fine exponents of their instruments, influenced to some degree by the difference in instruments. Katie learned the second reel from the playing of Tommy Peoples and incidentally came 3rd in this year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
07.21 to 09.09:
Banjo player Eddie Whelan from Birr, Co. Offaly learned this three-part reel from the playing of Clare banjo player Kevin Griffin.
09.10 to 13.04:
A selection of jigs by three members of CCE, Elphin Co. Roscommon, aidan Shannon on flute, Enda McGreevy on fiddle and Keith Gildea on button accordion. The jigs are “Apples in winter”, ”The hag with the money” and “The Kilmovee jig.”
13.05 to 14.45:
“The mystery reel” played by Deirdre Hurley from Ballymote, Co. Sligo on tin whistle. Deirdre won the All-Ireland U-12 in 2003.
14.46 to 18.17:
“Develop your Repertoire/Technique” with Kathleen Nesbitt who selects “Crowley’s reel” this week. The tune notation is also provided here. Incidentally Kathleen published in 2003 an outstanding Irish fiddle tutorial entitled “Fidil.”
18.18 to 20.34:
The selection of jigs played by the Innisfree Ceíli Band from Co. Sligo when they took 3rd place in Fleadh Cheoil na hÉreann 2004.
20.35 to 20.49:
Programme conclusion.
Next Week
We include two more new features, “The Archive Corner” and Banjo maestro Gerry O’Connor.
_________________________________________________
There was also the notation for the Kathleen Nesbitt's tune but for some reason I couldn't get it to paste here.
Larsheen, did you select normal or high quality download? There is quite a substantial improvement. The only factor in this is that for higher quality, the file becomes larger and therefore having broadband is advantageous timewise. Also if you watch RTE etc. over the internet you'll find that the picture quality wouldn't always be as good as what you would find on your television set. However, I think the sound quality is excellent.
I can't wait for the archive programmes. It would be nice if some system was put in place to access the earlier programmes that were shown before I subscribed.
Comhaltas Live
Comhaltas Live
It seems Comhaltas are offering downloadable trad videos. 20 weekly videos, each 20 minutes long, 20 euros for the series. The content, they say, is the "purest of traditional Irish music." Here's the link:
http://www.comhaltaslive.ie/
Has anybody tried it? It sounds like good value so long as it's not overproduced stuff like you might get from Bord Failte.
# Posted on December 6th 2004 by grego
Re: Comhaltas Live
I've tried it, because I was filmed for it and wanted to see meself on film!!! They are a good way to learn new tunes. The resolution is not great, but I think that's just my computer. I'd say they're worth it.
# Posted on December 6th 2004 by act
Re: Comhaltas Live
I subscribed to Comhaltas Live last year and by now have some excellent material on my hard drive. There is also a new format in the programmes now, with weekly archive specials presented by Seamus MacMathuna as well as tutorials from Kathleen Nesbitt.
The details of this weeks programme can be found here:
http://www.comhaltaslive.ie/latestProgInfo.asp
# Posted on December 6th 2004 by sean o.g
Re: Comhaltas Live
I have subsrcibed for a while and I like the programme. It is not the highest quality presentation but the music is very good.
# Posted on December 6th 2004 by Piano Accordion
Re: Comhaltas Live
Great, thanks for the feedback!
# Posted on December 6th 2004 by grego
Re: Comhaltas Live
Willie Fogarty, who puts the programmes together, was at the Comhaltas Monkstown session last week and recorded some of the tunes. He says he'll broadcast them over the next few weeks. At the time it struck me that this could be a great way of seeing other peoples sessions - maybe have a session spot on each week's programme. I put it to him and he was interested although he said he'd have difficulty getting to some of the more exotic places on this site (Perth would definitely be out of the question for some time to come)! If anyone would like to pursue this with Willie, you can e-mail him on the Comhaltaslive site or drop him a line to: Lissenhall, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
# Posted on December 7th 2004 by Bannerman
Re: Comhaltas Live
"some of the more exotic places on this site (Perth would definitely be out of the question for some time to come)!"
Hi Bannerman
What a pity but I can wait, and nice to know we are officially classified as exotic here in Perth.
Anyway, I personally would love to see some of the other sessioneers' sessions from around the world.
