Unusual playing style

[SteveBox]

I came across this YouTube video of someone playing Irish music, possibly in a Dublin pub, but there are no comments. He has either a PA or a CBA, but you can't see the right-hand side. He is playing in a very energetic but unusual manner, strumming the bass buttons like a washboard and pumping the bellows like crazy. Despite playing an accordion that appears to be very leaky, his playing is quite good. Does anyone know who this is?

 

[Zevy]

I came across this YouTube video of someone playing Irish music, possibly in a Dublin pub, but there are no comments. He has either a PA or a CBA, but you can't see the right-hand side. He is playing in a very energetic but unusual manner, strumming the bass buttons like a washboard and pumping the bellows like crazy. Despite playing an accordion that appears to be very leaky, his playing is quite good. Does anyone know who this is?

He obviously doesn't know what to do with his left hand

 

[Waldo]

Zevy, I think just the opposite! Looks a lot like "faux bass". Probably to cover up the non use of the bass. I'm not hearing any bass line except on the guitar. This is common on diatonics, but on stradella? Go figure.

 

[Dingo40]

Well spotted, Waldo!?

 

[Pipemajor]

Irish Traditional Music players don't usually use the left hand, (normally small diatonic boxes), so maybe he's just following the herd.
Must be some leak in the bellows to require all that pumping with just the right hand playing

 

[TomBR]

I think he's rattling the bass buttons like a washboard as SteveBox said.

I think there's something else going on - he's playing as if the bellows were single action, there's something wrong on the draw - he whacks the bellows open quickly like taking a breath then plays on the press. Maybe the accordion has problems playing on the draw but the speed he opens the bellows suggest something is acting like a non-return valve! The bellows look very rough with tape repairs.

In the absence of more information I'd say fair play to him for getting that much music out of an instrument that looks quite disabled!

 

[Zevy]

Zevy, I think just the opposite! Looks a lot like "faux bass". Probably to cover up the non use of the bass. I'm not hearing any bass line except on the guitar. This is common on diatonics, but on stradella? Go figure.

That’s exactly what I meant!??

 

[TomBR]

Knowing nothing of the circumstances in the video I wouldn't criticise the accordion player - perhaps they were making the best of what was available.

If a player of Irish Traditional Music on accordion doesn't use the basses, or hardly uses them, it's not a weakness in their playing, it's part of the musical genre which is primarily melodic. The tune should always be able to stand on its own.

To my mind the best, and most "tradition-honoured" use of accordion basses is inspired by Uilleann pipe regulator playing, whatever type of accordion is being played.
Some very nice use of Stradella bass here

 

[Walker]

That's very nice music. I think the Uilleann pipes is a marvellous instrument and could be a great source of inspiration for expressive accordion playing. There is more to be squeezed out of the accordion yet...

But maybe we can consider that there are different types of Irish music. Some more dance or ceili style, almost like old Scottish dance music. As well as the current trend towards the accordion as a small part of a multi-instrumental style - more of a fast flowing melody with the whistle, bodhran, button accordion, fiddle etc. It seems to be building on an older tradition, perhaps inspired by the Comhaltas movement.

However, here is something quite different played by a famous Irish accordionist. It might not be fashionable nowadays, but Paddy Neary was a master accordionist. There were many Ceili bands also that played music quite contrasting to the current flavour.

 

[Walker]

Knowing nothing of the circumstances in the video I wouldn't criticise the accordion player - perhaps they were making the best of what was available.

If a player of Irish Traditional Music on accordion doesn't use the basses, or hardly uses them, it's not a weakness in their playing, it's part of the musical genre which is primarily melodic. The tune should always be able to stand on its own.

Hi TomBR, I have often thought about what Irish music on the accordion actually is... I sometmes struggle for an answer beyond the obvious.

@Pipemajor made a solid point about Irish accordion players often not using the bass and following in the tradition of the melodeon etc. That seems to be quite common, especially with the small wooden instruments, like Saltarelle etc.

You also made the great point about the bass being used lightly to follow the Uilleann pipes.

My thoughts on Irish music, are perhaps outdated and follow from a Scottish dance music flavour - that of Irish Jigs, Reels and Waltzes being strict tempo for ceili dancing (like The Gallowglass Ceili Band) or more the accordion entertainer style music, Paddy Neary etc.

However, I recently heard this piece for the first time. A tune written for the accordion, called My Isle of Emerald Green:




I think it's lovely and has sophisticated (almost orchestral) interaction between the bass and treble. At what point does a tune become Irish or cease to be accepted as Irish? Is this Irish classical? Maybe it's a coincidence that the piece is played on an accordion and is about Ireland. Where is the idiomatic balance to be struck?

I don't know, just a thought...

 

[TomBR]

Hi Walker
Fair points all. I think full-on Irish Ceili Band music is great in its own right, and of course has an vital role for playing for dancing. It has taken a different track from "session style" Irish music, and bands like Danu, Lunasa etc. More keyboards and drums in the Ceili band tradition for one thing.

(The tempo required for playing for Irish sets is scary!)

Given the question of similarities/differences between Irish and Scottish music I'm amused to see that the cattle in the opening picture of the "Emerald Green" look very much like Belted Galloways to me? A Scottish breed?

I guess the music in the video is within the Irish " slow airs" tradition albeit well harmonised.
This clip isn't accordion, but I do like it.

 

[Walker]

Yes, @TomBR I think you are right, Irish music can be multifaceted.

Thanks for sharing the piano/keyboard piece there. A real Irish vibe to some of those phrases, yet somehow not traditional in the purest sense. A modern expression of Irish artistic music, perhaps.

I think in both these pieces there is an intention to paint a picture - of belonging or yearning for Ireland, I think particularly in the accordion work, that many would dismiss as quaint. However, I'm actually okay with quaint - I like the emotional motivation behind the music. I can almost imagine Maureen O'Hara going skipping past the Belted Galloways in some charming The Quiet Man scene. I suppose that video image could easily be the Scottish Borders, or a rural scene in the North of England. In fact I showed my Irish mother the video, and she said "it couldn't possibly be Ireland, because the grass would be much greener if it were". ​