Heey everybody,
My discussion is about WHY there are so little performances where it is a girl playing the Uilleann pipes... If anyone has seen a performance on the internet, please let me know, cause i can't find any... What do you think is the reason for this strange phenomenon??
xx Aine
There are less women than men playing pipes, but try searching for Emer Mayock, Debbie Quigley, or Maire Ni Ghrada. They are three amazing female pipers. Don't know if any of their stuff is online, though.
Maybe things are about to change. Results from this year's Fleadh Cheoil are significant in that four girls feature in the top places for pipers in the U12 and U15 categories as follows:-
COMÓRTAS 7 - UILLEANN PIPES
Fé 12
1st Banba Nic Gearailt, CCÉ, Cr. P. Uí Ghreagáin, Áth Cliath
2nd Lottie Ní Chuilinn, CCÉ, Cr. Chualainn, Cill Mhantain
3rd Damian Bannon, CCÉ, Cavan Town, An Cabhán
12 - 15
1st Seán Céitinn, CCÉ, Niall Ó Cathasaigh, Baile an Chollaigh, Corcaigh
2nd Grace Lemon, CCÉ, Cambrige, Britain
3rd Tara Howley, CCÉ, Cora Finne, An Clár
Seriously, my perception is that whatever barriers there may have been to women taking up the pipes are fast disappearing, like nearly everywhere else.
I do not seem to remember all that many women playing banjo at sessions I visited 25 years ago, but now I see them fairly often. I figure the pipes must be next, if they are not already there.
I have a few female friends who play the pipes; however, since they also play the flute/whistle, they usually play those instead because they say they are easier to play and less conspicuous than the pipes, especially in a small session, (which ours usually is).
There's Justine who is the prez of the SF pipers club who has a Rogge concert set; Nicola in Berkeley who has a K&Q concert set, Meredith in Sacramento that has a Hubbert set on order.All are fine players and a hoot to hang out with.
I remember meeting a woman in Cork in 2003 at a session in Charlies that had a half set.
marian mccarthy of the mccarthy family, daughter of tommy, is also a lovely piper.
aside from the concertina, the melodeon and perhaps the whistle, (all in the kitchen, of course), most irish trad instruments were thought of as the purview of males until very recently. this mirrors other folk/roots music traditions, i'm afraid. i am a fan of eva ybarra, the tex-mex button box virtuoso. she is from one of the folk families who pass on the music in that culture, like the mccarthys or the crehans in ireland. and she has recounted how hostile the males in the culture were when she insisted as a girl, on learning box.
same was true in ireland. yes, there were women playing melodeon in the kitchen, but females playing and playing out, is a relatively recent phenom. you wouldn't know it from the clancy week classes today, but box is actually one of the more recent irish instruments to open up to the females. pipes is the last one, but mark my words....it will happen!
fascinatingly, liner-note bios in recordings by itm females over 35 or 40, almost invariably mention a male in the picture, be it dad and/or spouse, cheering on the goddess in question. see bio info for: mrs. crotty, lucy farr, mary macnamara, etc.......piper marian mccarthy is another example. and young piper louise mulcahy same deal.....
I heard a young lassie from London playing last Saturday night in Na Piobaire Uilleann HQ in Dublin. Very impressed. My sis plays a bit and Marie Mc Clean from Ballycastle is a great piper.
I submitted something like this before. You have a good p[oint, you rarely see female pipers at a session, I never have. I know we can all name a female piper, but they are still a rarity. I often wondered if females were "excluded" from the sacred society of pipers.
There's no 'sacred society of pipers' but like the flute, the pipes were not considered an appropriate instrument for women.
These days there are an awful lot of 'youngwans' playing the pipes. The majority of my students are girls and it has been like that for years. They all also play other instruments, which may be a reason you don't see them play out. I rarely ever take my pipes out to a session myself by the way.
Good to know women pipers also have a right foot with an impact like Bruce Lee's fist. It's also good to hear (Becky Tailor up there) a set of the regulators sounding in tune.
Of course there is a sacred society of pipers, taught by a "master", all square jawed and grim faced. Closer than the Mason's they are, with or without an apron.
Everyone knows you have pipers, and then Irish musicians of other hues.
Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Heey everybody,
My discussion is about WHY there are so little performances where it is a girl playing the Uilleann pipes... If anyone has seen a performance on the internet, please let me know, cause i can't find any... What do you think is the reason for this strange phenomenon??
xx Aine
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by ainekenaz
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Try here:
http://www.beckytaylor.info/media/video.php
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by Feargal French
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
and here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3130760843368581926&q=uilleann+pipes&total=387&start=180&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=5
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by Feargal French
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
There are less women than men playing pipes, but try searching for Emer Mayock, Debbie Quigley, or Maire Ni Ghrada. They are three amazing female pipers. Don't know if any of their stuff is online, though.
