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"I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I'm going to be very vague here about what has inspired me to start this thread as sometimes people in real life read my posts and "cast them up" on occasion..especially if they think they're about them...
Anyway, while many of us would obviously not wish to sit in between two or three bodhran players or too close to another particularly loud instrument, is it much of a problem for two players of the same or very similar melody instrument to sit beside each other?
Personally, I would have thought that it might be more of an advantage than anything else as they could exchange ideas, tunes, experiences etc.
Or might one of the players feel self conscious in case he/she might not be as good a player? Or(sadly), they might wish to feel superior?
A few weeks back, a player of a certain instrument arrived at a particular location (No names, no pack drill) and made a point of stating... that they couldn't sit next to "another ** player".
When I jocularly commented that I'd no choice but to sit with a whole bunch of other fiddlers all night, I almost got my head "snipped off" although maybe I deserved it.
So, how would you feel about sitting next to another player with the same chosen instrument? Could or should this put you off?
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I prefer it, as I;m the lesser of the 2 banjo players, and can watch him more closely and hopefully learn a few things. On the other hand, he may wish I was on the other end of the room if my inferior playing is hurting his mojo!
Actually, now that I know session etiquette better, I'll either sit out or play whistle if he's playing, rather than to have 2 banjos playing at once.
Any badly played instrument sat next to you can ‘put you off’. And it doesn’t have to be that loud. In order to play this music properly in an ensemble (or absolutely any other sort of music as it happens!) everyone has to be able to hear what’s going on. I know this will upset some ‘coz it implies we are all actually listening to the rest and not just playing the tune along with them willy-nilly! Heaven forbid!
But worst of all to be sat next to are: whistle players shrilling away pure nonsense; rubbish strummers (of all sorts- too loud, too scheit, too flash and never stopping for a tune let alone a whole set!)); box players to your right hand side playing random basses; habitually out of tune fiddlers (I don’t mean those playing untempered loveliness, I mean basic wrong intonation); and, of course, our old friend: the badly bashed bodhran!
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
From the point of view of he sound produced, it is best to group instruments together, so that all the fiddle sound comes from one place, and all the concertina sound comes from somewhere else.
But from a personal point of view, I prefer not to sit next to similar instruments, because then I can't see them. If I sit opposite or some way round the circle then we can each see what the other is doing, and hopefully even make eye contact occasionally.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I've never had the opportunity to sit next to another flute player - we're few and far between in my neck o' the woods, but I think I'd like it. I would classify myself as a low-end intermediate player and would like to have Matt Molloy or Grey Larsen or Chris Norman or XXX next to me (as long as they were patient!). I do sit next to a whistler a lot and it's nice sometimes to see the starting note (by finger position).
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I always try to sit to the right of a box player, so I can get a good listen to what they're doing.
But more generally I want to be sitting next to someone whose phrasing I want to be influenced by, because that's what happens - without meaning to, I find myself trying to match what they do. Since I'm not that great a player, it's usually not a very perfect match, but that keeps things interesting.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Whistle players are the best to sit next to: they don't elbow you or poke you in the eye with a bow flute!
Concertina players aren't bad nor are less enthuiastic box players (but not cats with piano accordians often invade your space with large bellowsy movements)!
And, ironically, goat bashers keep them selves to themselves- spatially anyway...
And I always keep my hot water bottles and wig glue collection well out of the way at sessions!
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Thanks for all the responses so far.
I'm not so much looking for a list of instruments which we may prefer not to sit beside though but more interested if you prefer(or not) sitting beside someone who plays the same instrument as yourself.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I play an Octave Mandola/in and prefer not to sit by a guitar. I find the two instruments tend to blend together with the chords drowning out my attempts to play the tune, a good thing in many peoples opinion.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
If my understanding of sessions is correct, it's a group of people, each of whom shows up of their own accord, sitting together with various instruments of various degrees of "traditionality," and sharing traditional tunes from places such as Ireland and Scotland, that are commonly known among them. Other aspects may include, but are not limited to, conversing, drinking, exchanging phone numbers, and looking up occasionally at the sports game on the television. Given that hearing the mix of instruments playing in unison is one of the given outcomes of this experience, and given that, and I'm assuming here, the sessioners want this experience, why would I want to sit next to the same instrument?
