Response to Comments #2

Hey Abigail,

I agree with you that having some other perspectives included would be a good idea for making generalizations about Irish traditional music. I'm going to be very careful when framing my final blog post to make sure it doesn't sound as though I believe that the Irish Cultural Centre is representative of Irish music everywhere, rather my concern with this project is my analysis of what's going on in Canton (which, of course, could be extended to studies of Irish diaspora music in other places in the future). Talking to Sheila was really helpful and the books she gave me have been great. Let me know if you'd like to look at any of them. For my blog post, I'm definitely going to include an excerpt from the interview because Sean is an extremely eloquent speaker and his voice communicate more than a transcript of his voice. As of right now, I feel really good heading into the project and have a large body of text/media/experience to draw from. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

-Ben

Critical Review - Dorothea Hast and Stanley Scott's "Music in Ireland", Chapter 1: Invitation to a Session

In the first chapter of their book, Hast and Scott recount a trip they, as Americans, made to Ireland in 1997 in which they were invited to a small pub named Gleesons to attend a traditional Irish session. They differentiate sessions from other "contrived" presentations of Irish traditional music, such as festivales, schools, clubs, and competitions, in that with the pub session "the life of the music [is] in a community where the music has been getting along 'on its own,' patronized by local people and performed by local musicians, for generations (1)." They describe Gleesons as "a single, spacious room" with a fireplace and a small area in one corner reserved for the musicians. Junior Crehan, the 89-year-old fiddler and long-time leader of the Sunday night session, begins the session with a jig he wrote himself and has been playing for years. Between sets of jigs and reels, the musicians take breaks to talk and drink, alternating casually between playing and relaxing. The music is loud enough to be heard by all those in attendence at the pub, but not so loud as to prevent conversation because, as pub owner Jimmy Gleeson states: "people want to come in and converse... It's a farming community. So it's very important that you can hold a conversation... If someone is singing, that's the one time, the only thing I want to hear when someone is singing is the big clock ticking. And you know when you can hear the clock ticking that you have silence (4-5)." Hast and Scott write that the music is "neither a performance... nor background music", rather it is part and parcel to the entire Irish pub experience, serving to create a communal space for those who frequent the pub (5). In this spirit, specific tunes and players become part of the unique fabric of a given session, varying from one session to the next (10). Sometimes, "tunes have... been regarded as the personal property of the musicans who played them", though not necessarily those who wrote them. This is due to oral transmission being the "primary" form of continuity with Irish traditional music: those who preserve a tune by repeatedly playing it are in many ways given credit for the tune (12). The session is a place where specific players and community members are highly valued. Overall, the impression Gleesons left on the authors was one that "evoke[d] nostalgia for a simpler, less commercial way of life (15)."

Question: does practicing "tradition" involve adhering to ideas of what is "authentic" or is it more about establishing a local routine unique to a specific community? Or maybe more importantly, how do those who feel they are participating in tradition concern themselves with authenticity?

Critical Review - Barry Foy's "Field Guide to the Irish Music Session"

