Ren/Celtic

Long shot but does anyone else play Celtic music or perform music at Renaissance faires? I do I play the Irish flute.
I know most of you all are into rock and folk music, but I figured I would ask.

December

Above is a pic of the type of flute I play.

 

*shudders*

We don't call it Celtic - that's a "world music" term for people who don't know the difference between Irish, Scottish, Breton etc.

I've been brought up on it by my dad, although at school all I learnt was classical and jazz. But I went over the regional fleadh in Skibbereen, west Cork last summer, bought myself a whistle for 4 euro and starte joining in some of the sessions hoping that by dropping myself in it I could pick up a few tunes. Would be so much easier if I could learn from books at first but there just aren't books for that sort of thing.

I take it you're a yank because the term Renaissance fair is meaningless to me. Irish traditional and its counterparts in Scotland, Britanny etc is nothing like as old as the Renaissance. Most of the oldest established tunes were written only about 300 years ago or so. Renaissance music is a completely different thing altogether played on instruments such as Shawms, crumhorns sackbutts and viols and that was more like 5-600 years ago. In Britain, traditional music is played in sessions in pubs, or at festivals, and we have it all over the place. I do find it a bit odd that you have these fairs in America supposedly re-enacting the period before America was officially discovered, and getting it all wrong anyway because from the pictures I've seen it looks more like a Medieval thing than a Renaissance thing, the difference being a FURTHER 300 years.

But yeah, Irish traditional rocks, and Scottish is not far behind - saw a fair bit of it at the Cambridge folk festival this year, and big name Sharon Shannon was there, as was an excellent Irish flautist from Manchester called Michael McGoldrick. This thursday I'm heading off to a session in a Cambridge pub with my dad and a mate of his who's coming down from London - should be good fun! I think my favourite Traditional band, even though they're not technically very traditional, what with them including a bass and new and exciting arrangements of old traditional tunes, is Lúnasa. Was priveleged enough to see them live once in Euston I think. Or it might have been Hammersmith, I can't remember.

 

Actually both my parents are from Ireland.



I know what traditional Irish Music is. I do play different types. Sorry If I offended you with using "Yank" terms. Renaissance here does not always mean "Renaissance" It means to have experiences things in life and to bring it all together.

Here World Music is that of African and Latin LOL that aint Celtic LOL.

I find it odd that people from other countries find it odd we celibrated a time period here WHO CARES if America was not a county yet. The ignorance that other countries hold is they think Americans just cropped up here all of a sudden we come from diffrent backgrounds and we like to honor them. That is not a crime. Where I live the Portuguese have a Holy Ghost celebration. So what if this country wasn't here yet. It's still OK for them to keep there tradition where they have made a home here!



December

 

BTW What the hell is wrong with people having a good time without being "historically correct" Lighten up.

December

 

Well, if you give the right names to things then people might actually learn something, and it won't affect how much of a good time anyone has if you do.

World music is a meaningless marketing term that originally came about in the mid 1980s when they had all this music and no category to stick it under. It was mainly Irish/Scottish traiditional and Music from all over West Africa at first simply because that was the music that the people who 'invented' the term were most into. It's grown since then to include Latin and Indonesian and Gamelan and Fado and all the rest of it. Personally I despise umbrella terms as there are loads of differences between musics even from within the same genre, so blanket terms like World music really does no-one any favours. Even less broad terms such as Classical, Jazz, Rock is really pushing it a bit.

And when you said "most are into rock and folk music" what did you mean by folk music, if not traditional musics from all countries, including ireland? Or did you mean tha only the anglo-american song tradition is folk music? That's the other extreme really, using a broad term but only covering a small part of it. It's just the same as when people talk about rap music - when someone says "I dont' like rap" what they mean is the gangster rap scheidt they hear on the radio, and yet there is plenty of music out there that makes use of rap, and it's all tarnished by the one name because of the awful stuff that actually gets heard by the masses.

Sorry it really gets up my tits when people don't say what they mean. This is the problem with using terms like Renaissance to describe something other than the Renaissance, and it's why there's a problem with a johnnycomelately country such as America trying to make something of a history that it doesn't really know about. I suppose it's good in a way that America is actually acknowledging that there ARE other countries though - given that your news services don't bother to mention them and more than half of the population doesn't even have a passport and probably wouldn't ever consider looking at other parts of the world.

But anyway, who are your favourite Irish traiditional artists/bands?

