Novelties, Christmas GIfts and Special Offers!

Our range of Novelty and Christmas Gifts are beginning to arrive! Look out for the "tea for one" teapot, cup and large saucer - just the perfect gift for musicians, teachers etc or check out our Fridge magnets, wonderful violine, wind instruments, guitars etc in great detail!

We have a full range of mugs and miniature instruments (see pictures above) plus special offers on a notebooks, postits etc

New drums available including a fibreglass Djembe (handheld) for €49 and 20% off all large wooden African percussion!

Check us out !

Event of the Week: Ulysses Chamber Choir!

Choir name: Ulysses Chamber Choir
Concert title: Sing Joyfully
Date: Saturday 23rd June
Time: 8pm
Price: €12
Venue: St. Ann’s Church, Dawson Street
Music type: Tudor and Renaissance music featuring instrumental ensemble Seanma

Here’s a blog that we used for another website:

“Ulysses Chamber Choir invites you to Sing Joyfully! Join this award winning choir for a summer celebration of Tudor and Renaissance choral music on Saturday 23rd June in St. Ann's Church, Dawson Street. Featuring a musical interlude from the noted early music ensemble Seanma. Tickets can be purchased at the door priced 12 euros.”

Summer Specials.....

We have a tiny handful of Djembe's left in stock at a whopping 20% discount, including a Kambala Set and some Conga-djembe's that will cost around 150 or 160 euro at sale price but are about 24" high and 12" head. These are very nice drums :) and it's a pity we won't have them any more, but this is a great chance to snap them up. All our makes of Djembe are handmade and of good quality. We also have bags from around €38.95.

Other specials include Tanglewood Acoustic Guitars natural or brown, matt finish including cover,strap,pick, Dvd etc at €185 NOW €175 (while stocks last)
and Tanglewood acoustic guitars in various colours, gloss finish, inc cover were €175 now €160

We also have selected specials on Books, DVDs (all Dvds are 10% discount!) and other items, check the blog regularly for further details !

Happy Easter!

Well I hope all our customers had as lovely an Easter break as we did; and that you are all enjoying the sunshine. It's a little worry because it really does look as if global warming may exist but on the other hand - well, it make s a change from wading into the city centre in wellies doesn't it? Every cloud has a silver lining....
Seriously though, if you are intrested in the environment check out our recycling policy!We take other people's paper bags and plastic bags and recycle them out - all those lovely fashion bags that are strong enough for another use but not much good to you sitting at home, clogging up the wardrobe or filling up your recycling bin!
If you avhe clean, untorn, paper or plastic bags, fold them up[ and next time you're in town drop them into us. It's one small thing we can all do for the environment.

Djembes - only a few left!

We have only a few left of our African handmade Djembes and this is the end of the stock guys! We probably won;t be renewing this line so if you want to snap up a bargain get into us - 20% discount on all Djembes, including conga djembes and also on our Kapunga sets (1 left in stock)

Corvus Corax

Fabulous! Just found this great band - billed as folk/classical/gothic and that barely begins to cover it. Magical sound!





http://www.myspace.com/spielleute





http://www.corvuscorax.de/

Check them out and trust us you'll be hooked! As far as we can tell their CD is only available from their website, but it's worth the effort to try to get one!

Last week of Sale

It's the final week of our march stock clearance sale: 10% off all bodhráns (Paul McAuley, Paraic McNeela, FIrst Island, Dublin Bodhráns, Michael Vignoles, Malachy Kearns) and 20% off Djembes plus look at our books, cds, dvds, videos (10% off) and other percussion offers (15% discount off Native American Drums handmade by Paul McAuley)

So have a look and take advantage of these offers, cos it will be too late in April!

AND BEST OF LUCK TO THE IRISH SOCCER TEAM ON SATURDAY!

How to Write an Irish Ballad

A customer asked me today what was a the "best" Irish ballad; we couldn't really help them, after all it's really a matter of opinion! but we did enjoy a productive half-hour of naming our favourites.
Some opted for the obscure (instant kudus in Irish traditional circles if you can name some little known piece only sung between two parishes in the Wesht and even then only on a Tuesday and if you see a brown bull) while some opted for the old classics

We came up with the following list:

Fields of Athenry (comes under the heading of Guilty Pleasure)
Kevin Barry (top of the Rebel Songs Category)
Boulavogue (next most popular)
A Nation once Again (third popular rebel song)
Gortnamorna (representing the Music Hall Ballad)
Streets of New York (Modern Irish Ballad)
I know my Love (Catchiest Ballad)
Connemara Cradle Song (Sweetest ballad)
A Bunch of Thyme (most coyly suggextive ballad)

Feel free to add your own!