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
No reason why you shouldn't want to either, of course.
Of course, I'm not suggesting a player ought to actively seek out a particular instrument player to sit beside. As you say, it's a social thing too and you might just wish to sit beside your pals. more often than not, you have to just take whatever seat is available unless you are gently "cajoled" into sitting elsewhere.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Sessions are happier when all the pipers are confined to the corner and can whinge quietly amongst themselves about reeds.
Otherwise, you get people shouting across the session about how their back D breaks, their tenor drone still isn't working, their hot water bottle collection has some leaky ones, and they usually play an FGA triplet of the B part of that one tune. You know, the one. This isn't good. Better to sequester them.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
In my above post, I should have specified that I mostly play the box in sessions these days... so not only do I like to sit next to another box player, I prefer to sit where I can hear them best. If I can't sit to their right, I like to sit across the table from them, which still allows me to hear them well.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Eh, as long as there aren't half a dozen backers separating me from the nearest person playing the melody (this has happened before), I'm pretty flexible.
The other day I was surrounded by four pipers. None of the talk about how one shouldn't play if one doesn't know the tune applies in this situation: I probably could have played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in C# minor over The Humours of Ballyloughlin and I'm not sure anyone would have noticed. (The same was true of a particularly Newfoundland session that featured five accordion players, and that was probably a blessing for me - I was still very very much at the stage my playing that it was best for everyone if I was seen but not heard.)
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
As a melodeon player, I'd rather not think about the effect my left-hand bass playing may be having on a player to my left. I'd never ever thought about this, to be honest. The implications are disquieting and induce disagreeable guilt feelings. Though in one session I go to, I generally arrive early and wedge myself in a corner with no-one to my left. Perhaps my life - not to mention that of my co-sessioners - is being guided by a benevolent hand, which will not permit me to inflict irredeemable sonar sins upon them.
Ebullient and erratic piano-accordion playing can be the surest cause of session death in my experience, with over-loud and uninformed guitar backing running it close. Among session-killers, these are the giants: anything else is manageable by comparison. I've seldom if ever known bodhran or any other session percussion (I don't mean drum-kits and suchlike) do damage in the same league.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I prefer to sit next to the quieter players ... so I can hear them, and hear the louder players on the other side of the table.
If I sit next to the louder players, I can't hear the people opposite and I may have a tendency to match the louder player's volume and so contribute to the dreaded volume arms race.
Ending up sitting next to someone who's putting me off doesn't come into it. If they are putting me off, they are putting everyone else off. Where they are sat is not the issue. Within one set of tunes, such a person would be either asked to keep it down, or stop altogether.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Its not always a cure to move away from a player who pulls a tune apart. We occasionally have players join us who cannot get the rhythm right. If they sit opposite it may be that I cannot hear the rhythm but I have to make sure I don't see it either - catch a glimpse of the strumming out of synch and it puts me all wrong. At least closing eyes or looking the other way is an option, ears are open ot everything
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I usually don't mind who I sit next to, I usually try to sit next to the bodhran player at my session because he has very good rhythm and keeps me from speeding up too much. On the same note, I'll sit next to anyone as long as they can keep time. I really hate sitting next to people who can't make their mind up about the tempo of a piece, or who put the stress on the completely wrong note.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
llig -
You and I are in perfect agreement there. I suspect you are not only a virtual curmudgeon, but a real-life one as well.