Written in a somewhat satirical style, Barry Foy's book addresses the subtle social etiquette and contemporary environment of the traditional Irish session. Foy describes a session as being a "gathering of Irish musicians for the purpose of celebrating their common interest... in a relaxed, informal setting" where the musicians simultaneously work to keep alive the "tradition" of the session and to share an evening of drinking with friends at the same time (12). He describes the music as being anything but a "jam", rather Irish traditional music consists of: "specific tunes in specific rhythms, played in specific ways in specific keys of specific instruments (13)." This requires that those who participate in sessions be extremely knowledgeable about the material being played, lest they not play at all. Because Irish traditional music is, stylistically, "unisonal" (all melodic instruments play in unison), chordal accompaniment is not required and, in fact, not necessary (53). Foy lists the fiddle, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, flute, concertina, accordion as being instruments that would be welcome at almost all sessions while guitars, mandolins, bodhrans, and banjos should never number more than one, if at all (18). The majority of tunes (not songs, which are sung, which are played far less frequently than tunes) can be classified as "reels", typified by fast tempo and a lively sound (23). Reels are strung together to form larger pieces, what Foy jokingly calls "BTSTs", or "Buncha-Tunes-Strung-Together", which usually consists of three tunes (30). Though there are no "rules" for how many times a single tune in a BTST should be played before moving to the next, the standard number is three, unless the tune is unusually long or short, in which case the number of repetitions is adjusted accordingly (25). Foy claims that BTSTs are determined in three ways: the tunes are classically played in a certain series that is generally known to everyone who plays Irish traditional music ("Tarlbolton"/"The Longford Collector"/"The Sailor's Bonnet"), a musician shouts out the name of the new tune while the one currently being played is ending, or someone just starts playing a new tune once the one has ended and hopes that enough other musicians know it to join in (31). Alternatively, some sessions set up their BTSTs beforehand, which Foy argues goes against the traditional aesthetic of Irish music. During sessions, long pauses between BTSTs are common in that the session is more of a social construction than a truly performative one (45). The prevalent use of electronic media has caused regional styles that were once transmitted orally to recede from the session in favor or versions of tunes found on mass-produced compact discs. This can cause clashes at sessions as tunes played in specific keys (so as to accommodate instruments like the flute that cannot really be tuned) are altered on recordings and musicians who aren't familiar with the "traditional" key may alienate those instruments which the tune was initially written for (81-82). In the end, Foy argues that the session, which is quite unlike a "normal concert" or recording by its highly interactive nature, still provides the basis for almost all contemporary recordings and concerts: "The session is the wellspring of Irish music, its beating heart. Its importance to the tradition must never be forgotten. The sometimes tricky, overrehearsed material that finds its way onto recordings and the stage may maintain a higher profile, but it owes its vitiality to the decades of sessions that preceded it and gave shape to the music (65)."

Question: exactly what are the social/temporal roots of the contemporary session? How far back does this "tradition" reach?

Critical Review - Anthony McCann's "All That Is Not Given Is Lost: Irish Traditional Music, Copyright, and Common Property"

Anthony McCann opens his article by stating that Irish traditional music finds itself in "the best of times and the worst of times". In many ways, the music is more popular globally than it's ever been and interest is at an all time high. On the other hand, the streamlining of a music that was once a "traditional" cultural practice has commodified the music in ways that are problematic. McCann argues that transmission of Irish traditional music depends/has depended on the music being a "gift" (a "system of sharing" that is "as-yet-unarticulated") as opposed to a commodity (89). Groups like the Irish Music Rights Organization (IMRO) work to protect Irish traditional music as a commodity, that is to say, removing some pieces of music from the "public domain" so as to assign ownership of the song (who has written it/who has the right to use it). After this point, McCann reiterates that "the noncommodity aspect of Irish musical practice... [is] the "cultural glue" that holds the whole system together (91)." He brings up the Irish seisiun as the major platform on which the Irish musical "gift economy" takes place: the seisiun is culturally important not because it's a "colonial relic" but rather because it is a "response" to current economic circumstances: it allows for the free exchange of music in a society which values and supports artistic "ownership" of music (92). McCann makes the case for Irish traditional music as being a Common Property Resource (CPR) due to its "non-excludability" and its tendency to develop "rivalrous consumption", or a situation where "each user [of the music] is capable of subtracting from the welfare of other users" based on the context in which a given person uses the music (whether in a consumer market or a gift economy) (94-5). There is a constant struggle between those who want to perform the music outside of the commercial spehere and those who wish to "cordon of those aspects of the [musical] environment that seem 'useful'" and make music a "product" and musicians "producers" (95). "Tragedy" can strike with common property when "self-interest and social interest diverge". Irish traditional music is, by and large, open to being used by anyone who wants to use it. Yet, McCann argues, the social and cultural significance of Irish traditional music relies on its transmission and presentation as being a gift, not a product. When those acting in self-interest attempt to turn a profit on the music, they work against the very nature of the music that makes it special in the first place (96). Commodification "dimishes to humanizing domain of the gift" (97). The "negative reciprocity" of capitalism, the turning of "one man's gift to another man's capital", promotes "individualism and clannishness" at the expense of communal social practice (98). Ultimately, McCann makes a plea for a legal system which "recognizes the wealth, the breadth, and, most importantly, the social nature of traditional musics and [their] transmission".

