Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Analysing amateur musicmaking - reporting work-in-progress to the BFE

The BFE Conference at Newcastle was something of a hit-and-run event for me. I was only able to attend the first day of the 4-day event and inevitably there were several items that I would have enjoyed attending, including Eoghan Neff's talk on the 19th century fiddle-playerEdward Cronin and a cylinder recording of his performance of Banish Misfortune - scheduled for Day One but got put back last minute to Day Four.

I was fortunate to attend Simon McKerrell's talk: Modern Scottish bands (1970-1990): 'Cash as authenticity'. This raised some fascinating (and for my research, highly relevant) points on how financial considerations proved to be a driving force in the popularisation of traditional Scottish music. He referred to the success of bands such as Silly Wizard, the Battlefield Band and Capercaillie to demonstrate how the priorities of making a living, touring, producing albums and playing through a PA system have become dominant factors in the revival of traditional music in Scotland. Quoting from his abstract:

...commercial success [is] measured through record sales and cash from gigs, as the new authenticity which eventually prevailed over the earlier, ideological revivalist model of success based upon repertoire and style.
My own presentation was well attended, with some interesting follow-up questions on my research work-in-progress. Here is the abstract that appeared in the programme:

Regulating the amateur: traditional music and cultural control

This paper examines the discourses of folk music within the ‘amateur’ network of folk clubs and music and song sessions across the UK. It provides details of research in progress into the tensions between the largely unregulated practices of amateur folk music and three external agencies which appear to impinge upon them:

1. The music industry as a commercial enterprise setting 'professional' standards in performance, organisational practices and technical resources.

2. Administrative and bureaucratic practices of regulation ranging from the PRS, local authority licensing, etc. to cultural agencies seeking to promote folk as a form of creative or community artistic expression.

3. 'Mainstream' popular culture and its transformation of 'folk' culture into commodity forms, e.g. for Irish theme pubs, medieval banquets, etc.

I argue that these agencies represent a form of cultural control seeking to regulate amateur music practices and the experiences of performers and audiences. Based primarily on participant-observation study of folk clubs in the English Midlands the research examines how discourses of ‘mainstream’ culture, commodification and political management are apparent in amateur folk events and asks whether these undermine the perceived integrity of amateur music as a genuine form of cultural expression.

The research acknowledges studies of folk music as forms of cultural expression (e.g. Blacking, 1974; Finnegan, 1992) and of generic and structural developments in forms of traditional music (e.g. Oakley, 1977; Sweers, 2005). It develops themes identified in Brocken’s study of the British Folk Revival (2003) through its localised focus on a folk music circuit and its experiential, ethnographic approach.

The bottom-line argument that I tried to put across was the surprising lack of research that currently exists on folk music as performed in small, non-commercial, back room folk clubs. There is plenty of literature on folk music as folklore, folk music as a social and cultural phenomenon and folk as a style or genre but I argued that my research would be filling a gap in the understanding of 'amateur' folk music as a social practice.

Feedback from fellow delegates included some good constructive support and advice. I was reminded of one, albeit dated, study of a folk club in action - Smith, J.L., 1987, ‘The Ethogenics of Music Performance, a Case Study of the Glebe Live Music Club’, published in Pickering and Green's Everyday Culture, Popular Song and Vernacular Milieu. It was also suggested that I refer to former BFE chair, Jonathan Stock - this is one item by him that I've found useful.

It was also reassuring (if slightly alarming at first) to speak to one delegate who had actually performed at two of the folk clubs that I referred to as case studies of social and cultural spaces for amateur music practice. She recognised and supported points I'd raised about room layout and proxemics for 'concert' style and 'singaround' events. I may blog on that more later.

BFE Conference    Eoghan Neff    Simon McKerrell     amateur music    
traditional music     popular music     folk revival    folk clubs

5 comments:

Sean L. said...

Hi Pete
Sean Laffey here from Irish Music Magazine in Ireland.

My experience of the UK Folk club scne is that it is great fun, and a bit rough and ready.


We have a wide spectrum of traditional music here. (Folk in Ireaklnd is Americana singer song writer stuff).

Traditional msuic is predominantly of a very high standard, due to it being taught from a young age (my 6 year old is already playing the fiddle, whistel is obligatory fron second eyar of infants classes), the competitive nature of the learning environment and the sheer embarassment of playing badly in public, it is frowned on by peers and is not tolerated. Professionalism easily follows , thsoe who have the guille, ambition and determination to stick at it.



See my http://tradpix.blogspot.com/

For an intyerview I carried out with Tommy Makem, a man who has taken folk msuic form his mothers kitchen to carnegie hall.

Keep up the good work.

Sean L.

Sean L. said...

Hi Peter.

Way to LATE to type anything decent, PLEASE enjoy the typos on my last email.

Sean L.


Ireland.

Pete Wilby said...

Hi Sean

Thanks for the comments. Interesting also for someone caught up in the 'folk' scene of the English Midlands that the term has a different meaning in Ireland. Simon McKerrell made the same point about Scotland during his talk.

Yes for the purposes of this research, when I refer to the 'folk' music scene, it is the equivalent of (but possibly not identical to) the 'traditional' scene of Scotland and Ireland. The encouragement for young people to play that you describe is sadly lacking in the English educational system where music-making is seen as a bit of a luxury in the curriculum.

But my primary interest is of course the part of that scene that is 'amateur'.

Pete Wilby said...

PS - just checked out your blog, Sean. Love the photos!

Sean L. said...

Hi Pete.

Making Music on a small island

You probably know about this book, but it is well worth searching for and it describes amateur music making in presnet day Ireland. Here is the press relase from clo Iar Connachta, a wondwerful record label and book publisher in the west of Ireland. One to put on the wider radar. And thanks for the commenst about the pix ... you shoukld see my good ones!

FROM CIC
We have just published a new book about the singing tradition which may be of interest. 'On a Rock in the Middle of the Ocean' by Lillis O Laoire sets out to answer the deceptively simple question: Why do people sing? The book focuses on the singing tradition of Tory Island and explores the occasions at which people sing, the significance of these occasions and of the songs and singers chosen to perform. He recalls in the book specific occasions when songs were performed, the meaning of these particular songs and their relevance and importance to the islanders. He details the way in which the tradition is handed from one generation to another in Tory and the criteria upon which the singers are judged, and he also explains how songs act as a mediator of the dilemmas and tensions of island life and how they contribute to the strong sense of identity and historical continuity of the Tory Island community.

The author is a well-know sean-nos singer and scholar and comes from Gort an Choirce in Co. Donegal. The book includes a CD as well as song lyrics, maps and many photos. More information here http://www.cic.ie/product.asp?idproduct=1112

All the best,
CaitrĂ­ona

Caitriona Ni Bhaoill
Oifigeach Margaiochta / Marketing
Clo Iar-Chonnachta
Indreabhan
Conamara
Co. na Gaillimhe
Eire / Ireland

t +353 91 593307
f +353 91 593362
www.cic.ie