Hi there! I am writing a research paper about the history of the uilleann pipes and I want to devote a section to Seamus Ennis. I have found plenty of information about his life, i.e where he was born, where he worked, how he came by his set of pipes and historic recordings which he made, but I am finding it a bit tricky to find information that describes his playing style in clear technical terms such as staccato, open or closed, popping... things like that which I can explain in detail as I go along. Was he strongly associated with a certain regional style? If anyone could post up any helpful information I would be very much appreciative!
When I first heard Seamus Ennis on the Pure Drop LP many years ago I thought his playing was a bit erratic in terms of rhythm and timing so I wondered what the fuss was about. I realised after it was explained to me by other pipers that perhaps this is because he was a solo player, also technique in piping and pipes technology has improved tremendously in the last 30 years and we can't judge him by today's standards.
The fact that he was a singer, storyteller and authority on the music means that I shouldn't have extracted his technique from his overall musicality. Having said that, I feel a bit uneasy listening to him and wouldn't listen to him for pleasure .
In terms of his looseness, I think he was somewhere towards the tighter side of piping, but there are tighter pipers than him. In my opinion really tight piping doesn't sound good, it's just finger gymnastics. He was able to do piping technique that very few of his contemporaries could do, so he has been extremely influential.
It would probably be a good idea to post this question on some of the piping forums such as Chip and Fipple or Fiffle (whatever) and pipers.ie
I think Seamus is one of the big pipers of the 2nd half of the last century and I love his style. His is more on the tighter (staccato) style side and I would say he is in the tradition of the gentleman pipers, accurate, controlled lovely playing
He is not playing the wilder, exstatic and experimental style (traveller's) i.e. Paddy Keenan represents.
Liam O'Flynn was a pupil and he might represent the same school as Ennis. It's no surprise that Liam worked together with classical composers and Kate Bush, while Paddy Kennan or Davy Spillane playes with rock / jazz bands.
Listen to Ennis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLe9etQ0iwQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF3fW4Nox9U&mode=related&search=
Wow: "I learned the tune from the manuscript." (from the first youtube video above.) If he were still alive Mr. Gill would have to have a word with him!
NPU will shortly publish 'The Dance Music of Seamus Ennis' by Pat Mitchell which will include a detailed analysis of his playing style. The book is at the stage of being sent to the printers. Its big.
Ennis' playing style was deceptively 'tight', Breandan Breathnach referred to it as something like 'not legato' as opposed to stark staccato. He had a formidable way of pronouncing notes to give them a little plosive effect, and this can sometimes give an impression of staccato 'popiness', he was certainly not a 'tight' player in the same sense that Touhey or Andy Conroy were.
Ennis cites his father as his main piping influence; you can compare their playing if you get the re-released 78 record recordings of the father playing with 'The Fingal Trio'. Its on at least on compilation of remastered old recordings. There is some similarity, but, more than any outside influence, I think Ennis was his own man, and his own piper.
Regionality is a red herring: there is little evidence of regional styles in piping and I consider it in the realm of advanced conjecture and wishful thinking. My advice: think people (pipers, musicians) not places.
Pat Mitchell has come across evidence that Ennis was influenced by Patsy Touhy's recordings, and that he used to slow down records of Michael Coleman on the turntable to listen to what he was doing. I suspect his influences were many, although his personal style was established very early on as we can hear on the early recordings that appear on 'Return from Fingal'... he was only 21 years old. He would differ here from, say, Willie Clancy whose playing style went through distinct and traceable periods of experimentation and emulating other players.
"Regionality is a red herring: there is little evidence of regional styles in piping and I consider it in the realm of advanced conjecture and wishful thinking. My advice: think people (pipers, musicians) not places."
My understanding is that pipers were simply never numerous enough for regional styles to develop. There must be more uillean pipers living now than there ever were cumulatively in Ireland before, say, 1970.
