Lee Marsh:
Oh, that’s a good one!! I love the DragonRiders of Pern Series, and I laughed my head off when you said that!!!
te he he he!
Thanks Lee. No, I hadn’t read anything else by her but that sure sounds interesting.
I haven’t done fantasy sci much but did classic sci years and years ago. Have only read history for the last six years or so. I forget the joys that fiction brings because I am so fascinated by what real people really do!! I think I am missing something and periodically try to read fiction, like those Anne Rice things but the last one I just threw on the floor it was so weird.
I’ve never read the Anne Rice books… my friends do though, and for me, the covers and titles are weird enough!
Elf, she wrote three books in a series that touches home for celto-philes, namely her series about these tall ancient beings who came from Scotland with names like Asher and Ashlar and stuff. They’re around long enough to amass all kinds of wealth and there are some points about corporate control and rich people in there too. Its not the vampire ones but there are some touchpoints like witch families in New Orleans.
At this stage in my life, now that I’m getting cranky, it just seems like devilish foolishness (: but I remember enjoying reading them at one time. She would be the first to admit that she is one twisted sister to dream up that stuff. Somehow its because she is New Orleans Catholic, as she has pointed out, that she has all these sinful, lurid imaginings.
What was this thread about? Sorry folks. Well, not really sorry but…
Anyway, I tried to read her book with my current set of filters and it was weird and boring. As my emails are to some.
On 2002-06-27 04:05, Peter Laban wrote:
Maybe it’s time now to get hold of the complete recordings of Johnny Doran made in 1948 for the irish Folklore commission.
Or listen to the piping of Felix Doran, Paddy Keenan, Finbar Furey, Mickey Dunne, John Rooney ;-]
Peter, I am good about buying records but just humor us and tell me whether there is some traveler connection before then. Are those guys tinkerfolk? I mean, Finbar Furey, I always wondered about that name but…travelers often have regular surnames except a few right?
Sorry to piggyback on thread but I went back to beginning to find out what we were talking about. Sorry Burnsy!
Ah. I see. I only knew that she wrote the Vampire chronicles…
Still, from what I’ve heard/seen, her stuff is… well…
weird.
Too odd for my blood. (no pun intended…)
Bloomfield, maybe this thread will teach you not to say “New Age” around here again. And Weekenders, of course they are/were of traveller stock.
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Sorry to piggyback on thread but I went back to beginning to find out what we were talking about. Sorry Burnsy!
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Don’t worry about it. After all, I injected the goddess reference.
Mike
Haven’t checked the board for a number of days (don’t have my own computer; when I get to the library, I get there). But I’d like to offer my personal opinions on Mike’s original six issues, which this thread seems to have gotten away from. Obviously, my answers are hardly definitive, and what works for me may not work for you. But here goes.
- Read music or don’t – I read, at least enough to pore through countless books of old tunes, which is how I get my primary pleasure from playing the whistle – digging out a book I haven’t looked at for a while, or never looked at for that matter, and playing tune after tune after tune. People who don’t read can’t do this, but they have just as much pleasure and get to play at more sessions than I do! I don’t see how either one of us has a distinct advantage over the other, unless of course you want to play lots of old, obscure tunes and are unable to read them. That’s the only advantage of being able to read that I can think of.
- Classically-trained musicians hardly ever sound traditional, because it’s been drummed into them not to make mistakes, so they won’t take chances with ornamentation, style, etc. They generally (and when I say this, I mean within my personal experience) feel that the notes on the page are sacred, and they should only be played that way. On the other hand, someone such as James Galway grew up playing the whistle; despite a tendency to want to show off when he plays it, he perhaps comes close, though I’m not firmly convinced even on this point.
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The young whipper-snappers with their electric guitars and drums kits are progressing the music to a new and different level (not necessarily better, but certainly not detrimental). A music which doesn’t change stagnates and dies. There is room enough for hard-core purists and whipper-snappers alike, even though the former complain because the latter sell more CD’s. 'Twas ever thus. Personally, I like the young whipper-snappers. I was one, once . . .)
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You can play fast well, you can play fast badly. You can play slowly well, you can play slowly badly. Same goes for playing in-between. (I won’t sat “just right”, as there is no artbiter of what’s “right”.) I’ve always though fewer notes sounds good in theory, fairly dull in practice. More notes can sound ridiculous in some cases. Again, there is no arbiter of what’s right.
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It’s not about technique, it’s about soul. I’m always working to improve my technique, but that doesn’t mean it’s the be-all and end-all.
6)Bosh. Growing up in Ireland (or Andalucia, for that matter) means you’ve had more exposure on a constant basis to what “authenticity” sounds like, you hear good players on a daily basis, etc. So chances are you are more likely to pick up on the authentic manner of playing much more quickly than if you live in Fredonia, NY, Cleveland (though there have always been some great authentic players in Cleveland, don’t get me wrong), Australia, South Africa, wherever). The next question, though, is whether authenticity is the be-all and end-all or whether playing is really about your own expression. Play to express yourself and leave the debate over authenticity to the scholars, who are generally no more qualified to answer these questions than anyone else. (And I recently got a college teaching position, so I know where these scolarly types are coming from, viewing them as I am from the "outside coming in.)
But as Mike said in the original post in this thread, the most important thing is the
music. Phew, I didn’t expect to type all this when I decided to reply. I hope this will get people to go back and consider Mike’s original concept in this thread (though I admit I have rather enjoyed what little I’ve read of the late Ms. Bradley’s work).
Tom and Cecil wrote:
- Classically-trained musicians hardly ever sound traditional, because it’s been drummed into them not to make mistakes, so they won’t take chances with ornamentation, style, etc. They generally (and when I say this, I mean within my personal experience) feel that the notes on the page are sacred, and they should only be played that way.
Hey!!! It depends on the person! I was sort of “classically trained,” and I’m not afraid to take chances with ornamentation and rhythmic variation, ect. I think it’s great fun to be able to take the bare bones of a tune and sort of “make it your own” through your own style of ornamentation.
It really depends on the person.