|
Already got a tin whistle and Ocarina because of this thread (though the ocarina seems to be the worst one I could buy, a 10 hole Schwarz), and now I really want a gadulka since it seems to sound great to me and is not too expensive. Will probably order off of Bulgariana but I was wondering if the 13-string is a considerable upgrade to the 9-string or wouldn't I really notice the 4 extra resonating strings? Also wondering just how difficult it would be to learn, I only play ukulele decently at the moment, and some guitar. Because of your ukulele thread I now have 7 ukuleles ranging from sopranissimo to tenor so I'm expecting great things from this one 
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 01:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:34 |
|
|
quote:That said, I am really digging playing the harmonica, and I want to pick up something that is a little more... melodic. Having read what I can, my options seem to be: The way you phrase your situation, I'd say going slide chromatic sounds your best bet, as it's by far the most melodic variant of harmonica. Have you watched a lot of clips of that instrument on YouTube? I'd go watch down on that for a bit (I like Brendan Powers' work) and make sure that very melodic sound is what you dig over the more chordal diatonic sound. Chromatic certainly has the ability to do jazz and classical far beyond the diatonics, and 12-16 hole chromatics are common, with the 16 giving you four octaves which is about as much as anyone has a right to ask for. For others following the thread, a slide chromatic harmonica is meant to be played largely one note at a time, and has a plunger at one end which raises (or drops) your notes a half step when you press it, so you can hit all the "black key" notes on one harp, thus able to play in any key at all.  So far as buying one, I'd read up on this in the past while looking into getting one for myself. There are a number of good harps in the $150ish range (Hohner, Hering, Seydel, stretch a bit and there's Suzuki), and just a few in the <$100 range that get decent press. Given that you're being cautious with the budget, and you aren't even fully sure what style of harmonica you're going to end up sticking with, this might be a good time to go for the budget models so you can feel out the chromatic without committing too much. The Hohner Educator gets some criticism, but there are a lot of informed folks singing its praises online too. Also the valve-less design makes it much more bulletproof than the nicer harps, so adds to beginner-friendliness. The Educator runs around $50. That said, I've run across a scattering of postings at Slidemeister.com (have you gotten into perusing that forum yet?) arguing that the budget "Swan" brand is almost identical in design to the Hohner, but slightly better fit/finish, the newest models have phosphor bronze reeds, and it runs a good $15-20 cheaper than the Educator. In your shoes, I'd look hard at that one, and also check to see if the forum folks say the PB reeds make it worth paying a little extra for the freshest models from the factory. There's at least one or two eBay sellers specifically emphasising that their product is the newest, PB-reeded Swan model. A 10-hole Chinese instrument may not be something you want to use as your main axe for years, but it's an affordable way to try it out, and if you spring for a pricier one later you can use your cheapie as a travel/car/knockaround harp. EDIT: swanmusicstore88 on eBay has the Swan 1248 12-hole model for $59 (also new PB reeds), if you need that extra half-octave. Sterf posted:Already got a tin whistle and Ocarina because of this thread (though the ocarina seems to be the worst one I could buy, a 10 hole Schwarz) I've never actually played gadulka, but I wouldn't imagine it inordinately hard. Learning the midair fingering (common in Asia, unknown in Western Europe these days) might be a little odd at first, and learning any bowed instrument is going to have an initial learning period of sounding like rear end until you get bowing technique down, but there shouldn't be any real curveballs with that one. I just recently got an email from Bulgariana alerting me to their new gadulka instruction book, which appears to be the only such book in English, so consider dropping €12 on that one in your order. Also, if you're not handy with basic woodworking, spend €5 for the gadulka tuning wrench. It's just a piece of dowel with a notch to help turn all those little pegs, but if you don't have a bandsaw or similar it's probably just easiest to buy one in your order.  I know it's a little cheesy, but I do enjoy the gadulka covers of rock tunes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWekMZqCsIE So far as the 9 vs the 13, I wouldn't expect huge differences from being short a few sympathetics. The 9 is slightly smaller but not much. It might be worth asking the seller what the difference is given the large price gap, just to make sure the 9 isn't much lower quality. Gadulka is, from what I've seen so far, one of the least expensive and most accessible of the "Eastern fiddles" (kemence, rebab, gidjak, erhu, kokyū, stuff like that). You can find the Turkish Pontic/Black Sea kemence pretty easily/affordably, but it doesn't have the massive array of sympathetics the Bulgarian has, and it's a bit smaller and shriller with less low-end. If you take to the gadulka conceptually (playing method, symps, etc) the wider family of midair-bowed fiddles might be worth checking out. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 13:49 on Mar 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2013 08:20
|
|
|
Yes, chromatic really does seem to be what I'm after. I don't really play my diatonics chordally (very well or often). I spend all my time playing song melodies--those which have no chromatic notes. And that's really my limitation at the moment. After talking to wifey, we have decided to stretch up to a nice model. A chromatic is definitely where I'm headed, and given the hours I spend playing it, it will be worth it to get something nice-sounding. Having played a cheapie Hohner chromatic, I'm wary of them. There was a lot of air leakage, the holes were awkward, and it did not sound very nice. I was looking at the Suzuki Chromatix for the phosphor bronze reeds, cover-all case, and reviews of airtightness. Nobody around me has it in stock, though, so I'll have to order it. Thank you for the advice. When I have my instrument in hand, I'll record something to share. Maybe the Sesame Street theme. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2013 14:29
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:I just recently got an email from Bulgariana alerting me to their new gadulka instruction book, which appears to be the only such book in English, so consider dropping €12 on that one in your order. Just so people know what to expect, I ordered a gadulka from Bulgariana a month ago and my order is still listed as processing. I'll wait another week or two and e-mail them to check on the order. And I have to e-mail Kaiser serpents again to make sure I am on the build list as he never confirmed my request 
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2013 19:03
|
|
|
There was someone else ages ago (I think on about page 2) who was struggling to find a dulcimer in Australia, and I'm pretty much in the same boat now. It seems like the only ones I can find are from here (http://www.wildwoodinstruments.com.au/stringedinstruments.html#dulcimer) for about $450 shipped which I'm definitely considering purely because of location, but if there's a more reliable/cheaper place to get one shipped in from the USA I'd probably prefer to got that way. Just wondering if you had any advice/knew of any brands/websites to look out for in terms of getting one sent out here? How did the other Aussie end up going if you remember?
