I never had a nickname and got through boarding school as one of the few who never got one. I think my real name was weird enough even in Ireland. BTW it is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic word "Donnacha" or "Donnchadh" which is the word for Denis/Dennis and the Greek God of Wine - "Dionysus". So it ends in a hard "C" Sound as in the lakes (Lough). The A at the end of the gaelic word was often removed to make it easier to say the "O" at the start of the surname (O'Donovan).
Thank God I've got that off my chest now.
My guitar does have a nickname (Niamh) thanks to Dow. I have since learnt that Niamh means 'bright' and that very aptly desribes the sound of my guitar; not that Dow actually knew that when he came up with the name ☺.
Been playing Mandolin for a few years also but only started playing it in sessions when I found that it was easier than trying to flat-pick melody on guitar. It gives me an option when there are other guitarists at the session - I don't much like 2 accompanists.
At the start of 2006 I got started in earnest on the fiddle and since then I have been trying to master the skills to transfer what I have in my head and in my 'mandolin fingers', onto the fiddle.
I am Member Number 674 which means I have been involved since the early days. I even used to frequent Jeremy's music site before it re-incarnated as the mustard board of today. I am not a frequent poster to the site because I usually read the discussions at a time when either everything has been said already or no-one else is online apart from the Aussie contingent. I usually contribute if there is a guitar discussion because at least there I sort of know what I am talking about.
I am from Dublin but have lived in Perth, West Australia, for the past 23 years.
I play the guitar both as an accompanying instrument but also like to play ITM arranged for fingerstyle guitar and flatpick a few tunes especially if they are not played too fast in sessions. I play in DADGAD, DGDGCD and double drop D as well as some other tunings but use Drop D for accompaniment. I don't subscribe to the liberal use of capos where it can all end up sounding the same.
The thing that is hardest for me is that I am a guitarist who doesn't sing!! Even Tony McManus sings the odd song. Maybe soon I can at least say I play fiddle better than he does!!
I play an Australian-made guitar from Melbourne luthier David Worthy. It is a small bodied guitar with a wide neck, cutaway and 12 frets to the body i.e. 2 frets shorter than usual.
I used to run the local branch of Comhaltas here in Perth (with 110 members) and lasted two years at that. Sessions every Monday night at the Irish Club still run here in Perth.
We have a regular Sunday (afternoon) session in Fremantle. This moved around a bit for a couple of years but finally settled into the Davilak Hotel in South Fremantle 3-6pm. They now seem to like us as they sacked the band that used to play after us at 6pm so that we can continue on if we want.
http://www.myspace.com/tangledreel
♪♫♫♪♫
You still here reading - amazing!! :)
Tunes that I have written:
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/3664/comments - Tanga's Reel
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/3670/comments - The Frog
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/3685 - Daisy Rose (Reel)
New and old tunes posted below on 13th Feb 2008
X: 15
T:Back on the Mat
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:D
fA (3AAA BAFB|ABde fdef|g3 g gfed|cA (3AAA cdeg|!
fA (3AAA BAFB|ABde fdef| g3 g gfed|cABc d3 e:||!
fa (3aaa bafb|afdA GF/G/Ad|e3 f gfed|cA (3AAA cdeg|!
fa (3aaa bafb|afdA GF/G/Ad|e3 f gfed|cABc d3z:||!
X: 19
T:Creek, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:G
cAGA FDDE|FGAB c2 dB|cAGA FAde|fgaf gfed|!
cAGA FDDE|FGAB cAde|~f2 af gfed|1^cdec d3 B:|2^cdec d3e||!
fd d2 Adfg|afge d^cAB|=cA ~A2 GAFA|EAcd ed^ce|!
(3fga ge dcAB|cAGA FD (3EFG|Adfa ged^c|1Add^c d3e:|2Add^c d3B||
X: 24
T:Wasted time
R:hornpipe
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:A
||:ed|cAFA EAce|agfd ecAc|dfed cAEA|FAdc B2 ed|!
cAFA EAce|agfd ecAc|dfed cAEA|FAGA A2:|:
ab|c'afa ecAc|dfed cAEA|FAdB ceAc|dcBA B2 ab|!
c'afa ecAc|dfed cAEA|1 FAdf ecac|BAAG A2:|2FAEA FAEA|FAGA A2||
X: 25
T:Statistician, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:REEL
N:Sofitel - 12/8/07
K:G
GB ~B2 cBce| dBGB DBA(B|B)cAf agfd|cBce dcAF|!
GFGD ~E3 F|GB (3cBA BcdB|cage ~f3d|1 cAFA GDEF:|2 cAFA G2 Bc||!
dg ~g2 bgag|fdef decd|~B3 c ABcB|ABGA FDEF|!
