Impacts of Technology and Instruments on Irish Traditional Music

Technology has impacted the music industry in different ways but enhancing its

transmission stand out. The impacts of technology on Irish Traditional Music (ITM) is not

certainly positive making the topic controversial. Existence of website is one of the main reasons

that makes technology positively impactful. This assertion helps form one school of thought that

find technology crucial in keeping tradition thriving and alive. Media and means such as the

internet allow people across the world to hear recordings of Irish music. It makes learning easier

because resources such internet engines, interpersonal communication, tune archives, and

portable recording devices. From this view, one may argue that technology is key in maintaining

the regional difference. Another school finds the technology to be negatively impacting in the

sense that it affects the passing of ITM from generation to generation. Because of the

geographical features, one grows up listening to the music being played making it difficult for

another in a different ethnic background to understand it. Due to this, A person who is not Irish

would not understand ITM. Technology disrupts this naturality of music by homogenizing music

by doing away with the geographical differences and commercializing music rather focusing on

its traditions. In sum, then, the overall effect of technology is evened by the positives and

negatives making it necessary to explore the topic.

Positive and Negative Impacts of Technology on ITM

One of the positive impacts of technology is enhancing education of ITM. Initially, Irish

music learning included knowledge being transmitted from generation to generation without the

aid of massive technologies. However, this is gradually being changed with digital developments

that boosts face to face learning. For instance, tune and tutorial books were accompanied by

recordings to supplement face to face learning. However, rapid changes have been incorporated
in the learning processes with evidence showing that over 80 percent of Irish musicians use the

internet to learn (Ward, 2016). This online and virtual presence is made possible with many

websites and archives such as mudcat.org, tunedb.woodenflute.com, and ceolas.org with other

generic sites such as the session.com, Comhaltas Live, and the BBC Virtual session as well as

YouTube. These websites and archives are among the major resources for Irish traditional

musicians and learners as they provide video and audio recordings of both tunes and lessons that

are created in different forms such as biographic and historical publications. Particularly, other

websites and archives that target Irish music learners include realirishmusiclessons.com,

jigsandreels.com, and tradschool.com. Comhaltas, for instance, provides lessons and platforms

for those interested in Irish music. The website which is hosted in collaboration with Irish

Abroad Unit and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports, and Media

provides “archive of thousands of hours of Irish music recordings, a large print library and a

growing collection of videos” (Comhaltas, 2022). These websites use a commercialized set up by

including tuition fees to provide their services. Summarily, learning of ITM has been

transformed in less than thirty years the introduction of the internet as evident shifting from in

the traditional face-to-face through methods such as providing writings of recordings and

notations to increased digital presence by making it virtual.

What is more, technology has enhanced the transmission of ITM. Gradual trends show

that the digital world has made the existence of music busier because information flows. Quinn

(2019) asserts that currently, Irish music cannot be tamed anymore it now reaches the whole

world. The diversity effect has changed the people’s interest in not just other information in the

internet but also in Irish traditional music. This is attributed to the internet which has been

developed into the primary source of since the 2000 through 2010 with technological devices
that makes acquisition information up to date. This multiplier effect has is evident in musical life

generally and specifically in Irish traditional music. Because of the interests in the music, the

internet increases the participation and demand levels. Ward (2016) reports that over eighty

percent of the Irish musicians access ITM through the internet. However, a counter argument can

be made that the internet results to more diversity which changes people’s taste over time.

Scholars agree that make the musical more extensive to people resulting to them having varied

tastes and interests to what they listen to (Quinn, 2019). To critique this argument, though,

acquiring new tastes musically does not necessarily mean that an individual, presumably Irish,

will completely forget about ITM. In fact, the multiplier effect of the internet will generate more

followers for the Irish music.

Contrary to these benefits, technology has one adverse effect to ITM related to saturating

the tradition in Irish music. The internet increases the risks of threats to the traditional values of

the ITM. McCann (2001) provides an overview of the impacts of internet to ITM in his thesis

arguing that:

“The last three years have seen a growing but notoriously vague awareness in the

traditional music scene of a conflict of interests that involves publicans, amateur

practitioners of traditional music and song… At the same time there has arisen a public

debate clouded in ambiguity and lack of direction due to a lack of shared lexicon or

conceptual consensus and complications of philosophical basis regarding traditional

compositions” (p. 90).

Degradation of tradition in Irish music is imminent due to technology according to this assertion.

Stone (2008) voices the same idea explaining the diffusion and evolution of traditions by

supposing that cultures evolve from simple to complex as they move to civilized from primitive.
Technology in McCann (2001) intensifies this shift to civilization even in ITM. This concern

surrounding the diffusion of values in ITM due to technology is attributed commercialization of

music. Today, music production is tied around financial reasons. Tuition fees for ITM lessons in

the archives and websites is evident of commercialization of the music. Although one may argue

in favor of those who charge to teach ITM by asserting that by teaching they improve values, the

general notion on commercializing Irish music compromises traditions associated with the

music.