Question: if what's traditional is a "contemporary response to contemporary conditions", the meaning of what is traditional in Irish music must be dynamic. Not to argue for commodification of music, I wonder: do sales and the copyrighting of music that is played in the "traditional" Irish style diminish the one's enjoyment of the music? Can commodified music bring just as much pleasure as music that is transmitted as "gift" if such a system is socially desirable? Essentially, is there a certain "sanctity" that capitalism defiles?

Critical Review - Thomas F. Johnson's "The Social Context of Irish Folk Instruments"

In his article, T.F Johnson details the history and modern application of those instruments that are considered "traditional" in Ireland: the tin whistle, the harp, the fiddle, the Uillean pipes, the accordion, and the bodhran.

The usage of the tin whistle (or instruments similar to the tin whistle) dates back as far as the 13th century, when archaeologists have determined bone whistles called feadans were played in Ireland. Today, the most popular form of tin whistle consists of a cylinder of tin with a plastic mouthpiece. The length of the tin whistle is indicative of the set of pitches it is capable of playing, with longer tin whistles being in the keys of C or D and shorter whistles in F. They consist of six holes which are capable of playing the entire series of chromatic semitones, but are usually used in a diatonic fashion due the rapidity of melody playing that prevents key transpositions that require careful "forking" and "half-holing". In the commonly used Sligo style of flute/tin whistle playing, "rolls" are often performed, which consists of using neighbor tones to embellish the main tones of a melody.

The Irish harp, a "major national emblem" of Ireland (47), dates back to the 9th century and are used frequently by contemporary/recent folk-rock bands such as the Chieftains and Clannad. The use of the harp is highly symbolic in that it represents a "traditional", ancient Ireland and attempts at retention and revitalization of such an Ireland.

The Uillean pipes, or bagpipes, date as far back as the 11th century. The pipes utilize a continuous "drone" that underlies the melody of the pipes and serves as accompaniment. Competitive pipe bands flourish in six of Ireland's northern counties as they battle to express "tribal identity" (49); the pipes are associated with Irish national identity. Pipes are not consistenly used in Irish seisiuns due to their expense, finicky tuning, difficulty of playing.

The fiddle (violin) arrived in Ireland sometime after the 16th century. Irish fiddle, though often times the same actual instrument as the orchestral violin, is played very differently from the violin: it is "not held under the chin but drops at a distinct slope from and below the shoulder of the player... the neck is supported in the ball of the left hand... the bow is held rigidly over the nut, and its use is restricted mainly to the upper third of its length (51)." Though there are many regional styles of fiddle playing, all involve "rolls, slurs, glissandi, and other embellishments" that differentiate fiddle playing from violin playing (51). Double-stops, or the playing of two strings simultaneously, are common in Irish instrumental music. The fiddle, because it is fairly affordable, rich in sound, and reasonably loud, is often a prominent lead instrument at Irish seisiuns.

The accordion is generally pitched in C and is capable of spanning over two octaves. The accordion is played by expanding and compressing its bellows, which allows for two methods of playing: altering the direction of expansion/compression with the introduction of a new note, or the continued expansion/compression while many notes are played (which is particularly helpful in faced paced Irish instrumental music).

The bodhran is a type of drum that dates back to the 13th century. The bodhran is "a shallow wooden hoop at the rear of which are two crossbars at right angles. Over this frame is stretch a tough but elastic goatskin" (57). The bodhran is played with a stick in one hand while the other hand moves up and down on the back side to the drum to alter the drum's pitch. The bodhran is one of the most common accompanying instruments in Irish folk music.