Seriously, though, if I'm understanding the OP correctly, he wanted to know if people preferred sitting next to a similar instrument or a different instrument, in which case I will stand my by last post.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Re. the OP:
Sympathy. There could be many reasons you got snipped at. But without being there or having the transcripts of the entire scene, there is little way for anyone to voice any intelligent view on that matter.
As for your specific query: Makes no difference to me, all things being equal (people playing in tempo, same tune, same version, on pitch, etc.).
The rest would be personalities and individual preferences, and all that other non-musical stuff. (Unless this thread is supposed to be about whiny little issues.)
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"This is just another one of those threads where people moan on about crap things in their sessions, but are too spineless to do anything about."
It's maybe turned out that way but this wasn't my original intention. Basically, I'm just wondering about how people here feel about sitting next to other players of their chosen instrument, i.e whether it's an issue for them or not...
As for being "snipped at", this was only one very brief moment in the entire evening and there was no ill feeling afterwards.
As I say, I probably deserved it anyway....
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"This is just another one of those threads where people moan on about crap things in their sessions, but are too spineless to do anything about." I agree with you completely Llig. There are too many invertebrates on this web site. We need more vertebrates with a real backbone here on this web site.
Seriously, though, there are too many people who just complain and whine but never do anything to change or improve their situation.
As for where I usually sit at the local sessions.....since I play an electronic keyboard, I have to sit close to an electrical outlet. In the fifteen years that I have been participating in Irish sessions, I have never sat next to another piano player.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I bloody hate sitting anywhere near either teetotallers or vegetarians in sessions. Especially teetotal vegetarian bodhran owners. Or sousaphone players. Or anyone who has just eaten a pound of raw onions just before coming to the pub. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Not so. Consider this a cri de couer.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"I bloody hate sitting anywhere near either teetotallers or vegetarians in sessions. Especially teetotal vegetarian bodhran owners. Or sousaphone players. Or anyone who has just eaten a pound of raw onions just before coming to the pub. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Not so. Consider this a cri de couer."
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I wonder whether batsmen in the England dressing room refuse to sit next to anyone with a box.
If you were a vegan you wouldn't be allowed a bodhran, would you? Christ. If there were a "Veganism For All" society round here I think I'd have to join it...
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Haha I sold a bodhran to a vegan once, but I had to promise him the kangaroo that donated the skin was roadkill.
"No worries, it'll take a coupla weeks and cost you a bit extra"
cheeze!
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
When my flute playing friend who works off-shore left to go back to the boat, I thought we should get a blow-up doll that vaguely resembled him, park it in the sessions, and tape a flute to it. That way it would be like he never left.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I think you'll find that's "flute playing ex-friend who works off-shore" emily, assuming Craig points his nice new iphone in this direction any time soon.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Perhaps the "whines" might like some spoiled rotten cheese to go with their drink, AlBrown.
I must confess that I accidentally made a misstatement when I said that I hadn't sat next to another piano player at a session.
Several years ago, when I went to the Tionol in St. Louis, Missouri, there was another piano player at the Sunday afternoon session at McGurk's. We took turns playing my electronic keyboard at the session. This session at McGurk's is the last official activity at this Tionol.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I really like playing next to other fiddle players who are good players- solid, good rhythm, in- tune, the works. And I really dislike playing next to other fiddle players who are none of the above AND play really loudly......
In terms of other instruments, I guess I find myself driven nutso by spoons/bones and harmonica players-especially if they play every tune, and don't necessarily concern themselves with whether they actually know the tune being played(especially harmonica......sigh) but that's a different sort of issue.
Otherwise, it doesn't bother me at all to play next to guitar, flute, keyboard,pipes, box, whatever......I'm easy.....;)
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I hate sitting to the left of the fiddle player as I've lost count of the number of times he's knocked my wig off into my beer with his frenzied bowing.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I can see why this might happens with flutes and whistles. Low-end whistles (and low-end flute players) have intonation all over the place. Play a decently-in-tune whistle/flute/recorder next to somebody shrieking away on a typical Generation and the audience will know *somebody* is out of tune, but they might well think it''s you. So you want to set yourself apart in some way. I usually do it by switching instruments to play in a different octave, or do something sneaky to produce an unmistakably different timbre, but if you can't do either, then discreetly moving somewhere else makes sense.
