We’re starting off a couple of new Thursday night seisiuns here in San Diego, please come visit if you’re ever in town!
http://members.cox.net/eskin/acoustic_expressions.html
Cheers,
Michael
Read the rules. Make sure you write a minimum of two weeks in advance, submit an audition tape of the required test tunes, and then after written acceptance into the session, be sure to present the credentials returned to you by registered post at the door when you arrive.
Royce
I hate to say it, but after reading the rules for this, uh, I’d rather be watching reruns of ‘Saved By the Bell’. Are people allowed to have fun at these things or what?
Actually, I was thinking the same thing at first, but I am guessing they are trying to prevent being overrun with people who will quickly try to turn the session away from playing ITM. Perhaps they are setting the rules up front based on previous experiences.
djm
I can understand their concern, considering some of the people that show up, but such an extensive list of rules is just as likely to scare away people interested in ITM. The “beginner” seisiuns sounds more like an intermediate and also sounds like the students of the store will be dominating it. No one enjoys playing with a clique that’s exclusionary. Plus there are always exceptions.
I bring my son, who is 5, to many seisiuns and while he doesn’t participate directly (yet), he is learning ITM through listening, is an attentive listener and very well behaved. Everyone’s delighted when they see him. This seisiun would prevent him and other children from having as much exposure to ITM as they could, and thereby slow down or turn away the next generation of players. Granted, not every child is like this.
Other rules make perfect sense. There shouldn’t be Bluegrass, jazz, old ‘tyme’ music or anything of this sort in an ITM performance.
What it comes down to, though, is it’s their seisiun, they can run it how they want and they will get the response they do.
Dionys
Sheesh! :roll: …sound’s like those rule’s were written by an obnoxious UCSD management/law student. Buy the writer a Guinness, Michael…mellow 'em out! (see rule #1 ) Get some sheet music (see rule #16), and let 'em play yer pipe’s (rule #4), when they’re in tune (rule #13)…in the storefront (see rule #3). 
“by invitation only” doesn’t by definition really describe a traditional session does it? Isn’t that more of a concert? Not trying to be piggish here - it’s an honest question.
On the one had, I think if there are that many people in So. Cal. looking to join/play/listen to ITM, that’s great! But if it’s to a point where they’re beating down the doors, and bringing their trumpets - they obviously don’t have a clue about what a good trad. session is all about. Even so, I would think that just talking to folks about it before-hand would be a better tact than the extensive rule list.
At any rate - I wish you guys all the best!
Bri~
I was just piqued by the notion of putting out a “come on down” general invitation and find somebody driving through town on their way from Kumquat Maine down the east coast, over route 66, and into San Diego and up the coast hiway to Fairbanks or something, and just giving a whim over and pulling into this session…
Royce
(And for this I paid 2 bucks a gallon for the last three thousand miles…?")
Wow, I go away for a day and y’all rip me apart… 
Just want to clarify, the guidelines posted are only for the teaching seisiun, not for the later “real” seisiun. The early seisiun will be run pretty much as a class for really new players to the tradition, students taking lessons at the store, and other beginners. That’s why, for example, we don’t want to muddy up the sound with bodhrans and guitars. For many its their first exposure to seisiun playing, so we want to create and control the environment for these early players so that they have a positive experience and a controlled environment to learn some tunes. I’d never try to impose those rules on accomplished players… Of course if certain tunes are requested we’ll do them, but for the most part, the players don’t know the tune sets, just one tune at a time so we’re trying to give them a good set of fundamentals that they can take to other sessions.
Second, these aren’t hard and fast rules, just common sense stuff. I wish I could say “just be courteous and treat each other with respect” but that doesn’t seems to work. This is California, where everyone just wants to do their own thing, man. Pretty soon we have a room full of un-muted bodhrans, 4 guitars playing playing in different keys and modes at the same time, and out of tune whistles, the tables are covered with music books and people calling out “OK, now we’re going to do reel number R14 on page 26, the Merry Blacksmith”, oh but you can’t play that tune because some guy just started “Sally Ann” at 140 bpm. I’m not kidding, these are are real happenings around here. That’s what I’m up against, OK…
Some of the rules were requirements by the store owner. She’s opening up her store late at night and doesn’t want people to go up front into a store full of expensive musical instruments and related stuff without a someone who works there being with them. She’s also concerned about liability if there is alcohol.
