So, I was trawling through the lost and found department (Ebay) and saw that there are 78’s of Ennis, Kimmel, Nolan and Flanagan’s (brown wax) etc. out there in the ether at the moment.
It started me wondering if there are any archivists-by-nature or museum types keeping an eye on this sort of thing around the globe.
I would hate to think that these recordings were passing into total obscurity.
I know of one gentleman in Sydney who has pressings of the old masters (Coleman, Morrison etc.) in original condition. Even though I do not have the facilities to play or record them for my own use it is nice to know they are in trad hands.
Sorry if this seems a tad more intelleketual than the type of threads which have recently plagued the mustard board – like “Keys my dog can fart in, or Is it just me or bodhran beaters obnoxious or Tunes my Willie can’t sing in since he had the operation, or How do I remove the tin whistle from left nostril, or Why doesn’t my session like me anymore, or Let’s put the new guy/gal down by a demonstration of my whining shit- er… sorry, shining wit –even though they have waited 15 months before posting because they laboured under the misapprehension that people here were taking the piss 24/7 or Let’s taunt them because they posted a discussion on the sessions section, or S’tel tsuj eb yllis dna llepsim gnihtyreve, or I can’t abide Sean Wingnut’s playing or Tunes I would never deign to play the “Green Gates/Kesh/Soldiers Joy/UppybloodyDowny/Hartigans…
I know that there are still a lot of people out there who enjoy the music, craic, ragging, posting tunes and comments and most important of all LEARNING from others about our shared obsession as much as I do. Thanks Jeremy!!
But I am weary of scrolling through meaningless scrawl searching for scraps of insight. This is why I have not posted for a while - and probaly won't either - but I'm always reading!!!.
So how about we all pause before pressing the confirm button and think…What positive knowledge can I pass on through this or any other post?
Otherwise we could be confirming to the world wide community out there that we have a lot to say, but no substance – too much wealth but not enough wisdom.
Better still – let your music speak for you.
An environmentalist fiddle player friend of mine is fond of saying 3825 36...just go and plant a tree instead. For the sake of the site I agree. Go and post a tune.
Ok Greenwiggle, go post your first tune!
Seriously though, you're right. I'm probaly one of the biggest culprits for posting nonsense her, so point taken.
I know for a fact there are serious archivists out there who collect not only discs, tapes and CDs but also their own and others' manual recordings. My fear is that they will be squirreled away and not bequeathed to some public archive where we can all benefit from them, which is surely for the better.
Ah ...me profile betrayed me. I would love to post a tune, but I can only play them - I have no faculty for transcribing flyspecks or abcdoremi123babyyouandme...but i'm sure i could find someone out here to help me.
I'm sure that there are a quite a few obsessive control freaks who are overpossessive about the music too, and would hold onto recordings for their own gain-financial or otherwise.
Needless to say, if I had the money I'd snap up all of the available rare recordings myself, start a record label-release the masters and record the apprentices.
ofcourse it would be a real shame for these recordings to get dumped, by people that have no understanding of the music!
but then again: the tunes played on these recordings are not lost! they still get passed on from player to player, as they always have been. i agree the records as such need to be preserved, in a museum, or maybe just digitalised, so the music itself can be heard, even if noone has a 78-turntable at hand anymore.
i applaud anyone for caring about this heritage, but that's only one side, the 'static' side, the past.
i think the dynamic, present and future is more important.
MM, true the past cannot be changed and the future is yet in your power, but at no times may both feet leave the floor. (Sorry) in my experience there are t
three 'schools'of thought regarding trad/the music/diddley.
1. You copy a style of an available (recorded or other) player and proliferate that style.
2. You listen to past masters of tradition and instrument and develop your own style from there.
3.Learn the instrument & then the tunes.
4.Learn the tune & then the instrument.
Myself i think i went through 4,3,1,2 before i found my ''happy place'"
And I appreciate what you are saying, but if you are on the outer fringe of the musical galaxy - then there is not much faith in tunes passed from player to player.
