Folk Music Collecting and New Media

Subject: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 08:51 PM

Hey Folks: I've started this thread because I'm interested in the intersections between folk music collecting and the use of new media such as social networking websites, YouTube, etc. I collect contemporary songs about work and the labor movement, and I've come across some great songwriters who post their music on the Web or use the Internet as a form of passing songs back and forth between musicians. I'd like to start a discussion about how new media can be used to document, preserve, and share both traditional folk music and contemporary songwriting.   

How has new media affected the world of folklore and folk song collection?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Dec 10 - 10:31 PM

Bucket your seatbelt and hang on!:-)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: sian, west wales
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 04:44 AM

I was at a seminar at the Earagael Festival in July (Letterkenny, Donegal) where The Henry Girls (local) and The Foxhunt from West Virginia were explaining how they put together their tour of Ireland and Scotland over the internet - rehearsing, recording, etc. When they did finally get together "in the flesh" they had a lot of the prep work out of the way. We'd been to the concert the night before - very good indeed.

BTW, about 10 years ago there was an attempt by trendies in London to get WBI widely used to refer to face-to-face in the flesh meetings. WBI = Warm Body Interface. Honest.

Oh - and I think the recently launched People's Collection here in Wales could be an interesting vehicle for trad performers to get more music out of the archives and into public use ...

sian


sian

Subject: RE: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 06:42 AM

Hello! I am Charlie Frederick who wrote several songs that appeared on Archie Green's album consisting of songs about work. My song, "Twenty-Nine More Men" was about the tragedy of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Archie also was interested in my song "Big Pipeline" which was about the building of the Alaskan pipeline in the 70's.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: GUEST,Hilary
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 10:19 AM

That's an interesting question, Nathan. Do you think that there will be some time in the future when folklorists will no longer collect from people in person? That would be sad. On the other hand, the internet is a valuable source for songs when one is unable to go very far.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 04:15 PM

Hilary: I hope folklorists will always collect from people in person. Nothing beats that. I see the Internet and other forms of new media, though, as a great resource for getting in touch with people initially or just for discovering what's out there. I've also come across a couple of examples of singers putting their songs on YouTube and then other folks adapting them via the folk process.
I heard a song written by an IWW songwriter called "What Shall We Do with the Starbucks Bosses?" on YouTube...It was written to the tune of "The Drunken Sailor" and I noticed that folks had adapted it to other situations and put it up on YouTube as well. Very interesting.

Sian: I love the term Warm Body Interface...Gonna have to remember that? Are the Henry Girls and The Foxhunt still around? I'd love to talk to them about their experiences using the web to rehearse together.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 04:17 PM

Charlie:

I would love to hear the songs that Archie Green collected from you! He was an inspiring folklorist and I was lucky enough to talk to him a few times before he passed away.


Are you still writing?

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: sian, west wales
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 04:24 PM

Re: The Henry Girls and Foxhunt: oh yes. The event I went to was just this July and they were touring at that time. Easily Googled.

sian

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 04:37 PM

The new media should be fully embraced and it is heartening to see that someone is looking to investigate this and draw together the different opportunities it presents.

First of all I have seen lots of evidence of texts and some tunes in ABC or even audio being presented on this very forum, material that would not otherwise have surfaced to be shared and studied.

Just as important to me is that information on historical background, origins, scarce versions etc is being gathered by this very forum.

Many websites like our 'Yorkshire Garland' one are making regional collections more accessible in all sorts of formats.

Researchers like myself can make use of obscure publications via things like Gutenberg and Internet Archive. Some street lit is coming online, best example The Bodleian, (but there are glaring gaps).

People like Gibb Sahib are drawing together all known published material on the history of sea shanties, such that this forum is now probably the most informed medium on the history of sea shanties in the world.

I could go on....the possibilities are mind-blowing! Roud Index, Digital Tradition, BLSA, Levy sheet music collection, AMMA, I need another 7 lifetimes!

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 06:49 AM

Nathan:
I am still writing. You say you are collecting songs about the northwest..."Big Pipeline" might work for your collection. Do you have a mailing address I could reach you? Let me know. Charlie Frederick

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 07:06 AM

Thanks for the feedback Sian - the transtalantic collaboration between The Henry Girls and The Fox Hunt was great - so great that they are coming back in Jan 2011 and will performing at Celtic Connections and doing a mini tour aroubd ireland (see www.thehenrygirls.com). They have been preparing in the same way this time and again it is working well. I do think however that all the musicians would agree that nothing is as good as face to face rehearsals. Kate (Henry Girls Manager)

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: GUEST,LDT
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 07:07 AM

@Sian
Well I am a member of a virtual duo. ;)
We met on a folk forum, record out parts separately and email them back and forth when we put tunes together and have only actually met in real life once.
Once done post them on youtube and a audio hosting website. Then use facebook to say 'look' at the track.

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Will Fly
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 07:41 AM

The concept of virtual duos has been going on for some - since the rise of compressed music formats such as mp3, and the ubiquity of emails. I've done internet duets with people in the US whom I've never met face to face - and great fun they've been.

What's fascinating is the internet domino effect, where someone posts a piece of music which then gets downloaded, re-interpreted and uploaded elsewhere - to be downloaded and re-interpreted, etc. It happens all the time with all genres of music on YouTube, though mainly with popular, commercial material. Because of the spread of instant information to a wide audience, through the net, one could imagine a "folk process" taking place at high speed, with songs evolving at a rapid rate...

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: sian, west wales
Date: 15 Dec 10 - 05:25 PM

Actually, I didn't mention our own work at trac.

We set up a Groupsite as a support to our annual 3 day music retreat. We put up MP3s, dots, words, etc which attendees can study in advance of the weekend. It also lets them get in touch with each other and generate some 'buzz' leading up to the event.

Then, if you look at our Youtube channel - music traditions wales - you'll see some videos from the weekend. These also help attendees recall some of the stuff they've heard (and fund they've had). Other videos are up to teach specific tunes.

Social networking, youtube, etc are a big help to us.

sian

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 08:57 PM

Charlie: I'd love to hear your song "Big Pipeline." My mailing address is:      3230 Bell Ave.
         Eugene, OR 97402.
I appreciate it.

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: Nathan Moore
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 09:00 PM

Sian:

I like the idea of "virtual duos." Is any of your music available online? What are the pros and cons of recording that way? I always feel like there's an energy that one achieves in a live situation, playing directly with other folks. At the same time, the opportunities to play with folks from around the world using virtual media seem limitless.

How does putting together a recording over such a distance affect the feel of the music?

Subject: RE: Folk Music Collecting and New Media
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 10:36 PM

I love the concept of virtual people playing at the same time..put me down for something if you do it...but assign me a computer genius to help me...I did see that on one of the QUEBec flash mob things...people all over Quebec playing what looked like at the same time..

Somethings would be easier..call and response types of things..sea shanties..etc. And have you checked out the folklore collection called Music Box? On You Tube...women from all over US. mg