Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1620 (A Punch in the Dark)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording CTL 3 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | B Dorian |
A Punch in the Dark / Punch in the Dark (3rd in set Punch on Lu 5 and Lu 7) (composed by Gerry O'Connor)
Discography
Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1992 | 10#3 | [CTL 3] Cherish the Ladies. The Back Door. Mary Coogan (guitar, banjo), Siobhan Egan (fiddle, bodhrán), Eileen Golden (feet), Winifred Horan (fiddle, feet), Maureen Doherty Macken [Mary Rafferty] (accordion, flute), Joanie Madden (flute, whistle), Cathie Ryan (vocals), Linnane Wick (feet). |
| ~1993 | 8#3 | [SSm] Seán Smyth. The Blue Fiddle. Seán Smyth (fiddle, whistle, vocals). |
| 2003 | 3#3 | [Lu 5] Lúnasa. The Kinnitty Sessions. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle, bodhran), Donogh Hennessy (guitar), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass), Sean Smyth (fiddle, whistle), Cillian Vallely (pipes, whistle). For this tune: Sean Smyth (fiddle). |
| ~2004 | 10#3 | [Lu 7] Lúnasa. The Story So Far .... Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle, bodhran), Sean Smyth (fiddle, whistle), Cillian Vallely (pipes, whistle), Mike McGoldrick (flute, pipes), John McSherry (pipes), Donogh Hennessy (guitar), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass, cello), Paul Meehan (guitar). For this tune: Sean Smyth (fiddle). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune considering only the indexed books, listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.
| As reel #402 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. |
If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?
Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1992