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What digital tools and resources do folk artists in England use?

a) What are the most common uses of digital tools and resources?

  • Which publicly available digital tools and resources are used (e.g. The Full English, YouTube, blogging tools, podcasts, etc.)?
  • Which digital gadgets are used (e.g. recording technologies: solid-state field recorders; mobile phones; digital sound editing software, etc.)?
  • Are technologies used in combination, and if so how?
  • What particular functions do digital resources fulfil for the folk musician or dancer?

b) What effect does culture have on the use of digital tools and resources?

  • Do folk artists that are involved in different traditions/cultures utilise digital tools and resources in the same ways, and for the same
    purposes?
  • To what extent, and in what ways, are patterns of digital activity dictated, limited or otherwise affected by musical or ergonomic features ofthe traditions studied?

 

How do folk artists in England engage with digital tools and resources?

a) Do folk artists consider the use of modern digital tools and resources in relation to the ‘folk’ nature of the music they perform?

  • Do folk musicians and dancers imagine their engagement with digital tools and resources to be significantly different from that of other kinds of musicians and dancers, and if so, how?
  • Does a concept of tradition inform or otherwise affect the ways in which digital resources are employed by musicians and dancers in these genres?
  • What are the boundaries of acceptable practice with relation to digital resources in folk cultures, and what are the consequences of their transgression?

b) To what extent, if any, is the relationship between folk practitioners and digital materials different across different folk activities?

  • To what degree are the nature and extent of digital activity dictated by cultural facets such as group identity?
  • And to what degree are they affected by individual choice?

 

What are the effects of digital tools and resources on the folk arts in England?

a) What impact have digital tools and resources had on the popularity and profile of folk arts in England?

  • How has digital technology changed the popularity or profile of the folk arts in England, if at all?
  • Have digital tools and resources changed how and what is taught in the folk arts in England?

b) What can we see has changed and what might change soon?

  • How can digital tools and resources be tailored to the needs and uses of artists?
  • Do folk artists want more or less digital tools and resources?
  • Is current use of digital tools or resources for the folk arts in England limited by format or content?