Critically, the benefits of the technology are more than its disadvantages. Other than

piracy, which has two sides, saturating traditional values is the only concern by

ethnomusicologists. While attempting to argue otherwise that piracy is not entirely a demerit of

technology, this discussion acknowledges that it is a problem especially for the artists. McCann

(2001) notices how copyright is a growing concern for musicians. From a different perspective,

though, piracy increases transmission of music. This makes it a benefit along with others such as

access to lessons. Therefore, this study concedes to the assertion that technology and digital

devices is more beneficial than negatively impactful to the success of ITM.

Examples on Debate About the Impact of Technology in ITM

An on-desk analysis of individual’s ideas which is part of general field research involves

sampling ten of fifty random views on the debate regarding the impacts of technology on ITM

available in The Session. Most of the debaters find the technology to be impactful in the way in

improves transmission and access to music. However, some pose a sarcastic rhetoric seeking to

understand why it is called ITM in the first place and for how long it will continue being referred

to as traditional. In an argument that brings up the idea of arts for art’s sake, Jusa Nutter Eijt— a

participant in The Session debate— is concerned while agreeing with McCann (2001) that
commercializing ITM is a demerit as the music loses its traditional values in the long run (The

Session, 2009).

In another discussion that is more particular regarding how technology has influenced the

recording of ITM, most of the participants in The Session were positive that digitalization has

impacted the music significantly. For instance, Gromit— another debater— points out that

“Eight Key Flutes have been replaced with Keyless Flutes in a lot of instances” making it easier

for more participation in ITM as it is less expensive to use the latter (The Session, 2018). Other

views by the debaters were assertive that technology has impacted recording and composition

because of the ability of Irish musicians, producers, and those interested to use the slowing down

software and devices. Steve Wilson, another participant is happy that he can use the Marantz

PMD-201 cassette deck to slow down the tunes to half speed but is able to maintain the pitch

(The Session, 2018). These changes in instrumentation of ITM makes technology pistively

impacting. All the same, the views show how technology has impacted transmission and access

of ITM. To answer the question on how the technology has impacted Irish music, one debater

says that holding the conversation on The Session’s website alone is testimony to the benefit of

the internet. These findings are consistent with assertions by scholars whose findings paper

concedes that technology and digitalization of ITM is more beneficial compared to how it is

negatively influenced.

How Technological Impacts affect the Future of ITM

On the one hand, the saturation of traditional values compromises the existence of ITM.

Quinn (2016) who addresses how to extend the ITM’s life supposes that “our musical life is

going to become more complex as the digital world develops” (1). From this perspective, then,

degradation of traditional values that make Irish music be what it is can be considered the cause
of complexity. This raises more questions and rhetoric seeking to understanding for how long the

music will remain traditional. Digitization of these ethnic music involves using more

technological devices that may not exactly play the same role as the traditional ones. In The

Session debate, Gallopede points out that electronic tuners have replaced pitch pipes and tuning

forks (The Session, 2018). Such replacements of instrumentations compromise the organic state

of the Irish music as generations go by. This is because such innovations will stop at creating

software to replace actual instruments or even use artificial intelligence. In this sense, technology

will affect ITM negatively by shortening its musical life from generation to generation.

On the other hand, technology not only increases access to ITM increasing participation

and interests. This corresponds with one of the findings in the research that because of the

internet many people now, especially learners like us, access websites and resources related ITM.

Learning is even made easier with more direct effects evident in the learning process. In learning

to play instruments, websites such as Fiddlers Companion make the endless for books while

searching for tunes easier. This, together with other innovations is beneficial to individuals who

used copy tunes by hands before technologies or those who produced music manuscripts in the

preceding years. This is because one can now print manuscripts through interactive features in

the internet. These impacts are equally beneficial to those who learn ITM virtually through

media such as Skype. All these make the experience with ITM more interesting and effective

compared to other analogue methods. In conclusion, while the negative impacts shorten the

musical life of ITM through cultural diffusionism and evolution, technology’s positive impacts

improve the interaction with the music. This is the basis for arguing that technology is more

advantageous compared to the disadvantages it causes in ITM.

 References

Comhaltas. (2022). Comhaltas: About us. Comhaltas.Ie. https://comhaltas.ie/about/.

McCann, A. (2001). All That Is Not Given Is Lost: Irish Traditional Music, Copyright, and

Common Property. Ethnomusicology, 45(1), 89–106. https://doi.org/10.2307/852635.

Quinn, T. (2019, May 2). A future for Irish music. The Journal of Music.

https://journalofmusic.com/focus/future-irish-music.

Stone, R. M. (2007). “Chapter 12: Cultural Evolutionism and Diffusionism in Comparative

Musicology.” In Theory for Ethnomusicology. Pearson (p. 24-36).

The Session. (2008, May 15). Technology, and its role in Irish Traditional Music.

Thesession.Org; The Session. https://thesession.org/discussions/17790.

The Session. (2017, November 20). Technology - How Has it Affected the Irish Session?

Thesession.Org; The Session. https://thesession.org/discussions/41591.

Ward, F. (2019). Technology and the transmission of tradition: An exploration of the virtual

pedagogies in the Online Academy of Irish Music. Journal of Music, Technology &

Education, 12(1), 5-23.