Ramsgate Buzz Preview

A day of Hurdy-gurdy and bagpipe workshops & concert on the 20th of March 2010 at Studio 5, St Lawrence Industrial Estate, Manston Road, Ramsgate Kent CT11 0QZ, featuring Steve Tyler, Katy Marchant, Tim Garside, Sean Jones, Claire Dugue and Daughters of Elvin.

Bookings and general information at http://www.claire-dugue.com dugue.com.

Workshops:

Saturday morning- from 10.00 to 12.30

Hurdy-gurdy maintenance with Claire Dugue

Come and learn to get the most out of your instrument. We will be looking at tips on general set up (cleaning of the wheel, cottoning, stringing, rosin…) and also at the tuning of the keyboard and if we have time, making of trompette bridges.

Bagpipes for beginners with Sean Jones

Come and try the pipes ! -There will be a number of instruments available for people to try, please book early if you don’t have a bagpipe. In this workshop, we will be looking at bagpipe maintenance, tuning and basic playing techniques.

Saturday afternoon - from 14.00 to 16.00

Hurdy-gurdy playing with Steve Tyler

The workshop will be suitable for G and D hurdy gurdies and involve trompette techniques and rhythms starting very simply (suitable for beginners) and progressing. Some medieval repertoire will be looked at.

Bagpipe playing for beginners with Sean Jones.

A continuation of the morning workshop with Sean, with still the possibility to borrow some of Sean’s bagpipes. Gracing and ornamentation in tunes.

Middle eastern Percussion with Tim Garside.

A two hour Middle eastern percussion workshop for beginners or those wanting to improve their percussion skills, covering frame drum {douf} Tambourine {Riq} and Darbuka {Goblet drum}. Please bring a drum if you have one.

This workshop is funded and run by the Pie factory, there are limited spaces so please book early to avoid disappointment.

and from 14.00 to 15.00

Bagpipe playing with Katy Marchant

A one hour workshop for beginners and more advanced players of G and D bagpipes who would like to expand their knowledge of the Medieval bagpipe repertoire. The workshop will cover some of the music which was specifically written for instrumental playing, as well as examples of how to adapt the more unusual vocal repertoire for bagpipes and other instruments. The workshop will also aim to include some ideas on how to embellish the melodies and create suitable harmonies and variations.

All Workshops are £12 each/or £30 for the day including evening concert- except for the percussion workshop which is free - but needs to be booked-

Katy Marchant

In 1996 Katy discovered that the masks she was making made a powerful combination with the medieval music she had begun to play on the bagpipes. The exciting juxtaposition of the masks and music which was evolving led her to found Daughters of Elvin. With masked and dancing fantastical beasts and giant stilt puppets, inspired by medieval iconography. she and her fellow Elvins which included percussionist Dhevdhas Nair and dancer Clio Wondrausch began to be booked to play at street festivals, rock festivals, historical fayres, art centres and early music events throughout Britain and Ireland.

In 2001 the National Trust commissioned her to develop a series of site specific shows which involved a medieval circus of masked beasts with live music played on authentic early instruments. She invited Steve Tyler to join the project. This led to Steve and Katy discovering a shared interest in medieval music and in particular music from 14th century Italy. They began to develop a style which would make this repertoire suitable for bagpipes and hurdy gurdy.

In 2003 she was awarded a bursary by Arts Council Southwest to travel to America to research her other passion of mask making with Beckie Kravetz from the Los Angeles Opera Company.

The Steve Tyler/Katy Marchant duo have been developing a mixed programme of medieval music and self penned compositions for hurdy gurdy and bagpipes inspired by Early Music, jazz, Jimi Hendrix and folk music. They have performed together as a duo in Britain, France, Holland, Germany and Norway. They are part of the historical ‘ceilidh’ band, Caliban’s Dream with Brazilian early dance master Dr Ricardo Barros. Caliban’s Dream recently played for a Fairy Masquerade ball in Devon where the mainly 16th dances were met with great enthusiasm. http://www.stonefree.org

Stephen Tyler

Steve is one of the foremost hurdy-gurdy players in Europe today. In

1993 He began playing the hurdy gurdy, adding this instrument to the

sound of the recently formed medieval music ensemble Misericordia,

which he founded with Anne Marie Summers. In 1996 they joined with

melodeon player Julian Sutton to form The Wendigo, playing their own

compositions inspired by the traditional dance music of central France.

In 1999, Steve & Anne Marie, won first place in the highly acclaimed

competition for duets at Saint Chartier festival. In 2001 he joined

medieval music and dance theatre group Daughters of Elvin for their

spectacular medieval circus show “Garden of Earthly Delights”, commissioned by the National Trust, and continues to play with them on the hurdy gurdy, along with Nigel Eaton, and played at Anost Fete de la Vielle with Jon Swayne and Becky Price.

He has run hurdy gurdy workshops at various events including the Lancaster hurdy gurdy festival, Aust festival of medieval music, Kinnersley castle and the Bagpipe Society Blowout. He is currently working on new pieces, some of which involve obscure rhythms and multitracked hurdy gurdies with diverse other instruments. Two of these were premiered at the first Lancaster Hurdy Gurdy festival in April 2007.

With these bands he has travelled and performed throughout Europe and recorded numerous CDs, most recently “Passion, Pestilence and Polyphony” comprising music and song from the fourteenth century, with Misericordia, many tracks of which have been played on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction. In 2006 he was featured on Radio 3’s Early

Music Show

Tim Garside

Tim is a percussionist who has specialised in Middle Eastern percussion for over 20 years. In 1993 he became the first European percussionist to tour with an Arabic band, in Hossam Ramzy’s Egyptian Ensemble. He also plays Nay {Arabic flute}, Arghul {Arabic pipe}, and many other ethnic instruments.

His Arabic percussion workshops appeal not only to percussionists but to dancers wanting to gain more of an insight in understanding the rhythms, his highly motivated enthusiastic approach and sensitive teaching skills have lead to great success in this area.

Tim toured extensively and recorded with Arabic singer Natacha Atlas for 5 years. Other artistes include Algerian singer Cheb Mami, composer David Arnold, Egyptian singer Hakim, the late great Iranian singer Vigen, Transglobal Underground, Iranian singer Jirar, and the successful early music group Joglaresa.

Sean Jones

Sean is a professional bagpipe maker who has been making and developing instruments for the past twenty years. The inspiration for his pipes comes from historical sources and a knowledge of acoustics. He offers a range of bagpipes used round the world for dancing, modern music, session playing as well as early music. More info on Sean and his pipes can be found at : http://www.jonesinstruments.co.uk

Claire Dugue

Claire specialises in making fine, hand-made hurdy-gurdies. She set up her workshop in Ramsgate in 2001. Over the past few years, she has established a reputation for high quality instruments played by amateurs and professionals worldwide. For more info on Claire and her hurdy-gurdies, go to : http://www.claire-dugue.com

The Bagpipe Society