3 Instrument Makers (and their music)

The west of Ireland is particularly strong in the tradition of music and County Clare is no exception being liberally blessed with gifted musicians and artisans – past, present and, no doubt, into the future. As a result, the county is host to many events that reflect, celebrate and perpetuate this living tradition of music.

One such event (which Martin Doyle is very honoured and excited to be part of) is soon to be hosted by the Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery and Studio. Opening from the 19th to the 26th of November, 3 Instrument Makers (and their music) is an exhibition featuring the work and music of Martin Doyle (flute), Davey Spillane (Uilleann pipes) and Paul Dooley (harp) who all live within a bulls roar of Ennistymon.

In conjunction with the year of the craft, this unique exhibition will offer the visitor a multi media experience of film, photography, audio, as well as a chance to see a display of the exquisitely crafted instruments made by each of these musicians.

Photographer Christy McNamara, well known for his photographs of traditional musicians will be collaborating in this exhibition with a series of commissioned photographs. Also included will be a short film made by Packmule Films documenting each of the musicians at work in their workshops. In conjunction with North Clare Historical Society there will be a lecture Monday 21st at 8pm by Eugene Lambe, collector of tunes and stories from County Clare. This exhibition will be held in the old courthouse building in Ennistymon which has been beautifully renovated into a new art space. Read more »

Details will no doubt be posted on the Courthouse Gallery website and their Facebook page. If you would like a PDF version (A4 size) of the 3 Instrument Makers (and their music) poster (pictured above), click on this link.

Aoife Doyle

Martin Doyle speaking to his webmaster today:

“I have an Aikido course all day on the 12th in Galway and when that’s over I’m straight into the car and down to Limerick. My daughter Aoife is singing at the UL concert hall and I’m really looking forward to it!”

Aoife Doyle will be performing as a guest singer in Vladimir Jablokov‘s Classical Twist concert at the University Concert Hall in Limerick on November 12, 2011.

Aoife trained formally as a jazz singer at the Newpark Music Centre in Dublin but sings in a range of styles including jazz, blues and folk. She is also an accomplished fiddle and tin whistle player.

In the interests of serving those who play simple system flutes, Martin Doyle has added fingering charts for simple system keyless D flutes to his website. Printable PDF versions of the fingering charts are also available to download.

These fingering charts are inspired by the fingering charts published by Johann Joachim Quantz (1697–1773) in his treatise On Playing the Flute which was first published in 1752. Martin Doyle studied Quantz at the beginning of his flute making career and found On Playing the Flute to be a great source of inspiration and information regarding simple system flutes and eighteenth century music in general.

Martin Doyle's fingering chart for a simple system keyless D flute

Martin Doyle’s fingering charts for simple system keyless D flutes can be viewed here »

A big THANK YOU to Asankita for creating the graphics – chur bro…!

Martin Doyle with the newly arrived FSC certified African Blackwood

This week Martin received his first full shipment of FSC certified African Blackwood. Delighted at receiving the timber, he had this to say:

“The arrival of this timber gives us the feeling of working in a sustainable environment that is genuinely beneficial to the people of Tanzania and we are very happy to be participating in a chain of events that has a positive outcome for everyone involved. It’s a great joy!”

Martin thinks that this shipment of timber has been harvested from the sustainably managed Mpingo forests around the village of Kikoli in eastern Tanzania – an area Martin visited during his trip to Tanzania in 2009. Martin’s plan is to be using FSC certified African Blackwood exclusively from the beginning of 2012 as his present stock of material diminishes. The flutes made from the FSC certified timber will be stamped accordingly.

Conversations on the Coast – by Nick Hand

Nick has just released Conversations on the Coast – a beautifully presented hardcover publication offering a selection of twenty stories and photography from the Slowcoast project.

Conversations on the Coast brings together artists and craftspeople from around the British Isles who talk about their work, their life and their passion.

“What I love most about this book is the humility of actually quite ordinary artisans chosen by chance as they came into focus on one man’s remarkable journey around the coast. What we learn is that when you take the time to look, even the apparently straight forward lives of a bicycle repairer, hat maker or basket weaver are driven by passion and a deep seated love for their work. It is inspirational.” – Robin Wood, Chair of The Heritage Crafts Association.

Nick Hand’s visit with Martin Doyle has been included in the book and Martin was delighted to receive a copy by post this week.

Nick Hand and his trusty steed

Related Posts:

• Martin Doyle features on Slowcoast

It has to happen every now and then… spring cleaning that is. And in New Zealand, where Martin Doyle’s webmaster lives, it is spring – so the timing is perfect. The southern spring has sprung and Martin Doyle has a new website – well, a new template at least. Same content pretty much, with some minor additions and the odd little tweak here and there – a facelift in effect.