The best example I can think of is Jack Canny - Paddy Canny's brother who moved out to Australia early on. A VG fiddle player, for one reason or another he declined to play the fiddle for an extraordinary amount of years. When he did pick it up again he had still retained a knowledge of the music and particular tunes and style which had fallen from favour around the globe.
Until the revival of the 90's that is.
I am more concerned that say - the masters of a recording of Michael Coleman where he plays nothing but his own compositions (with a damn fine piano player) no offense MCPP, may be melted down.
In Norway, one of the biggest sources for historical recordings, are the archives of the National Radio (NRK). They are currently digitalizing all old trad music recordings, and the result has so far been a 24hr DAB/webcast radio (NRK Always Trad.), and several records.
Part of me agrees with MM in that today's music is more important, but I have to admit the further my own skills have developed, the more I have listened to "the old masters". Don't know why though.
the "elder's" styles definatly do have their merit. and indeed, the only way to get in touch with their style might be the old recordings, but doesn't that make us, 'younger' players skip one or two generations? and slow down the evolution of the tradition? actualy a reverse effect to the widespreading of the music?
then again, maybe that's a good thing?
concerning your three (4?) schools of thought:
4 seems quite out of the question, unless you learn a tune by lilting, which i consider also to be an instrument (the voice, that is)
3: i'ld rather think of a combination of 4 and 3 (which was the case with me: heard the music, bought a (crap)flute and learn instrument and tunes at the same time.
1 and 2: why not combine these too? learn the 'skills' from established masters (recorded or life, present, past or deceased) and develop your style according to, or based on, or exactly opposite of, their's?
i think my evolution is going (3-4) to (1-2) as i think this is with most! noone develops their own style before they master their instrument!
anyway, i prefer mastering my instrument by watching/hearing/talking to life masters, whilst i learn most tunes by records.
I think the quote I'm trying to remember is: If you do not understand history you are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
M&M Combination therapy works for me (Insert smiley face here)
Snorre, wish my government was that interested in culture...of any kind.
C'mon Begf..fun is still allowed, but it would be nice if it could be kept proprotional - I worry for the people who post once and never return because they have been 'fronted', I have ever been known as a lover of the wind-up and sugar daddy of the newbie...
It's just that after giving birth to two kids now, I tire quickly of reading missives of people who type quicker than they can think. I know...btch that i am.
Not that i mean any disprespect you MG, Zina, Dow, et al., who I still get the big guffaw from.
Anyway, I hope that this provokes some thought - even if it is just from me..
G'night.
deffinatly begf,
sessioning as a serious business, i was told!
if you want to talk nonsense, go stand at the bar! but keep it quiet while the 'reel' musicians are playing!
OK?
mm
Greenwiggle is right though; fun is most definitely encouraged but surely among all the serious mirth that goes on here there is room for a "discussion" now and again, no matter how bizarre that may sound
OK once more then I insist on being carried to bed!
Catchcry from this discussion should be...
"Slow down the revolution! Go back to '98!"
Personally, I find a lot of the "Supergroups" of the nineties and 2000 a tad boring, pretentious and guilty of strict adherance to the unholy trinity - play the audience, play the industry and pay the owners.
In popular culture it takes 20years for an anniversary.
EG Breakdancing was cool in the 80's
Reviled in the 90's and in vogue in 00.
But what do i know? Do I have a recording or group/groupies of my own --I thunk not.
PS I preferred playing in dingy bars when the 'punters'didn't even know what a bouzouki was!
I must say Greenwiggle, I think your comments are just a little over the top!
After all, looking at the last ten discussion topics, NINE are serious & only ONE, about your dog's favourite tunes, is just for fun! Now, I personally think that is not a bad average.
I'm pretty sure we all come here to learn, but God forbid that this place turns into a morgue-like temple for EGG HEADS!
I'd say you just need to lighten up a little.
