I guess I’m a little bothered by the phrase, “Artificial showmanship.” 1. I do not think this is the exact thing Guru (who is ordinarily very precise in word selection) is trying to say and 2. It has a derogatory feel to it that I’m not sure is intended nor earned.
I’m not even sure artificial showmanship is possible.
Well, I mean artificial in the sense that it’s not a natural practice or outgrowth of the tradition, but an arrangement strategy motivated by the aesthetics of presention of a tune set as an album track or concert piece.
In my limited experience of playing dance tunes for dancers - the core context - a set of different types of tunes played at increasingly breakneck speed is not normal.
And I mean showmanship in the sense or regarding the music as a product to be performed for an audience, with a show of virtuosity as a primary positive value, at the expense of other performance values that are more (or equally) prized in a natural folk context.
This is kind of what I thought you meant.
I am resurfacing to check my post, having the (mistaken) impression that I would find apathy on the topic similar to the identical post first submitted on the Whistle board.
To my delight, I have found a rich conversation, and am grateful for the input so far. Special thanks to MTGuru, Nanohedron cw67q and FJohnSharp for your thoughts and descriptions [as well as any unnamed parties that may take offense at not being acknowledged for their contributions now or in the future].
The discussion so far has been very useful to me. My reference to hearing the progression of tunes was from buskers playing on the street throughout our tour of Ireland, so the context was definitely that of showmanship rather than a sesuin where the integrity of ITM was being breached.
Without discounting the benefits of promoting the traditional playing of ITM, nor debating the use of the term “artificial showmanship,” I will state that I look forward to selecting some tunes and having some fun at this.
Thank you!