13 February, 2008

Aran Islands

So as usual I was cruising youtube.com looking for interesting videos of people playing the tin whistle and I found this father and daughter duo that really blew me away. One of the first videos of theirs I watched was of the classic Cooley's Reel which happens to be practically a favorite of everyone, I know I love it and am slowly but surely teaching my self how to play it on the tin whistle. Though the song that really caught my attention was a track by the name of Inisheer. At first I wasn't sure what to this of the song since it seemed more like a ballad than a fast reel. Either way just hearing time after time, it has seriously become one of my favorite Irish melodies and tunes to this date.
Here it is:




After hearing this I went on a mad search for other professional versions, though much to my disappointment there were not many at all, one done by the fairly large group Cherish the Ladies though it wasn't of the same sound as the father and daughter duet. Cherish the Ladies played it on a lower irish flute I think which didn't replicate the sound I was looking for with the young girl playing the tin whistle. Mind you she's only about 7 years old and can play the tin whistle, harmonica, fiddle, and irish dances. Which I think is amazing and must be such a culturally rich family since they reside in the Netherlands. And so I kept looking for other versions, I found some others on the uilleann pipes but in all I only found about 4 version of this song Inisheer which I've learned it an island on the west coast apart of the Aran Islands.
In conclusion like said previously this has become one of my new all time favorites and am currently in the process of teaching my self to play this tune on the tin whistle. Eagerly awaiting the time where I am finding my self on a hill or cliff side playing this enchanting tune time after time.

Here is a link to the Father and Daughters youtube page:
http://www.youtube.com/user/choomanfoo

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