There's room for all sorts of folk on this site & indeed it's that rich diversity of opinion & topic that makes this such an interesting site.
I, like everyone else I'm sure, enjoy picking up all the latest news & gossip, new tunes, & especially details of new recordings etc etc, but I also enjoy the banter, the friendly slagging off of one's fellow musicianers, which, in my experience, never gets offensive.
We always kiss & make up after an argument & walk off hand in hand into the sunset!
I think most sessions have a serious side e.g. like learning tunes, sharing news, sharing tunes etc, but there should also, always, be time for nonsense, banter, craic and just having fun.
I think therefore that thesession.org should reflect a session and so should contain all these elements.
Let's face it, if a session was just serious all the time, how many would go?
Just as sometimes a session is all work & no play one week, & then the opposite the next week, so this site goes through phases & the Egg Heads will often enjoy the serious stuff more while the eedjits (why are you looking at me guys?) will get more than their fair share of pleasure from the banter.
Is there not room for a lighter side to this site?
Am I the only one who thinks like this?
Do I stand alone? (honest that last cheese wasn't mine!)
Just glanced back over the last few pages & it would appear that I have been guilty, at least more than most, of submitting non-serious threads. So perhaps your comments 'Green' were in fact pointed directly at me?
I guess if the cap fits I must wear it, but I reckon we may just have to agree to differ on this matter 'Wiggle'!
I'm sure I'm not alone though .................waits to hear support..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
OK guys, I'll be standing against the wall at dawn, with my blindfold on.............................................
There's naught wrong with the future, I rather hope to particiapte in some portion of it myself, but it stands of the shoulders of the past.
*Trad* music is that which is passed down. If you don't understand where you've come from you can't understand where you're going and might end up just any old where by mistake.
The past needs not only to be preserved, but in a manner that makes it readily accessable to anyone who wishes to, not locked up in a crystal cube in some museum.
Unfortunately, even in trad, there exist swarms of buzzing lawyers circling everything, otherwise it would be as simple as digitizing the stuff and posting it to the Web.
KFG..I pant breathless, swaying, nay gripping, grasping, falling over and holding onto the miners cap that yur father left me...come on...try a bit harder than that!
My dear late husband was a wonderful fiddler - born and raised in the Bronx, NY, father from Mayo and mother from Clare - had a lot of music in him. He was one of James Morrison's students. He picked up tunes from anywhere and everywhere - other musicians, recordings, and published collections. I'd find him sight-reading out of O'Neil's - whistling, at tempo - like reading a book - when he found a tune he liked he'd start playing it - others would pick it up - I'm sure there were 'forgotten' tunes that were 're-introduced' into the tradiiton because he did this.
He was a great collector and I'm sure to find old trad 78's when I get to sorting through everything. I don't expect to want to keep everything and one of my jobs will be figuring out how to pass this stuff along in the best way so that, as you say, they don't pass into obscurity.
I should add that he never took himself too seriously. He went to sessions to enjoy himself, and did - had a great sense of humor.
I think everyone agrees that the yellow board's most useful function is as a tune database. The discussion board is a mixed bag of asking and for receiving advice, sharing stories, talking about things that you don't talk about at sessions, talking about sessions, friendly slagging, etc. Just like with any message board there are topics that you either do or don't have interest in -- and you pick and choose. I agree with Ptarmigan that to keep from becoming to formal and boring the forum is better off if strikes a balance between the serious matters and the fun. It is after all a website about sessions, and it's no fun if we take them too seriously.
Phew! Thanks Button. I can take this blindfold off now! Oh yes, & the lampshade too! But hey KFC, I needed that to shade me bald scalp from all that glaring sun we get up here in North Antrim!
Must admit though, I was starting to get a little worried - waiting for the shot!
'Drin', I wonder, did your late husband ever record any music himself?
Sounds like he was an all-round musician anyway, & he certainly had the right attitude towards sessions.
I'm sure he would have had the same attitude towards this big yellow board.
