Comment by sionnach, 5 months ago

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:58:26 +0000

Some hints:

'urlar' is just Gaelic for 'floor'.
'siubhal' or 'siul' is a walk
'ordog' (probably 'ordag' in Scots Gaelic) is a thumb

So 'siubhal ordaig' just means "a walk for the thumb".

'luath' means 'early', but I don't recognize the various prefixes.

Comment by chained_bear, 5 months ago

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:13:11 +0000

"Píobaireachd takes the basic form of a rondo: a theme and variations with periodic return of the theme. It comprises:

—a 'ground' (or ùrlar, pron: oorlur, which provides the basic theme)

followed by variations of different sorts including perhaps:

—a 'thumb variation' (or siubhal ordaig, pron: shewell ordik) in which high A or high G is substituted for certain notes in the ground
—various other kinds of siubhal which involve pairing themal notes from the ground with lower notes on the chanter such as A or G
—a leumluath (pron: lemla) which combines the themal notes from the ground with a conventional gracenote figure revolving round a tonal centre on E
—a taorluath (pron: toorla), which combines the themal notes from the ground with a different conventional gracenote combination centering on A
—a crunluath (pron: croonla), which combines the themal notes from the ground with still different gracenote combinations.

There are other types of variation, but the above are the most common."

—William Donaldson, Pipers: A Guide to the Players and Music of the Highland Bagpipe (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2005), 28

Wordie: ùrlar: Comments

Comment by sionnach, 5 months ago

Comment by chained_bear, 5 months ago