*Un*discreetly moving somewhere else does not make sense. Not unless you're willing to come out with the reason.
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
llig, you know where to find me if you want to listen.
It beats me how many whistle players simply can't hear how out of tune they are with everybody else they're playing with; it's like their ears simply switch off when they hit a high B. People with REALLY EXPENSIVE whistles are usually a lot better, but it isn't at all obvious that the instrument is what does it - equally likely, if you're willing to spend three figures on a whistle, you're willing to put the effort into playing better and listening to other people.
But at any price point, a recorder is better quality for the money than a whistle. There were cheap and very nasty recorders years ago, but they are now much less prevalent, while horribly mistuned Generations just keep on and and on and on rolling off the production line, costing the same as a far better made Japanese plastic recorder. Okay, Generations have a distinctive sound, and if you're playing solo, fine, you can use whatever intonation scheme you want. But as a session instrument, no way unless you have bloody good ears. When's the penny going to drop? (There is a very simple criterion for quality in high-end whistles: the best and most expensive ones are those that are designed most like recorders and perform most like them).
(I have recently had the less-than-fun experience of being in a session with three squeezeboxes, all with different tunings. That doesn't happen anywhere near as often as it does with whistles, though).
"I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I'm going to be very vague here about what has inspired me to start this thread as sometimes people in real life read my posts and "cast them up" on occasion..especially if they think they're about them...
Anyway, while many of us would obviously not wish to sit in between two or three bodhran players or too close to another particularly loud instrument, is it much of a problem for two players of the same or very similar melody instrument to sit beside each other?
Personally, I would have thought that it might be more of an advantage than anything else as they could exchange ideas, tunes, experiences etc.
Or might one of the players feel self conscious in case he/she might not be as good a player? Or(sadly), they might wish to feel superior?
A few weeks back, a player of a certain instrument arrived at a particular location (No names, no pack drill) and made a point of stating... that they couldn't sit next to "another ** player".
When I jocularly commented that I'd no choice but to sit with a whole bunch of other fiddlers all night, I almost got my head "snipped off" although maybe I deserved it.
So, how would you feel about sitting next to another player with the same chosen instrument? Could or should this put you off?
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Cheeky and fussy, eh? I'd have made them go sit between the strummer and the whacker.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I prefer it, as I;m the lesser of the 2 banjo players, and can watch him more closely and hopefully learn a few things. On the other hand, he may wish I was on the other end of the room if my inferior playing is hurting his mojo!
Actually, now that I know session etiquette better, I'll either sit out or play whistle if he's playing, rather than to have 2 banjos playing at once.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Thomaston
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I'm worried by the "insert instrument here" bit. No, I think I'll walk away from this parlour game!
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by RichardB
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
...concertina, because there are none around
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by snorre
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Sorry, I should maybe have worded it better. I'm not wanting anyone to suggest or add any instrumnets or, indeed, to guess!
Perhaps, it would better phrased as
"I can't sit next to another "X" or whatever" and I don't mean a xylophone.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another wig glue fan!"
Any badly played instrument sat next to you can ‘put you off’. And it doesn’t have to be that loud. In order to play this music properly in an ensemble (or absolutely any other sort of music as it happens!) everyone has to be able to hear what’s going on. I know this will upset some ‘coz it implies we are all actually listening to the rest and not just playing the tune along with them willy-nilly! Heaven forbid!
But worst of all to be sat next to are: whistle players shrilling away pure nonsense; rubbish strummers (of all sorts- too loud, too scheit, too flash and never stopping for a tune let alone a whole set!)); box players to your right hand side playing random basses; habitually out of tune fiddlers (I don’t mean those playing untempered loveliness, I mean basic wrong intonation); and, of course, our old friend: the badly bashed bodhran!