Perhaps 'Greenwiggle' would do well to take a leaf out of his book, on that score.
I think I might have seen James Morrison at a Donegal Fleadh in the late 70s - would that be right?
Was he still around then?
Ptarmigan - nothing that was released - I have quite a few tapes of sessions at pubs and people's houses, though. He did go into a studio once and recorded with an accompanist, but it was never 'finished'. On another accasion he took a good portable deck to a gig we had at a bar in NYC with our little group - concertina, flute, fiddle, harp & guitar - and made a recording - with mikes - that I believe he intended to copy and send to family and friends - I need to figure out how to get it on CD so I can follow through.
I think that must have been another Morrison - my husband's teacher would have passed long before that.
And yes, I think my husband would have had a good time on these boards as well!
Cutting wax.
Cutting wax.
So, I was trawling through the lost and found department (Ebay) and saw that there are 78’s of Ennis, Kimmel, Nolan and Flanagan’s (brown wax) etc. out there in the ether at the moment.
It started me wondering if there are any archivists-by-nature or museum types keeping an eye on this sort of thing around the globe.
I would hate to think that these recordings were passing into total obscurity.
I know of one gentleman in Sydney who has pressings of the old masters (Coleman, Morrison etc.) in original condition. Even though I do not have the facilities to play or record them for my own use it is nice to know they are in trad hands.
Sorry if this seems a tad more intelleketual than the type of threads which have recently plagued the mustard board – like “Keys my dog can fart in, or Is it just me or bodhran beaters obnoxious or Tunes my Willie can’t sing in since he had the operation, or How do I remove the tin whistle from left nostril, or Why doesn’t my session like me anymore, or Let’s put the new guy/gal down by a demonstration of my whining shit- er… sorry, shining wit –even though they have waited 15 months before posting because they laboured under the misapprehension that people here were taking the piss 24/7 or Let’s taunt them because they posted a discussion on the sessions section, or S’tel tsuj eb yllis dna llepsim gnihtyreve, or I can’t abide Sean Wingnut’s playing or Tunes I would never deign to play the “Green Gates/Kesh/Soldiers Joy/UppybloodyDowny/Hartigans…
I know that there are still a lot of people out there who enjoy the music, craic, ragging, posting tunes and comments and most important of all LEARNING from others about our shared obsession as much as I do. Thanks Jeremy!!
But I am weary of scrolling through meaningless scrawl searching for scraps of insight. This is why I have not posted for a while - and probaly won't either - but I'm always reading!!!.
So how about we all pause before pressing the confirm button and think…What positive knowledge can I pass on through this or any other post?
Otherwise we could be confirming to the world wide community out there that we have a lot to say, but no substance – too much wealth but not enough wisdom.
Better still – let your music speak for you.
An environmentalist fiddle player friend of mine is fond of saying 3825 36...just go and plant a tree instead. For the sake of the site I agree. Go and post a tune.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
Ok Greenwiggle, go post your first tune!
Seriously though, you're right. I'm probaly one of the biggest culprits for posting nonsense her, so point taken.
I know for a fact there are serious archivists out there who collect not only discs, tapes and CDs but also their own and others' manual recordings. My fear is that they will be squirreled away and not bequeathed to some public archive where we can all benefit from them, which is surely for the better.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Cutting wax.
Ah ...me profile betrayed me. I would love to post a tune, but I can only play them - I have no faculty for transcribing flyspecks or abcdoremi123babyyouandme...but i'm sure i could find someone out here to help me.
I'm sure that there are a quite a few obsessive control freaks who are overpossessive about the music too, and would hold onto recordings for their own gain-financial or otherwise.
Needless to say, if I had the money I'd snap up all of the available rare recordings myself, start a record label-release the masters and record the apprentices.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
ofcourse it would be a real shame for these recordings to get dumped, by people that have no understanding of the music!
but then again: the tunes played on these recordings are not lost! they still get passed on from player to player, as they always have been. i agree the records as such need to be preserved, in a museum, or maybe just digitalised, so the music itself can be heard, even if noone has a 78-turntable at hand anymore.
i applaud anyone for caring about this heritage, but that's only one side, the 'static' side, the past.
i think the dynamic, present and future is more important.
mm
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by MM
Re: Cutting wax.