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2013 11:04
|
|
|
Want to be the only person you've ever met who plays this thing? Like bowed psalteries but want more notes? Consider the ukelin and the violin-uke. Henry C. Marx loved zithers. I mean, really loved zithers. He thought every instrument would be better with a little zither added, and he did his best to achieve this goal. The ukelin and the violin-uke are violins with extra zither; you bow the melody strings with one hand and pluck the chord strings with the other. Lessons or complicated instructions are entirely unnecessary for those who desire to play the ukelin. Tuning it, however... These puppies have 32 strings. 16 melody strings are played with a bow, while the left hand plucks one of 4 4-note chords. The designer seems to have assumed you'd tune yours to a piano. Nowadays an electronic tuner would be essential Here are a ukelin and a violin-uke I saw at my local antiques store. You could get either of them complete with original instruction book for under $100, and that's before you haggled. You can buy one on Ebay for under $100 including shipping. If you're intrigued, start haunting your local junk stores; a lot of these were made and nobody wants them now.  Ukelin Violin-uke* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhEyu04vs-Q "Amazing Grace" on the ukelin. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1_tdC3L440&t=101s 93-year-old lady plays "Farther Along" on the ukelin she bought new when young. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zfYtflRrSw 1970s Canadian psych-folk band Perth County Conspiracy, "Crucifixation Cartoon" * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yi8J-p3HDg Loreena McKennit plays the ukelin (among other things) in "Moon Cradle" * Bob's Ukelin Home. Every resource you could need, including new strings. * Ukelin discography. * Complete overview of the bowed zither family. Be sure to click the picture of the Marxolin. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Mar 20, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2013 21:46
|
|
|
sliderule posted:After talking to wifey, we have decided to stretch up to a nice model. A chromatic is definitely where I'm headed, and given the hours I spend playing it, it will be worth it to get something nice-sounding. Having played a cheapie Hohner chromatic, I'm wary of them.  If you've thought on it and watched clips and slide-chromatic is what you want, then getting a good one is a solid call. That line about "the greatest economy comes from buying the best you can afford." I've certainly underspent on music gear and gotten some lovely or busted stuff (looking at you, Weltmeister melodeon in C-semi-#), but I don't recall ever really over-spending on music gear. I however just bought a Swan 10-hole slide for $28 on eBay. It seems decent enough, though I'm no expert, but I imagine a stronger return spring would feel nice. It seems solid enough (though not amazing tone and the reed response is a little slow) though it does just hammer how the realisation that I'm not particularly good at harmonica. But it's fun to have a chromatic around the house to mess with. Plus it wouldn't be the first time I bought something, and then years later ended up dusting it off and really getting into it. I got a tinwhistle when I was maybe 5, never tried playing it seriously until I was maybe 16, and have been playing it for half my life now, so that $5 purchase by my uncle back in the '80s really paid off. quote:There was someone else ages ago (I think on about page 2) who was struggling to find a dulcimer in Australia, and I'm pretty much in the same boat now. I'm not sure if we heard back from him, though might be worth checking around the thread. I checked around eBay, and was surprised how many US dulcimer sellers just sell to the US and nearby. When I lived in Canada even I occasionally had to message sellers and talk them into Canada shipping, tell them it wasn't a big hassle, etc. So only a few US and UK dealers shipping dulcimers to Oz. That said, Apple Creeks are kind of hit-or-miss, but you can get them for a total of AU$125, but unless you're really economising I'd skip up to the seller who carries Black Mountain dulcimers for AU$200 out the door. Black Mountain apparently makes a pretty solid product; the Model 36 he sells has ply back and sides which isn't practically speaking a big deal since those don't have much effect on sound. One or two folks on Everything Dulcimer mentioned tweaking the action on theirs, but fortunately it has an adjustable bridge (really the smart way to go) so easy adjustability there. The Wildwood ones look overpriced by US standards (that really basic slotted tuning head is a real economy touch you see on student-level dulcimers). I poked around Everything Dulcimer, just a mention or two of them as being not really dulcimer experts so much as folks who can make a dulcimer occasionally. For comparison, for about $350 or so you can get a dulcimer by Tom Yocky, a really recognised US maker, toss on $65ish for shipping and whatever customs is ($25? 50?) and you're not any pricier than Wildwood. Much less if you buy a used Yocky, McSpadden, Folkcraft, etc. If you want something more upscale than the Black Mountain, I'd suggest you go on Everything Dulcimer's classified section and see who has a decent used dulcimer and is willing to box it a little more secure than average and fill out a simple customs form. For eBay merchants I can see it being a hassle over time, but for an individual seller shipping to Australia really shouldn't be a big deal if the buyer is covering the shipping costs. I'd consider posting there with a clear title like "WTB good starter dulcimer shipped to Australia" or something. Here's what a Yocky looks like, for reference and also just because I like to include cool pics with most of my posts: 
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2013 03:41
|
|
|
Do any goons play gusli? I just heard this Youtube video and am enchanted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDWwHONEvxY
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2013 18:45
|
|
|
Thank you, sir, for your epic thread, which I found via the banner ad. I bought an Oak tinwhistle in D at my local music shop last Friday, and have been messing around with it. The instrument is quite fun when I can avoid half-holing it, but I feel like I need some practice and a repertoire of real songs to play. The woman at the store tried to sell me a music book. Should I go back and buy that, or should I save my money and just watch videos on Youtube?