Of course there is a certain sameness to Irish Ballds, particualrly those of a certain ilk. If you ever want to write the classic Irish folk song, remember the following rules

1. Bloody English (AKA the Auld Enemy, The Redcoats or the Yoemen) are to blame for starting it, whatever the aprticular "it" is this time
2. Mention a rotten Landlord preferably one that threw you out into the snow, barefoot and pregnant, with four starving childer and your dying mother.
3. Add in a hint of sex - either the landlord's son, a redcoat or the boy in the next parish. The former will ahve deserted the herione and the latter she regrets leaving behind.
4. rebel against something, traditionally some combination of the above
5. set it all to a lamenting air except the chorus which shoul be rousing and sound like you're exhorting your listener to murder!

have fun!

St Patricks Day....and ukuleles

We don't open on Paddy's Day frankly because the city centre is not the best place to be on a day like that! So the shop will be shut between Saturday the 17th and Tuesday the 20th: but the sale goes on....the bodhrán sale in particular is prooving very popular!

We've just got in new Ukuleles: handmade ones in beautiful wood, pink ukuleles for kids, ukulele banjos (truly a work of art!) and lots more, including pineapple shape hawaiian and electro-acoustic ones.

Ukuleles!

Craviola

The Craviola by Giannini of Brazil

Saturday in the City

We're having a busy morning in here and it's great to see the tourists return! Lots of happy faces around, on holidays and weekends away, in advance of Paddy's Day next weekend. With only two of our three staff members in this month we're a bit short staffed and on slightly shorter hours than normal; we shut at 4.30 on a saturday and 5pm on a weekday. It's such a lovely day out there, I'm surprised anyone is in town (I wouldn't be if I could help it :) ) but it's certainly nice to see so many tourists out and about!


Obviously our bodhran sale is a big draw as are the reductions on books etc; but whistles, bones, spoons, and larger traditional instruments are prooving very popular too!





If you're out and about in town today, enjoy the sunny Saturday atmosphere!

(think of us trapped in here in the gloom while you're out there enjoying yourselves! :) )

More March Sale News!

IN addition to 10% discount on ALL bodhrans we have some padded covers from only €15.00! Check out our range of beaters, over 400 designs in different woods, weights, grips etc and our special "sound effect" range, clicker sticks, bamboo brush beaters, Flix Sticks brush beaters etc and specialist woods beaters, including Heart of Rose Brazilwood, Mexican Pine and Aunstralian hardwoods- 10 % off ALL beaters....

Perhaps our best reductions are in the Djembe range - never again will you get a djembe of this quality for these prices! a full 20% discount on remaining stock!

Plus Djembe hats, and covers, videos and tutor books all at 10% discount. You just can't go wrong with these!

March Sale: Happy St Paddy's Day

Now is the best time to buy Bodhráns and accessories - we have a great sale offer on for the month of March. In honour of Paddy's Day, we are giving 10% discount on ALL bodhráns and accessories. This also includes all books, cds, dvds, and videos on a range of subjects.

We have a limited selection of top quality handmade Djembes at a very special 20% discount! And 15% off Native American style drums...

and more....there are selected special offers throughout the month so keep an eye on the blog for updates!

Old Violins...Odd Violins

One of our favourite instruments: this is often mistakenly called a Marian Trumpet but it is more accurately described as a Choir violin. It's a violin used in the 18 and 19th centuries by both parish choirs and local pub players equally. It ahs a very strange sound but is capable of a surprising rnge of notes and a deep, pleasant accompanying drone.

The History Of Charles Byrne Music

A lot of our history can be found on our website

Founded by the first CCHARLIE BYRNE in 1870,
ours is one of the oldest family-owned music shops in Europe.

The very building itself has seen many of the historical events,
which have shaped the Republic of Ireland.
Home Rule, The Easter Rising, The War of Independence, Civil War and more,
becoming itself a listed heritage building and a recognised local landmark for Dubliners

http://www.geocities.com/charlesbyrnemusic/his.htm