MM, true the past cannot be changed and the future is yet in your power, but at no times may both feet leave the floor. (Sorry) in my experience there are t
three 'schools'of thought regarding trad/the music/diddley.
1. You copy a style of an available (recorded or other) player and proliferate that style.
2. You listen to past masters of tradition and instrument and develop your own style from there.
3.Learn the instrument & then the tunes.
4.Learn the tune & then the instrument.
Myself i think i went through 4,3,1,2 before i found my ''happy place'"
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
Sorry...should have been at least four schools.
And I appreciate what you are saying, but if you are on the outer fringe of the musical galaxy - then there is not much faith in tunes passed from player to player.
The best example I can think of is Jack Canny - Paddy Canny's brother who moved out to Australia early on. A VG fiddle player, for one reason or another he declined to play the fiddle for an extraordinary amount of years. When he did pick it up again he had still retained a knowledge of the music and particular tunes and style which had fallen from favour around the globe.
Until the revival of the 90's that is.
I am more concerned that say - the masters of a recording of Michael Coleman where he plays nothing but his own compositions (with a damn fine piano player) no offense MCPP, may be melted down.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
In Norway, one of the biggest sources for historical recordings, are the archives of the National Radio (NRK). They are currently digitalizing all old trad music recordings, and the result has so far been a 24hr DAB/webcast radio (NRK Always Trad.), and several records.
Part of me agrees with MM in that today's music is more important, but I have to admit the further my own skills have developed, the more I have listened to "the old masters". Don't know why though.
S
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by snorre
Re: Cutting wax.
greenwiggle,
the "elder's" styles definatly do have their merit. and indeed, the only way to get in touch with their style might be the old recordings, but doesn't that make us, 'younger' players skip one or two generations? and slow down the evolution of the tradition? actualy a reverse effect to the widespreading of the music?
then again, maybe that's a good thing?
concerning your three (4?) schools of thought:
4 seems quite out of the question, unless you learn a tune by lilting, which i consider also to be an instrument (the voice, that is)
3: i'ld rather think of a combination of 4 and 3 (which was the case with me: heard the music, bought a (crap)flute and learn instrument and tunes at the same time.
1 and 2: why not combine these too? learn the 'skills' from established masters (recorded or life, present, past or deceased) and develop your style according to, or based on, or exactly opposite of, their's?
i think my evolution is going (3-4) to (1-2) as i think this is with most! noone develops their own style before they master their instrument!
anyway, i prefer mastering my instrument by watching/hearing/talking to life masters, whilst i learn most tunes by records.
mm
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by MM
Re: Cutting wax.
sorry, crossposted ...
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by MM
Re: Cutting wax.
What about in a real session…are we allowed talk nonsense there, or those it have to be “intellectual” too ?
Conan, you talk a lot of sense, but please don’t go easy on the fun.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by BegF
Re: Cutting wax.
I think the quote I'm trying to remember is: If you do not understand history you are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
M&M Combination therapy works for me (Insert smiley face here)
Snorre, wish my government was that interested in culture...of any kind.
C'mon Begf..fun is still allowed, but it would be nice if it could be kept proprotional - I worry for the people who post once and never return because they have been 'fronted', I have ever been known as a lover of the wind-up and sugar daddy of the newbie...
It's just that after giving birth to two kids now, I tire quickly of reading missives of people who type quicker than they can think. I know...btch that i am.
Not that i mean any disprespect you MG, Zina, Dow, et al., who I still get the big guffaw from.
Anyway, I hope that this provokes some thought - even if it is just from me..