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2013 04:44
|
|
|
quote:Do any goons play gusli? Gusli is pretty much in the same extended family as kantele (and thus the kannel, kankles, kokle going down the Baltic coast). The one you link is a large semi-modern gusli, the old primitive ones are 5-6 strings and small. We have at least two goons so far that have bought kanteles from the post at the very start of the thread (one ordered his just a week or so ago), both small 5-strings which are really easy to start out on. For comparison in size, here's an guy improvising on the older style "wing-shaped" 10-string gusli. It's kind of funny because he's playing chord progressions very much like a modern guitarist; interesting seeing how he's carrying the technique over: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-mz4qzwgH8 FAKEEDIT: The below cap is from one of the few clips I've seen on YouTube of someone playing the really old 5-string style of gusli, but I can't figure out where the clip itself is:  rabiddeity posted:Thank you, sir, for your epic thread, which I found via the banner ad. I bought an Oak tinwhistle in D at my local music shop last Friday, and have been messing around with it. The instrument is quite fun when I can avoid half-holing it, but I feel like I need some practice and a repertoire of real songs to play. The woman at the store tried to sell me a music book. Should I go back and buy that, or should I save my money and just watch videos on Youtube? Meh, depends on the book. Unless it's a particularly high-level book with really good reviews on Amazon, it's probably something small and basic that's no better than any number of free websites. Between the Chiff & Fipple forum, basic "how to play" sites, YouTube tutorials, etc. you can get a ton of stuff online. If you're really wanting a good book and want to blow $40 for 500 pages of detailed discussion of technique and a bunch of CDs demonstrating stylings, the The Essential Guide to the Irish Flute and Tin Whistle is great, but in the immediate term I'd just use the interwebs. Both TradLessons and TradSchool on YouTube have a ton of stuff. I know I'm always recommending this playlist, and although it's not necessarily beginner level stuff (though not too far above it), the Tradschool "Top 20 Session Tunes" is a great playlist to just chuck on your laptop in constant rotation while you're folding laundry or whatever so that you can let some really common tunes sink into your brain: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7A5C1E6637E208D0 Glance around YouTube, start with the really basic finger-by-finger tutorials, and you'll get to the point that you can follow tunes by ear surprisingly quickly. Both sheet music and tablature are unnecessary crutches; I'm not saying don't use them, but for oral tradition folk music your end-state isn't to sight-read scores, it's to hear a tune played and be able to play it back. For anyone else interested in learning Irish traditional music, the best way to be upping your game is to start showing up at some "sessions", those informal jams held in Irish pubs. I haven't been to a DC one in forever, so I need to get off my rear end about that. Most decent-sized US cities will have at least one a week in one bar or another, and some cities have loads of them. Even outside the normal Irish diaspora, if you're in a largeish city there are probably Irish sessions; apparently as of 2012 at least six bars in Tokyo have sessions, for example. You don't want to go just barreling into one, but just observing, and then sitting on the margin and playing very quietly so you can hear yourself trying to match up is a great way to ease in. You can google up "Irish session etiquette" for how to get involved without feeling awkward. Strings you can just pluck really quiet, accordions/concertinas you can hold your air button so you're mostly silent, whistles you can google up "whistle mute" for non-permanent ways to jam things on the air window to make them breathy and quiet, etc. In any case, if you want to learn ITM, start dropping in to sessions. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2013 14:24
|
|
|
I checked the thread and haven't seen this come up before. TTFA doesn't like the Susato sound. If you do, Susato offers the Oriole Vertical Flute Set: one whistle head and bodies for a 2-Holed Tabor-Pipe or Txistu, 4-Holed Pentacorder, 6-Holed Pennywhistle and 8-Holed Recorder. (capitalization theirs). If you know you like the Susato sound and want to mess around with a lot of instruments in the family for $79, this is worth investigating. http://www.susato.com/konakart/Oriole-Vertical-Flutes/1_412_-1_1.do
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2013 18:46
|
|
|
Is it appropriate to post in the thread when you see an interesting weird instrument available in a specific geographic area? I ask because there's a lacquered taishogoto (as seen on page 10) available on the SF-area Craigslist for best offer over $150.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2013 21:13
|
|
|
God help me, I want to learn the hurdy-gurdy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eDCw3wn64Q&feature=player_detailpage#t=61s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLlIbMA6VFA
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2013 05:14
|
|
|
nnnnghhhhgnnngh posted:God help me, I want to learn the hurdy-gurdy.  You are not alone among goons there. We've had several goons in this thread interested in hurdy-gurdy, but I don't believe we have any goons yet who own one. I sort of used to own one, in that I was building a really, really basic one, but it's really hard to get wheel alignment right. Have you seen our post back on pg 2 about the 'gurdy? There aren't any cheap-cheap gurdies on the market that don't suck, so for a baseline price you're looking at at least US$700+ for one of the medieval box gurdies, called a "symphony"/symphonie/chifonie. The little symphonies are generally quieter than the later designs, however many/most modern makers of symphonies add a lot of later Renaissance features to their symphonies to make them more marketable, so the current ones aren't anywhere near as primitive as they'd seem in terms of having chromatic keyboard, "chien" barking bridge, etc. The next step up, various sellers have smaller/student models, generally a simple 3-string (one melody, one high drone, one low drone, generally) for around US$1000-1300. If you have some musical background and are strongly drawn to gurdy, or even if you don't but you are quite convinced that gurdy should be your passion, than $1000ish isn't an ungodly price to spend. If you're just moderately/slightly interested, particularly if you don't have any musical experience or aren't quite sure what you'd use a gurdy for, the Appalachian dulcimer is really affordable, simple, and durable and is probably the closest and easiest affordable parallel. You could even pretty easily tune a dulcimer up to play songs out of a hurdy-gurdy songbook or play along with recordings or videos. It would teach you the exact skillset of turning the crank and pressing the keys, but musically the concept is very, very close in terms of running a melody line against drones. Proceeding along with the assumption that you, or other readers, have soul-searched and are dead set on a gurdy, I've compiled some links. Since this question comes up every so often and I didn't put a ton of info about builders into the earlier post, I did a little digging so I could recommend some specific makers/models to look into. Definitely do your due diligence since these aren't $90 instruments, and take some skill to make, so check around online for reviews and reputation of a maker before deciding. Here are a few folks that have some affordable-ish student models, and a few Eastern European makers who might be a bit more affordable (I emailed a few for current prices and will update). A lot of the makers are in UK/France/Germany and a fair bit pricier, so I've shopped around a little in my quest for info, setting a rough ceiling of €1000 for symphonies and €1500 for standards: - Altarwind - Oregon USA - Symphonies starting at US$795, larger gurdies from US$1300 - Hurdy-Gurdy Crafters - Michigan USA - Basic teardrop-shaped 3-string for $1200 - Bryan Tolley - France - Gorgeous small/kids' starting at €950; also has a nice symphony but no price given - Szerényi Béla - Hungary - has small/kids' gurdies for €900, a bunch of serious looking basic models (including lute-back) for €1200-1300 - Balázs Nagy - Hungary - Starting at €1500, but since he builds them all custom he said in an email to me that he might be able to aim to