Throw Down Your Heart

mid-August going to see a showing of Bela Fleck’s “Throw Down Your Heart” documentary – his trip to Africa

will see it in Chicago, screening is followed by Q and A with Bela and a mini-set!

http://www.throwdorwnyourheart.com

WOMAD in London – September

Very excited to be attending WOMAD at the Tower Sept. 19 and 20th. Will be sure to tell ya all about the world music fest!

http://www.towerfestival.com

judge tonight

going to be a judge tonight for the finals at a local competition based on American Idol – this version is Acoustic Idol.  Should be fun!!

Scotland

Planning about a week trip to Scotland in August – rent a car and explore – any suggestions for good live music spots, jam sessions, festivals?

new page

http://aroundtheworldmusic.wordpress.com/my-musicvideos/

check out the tab or link, adding my music and videos

Scordatura in Biber’s music

Yesterday I posted a research paper I wrote last summer that included discussion of Biber and scordatura. Here is a great youtube video about scordatura in Biber’s Mystery Sontatas – great descriptions!

Currently reading….

A Spiral Way: How the Phonograph Changed Ethnography – by Erika Brady

More on Scordatura in Ireland -but with a hardanger!

Caoimhin Mac Aoidh states that “the most common reason [for scordatura tuning] in Ireland…was to enable fiddlers to play long droning pipe imitations.” Here is an fiddler (Caoimhin O Raghallaigh of Dublin) with pipes, but look – it’s a hardanger fiddle!

Maeve Donnelly – scordatura of Ireland

Found out about Maeve through the Fiddler’s Magazine article “The Scordatura Tradition in Irish Fiddle Playing” by Caoimhin Mac Aoidh. Maeve of east County Galway uses scordatura in the above youtube video.

5/20/09

Just got my new issue of Fiddler’s Magazine today – includes an article on scordatura in Irish fiddling!