Tommy Peoples at 2003 Milwaukee Irish Fest. 

correction; Tommy's playing was the perfect combination of technique and feeling!!

he ws the FECKING finest..... and the most quirky. Like many old Donegal fiddlers he talked to the other siiiiiiiide! *boooh*

@@allenfeldman8869 Tommy was one of the finest. A truly superb player and composer as there are many others. It’s your opinion that he was the best, good for you. It’s not a competition.

@@johnmc3862 It is not a question of compétition, nobody can play like him. That's all. He was unique. That the difference.

What are you sorry for?

You were blessed to be there!

I've found that learning to conserve my bow like Tommy does here helps me to get a much cleaner, more focused sound as long as you balance out the amount of pressure you're using and tbh if you're making a crisp, resonant sound, it doesn't actually have to be that loud to fill a room over voices/other instruments in a session. Just been my experience anyway! Also his bow makes a perfect right angle with the string so even if he's not using much bow it's getting the full resonance out of the instrument.

Tommy could be heard in a session, you needn't worry about that.

I had the great pleasure of hearing Tommy Peoples play in a room in a pub in South Wales in c. 2008-2010 - just him and his fiddle, no mic. The room was packed, but he had the audience's rapt attention and every note was heard loud and clear.

@@rhapsag thanks for the replies

I can say that, with regards to the bowing, Tommy and several other northern-born fiddlers in Ireland always told me to use the upper half more. I remember because I love music from Donegal/Ulster and Scottish style tunes. Donegal and other northern styles feature more single-note bowing. This sort of articulation is best achieved at the tip of the bow. Especially the faster you’re playing… on the contrary, if you watch videos of Liz and Yvonne Kane for example, from Galway, their playing is much more ”flowy” and ornate in a sense, more long rolls, and the tunes they play (even the old standards) all involve phrases where multiple notes are played in one bow stroke. Therefore they use much more generous lengths of the bow. So it’s not a rule that Irish music is best articulated at the bow tip…but it is helpful for most tunes. I think the mic is likely necessary with a large audience. Especially playing solo… Under a tent outdoors, as well. If it were a full band or session on stage with pipers, multiple fiddles, accordions etc. maybe amplification wouldn’t be necessary. I don’t think using a mic takes away from the trad aspect though. In that sense, why are we viewing this video at all? I’m on my iPhone as we speak, is it not trad bc of that? Trad has more to do with where you learned the tunes and your influences within how you play it… acoustics in festivals are only helped by amplification. And at festivals people talk nonstop too!