In a brief discussion of seisiuns, Johnson notes that instruments are not usually sectioned off instrument type, but rather an intermingling of melody players occurs (who play in unison). Accompanying instruments are grouped together slightly separate from the melody players.

These instruments "represent the Irish nostalgic and sometimes tragic past" and often seen as symbols of Irish identity (58).

Question: instruments like the guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass are not considered traditional in Irish music but are often utilized in "traditional" seisiuns. What does this suggest about tradition? Are those who value tradition open to changes and alterations? Can something be traditional and new/progressive at the same time?

Interview Excerpt - Sean Kane

These are excerpts of the interview I did with musician/seisiun leader Sean Kane at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton, MA, on March 29th, 2008:

Ben Nicholson: So I guess my first question is a very general question: what is your experience with Irish music, how’d you get into it, why do you still do it?

Sean Kane: Sure… my mother is Irish, she’s from Westmeath. My father was American but he was also Irish, his family came over about 100 years ago, 160 years ago maybe… I grew up in the US in Brockton, spent my time between there and Westmeath most of the Summer every year until I was 18… The funny thing is the Midlands are not rich in Irish culture… The Midlands would have been part of the “pale”… the ring of safety that had been Anglicized around Dublin once the British rule took over… culture had pretty much been squelched out of that area... The Midlands are rich for cows, cattle, farming, but not really rich in culture so when I went over there all the years I spent in the summers it had nothing to do with… music.

I had no background, or so I thought, in Irish music. When I turned 21, there used to be a phenomenal Irish-American bar in Easton… called the Irish Embassy… I used to go in there four nights a week… There was a song they were playing one night, “Seven Drunken Nights”,… I realized I knew all the words and I didn’t know why… It slowly dawned on me that growing up… I used to spend hours and hours listening to my mother’s LPs…

[The Irish Cultural Center] wanted to turn this place from just a function facility into a place that is actually open and people will come to eat dinner and hear music… Last January we started [seisiuns]… It’s not even a restaurant that people are aware of, it’s set back off against the road, there’s no history of it being open, and we just figured we’d just go for it… It’s been pretty good… a little more than a year into it it’s starting to take off.

They’re trying to build it up and make it a well known destination for music and culture.

BN: Having lived in Ireland, even if it wasn’t necessarily the cultural center of music… what would you say are the differences between the music [in Ireland and America]?

SK: As far as the music itself… we’re pretty egalitarian here because a lot of seisiuns…anywhere really can have that almost “jazz-like” mentality, that the musicians are playing for the musicians and aren’t you lucky that you might be sitting there hearing it. There won’t be any singing and they’re going to do whatever they want to do and that’s the way it is. And even singing… in a really traditional setting there’s probably a bias against it… We just don’t do that… because it’s about building up the night and not just about the music… If you play three hours of jig and reels… I don’t find that to be the most attractive thing for a night out… We’re definitely open, some places call themselves a seisiun but aren’t really a seisiun because a seisiun implies that any musician who can play is invited to play, and that’s just clearly not true in a lot of places.

If you sit in on a very traditional Irish seisiun, especially with Irish people, you would sit there keep your mouth shut and not even attempt to play until you get the look from the person saying, “Yeah, it’s okay, why don’t you join in on this one?” We don’t really do that here, but on the other side of the coin, some people come in and have no concept of good manners.

There is always, not just in music, that conflict of identity between that you’re either Irish and born in Ireland or you’re not. And if you’re not, at some level that’s important…

In terms of the music… there would be … [regional] style[s] of music, but all of that is actually going away because in the modern age, you have the Internet and you have CDs, and so now everybody sounds like Altan instead of everybody sounding like the people that they organically learned from in the oral tradition… It’s not the oral tradition any more, it’s the electronic tradition… The modern era is squelching the playing styles… making it all generic.

BN: In terms of playing here specifically… we talk a lot in the class about what is “traditional” and about “authenticity”… about whether or not authenticity is important…

SK: Yeah, authenticity… I think every seisiun might have its own tradition of what tunes in what order it might play… I don’t think we are necessarily that authentic in that there’s so much of our choices that have come in… I kind of think that authenticity has more to do with identity issue than it does with the music ultimately… it’s like another battle line of whose more Irish… as much as it is about whatever the traditional order of a set is.