The new-look Martin Doyle Flutes website

So a little celebration is in order and what better way to celebrate than with music…

Joe Doyle makes music

Joe Doyle

Recently added to the Martin Doyle’s flute music page is a lovely piece composed by Martin’s son Joe Doyle. Joe was out in the garden at his father’s home in County Clare a couple of weeks back, ‘playing around’ with his recently acquired Martin Doyle rosewood flute, when a tune drifted through the music-rich ether of Clare and manifested itself through Joe’s flute. Joe dedicated the tune to his father by naming it ‘The Flute Maker Martin Doyle’ (‘by the flute makers son’, as Joe quipped) and recorded it later that day.

As a result, ‘The Flute Maker Martin Doyle’ can be heard here.
Fair play to Joe – a lovely tune.

Sound & Fair is an organisation that aims to realise a sustainable trade in African blackwood through a Chain of Custody linking forest-dependent people in Tanzania to woodwind instrument musicians throughout the world.

Martin Doyle has recently been featured in a Sound & Fair news item regarding a new batch of Irish flutes that he has produced from Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified African Blackwood – a ‘world’s first’ for the flute making community. Martin’s concern for conservation and the conscious use of timber goes back to when he first began working with wood. In the Sound & Fair article he comments:

“From the time I was very young, I lamented man’s destruction of nature. It has always defied my logic and hurt me to think thad we were capable of flattening thousands of square miles of forestry so we could make hamburgers or bulldoze a beautiful meadow for a car park.

“When I started making flutes I was concerned as to where the timber came from: were they just hacking down the forests or were they sensitive to the continuation and replanting of the forests?

“In 2009 I was fortunate enough to be invited to Tanzania to see how the Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative works and I could not have been happier with any system of conservation.”

View the full article:

Martin Doyle launches world’s first flute made from FSC African Blackwood

Christy Barry, Gwenn Frin and Joe Doyle playing Martin Doyle FSC certified African blackwood flutes during an ‘orchard session’ at Martin’s home in County Clare recently.

Related

• World’s first flute made from FSC African Blackwood– Fauna & Flora International
• World’s First FSC certified Flute launched– Just Forests

Just Forests Press Release:

Martin Doyle receives the 2011 RDS National Crafts Award ('Musical Instruments' category)

Martin Doyle has just received the honour of being awarded first prize in the ‘Musical Instruments’ category of the 2011 RDS National Crafts Competition. The award was for a nine key flute made of cocus wood that Martin finished in April.

Martin drove from County Clare to Dublin with his apprentice Gwenn Frin on Wednesday to accept the award and they were joined at the RDS ceremony by Martin’s long-time friend and Aikido teacher Sean MacRuairi.

Martin Doyle has previously entered his flutes in two craft competitions winning major awards on both occasions. He was awarded the Crafts Council of Ireland Medal in 1985 (with an eight key flute made from African Blackwood) and the prestigious RDS California Gold Medal (overall winner) in 1993 (also with an eight key flute made from African Blackwood). Delighted by the encouragement of winning this years award, Martin had this to say:

“Receiving this award is part of an ongoing process to keep our work progressive and interesting. It adds a charm to the whole process to leave the workshop and meet our friends from other places. It also creates a buzz and some excitement among our co-workers because it is quite cute to win a prize and we’re thrilled! We are very grateful to the RDS for holding this competition and for giving us the opportunity to have such fun and joy!”

Second place in the ‘Musical Instruments’ category of this years National Crafts Competition was shared by two luthiers, Alan Mayers of Antrim (photos of the guitar Alan submitted can be viewed here) and John Moriarty of Dublin.

Each year the winning and commended entries from the RDS National Crafts Competition and the RDS Student Art Awards tour to venues throughout Ireland. The exhibitions help promote Ireland’s most promising and talented artists and designers to a wider audience. Details of the tour dates and venues can be viewed here.

Related Links

• Award winning Martin Doyle nine key D flute
      – images of the flute and the ceremony.
• 2011 RDS National Crafts Competition Prize-Winners
      – the full list in all categories.
• RDS Photo Gallery
      – click on the ‘RDS National Craft Competition 2011’ panel at top left.

Eimear McGeown with Martin Doyle flute (photo by Sharon Latham)

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.

The two tunes Eimear plays are The Dark Woman of the Glen, a slow air, and Fir A’ Bhata, a waltz, which was produced by John Tonks. Both pieces are played on a traditional style Martin Doyle D flute made of African Blackwood. We are very grateful to Eimear for her kind permission to feature these tunes which can be heard on Martin Doyle’s Flute Music page. Eimear has also offered a testimonial.

• More of Eimear’s music can be heard on her MySpace page
• Eimear’s homepage: Eimear McGeown – Classical & Irish Flute

The following is a video clip that features Eimear playing her Irish flute and being interviewed regarding a music project called the Irish Sea Sessions that she was involved in in 2010. Some very nice playing from Eimear…

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 is a friend of Martins from back in 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 compered and performed in 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.

Read more/see more here:
Bob Denton’s photos of Martin Doyle – February, 2011