I was always a big fan of his playing and in 1974 I bought the "Wandering Minstrel" LP, Topic 12TS250 Stereo (no less!). This was recorded in Barnet, north London, with notes by him and has a picture of his parents on the back, his dad holding a set while his mum has a fiddle resting on her lap. The front cover is of interest to me, it shows Ennis playing in a pub with people around him, several of whom I knew from the Norwich singaround and session scene at the time. Anyway lovely playing of course and 19 tunes. Can't help with the technical descriptions of his playing (after all, I'm a "pebble in the shoe" according to Guernsey Pete for my whistle advice), but thought you might be interested in the above.
"..... I thought his playing was a bit erratic in terms of rhythm and timing so I wondered what the fuss was about. .......... The fact that he was a singer, storyteller and authority on the music means that I shouldn't have extracted his technique from his overall musicality. Having said that, I feel a bit uneasy listening to him and wouldn't listen to him for pleasure."
Interesting to hear you say that Fiddlebabe, because a piping friend of mine felt much the same, after listening to his recordings. Then, while visiting me in Dublin in the late 70s, he actually went along to see Seamus play live & that changed his opinion completely & he became a huge fan of his music. He reckoned that to appreciate the man's music you really had to experience the whole package, the songs, the stories, the charisma etc etc & after that, his music made perfect sense.
"The fact that he was a singer, storyteller and authority on the music means that I shouldn't have extracted his technique from his overall musicality."
Fiddlebabe, I think, has nailed this one. If you want to understand what made Seamus Ennis the god of uilleann piping was not merely his piping technique, but how his entire Irish life and character influenced it. The cadence of his voice, in both English and Irish, can reflect the cadence of his playing, and vice versa. If you don't have it, I can email you some clips from "Feidhlim Tonn Ri's Castle", an album in which he tells an Irish fairy tale interspersed with whistle, pipes and lilting. I also have an old radio recording of an interview with him, about 45 minutes of talking and playing - definitely worth listening to at least a couple times through.
Piping-wise, I'd say his style is fairly Clare, if pipe and fiddle technique is at all similar. It's very smooth with strong accents and phrasing through interspersed rolls and triplets. His regulator work is also really important to the lift.
Max, if you've ever suffered froma whistler who'ld broken the glue joint on her tin whistle, then not replaced it correctly, you'ld call anyone who advised doing that a pebble in the shoe.
Other than that I won't berate your opinions.
This whole discussion has me scratching my head, trying to work out where I could find a cassette I have of him at a folk-club performance in the early '70's.
"Wandering Minstrel LP..........front cover........"
You're right, maxF, that's Chris and Jenny Morley from Ipswich, as well as Johnny Moynihan and Tony Hall. The young fellow sitting at Seamus' feet is myself.
"To appreciate the man's music, you had to experience the whole package"
I agree, Ptarmigan. It was like going to the opera and being swept up in the whole production; whereas listening to the music recording could just be annoying.
oldstring I always thought the person at Seamus's feet was piper Nollaigh MacCarteigh ...
The uilleann pipes were very expensive once upon a time. In the 19th century they did cost more than a house! So only rich gentleman could afford to buy a new set. The sets were given from one generation to the next one. Some famous player had no set on their own and were able to win All-Ireland competitions like that.
That has changed completely since about 1970, there are now a few thousand piper and important as well about 30 pipe makers, not just one or two!
The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
Hi there! I am writing a research paper about the history of the uilleann pipes and I want to devote a section to Seamus Ennis. I have found plenty of information about his life, i.e where he was born, where he worked, how he came by his set of pipes and historic recordings which he made, but I am finding it a bit tricky to find information that describes his playing style in clear technical terms such as staccato, open or closed, popping... things like that which I can explain in detail as I go along. Was he strongly associated with a certain regional style? If anyone could post up any helpful information I would be very much appreciative!
Cheers!!!
