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[smiley]

Lately I've been listening to the Suas Leat CD by Swallow's Tail Ceili Band, and especially their box player Tom (or Tommy) Doherty. Its exciting box-driven music ideal for Irish set dancing. Does anyone know what tuning he played on that CD, which I think was recorded in 2011? The settings of all the tunes on the CD suit a D/G box with low B and C natural notes and he doesn't seem to play the chromatic sliding notes you'd usually expect from a semitone box player. I first thought he was playing a one-row D melodeon, but I hear plenty of C naturals (and no F naturals BTW) in the tunes. There are a lot of video clips of the band on youtube but none I saw showed his box in any detail.

NB: this Tom Doherty shouldn't be confused with Tom Doherty (RIP) who played melodeon on a CD called "Take the Bull by the Horns".

[edited to correct the title of the late Tom Doherty's CD]

[triskel]

I first thought he was playing a one-row D melodeon, but I hear plenty of C naturals (and no F naturals BTW) in the tunes. There are a lot of video clips of the band on youtube but none I saw showed his box in any detail.

In the clips I've found so far he's playing a Castagnari 10-key, 4-stop Melodeon.

[Lars]

Hohner Erica, C#/D.

[triskel]

I first thought he was playing a one-row D melodeon, but I hear plenty of C naturals (and no F naturals BTW) in the tunes. There are a lot of video clips of the band on youtube but none I saw showed his box in any detail.

In the clips I've found so far he's playing a Castagnari 10-key, 4-stop Melodeon.

Like this one; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzmqMC14XUE and his solo CD is all melodeon; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3OhDsDz3NM whilst "plenty of C naturals (and no F naturals BTW) in the tunes" suggests a melodeon in G on those tracks, not to mention he's said to be an All-Ireland melodeon champion; http://claddaghrecords.com/WWW/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3140

But there are a couple more pictures of him with that black 2-row Hohner here: http://www.castlebar.ie/photos/alison_laredo/Straide-School-Celebrations-2010_printer.shtml, so I guess he plays both! 

[smiley]

Thanks for the info guys. Interesting to hear what an old Hohner Erica can sound like when in the right hands 

Watching that video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzmqMC14XUE amazes me to see how relaxed Tom and the keyboard player look while belting out those reels at a blisteringly fast tempo. I bet the dancers loved it too!

[triskel]

Thanks for the info guys. Interesting to hear what an old Hohner Erica can sound like when in the right hands 

Watching that video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzmqMC14XUE amazes me to see how relaxed Tom and the keyboard player look while belting out those reels at a blisteringly fast tempo. I bet the dancers loved it too!

Yep, sounds (and looks) just like a Castagnari 4-stopper! 

[mory]

Hohner Erica, C#/D.

Hohner reeds too!

[bosca]

Great player... usually seen with the hohner erica and castagnari melodeon but im fairly sure he has played some vander aa boxes too

http://www.setdancingnews.net/news/photos/onews51/DSC_4939.jpg

see around 22sec in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNcPvwy9kxs

I could be wrong but it all sounds good to me anyway!

[triskel]

see around 22sec in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNcPvwy9kxs

At 0.22 he's playing a different 4-stopper and at 0.29 it could well be the Hohner...

[Pat.]

My kind of box player.