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Eimear McGeown Playing A Martin Doyle Flute

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Eimear McGeown – classical and Irish flute.

Eimear McGeown – classical and Irish flute

We are very proud and grateful to be able to feature two tracks on Martin Doyle Flutes by the accomplished flute player Eimear McGeown. A native of County Armagh in Northern Ireland, Eimear plays both classical and Irish flutes.

This from Eimear’s website:

The Irish culture and tradition has played a major influence in Eimear’s life, starting Irish dancing at the age of three and going on to become a Northern Ireland Champion dancer. Eimear began playing whistle at the age of nine and progressed to the traditional Irish flute a year later having lessons with Sligo born flautist, Séamus Tansey.

Eimear was the Ulster Champion on the whistle when she was eleven years old and later went on to win two All Ireland Champion titles on the Irish flute both as soloist and in a trio with her brother and sister. She performs on the traditional Irish flute regularly including recitals, in the West End Show Lord of the Rings, with folk/rock band Amsterdam, session studio work in London and is currently recording a solo Celtic Crossover album.

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Bob Denton’s Photos Of Martin Doyle

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Martin Doyle portrait by Bob Denton

Martin Doyle portrait – by Bob Denton.

A number of photographs have just been added to Martin Doyle’s Photostream on Flickr. They were taken by Bob Denton who has been Martin’s friend since the 1970s.

Bob Denton is a photographer and musician who plays guitar, mandolin, claw hammer banjo and tin whistle. Originally from South Africa, Bob is credited with starting the Barleycorn Music Club on Woodbridge Island, Cape Town, in 1975. He also compèred and performed at many South African Folk Festivals.

In the realm of photography, Bob worked for Deegan Photo on Leeson Street in Dublin during the early 1970s and took the photo of the Book of Kells which was used on the one and five punt notes in Ireland. He also took many of the photographs for the Doors of Dublin poster originally produced by Borde Failte.

Bob first met Martin Doyle when he moved to Bray in County Wicklow in the early 1970s. Martin, a native of Bray, had just begun to play the banjo and he and Bob would play together regularly.

Bob Denton

Bob Denton with his trusty banjo and Doolin t-shirt! (Photo credit: Bob’s Facebook page.)

View Bob’s photographs here: Bob Denton’s photos of Martin Doyle – February, 2011 »

First Flute From FSC African Blackwood

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Freshly felled Mpingo (African Blackwood).

Freshly felled Mpingo (African Blackwood).

Martin Doyle has for a number of years supported the sustainable use of African Blackwood (aka Grenadilla and Mpingo) – a unique tone wood that grows only in east Africa and has been used extensively by instrument makers throughout the world for over two centuries. He has recently produced his first flute made from African Blackwood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.

In the past, Martin has been involved in producing documentaries for radio which explore the use and conservation of African Blackwood. This included Sounding Post and The Music Tree which were both produced by Nina Perry of Falling Tree Productions. In 2009, in the process of making of The Music Tree, Martin travelled to Tanzania with Nina where he saw first hand the efforts being made to manage the sustainable replanting and harvesting of African Blackwood. The local people who live in and around the Mpingo forests are now involved in all phases of the procedure and are reaping their share in the profits as well – a welcome stimulation to their economy that raises the standard of living.

Joe Doyle playing FSC flute

Joe Doyle playing Martin Doyle’s first flute made from FSC certified African Blackwood (Mpingo).

Martin was also interviewed regarding the flutes he is making using FSC certified Blackwood by Peter Browne of Ireland’s RTÉ Radio 1 and featured on Peter’s The Rolling Wave programme.

Joe Doyle (one of Martin Doyle’s two sons, pictured right) was recently visiting Martin for a few days at his home near Liscannor in County Clare. A talented musician himself, Joe had the chance to play the first of the new flutes made from FSC certified African Blackwood and a recording was made that can be heard here: The Green Fields of Rosbeigh by Joe Doyle – Flute Music »

Martin Doyle Cocus Wood Nine Key Flute

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Martin Doyle Cocus Wood Nine Key D Flute

Martin Doyle Cocus Wood Nine Key D Flute.

Martin Doyle has just finished crafting a nine key D flute made from cocus wood. The tuning slide, keys and ferrules are all hand-made from sterling silver. Photos of the flute can be seen here (the last eight images of the set) : Martin Doyle Flutes made from Cocus Wood »

Afterthoughts from Ronan Browne

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… a lesson in humility.

Proitze Mühle in northern Germany

Over the last week since I wrote Listen and Learn with Ronan Browne, memories have been seeping back in through the defences of time; I’ll return to that trip to the Proitzer Mühle in 1995 for a further thought, this time about de-blinkering.

After the listening class, one of the participants came up to me, introduced himself and informed me that he was available to accompany me on guitar at the recital that night; I answered, as kindly as I could, that I was fine and, being self-accompanying, I wouldn’t need any backing. He asked was I sure, saying that he had accompanied the guest piper on other years and that it was a nice thing to do. I realised it would be right to say “yes, of course” so we arranged to meet later and run over a few tunes in preparation.

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Listen & Learn with Ronan Browne

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Ronan Browne

In every generation there are those who feel the urge to carry forward the essence of the culture, land and peoples that they are born into and amongst. Ireland’s Ronan Browne is such a person. A renowned piper, musician, composer, teacher, writer and historian, Ronan is not only making efforts to record and promote the traditional music of Ireland but, as the article below exposes, is also discovering and teaching new ways to hear and appreciate the beauty that lies at the core of Irish traditional music, language and culture. The grandson of the renowned Irish singer Delia Murphy, Ronan lives in Conamara with his wife and two children. For more information, kindly view the Ronan Browne links at the bottom of this page.

In the following article, which was originally published on the now defunct Gandharva Loka blog, Ronan Browne writes about the evolution and aims of his music appreciation and listening courses. We are very grateful to have this inspiring article on the Martin Doyle News blog – go raibh maith agat a Rónáin!

LEARN TO LISTEN – LISTEN TO LEARN

Written by Ronan Browne, with photographs by Lieve Boussau.

Synopsis

Essentially Learn to Listen – Listen to Learn is a “music appreciation/listening class” (using sound recordings, pictures and videos) where the students teach themselves how to interpret any piece of music they come across. Instead of lecturing the participants as to what they are listening to, they tell me, learning quickly to think on their own.

I have been running the course in varying lengths from 45 minutes up to 3 days – the longer you do it, the more fun you have…!

Comments from Course Attendees

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Martin Doyle Features On Slowcoast

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Nick Hand with his trusty cycle.

Nick Hand with his trusty cycle.

A leisurely bicycle tour around the coasts of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland – what better way to see the sights, get a feel for the land and meet the locals! Many have done it but Bristolian Nick Hand has taken the process a couple of steps further. He is interviewing and photographing inspiring people that he meets during his travels and creating soundslides which he posts on his aptly named website, Slowcoast.

In his own words Nick is “…talking to the artisans that I meet, people who have a passion and have developed and honed a skill.” The result is a very inspiring library of soundslides that cover a wide range of people, lifestyles and landscapes. During his travels Nick is also raising money for the Parkinson’s Disease Society through sponsorship.

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