 

"America is actually acknowledging that there ARE other countries though - given that your news services don't bother to mention them and more than half of the population doesn't even have a passport and probably wouldn't ever consider looking at other parts of the world."

Wow are you that shocked that Americans Recognize they come from other countries. What the F**K!
Like I said lighten the hell up. You Brit are so hung up on what Americans are doing (maybe it's because we come up with most of the good shit)
You really sit up at night pondering the ignorance of Americans?
Like others say on this site Go smoke a reef and chill out!

D

 

"America is actually acknowledging that there ARE other countries though - given that your news services don't bother to mention them and more than half of the population doesn't even have a passport and probably wouldn't ever consider looking at other parts of the world."

Wow are you that shocked that Americans Recognize they come from other countries. What the F**K!
Like I said lighten the hell up. You Brit are so hung up on what Americans are doing (maybe it's because we come up with most of the good shit)
You really sit up at night pondering the ignorance of Americans?
Like others say on this site Go smoke a reef and chill out!

D

 

You're not actually that interested in talking about Irish traditional are you.

Oh well.

Over in "the rest of the world" we've got a bit of a problem with what Mr Bush has been getting up to, and we don't feel that well represented by Blair either.

 

A LOT of Americans have a problem with Bush! I think you would be less narrowminded to figure that one out!

December

 

But the only American who's actually tried to make a point of it has gone way over the top and in many respects is probably as bad as Bush himself. I've seen his films and read his books and while i think he's got the right idea, I've found a fair few contradicitions in there and he does tend to rant a lot.

So what do you think of Altan, Lúnasa, Danu, Michael McGoldrick, Capercaillie, Martyn Bennett, Dick Gaughan, Battlefield Band, Aly Bain, Catriona McDonald, or John McCusker?

 

"So what do you think of Altan, Lúnasa, Danu, Michael McGoldrick, Capercaillie, Martyn Bennett, Dick Gaughan, Battlefield Band, Aly Bain, Catriona McDonald, or John McCusker?

I love Altan, Ashley MacIsaac, Lúnasa, Danu, Michael McGoldrick. Capercaillie is a bit to techno for my taste.
Just like Enya a little to new agey.

December

 

Not keen on Enya at all. She may be Irish but her music is not. Anyone can put their voice through a Lexicon and make it sound chilling, whether it's Enya, Kate Bush, or that Amy Lee character from that welsh band Evans Essence. I like the sound of it but I don't put it down amongst Irish traditional.

Don't think there's much techno in Capercaillie. Ok there's a bit of synth stuff and they do use a bass, but then so do Lúnasa. But it's more trip-hop/electronica than techno.

You probably won't like Martyn Bennet - he's taken scottish (and other) traditional musics and made them into house, and drum'n'bass and breakbeat tracks. It's funny, I don't know anyone else who likes it. All the house fans I know hate it because there's too much bagpipe sound in it, and all the traditional fans I know hate it because there's too much synth in it. But I think it's really cool. He's done to scottish traditional what St. Germain did with jazz. Myself I'd like to get a band together to fuse Irish traditional with Jazz, I've tried it in compositions but the hard part will be getting bands together who are into both and will want to play that sort of thing.

You might have heard of the Afro Celt Sound System. Martyn Bennett is a lot like that although his sound is all about defining what it means to be scottish, so the over all feel is a lot harder, and there's obviously no african element to it.

 

Hey I'm willing to give anyone a chance I will check them out.


"Amy Lee character from that welsh band Evans Essence"

Welsh band! there a soft Goth band from Little Rock, Arkansas

D

 

you reckon I'd have heard of them and not known that?

 

Evanescence is a pretty good band but if you do check them out; search the Internet for some of there earlier stuff. There are a lot of free MP3 out there.
Amy Lee has a beautiful voice that sadly you don't get to hear on their "Fallen" album.

BTW do you like the Cheiftains or Old Blind Dongs?

December

 

I've heard of the Chieftains, don't know their stuff though, and no idea about Old Blind Dogs.

As for Evanescence well I've been inflicted with their stuff new and old for a while, and as for Amy Lee's voice - any monkey can be made to sound like that with artificial reverb and a bit of auto-tune, really. And that can be done live too.

I hope you picked up on the Welsh thing though - it wasn't random.

 

Amy's voice is genuine I sat next to her while she sang. No mic no nothing.
Look into those groups I mentioned.

 

you may have been listening for different aspects than me. I will.

 

Technology is the antichrist!


December

 

In that case I suggest you sell your computer and never touch the internet again.