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Joolia
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
When I first heard Seamus Ennis on the Pure Drop LP many years ago I thought his playing was a bit erratic in terms of rhythm and timing so I wondered what the fuss was about. I realised after it was explained to me by other pipers that perhaps this is because he was a solo player, also technique in piping and pipes technology has improved tremendously in the last 30 years and we can't judge him by today's standards.
The fact that he was a singer, storyteller and authority on the music means that I shouldn't have extracted his technique from his overall musicality. Having said that, I feel a bit uneasy listening to him and wouldn't listen to him for pleasure .
In terms of his looseness, I think he was somewhere towards the tighter side of piping, but there are tighter pipers than him. In my opinion really tight piping doesn't sound good, it's just finger gymnastics. He was able to do piping technique that very few of his contemporaries could do, so he has been extremely influential.
It would probably be a good idea to post this question on some of the piping forums such as Chip and Fipple or Fiffle (whatever) and pipers.ie
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Fiddlebabe
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
I think Seamus is one of the big pipers of the 2nd half of the last century and I love his style. His is more on the tighter (staccato) style side and I would say he is in the tradition of the gentleman pipers, accurate, controlled lovely playing
He is not playing the wilder, exstatic and experimental style (traveller's) i.e. Paddy Keenan represents.
Liam O'Flynn was a pupil and he might represent the same school as Ennis. It's no surprise that Liam worked together with classical composers and Kate Bush, while Paddy Kennan or Davy Spillane playes with rock / jazz bands.
Listen to Ennis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLe9etQ0iwQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF3fW4Nox9U&mode=related&search=
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by swisspiper
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
Wow: "I learned the tune from the manuscript." (from the first youtube video above.) If he were still alive Mr. Gill would have to have a word with him!
Lovely piping, nonetheless.
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by grego
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
Dear Joolia,
NPU will shortly publish 'The Dance Music of Seamus Ennis' by Pat Mitchell which will include a detailed analysis of his playing style. The book is at the stage of being sent to the printers. Its big.
Ennis' playing style was deceptively 'tight', Breandan Breathnach referred to it as something like 'not legato' as opposed to stark staccato. He had a formidable way of pronouncing notes to give them a little plosive effect, and this can sometimes give an impression of staccato 'popiness', he was certainly not a 'tight' player in the same sense that Touhey or Andy Conroy were.
Ennis cites his father as his main piping influence; you can compare their playing if you get the re-released 78 record recordings of the father playing with 'The Fingal Trio'. Its on at least on compilation of remastered old recordings. There is some similarity, but, more than any outside influence, I think Ennis was his own man, and his own piper.
Regionality is a red herring: there is little evidence of regional styles in piping and I consider it in the realm of advanced conjecture and wishful thinking. My advice: think people (pipers, musicians) not places.
Pat Mitchell has come across evidence that Ennis was influenced by Patsy Touhy's recordings, and that he used to slow down records of Michael Coleman on the turntable to listen to what he was doing. I suspect his influences were many, although his personal style was established very early on as we can hear on the early recordings that appear on 'Return from Fingal'... he was only 21 years old. He would differ here from, say, Willie Clancy whose playing style went through distinct and traceable periods of experimentation and emulating other players.
Regards,
Harry.
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Harry B
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
p.s.
These forums are only reliable as a source of conflicting, spurious, and highly subjective information.
If you're really interested in doing a proper academic study then I suggest you get in touch with Pat Mitchell through NPU:
www.pipers.ie
Regards,
Harry.
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Harry B
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
"Regionality is a red herring: there is little evidence of regional styles in piping and I consider it in the realm of advanced conjecture and wishful thinking. My advice: think people (pipers, musicians) not places."
My understanding is that pipers were simply never numerous enough for regional styles to develop. There must be more uillean pipers living now than there ever were cumulatively in Ireland before, say, 1970.