a lower price-point - Petr Indrák - Czech Republic - site pretty unhelpful; neat stuff but not clear on prices - Xaime Rivas - Galicia, Spain - Guy is all over Twitter and Facebook, but can't find a drat pricelist anywhere. There are a number of Baque and Galician gurdy makers, but I'm having a hard time tracking down their actual sales sites. - Jaime Rebollo - Galicia, Spain - might be old prices, but his '09 sheet had his "Redux" model at €1500 - Silvio Orlandi - Italy - prices not given on his website, but he sells his Nova Antiqua model on eBay starting at US$1300 - Just for sheer unusualness, Philippe Berne appears to be one of the few makers to make the old "vielles à roue et à manche", a gurdy with a fingerboard rather than keys, something pretty much only seen in 17th C. diagrams until very recently; €600 - Helmut Seibert - Germany - Has his smallest size of "Pilgrim" model as low as €975 - Stanislaw Nogaj - Poland - (I emailed him for prices), seems to have a nice basic-level line - Alexander Zhukovski - Moscow, Russia - starting from US$1200 for old-school Slavic lira - Somewhat out of the price-range I stated, but Helmut Gotschy (who has passed on his business to a successor) has the distinction of producing what is likely the most-produced gurdy of all time, his "Phoenix" model, of which he has built 200 in four years. Runs €1800, but just thought that was a cool accomplishment. EDIT: - Henri Renard - France - Some slightly unusual modernised designs, including a really primitive 11-key chifonie for €550 and some neat models for just over €1000. The Drehleir Wiki (that being the German name for the instrument) has a bunch of listings for makers by country, though some of the sites for smaller/hobby makers are deadlinks, and some of the makers sites are just vague business cards, or require gTranslate to make any sense of. How's the above information for you? Do you have some particular concept about what you'd want to do with a hurdy-gurdy, or is this just a general interest in someday trying one out? FAKEEDIT: Just for kick's here's one of Tolley's modern gurdies: 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Mar 25, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2013 22:40
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Is it appropriate to post in the thread when you see an interesting weird instrument available in a specific geographic area? I ask because there's a lacquered taishogoto (as seen on page 10) available on the SF-area Craigslist for best offer over $150. If it's something particularly interesting or a great deal, I don't see the problem. I was going to say that taishogoto seems a little pricey, since they're available dirt cheap secondhand all over Japan (less so in the US), but when I googled the maker for that one it seemed to be a pretty serious brand. On a related note, I'm selling my 15x8 garmon (Russian button accordion) and a jouhikko (Scandinavian bowed lyre) on SA Mart for really low prices, so check those out you North America goons.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2013 00:52
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Is it appropriate to post in the thread when you see an interesting weird instrument available in a specific geographic area? I ask because there's a lacquered taishogoto (as seen on page 10) available on the SF-area Craigslist for best offer over $150. As an impulse buyer of instruments, I think you should only be allowed to post about things like this if you are willing to chip to towards the cost. This particular one is probably only 10 minutes from me. :-/
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2013 03:18
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:You are not alone among goons there. We've had several goons in this thread interested in hurdy-gurdy, but I don't believe we have any goons yet who own one. I sort of used to own one, in that I was building a really, really basic one, but it's really hard to get wheel alignment right. Have you seen our post back on pg 2 about the 'gurdy? quote:How's the above information for you? Do you have some particular concept about what you'd want to do with a hurdy-gurdy, or is this just a general interest in someday trying one out? Something tells me it wouldn't be good to start with, but I can't afford one for a while anyway. I want to try some flavor of bagpipes, a theremin, hurdy-gurdy most of all. But right now I'm waiting for a couple of tinwhistles to arrive, and in a couple weeks getting one of these cardboard dulcimer kits. Tomorrow I'll snag a tuner and some pvc pipe, bash together a pan flute.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2013 06:32
|
|
|
nnnnghhhhgnnngh posted:Yes, I saw it. I've been reading through this thread for the past few days, thinking things over. For years I've wanted to play something and now I have some ideas; this is just the thread I needed to finally get my rear end moving. Glad to hear it's of interest, and I expect a few other goons will enjoy window-shopping gurdies. Yeah, if you don't play anything yet, something as pricey and tweaky as a gurdy isn't the best first step unless you're desperately in love with the instrument. A tinwhistle is a given for anyone interested in traditional music; even if you don't plan to play flute type objects, learning some tinwhistle basics helps you get a better understanding of music in general. Plus they're like $5-10. For your "getting a tuner", note if you have a smartphone there are tons of cheap/free tuners better than most any standalone tuner is these days. I'm a big fan of ClearTune which is $5; it has more features than I need, which is saying something given my tuning spergery. When you mention "Learn some music contemporary for it" for some future gurdy, note that the HG was used in almost every part of Europe for about a millennium, so there's a pretty wide-open field of trad music for it. If HG is something you're interested in exploring long-term, go wander around YouTube and see what strikes you. A good portion of 'gurdy stuff can be played on dulcimer too; you might even consider going to the Everything Dulcimer forum and getting some advice on how a possible future gurdyist can start out learning on dulcimer. Dulcimer is awfully easy to play, and with some advice from others you can find some info on tunings and tablature for the kinds of music (medieval, French dance, English folk ballads) you're interested in. Speaking of the wide world of hurdy-gurdy, I'd never really heard Swedish music played on it, but this track of a Swedish polska is one of the best HG tracks I've yet seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1skRElB0mY . That gurdy he's playing is by Wolfgang Weichselbaumer, and that things a beast: it's got like six drones, four chanters, and a dozen sympathetic strings. The player has some other good tracks too. The other player I found recently is the Brit Cliff Stapleton, who does some contemporary composition on HG; gorgeously smooth sound, really fascinating stylings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3v3sLTuAk  EDIT: Not gorgeous, but interesting: throat singing with gurdy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Q_Qgfr8rM FAKEDIT: If anyone has been wanting to get a cheap Cajun accordion, there's a twit on eBay who with a Hohner Ariette who spelled it wrong and thus has gotten all of 8 views over the last four days. It's up for $225 BiN, with a "Best Offer" option. I tried $125 but was auto-declined, but I would imagine you could get it around $200 or so. I wouldn't pay any more than $150-200 for one, even new with case, since their rep is a little meh, but usable. They retail for around $325 shipped on eBay, not worth buying that high, watch for an older used Hohner that's not Chinese-made at that price. But if you want a cheap Cajun and can get this one under $200 shipped, here you go: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOHNER-ARIE...utorefresh=true  Shittily done eBay listings have got me a few deals in the past, like a $400 dulcimer for $30. But usually they're just annoying and a sign of human stupidity, not unlike eBay listings with GRATUITOUS CAPITAL LETTERS and dumbass fluff like "RARE!" "COOL!!!!!" or the dreaded "L@@@@@@@@K". They could probably go back in the eBay archives and find who was the first moron to use L@@@@@K and have his eyes gouged out.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2013 13:29
|
|
|
A busker bolted a bunch of stuff from his kitchen to a guitar, ripped off five of the strings, and plays it a a pretty groovy diddly-bo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AAPuaLxjWc
