How come the session doesnt have a slow air secton?? I've been requesting "Mary Young and Fair" for a long time and it finally came.....as a jig. Its is definately NO jig! if u listen to it im sure youd agree it is better as an air. every other site that has is labels it as a scottish or irish air.
'cause Slow Airs can be classified in different ways. A jig is played in Jig time, a Reel in Reel time, but there is no standard for Airs. So orphans they must be.
but the time signature is the same as the jig, but it sounds slower cause of all the dotted quarter notes......they could just say the "slow jig time signature"....and im sure more than half of this website at least knows what a slow air is....but then again maybe not....
There is no way of submitting a slow air.Mary,Young And Fair just happened to be in 6/8,and it had been requested,so I posted it as a jig.If you set the tempo to 40 in midi then you'll get a vague idea of what it should sound like.If I posted the Lament For Limerick in 4/4,I'd have to send it as a reel,and the midi would never do it justice.When Miles Krassen edited O'Neills collection he left out the the slow airs section because,as he said,there is no way of notating them..
All Irish Girl, I'm afraid there's gonna be no easy way to get the tune. Do you know anyone who could spend some time teaching it to you? Maybe when the next version of ABCMus comes out there'll be a way to put it together.
Slow airs are very hard to notate correctly...I recently found An Feochan -by Tommy Peoples as played by Frankie Kennedy on JC's tune finder and while it is a reasonable transcription, it is far from exact. I have the dots as a guide (more of a general reminder...but what can I say, I'm paper trained) and a recording as a WAY better guide. I will admit it is helpful to have some sort of transcription but I honestly shudder to think of someone trying to learn that air without hearing it first. It could just come out all wrong. I guess its more of a protection vs. convenience issue.
I generally applaud evolusion of tunes through interpretation and innovation, but not so much through ignorance.
Right. Slow airs come in a variety of time signatures, and the tune submission process here relies on time sigs to sort the tunes, so slow airs get scattered amongst the jigs, reels, waltzes, etc.
But more to the point - please don't expect to learn a slow air (much less any other tune) off a midi. Unless you want your playing to sound like the robot from Lost in Space.
As for bias, we play airs at our session, and some of us regularly include them in our time playing at home or for gigs. No bias here. If you'd like to introduce an air at a session, best to wait for an opportune time (as Hiroyuki mentions above), and keep it down to a reasonable length (depending on whether people seem to be enjoying it or reaching for their wire cutters and hammers). One way for less experienced players to carry this off is to take a standard tune and slow it way down, to air-ish speed. Lots of jigs, reels, and hornpipes sound great played as airs, and you're less likely to offend the airs/songs police.
Regardless, in my experience the problem with really slow tunes at sessions is that the phrasing and timing are highly personal and variable, so it will likely sound like crap if more than one or two players join in. Even then, it takes many hours of playing together to duet well on an air.
If you submit a tune, you choose the tune category. The tune category determines the time signature: jigs are 6/8, reels are 4/4, etc.
If there was a category for slow airs, what should the corresponding time signature be? 2/4? 3/4?
So, you see, in order to make tune submissions easier (which is what this site is all about), there can be no category for "slow airs" just as there can be no category for "fast ones" or "moody ones" - it says nothing about the time signature.
an_all_irish_girl, I think you should try submitting a tune before you start complaining about somebody else's tune submissions.
Also, as others have pointed out, notating slow airs is notoriously difficult and if this site were to become an archive for slow airs we'd see even more bitter arguments about the "correct" way of notating the tune.
A search for "slow airs" in the discussions section will reveal how this has all been hashed out many many times before.
All_Irish_Girl, perhaps you could just ask us which recordings might have the slow airs you are looking for. I'm sure someone on this site will have an answer for you. The nice thing about learning a slow air off a recording is that you don't need to use slow-down software : )
Slow airs are a great way to develop your ear by learning right from the music without the dots. Gee, maybe I need to learn a few myself ; )
"robot from Lost in Space" - Will that's too funny...but it is true
all_irish, have a go at "the parting of friends" at http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/2555
and see what is meant by 'quite impossible to give a truthfull notation of slow-airs'. the notes are there, but the feeling (the most omportant in these airs) is lost somewhere in the conversion.
after reading all of this, and other discussions about the subject, I almost regret having posted it. but i did, didn't i.
joyce's idea to look for a recording, or maybe even learn it straight from a singer/ musician is the best way to have a go at these slow-airs.
jeremy, is there a way to search the recordings-database for tunes that ar not yet submitted, for instance this slow air? just a thought.
Sometimes people play a slow air that is really just a reel, march or strathspey slowed way down. In no way are all airs slowed down dance tunes...just a note that some are or can be.
Slow Airs
Slow Airs
GRR
How come the session doesnt have a slow air secton?? I've been requesting "Mary Young and Fair" for a long time and it finally came.....as a jig. Its is definately NO jig! if u listen to it im sure youd agree it is better as an air. every other site that has is labels it as a scottish or irish air.
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by an_all_irish_girl
Re: Slow Airs
'cause Slow Airs can be classified in different ways. A jig is played in Jig time, a Reel in Reel time, but there is no standard for Airs. So orphans they must be.
