[ensemble playing irish tune] [singing in gaelic] (jerry o'sullivan) irish traditional music-- any ofumental music-- it really comes from the older singing style called sean nos singing and sean nos is two irish language words meaning old way. they're very, very moving, very, very intimate songs. it's usually a group of people sitting in a circle around a table. the custom is for the singer to reach out and grab the hand of whoever is next to him or her, and they start this rowing motion as they're singing the song. it's not in time to the piece; there's no rhythmic thing, but it's an emotional custom where you're really-- the singer and the audience are really joined together. [playing celtic music] i think the fact that i play the uillean pipes-- it's a good instrument for imitating the sean-nos singers. you can slide notes in somewhat the same way, you try to ornament in somewhat the same way, so its a very good instrument for playing slow airs. slow airs, what you attempt to do as closely as possible is to follow the style of the singer. with these songs is telling a story, litera