Cheers
# Posted on December 7th 2004 by Donough
Re: Comhaltas Live
I went to the web site to look around, and this looks very interesting. It's the first I've heard of it.
They are not clear about one thing. Are all previous programs available for download? How comprehensive is the description of each program? I'm sure there are some I would be more interested in watching than others.
Mick
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by Craymcla
Re: Comhaltas Live
You can download programmes from the day you sign on but at present don't have access to the ones that went before. Programmes can be downloaded each week as they appear or at any time during the 20 week registration period. As regards descriptions, these are very comprehensive and I'm pasting in the one for this week's programme below.
_________________________________________________
This month we are introducing some new elements to ComhlatasLive in order to:
make it more beneficial to musicians and students of the music
make the programme more enjoyable for the non-musicians
by increasing their insight into the music.
The new elements are:-
1. Regularly featuring a different well known musician. We commence next week with Banjo maestro Gerry O’Connor and in the coming weeks the great Joe Burke on button accordion.
2. The Archive Corner , also commencing next week will regularly feature some of the great musicians who have been recorded over the last 50 years and form part of the huge Comhaltas Archive. Many of those items have never been broadcast or aired previously and include examples of the great regional and personal styles of the music. The feature will be presented by Seamus Mac Mathúna who played such a huge part in recording and setting up the Archive.
3. Develop your Repertoire/Technique. A tune is selected and played at an easy to learn pace. It is then played at a normal speed and includes examples of interpretation with ornamentation and ovariation. The tune notation is also provided. Commencing in this weeks programme the feature is presented by well known fiddle player Kathleen Nesbitt.
Programme Information - Echoes of Ireland: 06-12-04
Programme Time
Programme content
00.00 to 02.06:
Introduction by programme presenter Anne-Marie McGowan and Seamus Mac Mathúna.
02.07 to 04.43:
Two reels Jimmy McHugh’s and Martin Wynne’s No. 3 played on piano accordion by Colin McGill, from Co. Laois.
04.44 to 07.20:
Fiddle player and composer Jimmy McHugh lived most his life in Glasgow, Scotland and called the reel played by Colin “The flood on the road to Glenties.” Katie Boyle, also from Glasgow now plays the reel on fiddle. Notice the contrast in styles and interpretation by two fine exponents of their instruments, influenced to some degree by the difference in instruments. Katie learned the second reel from the playing of Tommy Peoples and incidentally came 3rd in this year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
07.21 to 09.09:
Banjo player Eddie Whelan from Birr, Co. Offaly learned this three-part reel from the playing of Clare banjo player Kevin Griffin.
09.10 to 13.04:
A selection of jigs by three members of CCE, Elphin Co. Roscommon, aidan Shannon on flute, Enda McGreevy on fiddle and Keith Gildea on button accordion. The jigs are “Apples in winter”, ”The hag with the money” and “The Kilmovee jig.”
13.05 to 14.45:
“The mystery reel” played by Deirdre Hurley from Ballymote, Co. Sligo on tin whistle. Deirdre won the All-Ireland U-12 in 2003.
14.46 to 18.17:
“Develop your Repertoire/Technique” with Kathleen Nesbitt who selects “Crowley’s reel” this week. The tune notation is also provided here. Incidentally Kathleen published in 2003 an outstanding Irish fiddle tutorial entitled “Fidil.”
18.18 to 20.34:
The selection of jigs played by the Innisfree Ceíli Band from Co. Sligo when they took 3rd place in Fleadh Cheoil na hÉreann 2004.
20.35 to 20.49:
Programme conclusion.
Next Week
We include two more new features, “The Archive Corner” and Banjo maestro Gerry O’Connor.
_________________________________________________
There was also the notation for the Kathleen Nesbitt's tune but for some reason I couldn't get it to paste here.
# Posted on December 8th 2004 by Bannerman
Re: Comhaltas Live
Larsheen, did you select normal or high quality download? There is quite a substantial improvement. The only factor in this is that for higher quality, the file becomes larger and therefore having broadband is advantageous timewise. Also if you watch RTE etc. over the internet you'll find that the picture quality wouldn't always be as good as what you would find on your television set. However, I think the sound quality is excellent.
I can't wait for the archive programmes. It would be nice if some system was put in place to access the earlier programmes that were shown before I subscribed.
# Posted on December 10th 2004 by sean o.g