G'night.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
Think my sentences are out of wack...or should run consecutively.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
deffinatly begf,
sessioning as a serious business, i was told!
if you want to talk nonsense, go stand at the bar! but keep it quiet while the 'reel' musicians are playing!
OK?
mm
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by MM
Re: Cutting wax.
Greenwiggle is right though; fun is most definitely encouraged but surely among all the serious mirth that goes on here there is room for a "discussion" now and again, no matter how bizarre that may sound
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Cutting wax.
I agree Greenwiggle, lately they'r ehave been - Dis "cussin"
That is so lame, I'm sorry. Really really sorry.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by BegF
Slow down the revolutions!
OK once more then I insist on being carried to bed!
Catchcry from this discussion should be...
"Slow down the revolution! Go back to '98!"
Personally, I find a lot of the "Supergroups" of the nineties and 2000 a tad boring, pretentious and guilty of strict adherance to the unholy trinity - play the audience, play the industry and pay the owners.
In popular culture it takes 20years for an anniversary.
EG Breakdancing was cool in the 80's
Reviled in the 90's and in vogue in 00.
But what do i know? Do I have a recording or group/groupies of my own --I thunk not.
PS I preferred playing in dingy bars when the 'punters'didn't even know what a bouzouki was!
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Slow down the revolutions!
Damn... I meant to say
Slow down the revolutions...Go back to 78...'s
Ah ...too late now, and all the hip groovy I-pod warriors just think I'm tragic -right Sir Bignose?
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Slow down the revolutions!
And I have just re-read the eighth & ninth paragraphs of my original missive, so I'm off to post some recordings.
I'll try my best to record all of the available details about players and instruments...
Mind you they are all on vinyl, so you can't get them anymore, but it might help to learn about them.
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
I must say Greenwiggle, I think your comments are just a little over the top!
After all, looking at the last ten discussion topics, NINE are serious & only ONE, about your dog's favourite tunes, is just for fun! Now, I personally think that is not a bad average.
I'm pretty sure we all come here to learn, but God forbid that this place turns into a morgue-like temple for EGG HEADS!
I'd say you just need to lighten up a little.
There's room for all sorts of folk on this site & indeed it's that rich diversity of opinion & topic that makes this such an interesting site.
I, like everyone else I'm sure, enjoy picking up all the latest news & gossip, new tunes, & especially details of new recordings etc etc, but I also enjoy the banter, the friendly slagging off of one's fellow musicianers, which, in my experience, never gets offensive.
We always kiss & make up after an argument & walk off hand in hand into the sunset!
I think most sessions have a serious side e.g. like learning tunes, sharing news, sharing tunes etc, but there should also, always, be time for nonsense, banter, craic and just having fun.
I think therefore that thesession.org should reflect a session and so should contain all these elements.
Let's face it, if a session was just serious all the time, how many would go?
Just as sometimes a session is all work & no play one week, & then the opposite the next week, so this site goes through phases & the Egg Heads will often enjoy the serious stuff more while the eedjits (why are you looking at me guys?) will get more than their fair share of pleasure from the banter.
Is there not room for a lighter side to this site?
Am I the only one who thinks like this?
Do I stand alone? (honest that last cheese wasn't mine!)
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Cutting wax.
Just glanced back over the last few pages & it would appear that I have been guilty, at least more than most, of submitting non-serious threads. So perhaps your comments 'Green' were in fact pointed directly at me?
I guess if the cap fits I must wear it, but I reckon we may just have to agree to differ on this matter 'Wiggle'!
I'm sure I'm not alone though .................waits to hear support..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
OK guys, I'll be standing against the wall at dawn, with my blindfold on.............................................
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Cutting wax.
There's naught wrong with the future, I rather hope to particiapte in some portion of it myself, but it stands of the shoulders of the past.
*Trad* music is that which is passed down. If you don't understand where you've come from you can't understand where you're going and might end up just any old where by mistake.
The past needs not only to be preserved, but in a manner that makes it readily accessable to anyone who wishes to, not locked up in a crystal cube in some museum.
