Re: Bass guitar in Celtic music
Originally Posted by
foldedpath
I don't think anyone is arguing that there isn't a history of kit drums in Céilí bands, or Highland bagpipe and drum marching bands.
What's at issue here, I think, is whether that tradition ever made it into what we think of as the trad tradition for ensemble folk-revival bands that was established by seminal groups like Planxty and the Bothy Band (and yes, the Chieftains), which might have had bodhran but never a set of kit drums.
And that led directly to the other established performance bands like Altan, Capercaillie, Lúnasa, Solas, Dervish, and the rest. All without kit drums, for a reason. The rhythm pulse is in the melody.
I think this is well said foldedpath. Certainly there is an Irish ceili band drumkit tradition too, like in the famous Kilfenora band. But those ceili bands are a tradition unto themselves - this is not a bunch of modern pop-rock weaned musos seeking crossover success. You stray dangerously into "Riverdance" territory (IMO) when you add rock band elements.
And hey - at the end of the day it's all different strokes, but as I always remember, I don't have an infinite amount of time to listen to music (or PLAY it), and I just don't care about fusion this and crossover that when there's so much of the past to catch up on and so much goodness right now in the present to find. Esthetic choices, that's all. If one of my band members had suggested adding drum kit I would have fought it and, if outvoted, quit. It's that simple.
"But wasn't it all stupid nonsense, rot, gibberish, and criminally fraudulent nincompoopery?"
- Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver
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