Music Books
Beating Time
A unique, newly-researched, full history of the tambourine and bodhrán in Ireland
The bodhrán drum has become a symbol of Ireland, as well known by now as the harp. Remarkably, it became visible only in the mid-1900s, but rapidly achieved a tremendous popularity. Beating Time examines this story, showing that today’s bodhran isn’t the oldest Irish-music instrument, but the newest. It draws evidence from archaeology, museums, printed and painted images, fiction and history texts, dictionaries, newspaper reports, advertising and transcribed folklore. 350 large-format pages, with several hundred colour and other rare, historic and contemporary images, it also has unique portraits of leading players and makers.
NOTE: USA and Canada buyers should purchase through Cork University Press directly in order to get a much cheaper postal rate.
The Complete Guide to Learning the Irish Flute
Flute tutor by Fintan Vallely
Music and tunes for the wooden concert flute · Including the basics of playing traditional music and a selection of over 100 tunes for all instruments.
Second Edition, launched on Wednesday, 27th November, 2013, at the Harcourt Hotel, Dublin.
A unique visual and descriptive ‘method’ for all levels of learning and playing on the keyed and unkeyed ‘Irish’ wooden flutes. Tried and tested, this is a greatly expanded and improved update of the very first Irish flute tutor which was published in 1986. Its 136 pages are packed with background information and suitable for all from the most basic to the most advanced levels.
Ón gCos go Cluas - From Dancing to Listening
Papers from the 2012 NAFCo conference.
Traditional music has moved from a primary purpose of servicing dance, to expressing artistic preference. Further, the outer fringes of traditional melody-making now shade into other forms – jazz, contemporary classical, rock and pop – and indeed towards the antithesis of genre, so-called ‘world’ music.
The chapters in this volume reflect on this visible re-orientation, exploring North Atlantic musics in terms of the shift of folk cultures’ interest from social process to aesthetic product.
Crosbhealach an Cheoil – The Crossroads Conference 2003
Education and Traditional Music
The thirty-four essays in this volume are a cogent contribution to Irish Studies knowledge, and are of particular relevance to education, State agencies and the media. They should add too to the confidence of those involved in performance and promotion, for they show Traditional music internationally as alive and engaged – a challenging, satisfying contemporary music of the twenty-first century.
Ben Lennon
The Tailor’s Twist
A study in text, photographs and graphic design of the fiddler Ben Lennon of Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim.