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The Bagpipe Society
Review: Pass the Hat by Noise of Minstrels
This edition is from our archives, so it is presented as scanned pages rather than text.
Kathryn Tickell’s records are available by mail order from:
Mawson and Wareham (Music) Ltd
Midgy Ha
Sharperton
MORPETH
Northumberland NE65 7AS
Coup de Quatre, Vieilleux du Bourbonnais; Audivis AV 4516
This outstanding record comes from four leading exponents of the bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy tradition of Central France: Jean-Claude Blanc, Fréderic Paris, Patrick Bouffard, and Bernard Blanc.
Perhaps the main success of the record is that Bernard Blanc has made all the pipes used on this recording (Cornemuse du Centre, 14, 20, 26 pouces) and they all blend together perfectly. The music represented includes equal amounts of traditional and self-composed music — and it is hard to see the join between the styles.
Besides the usual bourrées there are also several more lyrical non-dance-orientated tunes which have become my favourite tracks. In particular ‘Conscription’ (F. Paris) and ‘L’Orientale’ (Mick Baudimont) deserve repeated hearing. The pipes speak beautifully in the upper register and there are some fine combinations of different styles of pipe in harmony. This is a most enjoyable recording — a must for all French traditional music enthusiasts.
(Available from Discovery Records, Broad Street, Beechingstoke, Wilts).
Brian Radford
Pass the Hat, Noise of Minstrels; Unicorn-Kanchana DKP 9060
Something of the atmosphere of medieval street bands can be imagined from the first offering on disc of Noise of Minstrels.
The group specialise in the performance of early and traditional music, both as a street band appearing at fairs and festivals and as concert/recital performers. The album features eight musicians playing an impressive range of instruments including bagpipes (English, French and Union), hurdy-gurdy, shawms, clarinet, bassoon, citole and gittern. The pipes are very much to the fore, being put through their paces to fine effect. This is a long record, with music drawn from a wide range of sources and has an overall feel reminiscent of the best of the Munrow output. Particular favourites are the opening set of French tunes, ‘Le Rossignol’, ‘Valse à Cadet’ and ‘J’ai vu le loup’, with a beautiful cascading bagpipe part and some nicely judged tempi; the French chanson ‘En Vraye Amoure’ that features some broad, powerful shawm playing, and another set of French tunes, ‘Morvandelle’, ‘Amusons nous fillettes’, ‘Mat Jeanet’ and ‘Branle du Rat’, which display some fiery hurdy-gurdy playing.
Chanter 39
Also enjoyable is a set of Playford tunes which feature a delicate recorder part and some confident pipe work.
It is interesting to hear the Union or Irish pipes used on two English tunes, one, ‘Pass the Hat Round’, composed by Robert White for the record. Robert puts in some beautiful gracing in a masterly performance. Also a favourite is a set of rhythmically exciting French pikols played with great exuberance on hurdy-gurdies. The French pipes are deftly put through their paces in an Anglo-Irish suite which includes a jig composed by hurdy-gurdy player Dave Chatterly for his former tutor Francis Baines. While some lovely harmonic textures are achieved, I felt that some of the vocal offerings did not match the instrumental standards.
The record closes with a Flemish suite which includes the gentle sound of the nineteenth-century French bassoon, and the bagpipes, which produce a sound on ‘Katten Polka’ (the Cat’s polka) reminding one of Galician super-group Milladoiro, with some dense harmonic structure.
All in all this is an impressive recording debut by a group whose blend of early and traditional melodies and songs works powerfully. I understand the group are hoping for more work on the concert/recital circuit, and certainly, if this record is anything to go by, they are a potent combination well worthy of attention.
Peter Davies
Al Manere Minstrelsy: Popular Music from 1250—1550, The Medieval Players; Plant Life Records PLR 052
In my (albeit somewhat limited) experience of Early Music recordings, most seem to consist of orchestral renditions supplemented by awfully nice tenor and soprano singers, a far cry from how the original music must have sounded.
Al Manere Minstrelsy goes a long way towards redressing this imbalance. It is produced by members of The Medieval Players, a touring theatre group, and does sound ‘medieval’, without being either amateurish or stuffy.
There are nineteen tracks altogether, of which all but four use bagpipes, one with two pipes in unison, the others in harmony. The types used are a Ginsberg English (mouth-blown, single drone) in ‘G’ and Flemish pipes by Swayne.
The instruments are ably played by Andrew Watts and Jeremy West, in various combinations with ‘C’ shawm, nakers, tabors and lute, but don’t expect too much sophistication or complexity from such very old music.
I personally found the simplicity of the tunes and their presentation refreshing, and one or two of the other tracks may well lend themselves to the bagpipes.
Some of The Medieval Players are also in the Carnival Band, and have recently made a record with Maddy Prior. There are two bagpipe tunes, of which more news around Christmas.
Jason Goss
Available from: The Medieval Players, 1 Lever Street, London EC1.
Richard Butler’s Handbook for the Northumbrian Small Pipes, Butler Publishing, Rothbury, Northumberland, 1987, 40 pp, £4.00.
Until now there has not been a sensible, comprehensive maintenance book available for the Northumbrian Small-pipes. Richard Butler, with the help and advice of various makers, players and others in the piping scene, has produced a very comprehensive book. It is well laid out with clear instructions covering the majority of problems encountered.
There are a few points which I find debatable; for example,
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He suggests putting shellac glue on the stocks before tying in. I find this unnecessary; it only makes the job messier.
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He suggests the use of epoxy resin for several repairs. This has disadvantages. It does not adhere satisfactorily to brass; it can make subsequent repairs more difficult; recorking the tuning-head seats is much quicker and easier if a contact adhesive such as Evostik is used.
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He suggests that a chanter reed should sound the note C when sucked. This note depends very much on how you suck the reed and can range from B to C# for different people. Once you have found the note appropriate to yourself, it is a very useful guide when selecting or making reeds. Completely removing the caik from a reed will make it flat and lifeless; I am very much against this practice. Why has the bridle suddenly changed to a girdle?
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One set of drone reeds will work in all pitches of pipes according to Richard. I have found this not to be the case if you want reliable, steady drones. Also, I find short, heavy drones reeds to be louder rather than quieter than longer, lighter reeds.
The section on tuning is a very good summary, but there is a lot more to it than is implied here. If a piper does not have 100% control of bag pressure and a well-reeded and stable set of drones, tuning a chanter is virtually impossible; this point is not made. However, he does say that a top-quality chanter reed is needed.
A piper should (and a good one will) adjust to the natural working pressure of a reed rather than try to adjust a reed to what he or she thinks it should work at. A forced reed is unstable, gives poor tone and intonation, and has a shorter life.
If this is all I can find to niggle about, then there is obviously not much wrong with the book and, as Richard himself says in his introduction, there are differences between makers and more than one way to solve a problem. A useful additional feature of the book is an appendix which gives the French and German equivalents of the technical terms used. I have no reservations about recommending Richard Butler’s Handbook for the Northumbrian Small Pipes.
R. A. Greensitt
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