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
From the point of view of he sound produced, it is best to group instruments together, so that all the fiddle sound comes from one place, and all the concertina sound comes from somewhere else.
But from a personal point of view, I prefer not to sit next to similar instruments, because then I can't see them. If I sit opposite or some way round the circle then we can each see what the other is doing, and hopefully even make eye contact occasionally.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by skreech
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I've never had the opportunity to sit next to another flute player - we're few and far between in my neck o' the woods, but I think I'd like it. I would classify myself as a low-end intermediate player and would like to have Matt Molloy or Grey Larsen or Chris Norman or XXX next to me (as long as they were patient!). I do sit next to a whistler a lot and it's nice sometimes to see the starting note (by finger position).
Pat
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by plunk111
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I can't sit next to anyone with wig glue or a hot water bottle collection. But I like sitting next to other uilleann pipers.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I always try to sit to the right of a box player, so I can get a good listen to what they're doing.
But more generally I want to be sitting next to someone whose phrasing I want to be influenced by, because that's what happens - without meaning to, I find myself trying to match what they do. Since I'm not that great a player, it's usually not a very perfect match, but that keeps things interesting.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Whistle players are the best to sit next to: they don't elbow you or poke you in the eye with a bow flute!
Concertina players aren't bad nor are less enthuiastic box players (but not cats with piano accordians often invade your space with large bellowsy movements)!
And, ironically, goat bashers keep them selves to themselves- spatially anyway...
And I always keep my hot water bottles and wig glue collection well out of the way at sessions!
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
bow OR flute
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Thanks for all the responses so far.
I'm not so much looking for a list of instruments which we may prefer not to sit beside though but more interested if you prefer(or not) sitting beside someone who plays the same instrument as yourself.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
A mandolin won't drip anything in your pint...
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I play an Octave Mandola/in and prefer not to sit by a guitar. I find the two instruments tend to blend together with the chords drowning out my attempts to play the tune, a good thing in many peoples opinion.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by len
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
If my understanding of sessions is correct, it's a group of people, each of whom shows up of their own accord, sitting together with various instruments of various degrees of "traditionality," and sharing traditional tunes from places such as Ireland and Scotland, that are commonly known among them. Other aspects may include, but are not limited to, conversing, drinking, exchanging phone numbers, and looking up occasionally at the sports game on the television. Given that hearing the mix of instruments playing in unison is one of the given outcomes of this experience, and given that, and I'm assuming here, the sessioners want this experience, why would I want to sit next to the same instrument?
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Jimmy B
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
No reason why you shouldn't want to either, of course.
Of course, I'm not suggesting a player ought to actively seek out a particular instrument player to sit beside. As you say, it's a social thing too and you might just wish to sit beside your pals. more often than not, you have to just take whatever seat is available unless you are gently "cajoled" into sitting elsewhere.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Sessions are happier when all the pipers are confined to the corner and can whinge quietly amongst themselves about reeds.
Otherwise, you get people shouting across the session about how their back D breaks, their tenor drone still isn't working, their hot water bottle collection has some leaky ones, and they usually play an FGA triplet of the B part of that one tune. You know, the one. This isn't good. Better to sequester them.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
In my above post, I should have specified that I mostly play the box in sessions these days... so not only do I like to sit next to another box player, I prefer to sit where I can hear them best. If I can't sit to their right, I like to sit across the table from them, which still allows me to hear them well.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Glass Armonica players. Get way too many of them at my session. And I almost invariably get stuck between two of them.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Joe CSS
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I have that problem every time I play at the session over at the Playboy Mansion. Hugh Hefner insists on playing next to me on his glass harp.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Jimmy B
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Eh, as long as there aren't half a dozen backers separating me from the nearest person playing the melody (this has happened before), I'm pretty flexible.
