Celtic Shock Treatment

[midinut]

I was watching PBS about a week ago and caught a commercial (not the actual PBS special) for "Celtic Woman". I went to Amazon.com (they really should bar me from there) and ordered the DVD immediately. It got here the other day and I spent two hours with the hair on the back of my neck standing straight up and my jaw dragging the floor. I think I've shared it with about 6 different people already and watched it about a half dozen times. WOW! If you haven't seen it yet, check out the special on PBS or order it for yourself. Best $15 I've spent in a good while! If anyone has any experience with Celtic instruments (Uileann Pipes, Pennywhistle, etc.) I'd love to know what kinds of drums the percussionist were using. These five women were absolutely some of the most beautiful, haunting examples of perfect pitch I've ever heard. David Downes produced and directed it (he was the MD behind Riverdance as well. Enjoy!

[Philip OKeefe]

I saw an ad for that on TV the other night, and it looked / sounded interesting. I'll have to check it out on PBS, but if it is as good as what I saw on the commercial, might just buy the DVD. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

BTW, bodhran drums are the drums normally used in traditional Irish music.

 

http://www.rtgstore.com/gifts/bodhrans.html

[midinut]

Thanks for the link to the Bodhran drums site. They did use those for some soloing, but they also had an array of what looked like floor toms and bass drums mounted in a semi-circle all tuned differently. Behind them were huge drums the size of gongs that were awesome. Never seen percussion quite like it.

 

BTW - You'll absolutely love the DVD! - I don't know if it would be quite the same watching it during a "pledge session" on PBS with all the interuptions and such. It also sounds great in 5.1 and there are some DVD bonuses with the artists and Musical Director!

 

Here's a link to the show site. If you order the DVD be sure you order this one. There are a couple of other products called "Celtic Woman" and it can be confusing.

 

http://www.celticwoman.com/

[Bill Roberts]

Good Lord those Ladies can sing!

 

I do quite a bit of Celtic music mastering myself...

 

http://www.brothers3.us/journey/

[evets]

One of my guilty pleasures...I love Clannad & Enya. I saw the ad you mentioned Midinut, but thought it might be a bit of a cheap rip-off. Maybe I'll have a second look...

[Bill Roberts]

SGH, the intonation is out of this world. The real deal..no autotune.

[evets]

Thanks Bill...nothin' to do then but place an order!

[Bill Roberts]

I got the good "goose flesh" when listening. Not very many productions do that!!

 

 

Since we are talking about a tutoring tool...it goes to the beyond.

[evets]

Originally posted by Bill Roberts:

I got the good "goose flesh" when listening. Not very many productions do that!!

 

 

Since we are talking about a tutoring tool...it goes to the beyond.

The best music does that, doesn't it? Some years ago I was watching a BBC show called 'Robin Of Sherwood' and the music immediately took me to "that other place". That's where I first heard Clannad. Enya did a cd called "The Memory of Trees"...layers upon layers of perfect cathedral-like vocals drenched in some gorgeous reverb...but not tacky. I almost hated admitting my weakness for this stuff 'till I read somewhere that Jeff Beck borrowed heavily from the Bulgarian Women's Choir for some of his more ethereal stuff. It seems to reach back into some forgotten memory corridors...