How Confident are you with your Dialects?

Karen did something unusual last week - by sharing a "Drama" database with trad music students (students of traditional music, that is, not traditional students!), she forged new connections between the Schools of Drama and Music.

Our trad musicians were intrigued that different accents were recorded for the use of acting students.  Who knows? They may even get their own accents recorded! 

Meanwhile, let's share the words of the creators of Medea, so you can see what it's all about:-

What is MEDEA?

MEDEA is the new accents and dialects resource from the Centre for Voice in Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Our unique identity as Scotland’s leading Institution for the Performing Arts attracts students from all over the world allowing us to record an amazing range of accents and dialects of English as it is currently spoken. MEDEA is a living document and the database will continue to grow with new recordings added on a regular basis – everything from Latvia to Liverpool, Belfast to Barcelona and beyond.

You Just Want to Get it Right? It's an Issue in Cape Breton Music, too

We found an interesting article on the subject of "correctness" in traditional music.  It is actually from the sleeve notes of a Cape Breton CD, MacKinnon's Brook.  We're trying to get the CD from the USA, but meanwhile, you can enjoy reading the article!!

Here's the sleeve notes LINK - CLICK HERE.  The article was uploaded by Kate Dunlay, one of the authors.

Full details:-

Rounder 7040. Traditional Fiddle Music of Cape Breton series, Vol.4: MacKinnon's Brook, notes by Kate Dunlay and Mark Wilson; tune identifications by Paul Cranford. 

National Identity in Irish Traditional Music - a Paper by Daithi Kearney

This might interest our students of Scottish traditional music.  Another Celtic nation, but similar threads will quite possibly come through!

"Seeing sounds of the past: Monuments to musicians in the Irish landscape"

by Daithi Kearney

A paper delivered at the IASPM Conference, Montreal, Canada

. 
Dr Kearney lectures at the School of Music and Theatre, University College Cork, Ireland.

Like Buses, Music Conferences Sometimes Come All At Once ... This one is Trad

We've noticed there's a Call for Papers by the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, for their 2015 Conference. 

• Call for Papers: Canadian Society for Traditional Music 2015 conference: DETAILS HERE.

Trad Arts Event in Inverclyde, Saturday 25 October

We just spotted an event in Greenock that might interest our traditional musicians:-

Traditions in Place: Inverclyde

TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland)/ Museums and Galleries Scotland

Saturday, 25 October 2014 from 10:30 to 16:00 (BST)

Greenock, United Kingdom

Details HERE

Networking Librarian: Connecting Performers with Reviews!

Edinburgh Festival and More  

Networking Librarian

Rob Adams Journalist

We thought our trad and jazz performers might be interested to visit this website by music journalist Rob Adams.  He has attended a lot of events in Edinburgh recently, so you will spot names that you know.

Time for the Martyn Bennett Prize

The Martyn Bennett Prize for traditional music composition

How to enter - visit the website HERE. From the competition website:-

Timetable

Mon 7 July 2014 Competition Open
Mon 1 September 2014 Closing Date
Tue 16 September 2014 Shortlist Announced
Thu 9 - Tue 14 October 2014 Shortlisted composition rehearsals
Tue 14 October 2014 Finalists’ Concert/Award of the Martyn Bennett Prize for Traditional Music Composition

Traditional Music Exams with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland was called RSAMD, in the days when our traditional music exams were launched.

Some of the music can now be downloaded online, and the rest can be bought, via PlayScottishMusic.com. 

This is the link for downloading and ordering RCS trad music exam material: Click here. 

Is Fiddle Music Traditional? Views from Above and Below ...

• How 'traditional' is fiddle music really?
• What does the word 'fiddle' mean to you?

Two blogs recently addressed this question:- the Bass Culture blog associated with David McGuinness and the University of Glasgow AHRC-funded research into fiddle music accompaniments; and Ronnie Gibson's Scottish Fiddle Music blog from the University of Aberdeen, where he's a doctoral student.

If you study or work with traditional music, you may find both blogs of some interest.

Martyn Bennett Traditional Music Prize

Martyn Bennett was a student at the RSAMD, and his mother, Margaret Bennett, is on our teaching staff for the Scottish Music course.  We're delighted to share details of this prize with you.

All entries must be received by 5pm, Mon 12 August 2013

http://themartynbennettprize.com/

From the website:- 

"The Queen’s Hall and the Traditional Music Forum are inviting submissions for a compositional prize for new work that takes its inspiration from Scottish traditional music. Applications are open to all composers and musicians aged 16+ based in Scotland whose work and practice evidences the influence of Scottish traditional music.

