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?
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