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2013 18:04
|
|
|
Somebody linked this on Facebook today, haven't seen it in the thread yet. It's "Voodoo Chile" on gayageum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfOHjeI-Bns
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2013 02:01
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:Yeah, if you don't play anything yet, something as pricey and tweaky as a gurdy isn't the best first step unless you're desperately in love with the instrument. A tinwhistle is a given for anyone interested in traditional music; even if you don't plan to play flute type objects, learning some tinwhistle basics helps you get a better understanding of music in general. Plus they're like $5-10. Yesterday I finally got a pair of tinwhistles. The classic Clarke sounds amazing, especially for something this simple and cheap. By the way, this thread is the second google result for tin whistle silencer. quote:For your "getting a tuner", note if you have a smartphone there are tons of cheap/free tuners better than most any standalone tuner is these days. I'm a big fan of ClearTune which is $5; it has more features than I need, which is saying something given my tuning spergery. quote:They could probably go back in the eBay archives and find who was the first moron to use L@@@@@K and have his eyes gouged out. Anyway thanks for the thread and all your suggestions. This is really fun so far, even if I'm going to be terrible for a long time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2013 18:01
|
|
|
nnnnghhhhgnnngh posted:Unfortunately, it really feels like I am. Eh, it'll be a while before I actually set out to buy one; I have a lot of studying to do in the meantime. Don't fret it, there will be 'gurdies available a few years down the road, and if you spend a few years playing tinwhistle and dulcimer you'll have a strong background going in. You mentioned bagpipes before, and tinwhistle is a very good intro to the uilleann pipes, and generally develops the skills used on bagpipes in general. Gurdies are pricey, but if you get to the point where you've learned basic music skills on dulcimer, have spent some time listening to all the gurdy tracks you can find on YouTube and figured out what you like and don't in terms of styles of music and types of instrument, you'll have an informed decision. $1000-2000 isn't chump change, but if you think about it this board has plenty of people, and not always wealthy, spending that much and more on other hobbies. People spend a few hundred on a ski trip that lasts a few days. I've got easily $2000 into my motorcycle, and it's a cheap/beater bike that if used routinely for commuting would fall apart in five years. A good instrument can last literally the rest of your life and be bouncing around long after you're gone. I say this not to shame folks into overspending on music gear, but instead to point out that even college kids and blue-collar workers routinely make the decision to save up for hobby gear, and though we're spoiled by a wide range of cheap guitars on the market, most instrument aren't insanely expensive, offer a lot of value for the money, and a good used instrument kept in good shape will depreciate little if any. As said before in the thread, I'm not at all pushing folks to be compulsive collectors and tinkerers like a few of us are here. I'm actually trimming back a little myself since I've just got more gear than can regularly use, but I'll probably be dicking around with at least a dozen different instruments for the rest of my days. That's one option, but there is definitely value in trying a few things then making a clear decision to invest in buying and learning one serious instrument. That could include having a cheap dulcimer and tinwhistle and buying a gurdy in a few years, or it could be buying a $10 tin whistle and playing at least five minutes a day for years, hitting up the Irish sessions at the pub once a month or so, learning new tunes off YouTube and albums. A guy with $10 and a little dedication can become an amazing tinwistle player over years with no more financial investment than his first $10, and there is something appealing about that.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2013 07:24
|
|
|
TTFA I sort of feel like I owe you an apology for never following up on a gurdy-inspired synth project from a long time ago - I've had some time-consuming E/N bs with my living arrangements over the last several months, and the project has been on the back burner, but I hope to get back to it sometime this spring/summer when things stabilize.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2013 07:30
|
|
|
Base Emitter posted:TTFA I sort of feel like I owe you an apology for never following up on a gurdy-inspired synth project from a long time ago - I've had some time-consuming E/N bs with my living arrangements over the last several months, and the project has been on the back burner, but I hope to get back to it sometime this spring/summer when things stabilize. Nothing to apologise for; you've got a neat project going on and I'm sure you'll work it out at your pace. I know you're not into producing them commercially, but if once you get it refined you're up to sharing your design/coding with the Arduino community, I bet there are a good number of folks who'd love to build one. On a separate note, a Norway goon has inquired about getting dulcimers to Europe, so in the interests of having a clearer post about dulcimer option for Euro goons I put a few things together: - One of the few routine dulcimer sellers on eBay to court international buyers is Black Mountain. They have some basic new student dulcimers starting around $150, shipping to Norway is $50. They seem to have a good rep as basic student pieces on Everything Dulcimer. - Alternately, under the theory that a pricier dulcimer has proportionally less shipping hit (that is a $50 dulcimer would cost double to ship, but a $500 dulcimer just has a "10% shipping cost"), for the $200-300 range there are a number of good used dulcimers that come up on the Everything Dulcimer site, and in the $300-500 range there are a plethora of people who will build you good-quality new dulcimers - It is lamentable that there is no source of cardboard dulcimers located in Europe to cut down on shipping. Not sure if the makers just haven't tried that, or don't want to risk someone stealing the market over there. However, one clever way to get on the better side of shipping is to order several complete fingerboard/head components. Basically the wooden bit that goes on top of the cardboard box, and then once it arrives in Europe just glue it on to your own homemade cardboard resonator, or attach it to some cigar boxes, anything that will help catch the sound. If you were to do that, max utility would probably be to buy 2 or 3 of the fingerboards at a time (say $40 each), so $120 of boards and $30 of shipping, and with an hour or two of craft-work (kraftwerk?) you and two other friends have student-quality dulcimers for $50 each - One slightly unusual option: Europe has a bunch of instruments that are older relatives of the dulcimer, but most of them are pretty pricey like the gorgeous huge resonant French epinettes that are US$1500. One of the few exceptions is the Hungarian dulcimer, the "citera". Whether out of weakness of the Hungarian forint or whatever, they're like US$150 or so for a simple one. Depending on how adventurous you are about busting out GoogleTranslate and contacting some Hungarian luthiers, that could lead interesting places. Some citera are a bit small and shrill, but here's what a nice big one sounds like, played (just like in the Appalachians) with a little wooden "noter" slide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib221uML20c
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2013 22:44
|
|
|
There was a package waiting for me when I got home. Stickers and business cards! What's this big red thing taking up valuable box space?  Kalinka? Must be something to do with the garden. I'll take it outside and see if I can use it for anything.  There we go. All-natural animal repellent. Thank you so much, TTFA! I'm very excited to start learning a weird musical instrument.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2013 23:02
|
|
|
So after reading this thread I went and got myself an Irish flute. Spending a good ten minutes before finding the right position for my lips to make a tone on the embouchure (nevermind actually playing a scale yet) was one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had with music and I'm sincerely looking forward to learning how to play this thing properly. Thanks, thread!