The other day I was surrounded by four pipers. None of the talk about how one shouldn't play if one doesn't know the tune applies in this situation: I probably could have played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in C# minor over The Humours of Ballyloughlin and I'm not sure anyone would have noticed. (The same was true of a particularly Newfoundland session that featured five accordion players, and that was probably a blessing for me - I was still very very much at the stage my playing that it was best for everyone if I was seen but not heard.)
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
er, a *particular* Newfoundland session. I am skillfully with adjectives!
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
As a melodeon player, I'd rather not think about the effect my left-hand bass playing may be having on a player to my left. I'd never ever thought about this, to be honest. The implications are disquieting and induce disagreeable guilt feelings. Though in one session I go to, I generally arrive early and wedge myself in a corner with no-one to my left. Perhaps my life - not to mention that of my co-sessioners - is being guided by a benevolent hand, which will not permit me to inflict irredeemable sonar sins upon them.
Ebullient and erratic piano-accordion playing can be the surest cause of session death in my experience, with over-loud and uninformed guitar backing running it close. Among session-killers, these are the giants: anything else is manageable by comparison. I've seldom if ever known bodhran or any other session percussion (I don't mean drum-kits and suchlike) do damage in the same league.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by nicholas
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I prefer to sit next to the quieter players ... so I can hear them, and hear the louder players on the other side of the table.
If I sit next to the louder players, I can't hear the people opposite and I may have a tendency to match the louder player's volume and so contribute to the dreaded volume arms race.
Ending up sitting next to someone who's putting me off doesn't come into it. If they are putting me off, they are putting everyone else off. Where they are sat is not the issue. Within one set of tunes, such a person would be either asked to keep it down, or stop altogether.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by ...
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Its not always a cure to move away from a player who pulls a tune apart. We occasionally have players join us who cannot get the rhythm right. If they sit opposite it may be that I cannot hear the rhythm but I have to make sure I don't see it either - catch a glimpse of the strumming out of synch and it puts me all wrong. At least closing eyes or looking the other way is an option, ears are open ot everything
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by redh
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
lots of accordians! sorry accordian players :P x
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Kirsten Forsyth
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
There's a whistle player whom I hate to sit next to. I'd much rather she sat on my knee.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Steve Shaw
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
This is just another one of those threads where people moan on about crap things in their sessions, but are too spineless to do anything about.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by ...
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I usually don't mind who I sit next to, I usually try to sit next to the bodhran player at my session because he has very good rhythm and keeps me from speeding up too much. On the same note, I'll sit next to anyone as long as they can keep time. I really hate sitting next to people who can't make their mind up about the tempo of a piece, or who put the stress on the completely wrong note.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by serenity8286
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
llig -
You and I are in perfect agreement there. I suspect you are not only a virtual curmudgeon, but a real-life one as well.
Seriously, though, if I'm understanding the OP correctly, he wanted to know if people preferred sitting next to a similar instrument or a different instrument, in which case I will stand my by last post.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Jimmy B
Our session is too small for seating problems
You don't need an orchestra. ;) & yes tell your session mates what you think.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Ben Steen
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Re. the OP:
Sympathy. There could be many reasons you got snipped at. But without being there or having the transcripts of the entire scene, there is little way for anyone to voice any intelligent view on that matter.
As for your specific query: Makes no difference to me, all things being equal (people playing in tempo, same tune, same version, on pitch, etc.).
The rest would be personalities and individual preferences, and all that other non-musical stuff. (Unless this thread is supposed to be about whiny little issues.)
The chit-chat comes in between the tunes.
# Posted on March 23rd 2010 by Piece
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"This is just another one of those threads where people moan on about crap things in their sessions, but are too spineless to do anything about."
It's maybe turned out that way but this wasn't my original intention. Basically, I'm just wondering about how people here feel about sitting next to other players of their chosen instrument, i.e whether it's an issue for them or not...