Unfortunately, even in trad, there exist swarms of buzzing lawyers circling everything, otherwise it would be as simple as digitizing the stuff and posting it to the Web.
"Am I the only one who thinks like this?"
No.
KFG
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by KFG
Re: Cutting wax.
"I guess if the cap fits I must wear it. . ."
On the other hand, sometimes, just sometimes mind you, that lampshade on your head looks a bit silly.
KFG
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by KFG
Re: Cutting wax.
KFG..I pant breathless, swaying, nay gripping, grasping, falling over and holding onto the miners cap that yur father left me...come on...try a bit harder than that!
# Posted on September 16th 2005 by Greenwiggle
Re: Cutting wax.
Can you post the ebay links for the 78s or send to me
martindonohoe@iolfree.ie
thanks
# Posted on September 17th 2005 by Martin Donohoe
Re: Cutting wax.
My dear late husband was a wonderful fiddler - born and raised in the Bronx, NY, father from Mayo and mother from Clare - had a lot of music in him. He was one of James Morrison's students. He picked up tunes from anywhere and everywhere - other musicians, recordings, and published collections. I'd find him sight-reading out of O'Neil's - whistling, at tempo - like reading a book - when he found a tune he liked he'd start playing it - others would pick it up - I'm sure there were 'forgotten' tunes that were 're-introduced' into the tradiiton because he did this.
He was a great collector and I'm sure to find old trad 78's when I get to sorting through everything. I don't expect to want to keep everything and one of my jobs will be figuring out how to pass this stuff along in the best way so that, as you say, they don't pass into obscurity.
I should add that he never took himself too seriously. He went to sessions to enjoy himself, and did - had a great sense of humor.
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by drinharp
Re: Cutting wax.
I think everyone agrees that the yellow board's most useful function is as a tune database. The discussion board is a mixed bag of asking and for receiving advice, sharing stories, talking about things that you don't talk about at sessions, talking about sessions, friendly slagging, etc. Just like with any message board there are topics that you either do or don't have interest in -- and you pick and choose. I agree with Ptarmigan that to keep from becoming to formal and boring the forum is better off if strikes a balance between the serious matters and the fun. It is after all a website about sessions, and it's no fun if we take them too seriously.
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by Phantom Button
Re: Cutting wax.
Phew! Thanks Button. I can take this blindfold off now! Oh yes, & the lampshade too! But hey KFC, I needed that to shade me bald scalp from all that glaring sun we get up here in North Antrim!
Must admit though, I was starting to get a little worried - waiting for the shot!
'Drin', I wonder, did your late husband ever record any music himself?
Sounds like he was an all-round musician anyway, & he certainly had the right attitude towards sessions.
I'm sure he would have had the same attitude towards this big yellow board.
Perhaps 'Greenwiggle' would do well to take a leaf out of his book, on that score.
I think I might have seen James Morrison at a Donegal Fleadh in the late 70s - would that be right?
Was he still around then?
# Posted on September 18th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Cutting wax.
Ptarmigan - nothing that was released - I have quite a few tapes of sessions at pubs and people's houses, though. He did go into a studio once and recorded with an accompanist, but it was never 'finished'. On another accasion he took a good portable deck to a gig we had at a bar in NYC with our little group - concertina, flute, fiddle, harp & guitar - and made a recording - with mikes - that I believe he intended to copy and send to family and friends - I need to figure out how to get it on CD so I can follow through.
I think that must have been another Morrison - my husband's teacher would have passed long before that.
And yes, I think my husband would have had a good time on these boards as well!
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by drinharp
Re: Cutting wax.
Drinharp, I've asked that question in another discussion, so hopefully will find out who that legendary fiddler was - just to satisfy my curiosity.
Och well, that's what this site is all about & there are lots of smart folks here with good memories so might as well make use of them eh?
Good luck with the CD, I'm sure all your husbands musical buddies will really enjoy hearing it.
# Posted on September 19th 2005 by Ptarmigan