The submitted piece should be between five and ten minutes long and not previously performed in public in either informal or formal settings. The work should have its roots in Scottish traditional music and look outward to a connected world. The competition is only open to instrumental music; songs with lyrics will not be considered, but the use of vocal elements (eg chanting) is allowed."
 

Scottish Fiddle Music - Ronnie Gibson launches his website ScottishFiddleMusic.com

http://scottishfiddlemusic.com/2013/07/25/fiddlers-and-fiddling/

This website consists of blogposts on different aspects of Scottish fiddle music, and is authored by Aberdeen PhD candidate Ronnie Gibson.  These are some of the topics covered:-

• Finding Tunes Online
• Finding Tunes In Print
• Playing Fiddle Music
• Historic Collections

Folkies! Feis Rois has Freelance Work for you!

Traditional Music Job Opportunity

Feis Rois wants freelance musicians.  You must apply by Friday 12 July, so take a look at this, and give it a go!

http://www.feisrois.org/

Accordina profiled in Box and Fiddle this month

Said to be favoured by jazz and trad musicians alike ... introducing ....

The Accordina

'Whittaker' had never heard of an Accordina before.  This is not the accordion, oh dear me no.

Find out more about this intriguing wind and free reed instrument on the Joseph Carrel website, or come and read Box and Fiddle for March 2013, where there's more about it, and details of a UK dealer.

A Scotch Musical Miscellany by Stuart Eydmann

Just heard about Stuart's new website, at http://scotchmusic.com/.  (It also contains a link to his Rare Tunes recordings pages.)  Do take a look - it's a beatifully designed site.
 
Here's how he introduces it:-

"The Miscellany is concerned with aspects of the traditional and popular music of Scotland and complements other print, recorded, archival and on-line resources.
 
"There is a page for longer articles on traditional music, a ‘scrap book’ page for archival material, links to key policy texts, selected playlists of video content and on-line music tracks, a photographic archive and dedicated areas on certain instruments and subjects. All material is published in PDF form for portability and the layout has been designed to suit the iPad and other electronic reading devices as well as print at A4. Articles are dynamic and will be amended in the light of new information and feedback, with all changes marked by version numbers."

 

Bass Culture in Scottish Musical Traditions

The Bass Culture team is researching bass-lines and accompaniments in historic Scottish fiddle collections, not to mention bagpipe music.  One of our outputs is a blog, so we can keep people posted about our progress.

Take a look at the Bass Culture blog here.

Scots Trad Music Awards - don't forget to vote!

Hands up for Trad will be hosting the 10th MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards and Gala Concert on 8th December 2012, Nevis Centre, Fort William.
 
Here's the link you need.  Voting ends 21st November - don't miss your chance! 
 

Lomax and the Rising Sun

Another great posting from Bibliolore, about the 'Rising Sun' song, and the story of how it was collected by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax.

Globalization of The Rising Sun - Click here

Of interest to anyone studying ethnomusicology - the traditional, 'folk music' (don't get me started on that term!) of different nations.  World music, in modern parlance.

MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards

2012 Awards - nominations requested.

More here on Scottish Culture Online website.  Do it now - before 12th October 2012!

"The Scots Trad Music Awards nominations process runs from the 1st – 12th October and the public are invited to nominate their chosen four in each of 15 pre-arranged categories. eg Best Album to Best Club, Best Instrumentalist, Best Folk Band, Dance Band and Pipe Band ranging right across the many strands that encompass Scotland’s vibrant traditional music scene. These nominations are then taken to a panel of industry experts who decide the final 4 to go through to the voting process which starts on Monday 29th October."

Trad on the Tyne

A reminder -

 

Trad on the Tyne:

a weekend festival of music and more

31 August - 2 September 2012, Haddington

• And here is the link:- http://www.tradonthetyne.com/  (The Whittaker Library gets told about all sorts of festivals and events - do come back again for an update.)

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Music 2013

Young Scots traditional musician?

Unmissable opportunity!

Blogged by Creative Scotland Opportunities.  I hope they won't mind if I quote their words here:-

The 13th BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award has opened for entries. We’re looking for talented young traditional musicians from all over Scotland who can play an instrument or sing to enter this prestigious competition. All you have to do is download and fill in the application form, send in a 10-minute recording on CD, a short biography and paragraph explaining your commitment to a career in traditional music.

This opportunity is available in: All Scotland

For further information, please contact info@handsupfortrad.co.uk (Simon Thoumire), or call 07775 854 572, or visit http://www.scottishcultureonline.com/bbc-radio-scotland-young-traditional-musician-2013-open-for-entries/. The deadline is Friday 06 July 2012 at 00:00."