Backstitching......

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:01 pm

I have heard the term used every now and then, and though I am certain I have heard it being applied, I'm not certain if I would recognize it as being such.....soooooo, what is it, how is it done and why....hungry minds must know, and my mind has been starving for years!!

Please discuss.

eric_smith · Post by **eric_smith** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:59 pm

Peter nails it with his description in this post:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?p=207878

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:17 pm

Go to Clips and Snips and scroll down to Ken Rickett's tunes. His B pipes pronounce them pretty clearly.

Speaking of Clips and Snips, I hadn't been there for a while, but Ben Walker does some nice stuff with his Cillian O'Briain chanter.

maze · Post by **maze** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:29 am

Joe,

I have a couple of recordings from tionols where eamonn and kieran demonstrated and described in detail exactly what is going on

a back stitched scale down from back d... notes in () are tight as in triplet form
d(gf)d-c#(gf)c#-b(gf)b-a(gf)a-g(ca)g-f#(ca)f#-e(ca)e-d

soak, rinse, repeat if necessary.

if you want i will put the mp3's on line. just ask.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:06 am

John, I would appreciate it immensely! I need a break in the routine from popping and rolling (sounds like classic Rock& Roll terminology... or what they used to tell us, in school, that we should do if we ever caught on fire), and figuring out a little backstitching would do that nicely. Actually, would it be possible to convert those recordings to CD and 'snail' them my way? They would be easier (I think

) to take with me in the truck, portable player....what have you. If that is a doable thing I can PM you my snail address. Thanks man.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 5:18 pm

Have a listen to the Patsy Touey archive album released NPU and you`ll hear touey use it everywhere.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:01 pm

Neill41, are there mp3 samples on the NPU site to listen to?

snoogie · Post by **snoogie** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 4:21 am

Joseph E. Smith wrote:Actually, would it be possible to convert those recordings to CD and 'snail' them my way?

Joseph, there was a section of the recordings from the last Fl Tionol where Keiran demonstrated this. You should have this on CD already, I'll see if I can locate the exact spot.

-gary

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 6:21 am

Cool, thanks Gary.

ausdag · Post by **ausdag** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:00 pm

Amazing!!!!

To think I've been doing that for all these years and never known it to be 'backstiching'. I'd always had it in my head it meant that little trill some do with their thumb on Back D. Maybe THAT should be called 'back-sewing' - kind of sounds like a highly strung sewing machine.

Cheers,

DavidG

Uilliam · Post by **Uilliam** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 1:10 am

Hold on guys n gals....there is a bit more

what ye have above is the stitch ie..lower hand melody note then staccato CA then back to lower melody note or upper hand melody note with GF staccato then back to melody note...so far so, normal....

Now for the stitching which is why the term was applied,
Play the above but in a run of three melody notes.
So for eg....

GCAG:FCAF:ECAE: FandC are #
(the CA in this case being the back stitch)
Ye will notice that the above run covers one whole bar and a half bar,so finish the bar with DCA for eg to keep it tidy.

Remember to keep it within the fundamental rythm or it will totally disrupt the melody.

Not mentioned above is the bottom D stitch which is played slightly differently to the rest.
Pat Mitchell transcribes Touheys version as...

DGFA which is fine. .

I have found that DGFD also works well..

I learned the above frae Pat Mitchell in Miltown one year so thanks goeth to him.
..aff ye go and do some sewing...have fun

Slan Go Foill
Uilliam

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 2:59 am

Thanks loads, Uilliam, for the clarification. I will proceed with care and diligence...and by the time I am finished backstitchng, I should have a really nice jumper for the cold Flodida winter...providing I don't stitch my thumbs into the work.

ausdag · Post by **ausdag** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:54 pm

By the way, does it have to be strictly D(gf)D with staccato G followed by staccato F, or can it be F first then G as in D(fg)D, which is the way I feel more comfortable playing it? I mean you can't actually make out the tone of the staccato notes that well anyway when played quickly like that so I guess it should't really matter.

Cheers,

DavidG

Uilliam · Post by **Uilliam** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 1:52 am

David..as Peter rightly pointed out it is just a term applied to a flourish.normaly at the end o the piece,taken frae Patsy Touhey and Tom Busby...
I don't suppose it matters if ye go up..call it something else..front stitching maybe!
Peters' point about being cautious about using it is wise enough

Uilliam

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 2:50 am

Uilliam:"Peters' point about being cautious about using it is wise enough."
==============================================

...overdoing anything, but especially embellishments, takes away from the original melody of the tune...and it's initials as an individually unique piece of music.