~G3=F ECEG| FGAc BGBd|ec ~c2 Aceg |1 fdfa gABc:|2 fdfa g2||
X: 27
T:Luckiest Arab In Ireland (Jig)
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:JIG
K:Amix
Acd eAf|dcA GFG|Acd eAg|age ~d3|
Acd eAf|dcA GFG|AGE Ace|gec ~d3:||
eAa age| d2f ecd|e z A age| ~d3 e2d|!
cd(e e)af| ged cdB| AGE AGE|1 ~D3 EAc:|2 ~D3 EFG||
X: 26
T:Luckiest Arab In Ireland (Reel)
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:Amix
AAcd eAAf|d2cA GEFG| AAcd eAAg|agec ~d2 cB|
AAcd eAAf|d2 gf ecdB|AAcd eAAa |1 gedc ~d2 cB:|2 gedc ~d2 cd||!
eA ~A2 a2ge| ~d3f ecdB|ecA(a a)gec| ~d3f e2 dB|!
cdea fggf| gedB cdBG| AGEA GEDB, |1 DEGB ABcd :|2 D/E/G Bd e2 z2||
X: 29
T:Fish Of The Day
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Reel
K:DDor
d2 dB c3 A| GECD EDEG| ADdB c2 cA| GECD ED D2|!
d2 dB c3A| GECD EDEG| ABcA d2 cA|1 GECE DE^FA:|2GECE D3 z||!
d3 e c2 ed| cAGE ABce| dcde c3 e|gecd ed d2|!
Adde c2 ed| cAGc A2 GE| DEFA GECD| EDCD ED D2:||
X: 28
T:Crossing, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
R:Hornpipe
H:Written 5/2/08
Z:DJSOD
K:G
dc|:BG ~G2 AGEG|DGBd g2 fg|edBe d2 BG|ABcA F2 (3DEF|
GB ~B2 cABc|dgfa g2 bg|afd^c d=cAF|1 G2 GF G2 dc:|2 G2 GF G2 AB||
cAFA DABc|d2 ~d2 BGBd|efgf agfe|ded^c d2 FG|
AD ~D2 ABcA|Bcde dGBd| efge dgfe|1 (3ded EF G2 AB:|2 (3ded EF G2 z2||
X: 13
T:Chocolate Muffin, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:15/7/05
R:Reel
K:D
fg||:agfa gfec|dcAF G2 FG|ADDE FGAF|GEED E2 fg|!
agfa gfec|dcAF G2 FG|ADDE FEFA|1GEDC D2 fg:|2GEDC D2 (3EFG||!
ADDB defd|ef (3gfe a2 ge|"Bm"fdBF "Em" GBed| cAdA e2 fg|!
adde cdec|dcAF G2 FG|ADDB defd|1ed (3cBA d2 (3EFG:|2ed (3cBA d2 z2||
Donough O'Donovan
Tunes in Donough's tunebook: 25
| September Wedding | jig | April 2nd 2008 |
| The Box Man | jig | May 14th 2007 |
| Signal Transduction | reel | December 28th 2006 |
| The Floating Carpet | jig | December 27th 2006 |
| Cottesloe Beach | jig | January 28th 2006 |
| Wired | Michael McGoldrick | October 18th 2005 |
| John Carty | April 25th 2006 |
| CTL Ireland 2005 | July 20th 2005 |
| Metronome Online | May 18th 2005 |
| Abc Navigator | February 25th 2005 |
| Australasian Fleadh | March 18th 2003 |
| The Davilak Hotel | January 24th 2005 |
| Purpose of Bodhran | May 27th 2008 |
| Dublin - Guitars | August 13th 2007 |
| Feile Frank McGann | May 25th 2007 |
| Canberra - Easter | March 28th 2007 |
| MySpace Stuff | January 15th 2007 |
| Discussions | Re: abc question | July 5th 2008 |
| Discussions | Re: How seriously do you take the mustard board debates???? | July 3rd 2008 |
| Tunes | June 25th 2008 | |
| Discussions | Re: It's Paddy Fahey not Paddy Fahy | June 25th 2008 |
| Tunes | June 24th 2008 |
| Name | Type | Key |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn Child | reel | Edorian |
| Carolan's Welcome | waltz | Aminor |
| The Cat That Ate The Candle | jig | Gmajor |
| Coleman's Cross | jig | Edorian |
| Da Slockit Light | reel | Dmajor |
| Don't Call Me Gian | reel | Edorian |
| The Dualloa | reel | Dmajor |
| The Four Courts | jig | Dmajor |
| The Girl Of The House | jig | Dmixolydian |
| Heaton Chapel | reel | Edorian |
| Horse With A Heart | jig | Dmajor |
| Khazi | jig | Gminor |
| Kusnacht | waltz | Amajor |
| The Maids Of Tulla | reel | Gmajor |
| McGurk's | jig | Dmajor |
| The Morning Thrush | reel | Dmajor |
| Natterjack's | reel | Amajor |
| Paddy Fahy's | reel | Emajor |
| The Sailor On The Rock | reel | Dmajor |
| The Seven Sisters | reel | Dmajor |
| The Spring Wind | reel | Edorian |
| Tom Moylan's Frolic | reel | Dmajor |
| Tommy's Tarbukas | reel | Gminor |
| Troy's Wedding | jig | Amixolydian |
| Welcome Home Grainne | jig | Amixolydian |