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2013 04:37
|
|
|
Morvus posted:
Awesome, glad to see you're motivated. Does anyone have a button layout chart for the 15x8? If not, not a huge deal, you can pretty quickly figure out which chords and which notes are which. Mess with it a bit, see what comes intuitively, and let us know if you need any suggestions on how to start proceeding. I'll also point out that the Melodeon Forum has the Other Free Reed Instruments section where you can solicit advice as well. quote:So after reading this thread I went and got myself an Irish flute. Well don't be coy, what/where did you get it, and what's your game-plan? Do note that so far as fingerings go, tinwhistle learning materials apply to the flute as well. The flute is basically a low-octave tinwhistle with a sideblown embouchure. Speaking of which, yes, it'll be tricky at first, so before you worry too much about playing notes you probably want to get the basics of just getting a note out. This is definitely one of those situations where 5 minutes a day is worth more than an hour once a week, so I suggest you set up a general plan to make sure you're getting in a little practise every day, no matter how small. With that kind of thing I like to make a little check-mark on my calendar for each day I meet my 10m quota, to make sure I'm not constantly putting it off "for later". Irish flute is a great instrument, I think you're going to really enjoy the expression the instrument is capable of. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 04:49
|
|
|
I picked up one of the PVC Tipple flutes to start with (D-keyed three piece), which actually sounds quite nice when I get tones out of it. I'm doing precisely that and practicing a couple times a day at five-ten minute intervals and steadily getting more consistent with a tone. My plan for now is primarily just following a few online guides (including some of the info Tipple keeps on his own website) to get my bearings with the instrument and practice my fingering for the basics before moving on to simple sheet music. After several recommendations I also have a copy of Larsen's Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle on the way. Once I feel more comfortable with actually playing the beginning stuff I'm going to see if I can sync my wonky-rear end schedule up with an opening for some actual tutoring from the local musician scene. Beyond that, we'll see where it goes!
Dulkor fucked around with this message at 06:51 on Apr 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 06:15
|
|
|
The talk about where to buy a hurdy gurdy reminded me of this website: http://www.harpkit.com/ They sell a lot of different instruments both fully assembled and in kits. The hurdy gurdy kit is $599. Understandably, its assembly is rated at a high level of difficulty. They sell kits for a lot of other instruments that have been or could have been mentioned in this thread, like the kantele, lyre, harp, dulcimer, etc. I've never bought from them, so I don't know what their quality is.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 17:37
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:Don't fret it, there will be 'gurdies available a few years down the road, and if you spend a few years playing tinwhistle and dulcimer you'll have a strong background going in. You mentioned bagpipes before, and tinwhistle is a very good intro to the uilleann pipes, and generally develops the skills used on bagpipes in general. Tinwhistle is kicking my arse, I haven't quite got the breath pressure control down yet. Does anyone here know much about Mack Hoover whistles? I'm thinking of asking after one of the awesome telescoping versions. Which aren't on his site, there's s Chiff and Fipple thread about them here. This isn't an 'I suck so I'm going to throw money at the problem' thing; these are supposedly very quiet, which would let me get more practice in late at night. Bigos posted:The talk about where to buy a hurdy gurdy reminded me of this website: http://www.harpkit.com/ They sell a lot of different instruments both fully assembled and in kits. The hurdy gurdy kit is $599. Understandably, its assembly is rated at a high level of difficulty. They sell kits for a lot of other instruments that have been or could have been mentioned in this thread, like the kantele, lyre, harp, dulcimer, etc. I've never bought from them, so I don't know what their quality is.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 19:21
|
|
|
Amazon is having an outlet sale at the moment. The folk and world instruments section has Trinity College AP-20 Anglo Concertina with 20 keys for $157, beginner Mahalo ukes for $50, and other nifties. Click "Spring Outlet sale" in the upper right.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2013 23:42
|
|
|
Will post some Irish flute comments on Monday, but have to be getting to bed.Bigos posted:The talk about where to buy a hurdy gurdy reminded me of this website: http://www.harpkit.com/ They sell a lot of different instruments both fully assembled and in kits. The hurdy gurdy kit is $599. Understandably, its assembly is rated at a high level of difficulty. They sell kits for a lot of other instruments that have been or could have been mentioned in this thread, like the kantele, lyre, harp, dulcimer, etc. I've never bought from them, so I don't know what their quality is. I'm a bit iffy on MM's kits overall. I don't know their harps, but their gurdies are suspect (see below). I don't know but would think a kantele is pretty hard to screw-up, and $129 for a 10-string is cheaper than $285 for one from master builder Gerry Henkel. However, a Henkel 5-string is only $155, so it's hard to call the MM a stellar deal unless you're set on a 10-string, and/or enjoy gluing/sanding/varnishing things, which is legit if you're into that. quote:That's the cheapest I've seen. Thanks for the link, other kits I found were all over nine hundred. Though, I don't know anyone that plays the gurdy, so couldn't ask them for advice or to evaluate the result - I'm worried I'd end up secondguessing myself forever; am I terrible because I'm a newbie or did I screw up assembly somehow? Definitely, I would really advise against buying/building a kit 'gurdy, especially as your first. Gurdies a bitch to build for an amateur, and as you astutely note you'll never know whether it's your skills or lovely build holding you back. And the only thing worse than a 'gurdy kit you built yourself is a gurdy kit built by some other anonymous amateur, so you can imagine the resale on such a gurdy is pretty poor. Also if you google up "musicmaker gurdy kit" you'll see their press is rather poor. If you're going for max economy, nstead of $599 on the MM kit I would totally save up the 30% more and get a chifonie from a decent builder for $700-800 or so. Then you'll have a pro-made product, a maker who backs up his build and will talk you through any adjustments and break-in, and if you ever sell it you'll probably take very little hit if you've taken decent care of it.  quote:Amazon is having an outlet sale at the moment. The folk and world instruments section has Trinity College AP-20 Anglo Concertina with 20 keys for $157... TC is a label used for Chinese-made concertinas these days; my vague impression is that they're better than the nameless 30-brand Chinese ones on eBay, but still not great. But if you really want to get a concertina and positively can't swing the $400 for a Rochelle, I suppose it's somewhere to start. Just make sure you check it out thoroughly upon receipt so you can bitch mightily at the seller if you get a lemon, and just bear in mind they're clunky beaters. But that taken into account, it can be a way to start out with the basics and sell it for $99 on Craigslist