Re: The State of Irish Traditional Mandolin Playing
Not sure if I can say anything useful.
I play OM, which is neither zouk nor mandolin and has to stand its own ground. My first issue (and, apparently, of mandolin players as well) has been being heard in a session, Irish music's wild habitat, and to survive there among predators like the pipes or the box. What we hear from Martin, Marla and others brings out the quiet intricate acoustic wickerwork the mandolin is good at, but it would get mercilessly drowned out in most sessions I attend and I have seen mandolin players turn up, give up and go.
I was just not prepared to give up so easily, which is why I developed a combination of instrument customizing and heavy-handed playing technique, successful to the cause and still producing that Irish feeling (on good days) but very unlike the delicate style that would qualify as "mandolin".
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