BN: So do you feel like here that authenticity isn’t necessarily as big of a deal as it might be…?

SK: I don’t think we worry about it… Sean Connor [fiddle player] is Irish, he’s lived a long time in London. There’s some players that aren’t Irish at all… All of that stuff can be interpreted negatively by… certain Irish people. I’m not going to be Irish enough for someone else, I might pass muster with some people but… you’ve got all of that nonsense going on. So I don’t worry about it, I can’t worry about that kind of thing.
You can only be authentic to your own experience.

If we tried to pretend to be Irish, that’s not being very authentic… I think that identity and what it means to be this, that, or the other thing and what badge will prove that is something that I think the Irish have been experiencing for several hundred years, but is also more and more being experienced… people everywhere in the in the world… Travel, displacement, migration, immigration, all of that stuff is becoming more of a norm than the exception and all of that identity politics, first generation and second generation issues, is a very relevant issue in the world. I think the Irish are way out in front with it because they’ve been doing it certainly since the huge emigration in 19th century.

Third culture people have to make choices about who they are and where they come from and you either get empowered by that and you synthesize it… pick and choose what works for you from the places that you’re from, or you become kind of encapsulated, which is you can’t synthesize that stuff and you’re always pining for some other place and you don’t become empowered by it. And I think all of that is incredibly true, historically, about the Irish.

Guitar is not even a traditional instrument in Irish music… The whole notion of a seisiun is a modern creation, that’s what makes me laugh. The bottom line joke is that seisiuns are not traditional at all. The only reason that music existed was that dancers could dance. The idea that musicians would just play the music without anyone dancing didn’t exist… That’s like a 20th century phenomenon. So then when they try to hit you with what you can and can’t do… it’s not like it’s going back 400 years, it’s going back 40 years. We’re not talking about generations of tradition. So we’ve got a stand up bass player tonight. That’s not traditional at all, but it’s pretty cool.

Critical Review - Handler and Linnekin's "Tradition: Genuine or Spurious"

Handler and Linnekin state that tradition is often constructed as having a "commonsense" meaning in which it "refers to an inherited body of customs and beliefs"(1). This commonsense understanding of tradition is faulty because it implies a permanence that does not exist. Handler and Linnekin argue that tradition is a "wholly symbolic construction" that is always determined by interpretations in the present. Those who view tradition as completely naturalistic believe that there are essential characteristics of a culture that determine tradition as opposed to the culture's conscious decisions as to what is to be considered "traditional". They use naturalistic metaphors to establish boundedness: the collective culture as an entity, the collectivity as a collection of individuals, and the individuals who share fundamental attributes that allow them to carry on traditions. H and L oppose this approach because they believe that "there is no essential, bounded tradition; tradition is a model of the past as is inseparable from the interpretation of tradition in the present (4)." Traditions are fabricated because they are "necessarily reconstructed in the present (7)": elements selected for preservation are displayed in an entirely new context, elements mean new things to those who are viewing them as a sort of audience (by viewing the elements as being "traditional"), and elements included in "tradition" are deliberately chosen and consciously assigned a culturally-representative value. Unselfconscious tradition is actually paradoxical, for tradition requires a present-day "reinterpretation" that, due to temporal discrepancies, can't help but change the tradition in its contemporary context. Ultimately, "tradition is never wholly unselfconscious, nor is it ever wholly unrelated to the past (13)." Tradition is a "process of interpretation, attributing meaning in the present though making reference to the past (15)." Therefore, terms like "genuine" and "spurious" cannot apply to the idea of tradition because tradition is constantly being interpreted in the present and has no more validity at one instance than at another: if it is viewed as traditional within a culture at a given time, then it is traditional to that culture.

Question: what are the benefits of being "traditional"? In what way does being traditional enhance meaning or importance?