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Also, Louise Mulcahy of the Mulcahy Family plays pipes beautifully. See http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1016824/a/Mulcahy+Family.htm
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by katiebee
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Maybe things are about to change. Results from this year's Fleadh Cheoil are significant in that four girls feature in the top places for pipers in the U12 and U15 categories as follows:-
COMÓRTAS 7 - UILLEANN PIPES
Fé 12
1st Banba Nic Gearailt, CCÉ, Cr. P. Uí Ghreagáin, Áth Cliath
2nd Lottie Ní Chuilinn, CCÉ, Cr. Chualainn, Cill Mhantain
3rd Damian Bannon, CCÉ, Cavan Town, An Cabhán
12 - 15
1st Seán Céitinn, CCÉ, Niall Ó Cathasaigh, Baile an Chollaigh, Corcaigh
2nd Grace Lemon, CCÉ, Cambrige, Britain
3rd Tara Howley, CCÉ, Cora Finne, An Clár
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by Bannerman
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Whoops -- my mistake, "Gurlz And Uilleann Pipes".
I assumed it had to be a calendar ad.
Seriously, my perception is that whatever barriers there may have been to women taking up the pipes are fast disappearing, like nearly everywhere else.
I do not seem to remember all that many women playing banjo at sessions I visited 25 years ago, but now I see them fairly often. I figure the pipes must be next, if they are not already there.
Followed by bodhrans, perhaps.
And shakey eggs?
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by Piece
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
I have a few female friends who play the pipes; however, since they also play the flute/whistle, they usually play those instead because they say they are easier to play and less conspicuous than the pipes, especially in a small session, (which ours usually is).
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by fiddleplayer01
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
There's Justine who is the prez of the SF pipers club who has a Rogge concert set; Nicola in Berkeley who has a K&Q concert set, Meredith in Sacramento that has a Hubbert set on order.All are fine players and a hoot to hang out with.
I remember meeting a woman in Cork in 2003 at a session in Charlies that had a half set.
If there is a cane ceiling, then it disappearing
# Posted on December 2nd 2007 by I_Fel
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
marian mccarthy of the mccarthy family, daughter of tommy, is also a lovely piper.
aside from the concertina, the melodeon and perhaps the whistle, (all in the kitchen, of course), most irish trad instruments were thought of as the purview of males until very recently. this mirrors other folk/roots music traditions, i'm afraid. i am a fan of eva ybarra, the tex-mex button box virtuoso. she is from one of the folk families who pass on the music in that culture, like the mccarthys or the crehans in ireland. and she has recounted how hostile the males in the culture were when she insisted as a girl, on learning box.
same was true in ireland. yes, there were women playing melodeon in the kitchen, but females playing and playing out, is a relatively recent phenom. you wouldn't know it from the clancy week classes today, but box is actually one of the more recent irish instruments to open up to the females. pipes is the last one, but mark my words....it will happen!
fascinatingly, liner-note bios in recordings by itm females over 35 or 40, almost invariably mention a male in the picture, be it dad and/or spouse, cheering on the goddess in question. see bio info for: mrs. crotty, lucy farr, mary macnamara, etc.......piper marian mccarthy is another example. and young piper louise mulcahy same deal.....
# Posted on December 3rd 2007 by ceemonster
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
I heard a young lassie from London playing last Saturday night in Na Piobaire Uilleann HQ in Dublin. Very impressed. My sis plays a bit and Marie Mc Clean from Ballycastle is a great piper.
# Posted on December 3rd 2007 by iwerzon
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
You could try here for a photograph of a lady piper in Galway.
<http://reynoldgreenleaf.deviantart.com/art/Lonesome-piper-63569138>;
# Posted on December 4th 2007 by ReynoldGreenleaf
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
I submitted something like this before. You have a good p[oint, you rarely see female pipers at a session, I never have. I know we can all name a female piper, but they are still a rarity. I often wondered if females were "excluded" from the sacred society of pipers.
# Posted on December 4th 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
There's no 'sacred society of pipers' but like the flute, the pipes were not considered an appropriate instrument for women.
These days there are an awful lot of 'youngwans' playing the pipes. The majority of my students are girls and it has been like that for years. They all also play other instruments, which may be a reason you don't see them play out. I rarely ever take my pipes out to a session myself by the way.
# Posted on December 5th 2007 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Good to know women pipers also have a right foot with an impact like Bruce Lee's fist. It's also good to hear (Becky Tailor up there) a set of the regulators sounding in tune.
# Posted on December 5th 2007 by Mick Wall
Re: Girls and Uilleann Pipes
Of course there is a sacred society of pipers, taught by a "master", all square jawed and grim faced. Closer than the Mason's they are, with or without an apron.
Everyone knows you have pipers, and then Irish musicians of other hues.
# Posted on December 6th 2007 by bodhran bliss