Children are welcome and encouraged to listen. Its when they are crawling around the instruments, and their parents don’t make any effort to control them that it becomes an issue. We put that one there because it happens and its been a problem.
Yes, the second session is pretty much a closed performance, and we don’t make that a secret. We’re doing that to set a certain standard for the music and to attract a certain level of players that we’d like to play with that aren’t interested in playing in other open sessions in town.
I’m not going to change anyone’s opinion here about appropriate session etiquette, seems to be nearly a religious thing I think. We’re just doing what we think will work. Maybe its different in other parts of the country/world.
Visitors from out of town, whether beginner or experienced are always welcome to come play at either of the sessions I host. Almost universally, I’ve been given a warm welcome at sessions I’ve played in when traveling, and its the least I can do to extend the same courtesy to others. I know some people on the board have been to our Tuesday night session at the Ould Sod and know that I’m not some kind of session fascist, we’ve always had a great time.
Michael
I guess we’re super lucky at my session here. It’s very high quality, respectful newbies, a great bodhran player, a good zouk player with nary a guitar strummer in sight, top notch piper anchoring, a nice variety of tunes, not too fast, not too slow, etc., etc. A fellow musician was talking with me and mentioned that he’d been to many sessions in Ireland and said ours was closest out of any he’d been to for quality. The interesting thing is that we’ve never had to lay down rules of take anybody aside. Everybody is laid back and friendly, and thing just goes well, call it sheer luck or what ever, but I hope it never changes. Oh, and I’ve never seen sheet music once! The pub is good too.
Corin
That’s it, I’m moving to Maine…
LOL, Good you’re a multi instrumentalist! We’ve got two pipers, plus another 2 live locally and show up once in a blue moon. For some reason this area’s a hotbed of pipers. Well, at least in proportion to the population.
Corin
I would like to point out that for me it makes sens to have that many rules when you had bad experiences before in some sessions in your area. You know, many people who think they know how a session goes or think they behave nicely in a session are often the biggest source of problems. I’ve had a flute player telling me how awful someone else in the session was when in fact she was the worse, she’s always out of tune, her phrasing is awful, she stops in the middle of tunes or sets, etc.
At the end of the day, if you’re not willing to show up in a session you don’t know and wait to be at least invited to play, as far as I’m concerned you’re rude. I guess 70% of musicians, mostly intermediate or beginners, would do just that.
…
Corin,
Would that be the Sunday afternoon session at Brian Boru? I attended that session while visiting in Portland, and can vouch for the friendly nature of the folks there. Tom Wilsbach was especially accomodating and ran a very nice session.
That was my idea of what a good session is all about.
There’s my $0.02.
BrianC
Yep, that’s the one. How long ago were you there? It’s even better these days than it was a few years ago. Tom’s running it with another piping Tom 
A younger player who’s a fantastic piper. With apologies to Tom the elder, I think he’s much better.
Corin
Thanks, Michael, for clearing that up a bit…for a moment there I was really wondering what session life was like in the Land of the Eternal Earthquake . I have been to quite a few sessions over the years and all over this country, and have found only very few that were genuinely friendly to strangers…thus I haven’t been back to one in years. I was especially appalled by the absolute rudeness and self-centered attitudes I would witness in these so-called friendly musical gatherings…not very conducive to a good musical experience in my book. Then, when I glanced through the rules for the new session you are putting forth…I shuddered momentarily. Perhaps I could have read the rules a little closer…my bad.
That just clarifies my point: The first session is for beginners and is rulebound and highly directed. The second so-called “real” session is rulebound and restricted to accomplished players, and closed to those already approved to play in a set “performance.”
So, when is the real “real” session?
And what exactly would one do if one took up your invitation, were a real musican, and dropped in? Well, one wouldn’t sit in at the beginner session, and one wouldn’t be one of the preset cast of “performers,” so the only thing you’ve left open to one is an invitation to drive across the country or across town, state or region, to listen to you play.
Not much of an invitation when it’s analysed.
Royce
Royce, et al.,
I’ve added some info about welcoming traveling musicians to the sessions, clarified that kids are welcome to play/listen.
Thanks for all the great feedback!
Michael
Michael - I think your rules are just fine. I’ve seen enough sessions go bad that I think these guidelines are totally in-line. Especially here in California.