after you move on. And regardless of poverty I would imagine that if you take to Anglo seriously, you'd be wanting to upgrade to at least a Rochelle in just a few months of playing the clunker. In other music dorkery news: it has often been said of me that I "can't leave well enough alone". I wanted a decent 1-row accordion since I've been putting a lot of time into my little re-reeded toy accordion, so I went eBay shopping... and now barely three weeks later have a beater Weltmeister in C, a half-decayed Hohner in A I bought for $60, a decent Hohner in D I bought from a guy at a convention, and a nice Weltmeister 4-stop in D that's stuck with the seller over in Yorkshire as I try to convince a friend in Glasgow to receive and re-ship it over to the US for me. And both of my Hohners need fresh leather straps and pads for the bass/chord spoons. I'll freely admit I'm having fun dorking out with this gear, but I'd probably have come out far ahead had I just sucked it up and spent $600 on a non-beat slightly used Hohner and then spent the rest of the effort actually playing. Here's the kind of thing I'm aiming to do, Bobby Gardiner on melodeon backed by bodhran. Watch for 1:02 in where he switches to a reel in a minor key: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhOj9vCR0cQ Those of y'all loving your toy button accordions, this is the next step: 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Apr 5, 2013 |
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2013 04:55
|
|
|
So I know it's been a while since the Ukulele days but I just wanted to post that my parents retired recently and dug my grandpa's 75 year old baritone ukulele out of the basement and left it in my keeping. Immediately thought of your uke thread, TTFA. I was really excited but the realization that it's just a guitar without the lowest two strings has dismayed me somewhat. I already have a Full Guitar! I restrung both today and look forward to driving my girlfriend crazy. maybe I can actually learn something this time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2013 03:05
|
|
|
Stew Man Chew posted:So I know it's been a while since the Ukulele days but I just wanted to post that my parents retired recently and dug my grandpa's 75 year old baritone ukulele out of the basement and left it in my keeping. Immediately thought of your uke thread, TTFA. For what it's worth, I bought a baritone uke for my birthday last November and found that it actually increased my guitar playing abilities. Adding those extra strings isn't difficult and you aren't really working against the chord shapes you already have down. It also doesn't hurt that grabbing the uke to jam is a lot easier than bringing the guitar out.
|
|
#
?
Apr 6, 2013 07:06
|
|
|
BigHustle posted:For what it's worth, I bought a baritone uke for my birthday last November and found that it actually increased my guitar playing abilities. Adding those extra strings isn't difficult and you aren't really working against the chord shapes you already have down. It also doesn't hurt that grabbing the uke to jam is a lot easier than bringing the guitar out. This has been my experience so far. I am not an actual guitar player, just a former pianist / trained percussionist frustrated by not having a portable instrument under my belt. I'm really looking forward to developing the more intuitive muscle-memory keyboard familiarity on a slightly smaller format that translates upwards. It's also pretty cool having a vintage instrument. It sounds amazing although I don't know enough about the brand to know what the wood is. It's a Silvertone, I'm going to guess my grandfather toted it around when he was in the service during WWII. mainly because his SSN and name are engraved in the head and at the base of the body. Character! Gunshow Poophole fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Apr 8, 2013 |
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2013 02:29
|
|
|
Stew Man Chew posted:This has been my experience so far. I am not an actual guitar player, just a former pianist / trained percussionist frustrated by not having a portable instrument under my belt. I'm really looking forward to developing the more intuitive muscle-memory keyboard familiarity on a slightly smaller format that translates upwards. If it's a Silvertone, he bought it from Sears and Roebuck. As far as who made it, that I don't know. Sears farmed the construction out to National, Danelectro, Teisco del Rey, Harmony, Kay, etc. depending on the model. You might find something on it buried in one of the Silvertone guitar fan sites on the net.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2013 07:28
|
|
|
Just wanted to chime in and say that my Black Mountain Dulcimer arrived today all the way from the US and I couldn't be happier, it sounds beautiful. Thanks so much for the advice, now to learn how to properly play the thing (though I gotta say sitting and strumming away is one of the most therapeutic things i've experienced in a while!).
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2013 09:39
|
|
|
Dulkor posted:I picked up one of the PVC Tipple flutes to start with (D-keyed three piece), which actually sounds quite nice when I get tones out of it. I'm doing precisely that and practicing a couple times a day at five-ten minute intervals and steadily getting more consistent with a tone. My plan for now is primarily just following a few online guides (including some of the info Tipple keeps on his own website) to get my bearings with the instrument and practice my fingering for the basics before moving on to simple sheet music. After several recommendations I also have a copy of Larsen's Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle on the way. Once I feel more comfortable with actually playing the beginning stuff I'm going to see if I can sync my wonky-rear end schedule up with an opening for some actual tutoring from the local musician scene. Beyond that, we'll see where it goes! You do seem set up for success then. That Larsen book is just frigging massive, and quite comprehensive. That book alone could keep you busy for a couple years. One thing I'd suggest is just putting the album on loop in iTunes when you're just doing chores around the house, if it doesn't bother you too much to have that many short bits playing. Alternately, make a tracklist of the longer bits and any other mp3s of Irish flute-heavy tunes you like. It's an oral tradition, so a lot of the skillset just comes from hearing this stuff over and over again to the point that you can just hum all these tunes off the top of your head. And once you have enough fingering skills down, you'll find yourself able to just up and play any tune you know well enough to hum. If you get serious you'll likely want to upgrade in a year or so, though Tipple is a great way to start. Fortunately there are tons of great flutes on the market these days. The Irish Flute Store is a good site, and Chiff & Fipple and The Session always have folks selling their mid-level flutes to buy pricey ones, so a good secondhand market, and a lot of good cast or turned synthetic flutes that are the exact contours of trad flutes but affordable and durable. Just note there are several basic variants of open-hole flute (Pratten system, Rudall, etc) that have slight differences in embouchure, etc. So you may find it useful to test out a few different designs when you move up. Irish flute is an outstanding instrument; Irish is somewhat a misnomer/convention, as this style used to be everyone's flute a few centuries ago, just the Irish are the ones who kept and developed it when the rest of the world moved to the keyed silver flute. quote:Just wanted to chime in and say that my Black Mountain Dulcimer arrived today all the way from the US and I couldn't be