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by ragaman
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
I was always a big fan of his playing and in 1974 I bought the "Wandering Minstrel" LP, Topic 12TS250 Stereo (no less!). This was recorded in Barnet, north London, with notes by him and has a picture of his parents on the back, his dad holding a set while his mum has a fiddle resting on her lap. The front cover is of interest to me, it shows Ennis playing in a pub with people around him, several of whom I knew from the Norwich singaround and session scene at the time. Anyway lovely playing of course and 19 tunes. Can't help with the technical descriptions of his playing (after all, I'm a "pebble in the shoe" according to Guernsey Pete for my whistle advice), but thought you might be interested in the above.
Good luck with the paper
Max
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by maxF
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
"..... I thought his playing was a bit erratic in terms of rhythm and timing so I wondered what the fuss was about. .......... The fact that he was a singer, storyteller and authority on the music means that I shouldn't have extracted his technique from his overall musicality. Having said that, I feel a bit uneasy listening to him and wouldn't listen to him for pleasure."
Interesting to hear you say that Fiddlebabe, because a piping friend of mine felt much the same, after listening to his recordings. Then, while visiting me in Dublin in the late 70s, he actually went along to see Seamus play live & that changed his opinion completely & he became a huge fan of his music. He reckoned that to appreciate the man's music you really had to experience the whole package, the songs, the stories, the charisma etc etc & after that, his music made perfect sense.
Good Luck Joolia
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Ptarmigan
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
Thanks everyone! Especially Harry! That helps me a whole bunch! ^_^
Now to find info on Johnny Doran and I'm set!
Cheers again!!
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Joolia
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
"The fact that he was a singer, storyteller and authority on the music means that I shouldn't have extracted his technique from his overall musicality."
Fiddlebabe, I think, has nailed this one. If you want to understand what made Seamus Ennis the god of uilleann piping was not merely his piping technique, but how his entire Irish life and character influenced it. The cadence of his voice, in both English and Irish, can reflect the cadence of his playing, and vice versa. If you don't have it, I can email you some clips from "Feidhlim Tonn Ri's Castle", an album in which he tells an Irish fairy tale interspersed with whistle, pipes and lilting. I also have an old radio recording of an interview with him, about 45 minutes of talking and playing - definitely worth listening to at least a couple times through.
Piping-wise, I'd say his style is fairly Clare, if pipe and fiddle technique is at all similar. It's very smooth with strong accents and phrasing through interspersed rolls and triplets. His regulator work is also really important to the lift.
So, yeah. That's me fiftieth of a dollar.
--DtM
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
Max, if you've ever suffered froma whistler who'ld broken the glue joint on her tin whistle, then not replaced it correctly, you'ld call anyone who advised doing that a pebble in the shoe.
Other than that I won't berate your opinions.
This whole discussion has me scratching my head, trying to work out where I could find a cassette I have of him at a folk-club performance in the early '70's.
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Guernsey Pete
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
"Wandering Minstrel LP..........front cover........"
You're right, maxF, that's Chris and Jenny Morley from Ipswich, as well as Johnny Moynihan and Tony Hall. The young fellow sitting at Seamus' feet is myself.
# Posted on April 13th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
"To appreciate the man's music, you had to experience the whole package"
I agree, Ptarmigan. It was like going to the opera and being swept up in the whole production; whereas listening to the music recording could just be annoying.
# Posted on April 13th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
A link to the recording for those strange people who don't have a copy yet:
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/332
oldstring I always thought the person at Seamus's feet was piper Nollaigh MacCarteigh ...
The uilleann pipes were very expensive once upon a time. In the 19th century they did cost more than a house! So only rich gentleman could afford to buy a new set. The sets were given from one generation to the next one. Some famous player had no set on their own and were able to win All-Ireland competitions like that.
That has changed completely since about 1970, there are now a few thousand piper and important as well about 30 pipe makers, not just one or two!
# Posted on April 16th 2007 by swisspiper
Re: The Playing Style of Seamus Ennis
No, there isn't a Mc or O' in my name at all, and I've never played pipes.
# Posted on April 16th 2007 by oldstrings