Subject: Re: Welsh ABC tunes
From: brian martin <[email-masked]>
To: John Chambers <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 06:39:42 -0800 (PST)

John Chambers <[email-masked]> wrote:
I think it's just fashion.  And you're right; there isn't  a  lot  of
Welsh music online, and it's not often heard in "trad" music circles.
I've typed up a few Welsh dance tunes, but despite the  fact  that  a
good  chunk of my ancestors came over here from Wales, I really don't
have all that much, either.

I always advise people that the best plan is to set up your  own  web
site. Then you have control over it. You can put what you want there,
you can organize it however you  like,  and  you  can  correct  typos
quickly. In the case of abc, much of its strength comes from a lot of
people  using  it  for  their  own  purposes,  without  any   central
organization to tell them how to do it.

Next best is if you have a close friend who can do it.  I've also set
up  "mirror"  directories  for  tunes  from people who don't have web
sites. You could email them to me, and I could put them online.  This
isn't  as  convenient  for  you,  of course, but there's room on this
machine for a few hundred more tunes.

If you'd prefer, I could merge them in with my small Welsh collection
at:
 http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/Wales/

As you can see, I've organized tunes mostly by rhythm, so I  can  use
them for dances.  I play for a lot of contra and Scottish dances, and
sometimes for English  dances,  and  I  do  include  Welsh  tunes  on
occasion.   (This  isn't  as  radical as the Scandinavian and Klezmer
tunes that I also use in medleys.  ;-) I if you look  in  the  parent
directory:    http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/    you'll   find
directories with names like "reel", "jig", and so on.  I like to link
tunes into those directories so that people just looking for tunes in
a specific rhythm are likely to find them.

I'd want you to include your name, and email address if you like,  in
a  Z:  header  line  for  each tune, so you get proper credit for the
transcriptions.

Thanks for your rapid response.  I don't want to set up a website  of
my  own  for  a number of reasons, the most pertinent being that I've
been living on borrowed time for the last dozen or  so  years.   I've
stopped being amazed at still being here each time I wake up, but I'm
very much aware of the temporary nature of my life!  By  the  time  I
generate  the energy to create my own site, it might be too late! (My
name ought to be Brian Ddiog - compare with  the  tune  called  Robin
Ddiog!)

 I've been around for a long time, played in a few ceilidh type bands
 and  currently  play in pub sessions and for Winterbourn Down Border
 Morris based on the outskirts of Bristol.  I've worked in Wales, but
 otherwise  have  no  Welsh  connections,  although  I  have a slight
 knowledge of the Welsh language.  Where I am fairly confident,  I've
 translated  some  of  the  titles into English.  I've re-ordered the
 tunes for you a  bit,  but  because  Welsh  music  has  a  different
 emphasis  to  other British music, I find that the classification of
 hornpipe, polka, march and reel gets a bit blurred.  If you  call  a
 tune  a reel or a hornpipe, ABC2Win tries to play it "Irish fashion"
 and it sounds terrible!

Anyway, I'll take you up on your offer to receive  a  few  tunes  and
will  attach  the  first  95.  All these tunes are in books published
about 20  years  ago  by  the  Welsh  Folk  Dance  Society  in  three
handwritten  volumes called "Blodau'r Grug" (Flowers of the Heather).
I have preferred versions taken from other sources in some  cases  as
shown  in  the file.  For your personal information, I would add that
the Welsh call their type of hornpipe a  Pibddawns  and  a  march  an
Ymdaith.

I have put my e-mail address in the Z: field as  suggested.   I  have
checked  through the tunes, so I hope that typos and errors have been
eliminated,  but  I'm  only  human!  I'll  leave  you  to  decide  on
appropriate  places  to  put  them.  I just feel that these tunes are
worth playing and should be out there for everyone to use.

Thanks again for your reply - in a week or  two,  if  you  like  this
selection,  I'll have transcribed enough others to make it worthwhile
sending you.

Regards,

Brian.

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