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by Urger
Re: Slow Airs
but the time signature is the same as the jig, but it sounds slower cause of all the dotted quarter notes......they could just say the "slow jig time signature"....and im sure more than half of this website at least knows what a slow air is....but then again maybe not....
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by an_all_irish_girl
Re: Slow Airs
There is no way of submitting a slow air.Mary,Young And Fair just happened to be in 6/8,and it had been requested,so I posted it as a jig.If you set the tempo to 40 in midi then you'll get a vague idea of what it should sound like.If I posted the Lament For Limerick in 4/4,I'd have to send it as a reel,and the midi would never do it justice.When Miles Krassen edited O'Neills collection he left out the the slow airs section because,as he said,there is no way of notating them..
# Posted on March 1st 2003 by dafydd
Re: Slow Airs
Er, perhaps you should have a look at this recent discussion (and many earlier ones):
The inaudible Slow Air!
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/3276
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by Just a person
Re: Slow Airs
All Irish Girl, I'm afraid there's gonna be no easy way to get the tune. Do you know anyone who could spend some time teaching it to you? Maybe when the next version of ABCMus comes out there'll be a way to put it together.
All the best,
Con
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Slow Airs
Slow airs are very hard to notate correctly...I recently found An Feochan -by Tommy Peoples as played by Frankie Kennedy on JC's tune finder and while it is a reasonable transcription, it is far from exact. I have the dots as a guide (more of a general reminder...but what can I say, I'm paper trained) and a recording as a WAY better guide. I will admit it is helpful to have some sort of transcription but I honestly shudder to think of someone trying to learn that air without hearing it first. It could just come out all wrong. I guess its more of a protection vs. convenience issue.
I generally applaud evolusion of tunes through interpretation and innovation, but not so much through ignorance.
Just my 2 cents
~Autumn
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by autumn
Re: Slow Airs
Right. Slow airs come in a variety of time signatures, and the tune submission process here relies on time sigs to sort the tunes, so slow airs get scattered amongst the jigs, reels, waltzes, etc.
But more to the point - please don't expect to learn a slow air (much less any other tune) off a midi. Unless you want your playing to sound like the robot from Lost in Space.
As for bias, we play airs at our session, and some of us regularly include them in our time playing at home or for gigs. No bias here. If you'd like to introduce an air at a session, best to wait for an opportune time (as Hiroyuki mentions above), and keep it down to a reasonable length (depending on whether people seem to be enjoying it or reaching for their wire cutters and hammers). One way for less experienced players to carry this off is to take a standard tune and slow it way down, to air-ish speed. Lots of jigs, reels, and hornpipes sound great played as airs, and you're less likely to offend the airs/songs police.
Regardless, in my experience the problem with really slow tunes at sessions is that the phrasing and timing are highly personal and variable, so it will likely sound like crap if more than one or two players join in. Even then, it takes many hours of playing together to duet well on an air.
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: Slow Airs
If you submit a tune, you choose the tune category. The tune category determines the time signature: jigs are 6/8, reels are 4/4, etc.
If there was a category for slow airs, what should the corresponding time signature be? 2/4? 3/4?
So, you see, in order to make tune submissions easier (which is what this site is all about), there can be no category for "slow airs" just as there can be no category for "fast ones" or "moody ones" - it says nothing about the time signature.
an_all_irish_girl, I think you should try submitting a tune before you start complaining about somebody else's tune submissions.
Also, as others have pointed out, notating slow airs is notoriously difficult and if this site were to become an archive for slow airs we'd see even more bitter arguments about the "correct" way of notating the tune.
A search for "slow airs" in the discussions section will reveal how this has all been hashed out many many times before.
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by Jeremy
Re: Slow Airs
All_Irish_Girl, perhaps you could just ask us which recordings might have the slow airs you are looking for. I'm sure someone on this site will have an answer for you. The nice thing about learning a slow air off a recording is that you don't need to use slow-down software : )
Slow airs are a great way to develop your ear by learning right from the music without the dots. Gee, maybe I need to learn a few myself ; )
"robot from Lost in Space" - Will that's too funny...but it is true
Joyce
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by JMH
Re: Slow Airs
all_irish, have a go at "the parting of friends" at http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/2555
and see what is meant by 'quite impossible to give a truthfull notation of slow-airs'. the notes are there, but the feeling (the most omportant in these airs) is lost somewhere in the conversion.
after reading all of this, and other discussions about the subject, I almost regret having posted it. but i did, didn't i.
joyce's idea to look for a recording, or maybe even learn it straight from a singer/ musician is the best way to have a go at these slow-airs.
jeremy, is there a way to search the recordings-database for tunes that ar not yet submitted, for instance this slow air? just a thought.
maarten
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by MM
Re: Slow Airs
Sometimes people play a slow air that is really just a reel, march or strathspey slowed way down. In no way are all airs slowed down dance tunes...just a note that some are or can be.
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by esfiddle
Re: Slow Airs
Jeremy, I always find the sound files of waltz are too fast and cut off long notes. If slowed down a little, they would sound much better.
# Posted on April 14th 2004 by slainte