l o l

too much arguing here to realize that the title of the songs alone would make for an excellent joke...

From Australia. Keep the music comming. We are all blessed to be able to hear and see these videos. Be thankfull. Love it.

Get over it. YouTube is a public forum in which commentary plays an inherent and vital function. It is a matter of debate whether this example qualifies as 'music' or not...

Why all of the childish arguing about music? This is something we should enjoy. It is art, you can take it as you please. But please don't ruin it with politics.

Problem? I enjoy Michael Coleman as much as the Flaming Lips or Stravinsky. If there's a "problem" in this thread it's some stone narrow-mindedness. Traditional music has to move forward to survive. Do you think it hasn't ever changed?? It's evolving just as the communities from where it originates are evolving. Without it we wouldn't have the rich culture of music in Galicia or Cape Breton or America.

Therein lies your problem mate...traditional music is just that, traditional. It doesn't need a "way forward". It doesn't need to be made "relevant". If you find yourself growing bored with traditional music, may I humbly suggest.....USER ERROR

I'm sure some people similar to yourself felt the same way about blues when Robert Johnson's music was brought from it's origins to give us legends like JImi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Mike McGoldrick, Sharon Shannon, Lau and many others I feel are lighting the way forward for traditional music, while still keeping the trad very much present.

A pity you couldn't be 'taken aback' any farther. The fact of the matter is that this being a published video, it is subject to commentary and criticism. I think it's shit. You don't. Fair play to you. But what is NOT a matter of opinion is the volume and funk being liberally applied to traditional music. Undeniable. I think it's a horrible horrible thing. For fecks sake if you feel the need to 'rock out', please confine yourselves to rock music and not traditional music.

I'm a bit taken aback by your arrogance. I know the programme. There are no amplifiers, just microphones for the recording. And sometimes there is a need to 'rock out' - it moves people in a different way. Just because you don't like something it doesn't make it bad.

As to what qualifies me to say what the best music is....my EARS, my good man! This was a television broadcast so of course this would have been an amplified session. If not, that is the loudest fiddle I've heard. And as for Steve Cooney, he wouldn't be the first name that comes to mind as a 'sensitive' harmonic accompanist. I'm sure he'd tell you himself that much of what he did was percussion. Have you seen his old guitar?! There really is no need to 'rock out like Angus Young' in this music

1- It is a simple equation involving volume and force that plots guitarists such as this one at the aggressive end of the spectrum. 2- With accompaniment like that, I am in agreement with you3- Considering the guitar is being used as a percussion instrument, I can hear it all too well. Sack the accompaniment and let's hear the fiddle properly!4- Amongst the musicians maybe, but this is mediocre music suffering from an overdose of funk. Before Cooney there was Sproule/Brady/Ó Domhnaill

Seanearnest,You're being unfair 1- what qualifies you to say what the best music is? 2- it's not great sound 3- there is a snare drum tapping away over the top so you can't hear the guitar properly. 4- What amplification? There's a great vibe going on in this video- that decides how good the music is. Music isn't about a box or fiddle or even a guitar being heard, it's empirical. Steve Cooney wrote the book on sensitive guitar playing, yet he can rock out there like Angus Young when he needs to

I really wish people would give a listen to the sensitive guitarists...the likes of Dáithí Sproule, John Blake, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. It's not about making the most noise, it's about making the best music.

Pianoman,I think the relative volume of guitars accurately reflects the role of accompaniment in a session. Bear in mind, this clip features amplification - these are the levels they want you to hear. The way accompaniment is going these days, I think we're headed to a place where backers feel 'entitled' to thrash away as loud as they please. What that does is shift the communal determination of the drive/lift/groove/vibe to ONE person. And I think that is a bad, bad idea.

Guitar players are usually the most difficult to hear in session playing. They provide the harmonic backing for all the other melody players, and are usually buried under all the other players.

Did you notice that there's actually a drummer there???? Perhaps give it a thought that he's adding to the, er...percussive nature of the backing.

I was very impressed by this, especially the woman playing the violin. As others said, it seems like these days guitar players like to play so violently / loudly.

agreed

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should