As for being "snipped at", this was only one very brief moment in the entire evening and there was no ill feeling afterwards.
As I say, I probably deserved it anyway....
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"This is just another one of those threads where people moan on about crap things in their sessions, but are too spineless to do anything about." I agree with you completely Llig. There are too many invertebrates on this web site. We need more vertebrates with a real backbone here on this web site.
Seriously, though, there are too many people who just complain and whine but never do anything to change or improve their situation.
As for where I usually sit at the local sessions.....since I play an electronic keyboard, I have to sit close to an electrical outlet. In the fifteen years that I have been participating in Irish sessions, I have never sat next to another piano player.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by fauxcelt
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I like sitting next to good looking women with plunging necklines and lots of money.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by mcknowall
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I'd settle for any one of the three...
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Johnny Jay
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I bloody hate sitting anywhere near either teetotallers or vegetarians in sessions. Especially teetotal vegetarian bodhran owners. Or sousaphone players. Or anyone who has just eaten a pound of raw onions just before coming to the pub. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Not so. Consider this a cri de couer.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Steve Shaw
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"I like sitting next to good looking women with plunging necklines and lots of money"
Well yes, still sexist, but a considerable advance on "dumb nymphomaniac with a pub,"
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Steve Shaw
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"I bloody hate sitting anywhere near either teetotallers or vegetarians in sessions. Especially teetotal vegetarian bodhran owners. Or sousaphone players. Or anyone who has just eaten a pound of raw onions just before coming to the pub. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Not so. Consider this a cri de couer."
There's a story in there, I'll warrant.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Jimmy B
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"In the fifteen years that I have been participating in Irish sessions, I have never sat next to another piano player. "
I've seen it happen. Fortunately, she had her whistle and he had his box, so it all worked out.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
More varieties of whines here than in the local liquor store!
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by AlBrown
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I wonder whether batsmen in the England dressing room refuse to sit next to anyone with a box.
If you were a vegan you wouldn't be allowed a bodhran, would you? Christ. If there were a "Veganism For All" society round here I think I'd have to join it...
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Steve Shaw
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Haha I sold a bodhran to a vegan once, but I had to promise him the kangaroo that donated the skin was roadkill.
"No worries, it'll take a coupla weeks and cost you a bit extra"
cheeze!
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by mcknowall
More whines than the off license....
Did anyone remember to bring the cheese?
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
http://www.teddingtoncheese.co.uk/acatalog/de339.htm
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by ...
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"In the fifteen years that I have been participating in Irish sessions, I have never sat next to another piano player.
I've seen it happen. Fortunately, she had her whistle and he had his box, so it all worked out. "
Better if she had his whistle and he had her box.
"so it all worked out. "
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by dogmageek
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I smell another tee shirt for Reverend: "Vegans Against Bodhrans!"
Or a pic of a vegan bodhran: just a rim, lacking a head, with the tipper rattling on empty air.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Will Harmon
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Surely a vegan bodhran would have a vegan skin... goats are vegans... (at least, after they're weaned)
("is that a vegetarian chili?" "Made with 100% vegetarian cows, ma'am")
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I 've never been to a wake where they've had a real live corpse in the company.
I would not like to sit next to one of those.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by nicholas
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
When my flute playing friend who works off-shore left to go back to the boat, I thought we should get a blow-up doll that vaguely resembled him, park it in the sessions, and tape a flute to it. That way it would be like he never left.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I think you'll find that's "flute playing ex-friend who works off-shore" emily, assuming Craig points his nice new iphone in this direction any time soon.
- chris
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Awww.... I think he'd be flattered. The Oran Mor won't be the same without him.
# Posted on March 24th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Perhaps the "whines" might like some spoiled rotten cheese to go with their drink, AlBrown.
I must confess that I accidentally made a misstatement when I said that I hadn't sat next to another piano player at a session.
Several years ago, when I went to the Tionol in St. Louis, Missouri, there was another piano player at the Sunday afternoon session at McGurk's. We took turns playing my electronic keyboard at the session. This session at McGurk's is the last official activity at this Tionol.
# Posted on March 25th 2010 by fauxcelt
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I really like playing next to other fiddle players who are good players- solid, good rhythm, in- tune, the works. And I really dislike playing next to other fiddle players who are none of the above AND play really loudly......
In terms of other instruments, I guess I find myself driven nutso by spoons/bones and harmonica players-especially if they play every tune, and don't necessarily concern themselves with whether they actually know the tune being played(especially harmonica......sigh) but that's a different sort of issue.
Otherwise, it doesn't bother me at all to play next to guitar, flute, keyboard,pipes, box, whatever......I'm easy.....;)
# Posted on March 25th 2010 by fiddlinfarmer
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Vegans and bodhrans->lol
"Hey buddy, you gonna eat that or what? I'm starving over here."
# Posted on March 25th 2010 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I hate sitting to the left of the fiddle player as I've lost count of the number of times he's knocked my wig off into my beer with his frenzied bowing.
Mmmm! Stronger glue!
# Posted on March 25th 2010 by Geoff Pollitt
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I can see why this might happens with flutes and whistles. Low-end whistles (and low-end flute players) have intonation all over the place. Play a decently-in-tune whistle/flute/recorder next to somebody shrieking away on a typical Generation and the audience will know *somebody* is out of tune, but they might well think it''s you. So you want to set yourself apart in some way. I usually do it by switching instruments to play in a different octave, or do something sneaky to produce an unmistakably different timbre, but if you can't do either, then discreetly moving somewhere else makes sense.
*Un*discreetly moving somewhere else does not make sense. Not unless you're willing to come out with the reason.
# Posted on March 26th 2010 by Jack Campin
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
Give your reason rather than drag something out in finitum.
# Posted on March 26th 2010 by Ben Steen
Self correction
ad infinitum
# Posted on March 26th 2010 by Ben Steen
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
"recorder", "audience"? ha ha, enough said
# Posted on March 26th 2010 by ...
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
llig, you know where to find me if you want to listen.
It beats me how many whistle players simply can't hear how out of tune they are with everybody else they're playing with; it's like their ears simply switch off when they hit a high B. People with REALLY EXPENSIVE whistles are usually a lot better, but it isn't at all obvious that the instrument is what does it - equally likely, if you're willing to spend three figures on a whistle, you're willing to put the effort into playing better and listening to other people.
But at any price point, a recorder is better quality for the money than a whistle. There were cheap and very nasty recorders years ago, but they are now much less prevalent, while horribly mistuned Generations just keep on and and on and on rolling off the production line, costing the same as a far better made Japanese plastic recorder. Okay, Generations have a distinctive sound, and if you're playing solo, fine, you can use whatever intonation scheme you want. But as a session instrument, no way unless you have bloody good ears. When's the penny going to drop? (There is a very simple criterion for quality in high-end whistles: the best and most expensive ones are those that are designed most like recorders and perform most like them).
(I have recently had the less-than-fun experience of being in a session with three squeezeboxes, all with different tunings. That doesn't happen anywhere near as often as it does with whistles, though).
# Posted on March 26th 2010 by Jack Campin
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
>the best and most expensive ones are those that are >designed most like recorders and perform most like them
That might be true, but crucially reagardless of how recorder-like they may be, they remain whistles and not recorders
- chris
# Posted on March 26th 2010 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
I play the flute left handed and can't stand playing beside right handed flutes.....I'm not actually left handed
# Posted on March 27th 2010 by premier
Re: "I can't sit next to another........ (Insert instrument here)!"
When it's hot, sit to the left of a box and appreciate the cool breeze created.
# Posted on March 27th 2010 by minijackpot