Det_Nosnip
11-08-2005, 03:00 AM
As many of you all may know, one of the instruments that I play other than drumset is the Bodhran. Last weekend was the Austin Celtic Festival, a two day binge of Irish+Scottish....culture with two stages of music all day. I was privileged enough to attend a master-class from Mark Stone, who performed with multiple bands including Poor Man's Fortune and legendary Scottish Fiddler Jerry Holland. The class was awesome...he went over many of the different Irish dance styles and explained how the Bodhran fits into Irish music. He was very professional and clearly knowledgeable...spoke at length on where a player should be for various styles and why (for example, polkas tend to sound better when the Bodhran player is slightly ahead of the beat, certain jigs and reels will sound better behind the beat, etc). As part of the class, we also got to jam with the Poor Man's Fortune floutist, which rocked. :cool:
Later in the day on saturday, Mark Stone sat in with Jerry Holland. Although he was quite obviously tanked by this point, he played incredibly....his performance really demonstrated the incredibly range and versatility of the instrument. Although many players from the day got by just thumping away and alternating between "open" and "closed" tones, Mark played in a highly melodic and even harmonic fashion, acting as much as a bassist would as a drummer. He followed the other instruments through all of the chords and even some of those crazy runs....I couldn't believe how tight they were. :lol:
On sunday, Mark performed with Poor Man's Fortune, which was a real treat. Every member of the band is a seriously accomplished musician (I'm pretty sure that all of them taught masterclasses during the festival), and thus the music was very explorative and unique. Mark performed a solo number in which he sang an Irish tune while accompanying himself on the Bodhran, which I was clever enough to record on my digital camera. In the middle of the song is a sick, sick, sick Bodhran solo where Mark really just has at it....his tonal control is just incredible. His solo sounds like it's done on some giant Peart-style kit (Peart is actually a huge influence on him, and you'll hear quite a few Peart licks in there), yet it's all done on one freaking drum.
Here's the solo....if you guys want to hear the rest of the song, let me know. Otherwise...enjoy!
http://s61.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1PNS9O4YMP78S0RTC1TKKH7186
Later in the day on saturday, Mark Stone sat in with Jerry Holland. Although he was quite obviously tanked by this point, he played incredibly....his performance really demonstrated the incredibly range and versatility of the instrument. Although many players from the day got by just thumping away and alternating between "open" and "closed" tones, Mark played in a highly melodic and even harmonic fashion, acting as much as a bassist would as a drummer. He followed the other instruments through all of the chords and even some of those crazy runs....I couldn't believe how tight they were. :lol:
On sunday, Mark performed with Poor Man's Fortune, which was a real treat. Every member of the band is a seriously accomplished musician (I'm pretty sure that all of them taught masterclasses during the festival), and thus the music was very explorative and unique. Mark performed a solo number in which he sang an Irish tune while accompanying himself on the Bodhran, which I was clever enough to record on my digital camera. In the middle of the song is a sick, sick, sick Bodhran solo where Mark really just has at it....his tonal control is just incredible. His solo sounds like it's done on some giant Peart-style kit (Peart is actually a huge influence on him, and you'll hear quite a few Peart licks in there), yet it's all done on one freaking drum.
Here's the solo....if you guys want to hear the rest of the song, let me know. Otherwise...enjoy!
http://s61.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1PNS9O4YMP78S0RTC1TKKH7186