Irish bagpipes solo, Copley 9-194, recorded in the Moore Street studio, Dublin, 1949. Doran came from a family of travelling people; his brother Johnny was a renowned piper of phenomenal talent, who was also recorded on acetate disks two years previously. These disks were played on the radio in the late 60s and copied by fans, and became a source of inspiration for many modern pipers, showing astounding technique, imagination, and inspiration.
Felix was, in contrast, merely a great piper, and this disk is one of his best. His constant vamping on the regulators is more akin to Leo Rowsome's than his brother's more varied approach. He also used much more staccato or "tight" fingering than Johnny, in steadfast contrast to the popular perception of travellers being legato or "open" players, since open piping is slightly louder, thus better suited to busking on the street.
Doran's Fancy is the well known jig Scatter the Mud. Johnny Doran recorded the Rambling Pitchfork one of the 1947 acetates, which are now available on the CD The Master Pipers Volume 1, published by Na bPíobairí Uilleann. As on the reels on the other side of this disc, Felix would vary the constant regulator vamping with a long bass A note, an attractive device he seemed to abandon on later recordings.
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