happier, it sounds beautiful. Thanks so much for the advice, now to learn how to properly play the thing (though I gotta say sitting and strumming away is one of the most therapeutic things i've experienced in a while!). Just strumming it is indeed playing it properly! It's pretty hard to go wrong with dulcimer, so feel free just to set it into whatever tuning and just ramble around. Personally I'm a fan of the old drone style, just fingering the string(s) set closest to you and leaving the others to constantly hum as you strum across all the strings (or strumming more on your melody strings and occasionally spilling over to the drones to keep them humming). The modern chordal style, where you finger all the strings, is more popular on YouTube, but I prefer the old-school. One thing I'd recommend earlier than later is trying several different tunings out so you can get a feel as you ramble. I assume you're in DAA (lowest to highest) starting out? The easiest way to try other tunings is to go to DAC: if you play it using the 6 fret but not the 6.5 fret it's Aeolian mode, if you use the 6.5 fret instead it's Dorian mode. Have you glanced at any really basic learning materials? Not at all obligatory to do so since it's a pretty intuitive instrument, but do glance at a page to understand what the "6 fret" vs the "6 1/2" or "6.5" fret is both to see if your dulcimer has one or not, and how to use it to change modes. If your dulcimer has it, it's versatile, if it doesn't it's old school and really makes you pay attention to modal scales, so neither is a wrong answer. Pics?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2013 14:22
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:It's an oral tradition, so a lot of the skillset just comes from hearing this stuff over and over again to the point that you can just hum all these tunes off the top of your head. Aural tradition 
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2013 15:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 17:34 |
|
|
withak posted:Aural tradition I was gonna just call you a smartass, but apparently there's some debate about this online. While the phrase "oral tradition", in the sense of "not written down", is the more common phrase, "aural tradition" arguably is more technically correct, though the two terms sound homophonous in a lot of dialects of English. Interesting point.  In any case, I've been doing more messing around with the Irish melodeon (1-row accordion). I've owned for a bit a re-reeded toy accordion in D, which is the typical key for the Irish 1-row. The 1-row is way, way less common in Irish music than the popular B/C 2-row, and even less than the rarer C#/D and D/D# 2-rows. My vague impression is that 1-row was somewhat common a century ago or more when those were the widely available and affordable boxes, but the 2-row half-step boxes, which can play in all keys, took over as ceili bands had to become flexible in adding more foreign/American/jazzier tunes to the repertoire. There's still a little love out there for the 1-row in Ireland, but it's a distant runner up in most traditions, with the very notable exceptions being Quebec, Newfoundland, and Acadiana/Cajun-country. Most 2-row boxes have at least 8 left hand buttons, (four buttons covering two chords each (push and pull) and the other four their corresponding bass notes. Old-school 1-rows have just two buttons (or spoon-levers) that make the root chord/bass on the push and fifth above on the pull. I never really got much feel for using the left hand, so mostly played more melodic stuff on the right, which isn't too uncommon in Irish music, which is less chordal and more melodic, and often the accordion is in a group where other instruments can take the harmony. However recently I've been messing a little with the left hand, and found some very simple but helpful clips on how to start building left-hand skill. There's a YouTube guy in Baltimore called BmoreBusker, and for anyone who picked up a toy accordion I'd really recommend checking out his channel's tutorials on how to start working in the left-hand bass-chord to add rhythm to your playing. Here's an example, and he has several clips in different rhythms where he shows how to play a simple scale while incorporating the left hand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4A2PPW-2zk Turns out, it's way easier to learn the left if you're doing some really easy like chords on the right.  I've gone a little melodeon-crazy in the past few weeks, and in a short space went from just the toy re-reed in D, to owning five different melodeons. I sold one in C last night to a guy who wanted a beater to learn Cajun, and once my nice 4-stop in D comes in I'll probably be selling my simple Hohner 2-stop in D. If any US goons here have been really wanting a 1-row for Irish, ping me and I'll let you know if I end up selling it. If you have a toy accordion and enjoy it, consider getting into a good 1-row or 2-row (or even 3) full-size box. I give some basic tips earlier in this thread, but as a few points: - Don't buy an accordion on eBay from anyone who is anything short of obviously a proficient accordion player. Any statements like "plays fine" or "sounds really nice" might as well say "half the reeds have been eaten by racoons". Non players will just claim ignorance when you get a non-playing box. Unless someone has something clear like "Played for two years, had it tuned last year to a moderately dry tuning by Smith's Accordions (invoice included), moving up to a Castiglione 2-row so selling my starter", just assume they know nothing about accordions. You can either be bold and get them to talk to you on the phone or Skype and let you hear the accordion's condition, or you can be like me and take a risk of having to put $100-200 into tuning it, assuming it doesn't have fatal flaws inside. Of the last two 1-rows I bought on eBay, one had a few clogged reeds and was in a weird tuning, and the other had a buttload of corrosion, but with some extensive cleanup could be decent. I would not recommend doing that kind of thing unless you, like me, are a tinkerer, and have enough musical toy budget to get things re-tuned if you get stuck with a poo poo box. Overall, really your best bet is to stick to buying used accordions from actual accordion shops or from serious players selling on internet forums like Chiff & Fipple and Melodeon.net. Our UK brethren actually luck out here, since there are a bunch of decent 1-row and 2-row melodeons in the UK, and some large and serious accordion retailers like Hobgoblin, melodeonrepairs.co.uk, and theboxplace.co.uk. For the US, Liberty Bellows gets some good stuff in stock.  One of the few button accordions under $500 new that gets good reviews is the Hohner Panther 3-row, which can retail as low as $385 new in either GCF or ADG. Mostly used for Tejano, but if you like the basic sound it'd be versatile for other styles too, provided you're okay with an 11-pound box. The Hohner Ariette Cajun is a bit shoddy for $300 new, but okayish used for $175 or less. After that, there are a variety of models floating around, but if you're a US goon and not wed to a particular key, your best bet is likely to get a used 2-row used Hohner, either Pokerwork or Erica, from a knowledgeable seller. D/G (ideal for English trad, also has some small Irish following and generally useful for Anglo-Celtic versatility) is hard to find in the US though easy in the UK, but the US gets a decent amount of used 2-rows in G/C, C/F, C/C#, and with a little higher market premium the popular Irish B/C. If you want a decent 1-row, you can find slightly beat Hohners (2, 3, or 4-stop) all over for ~£150 in the UK in a variety of keys; US goons, on a good day you can find a used one for $250ish. In the US, used 1-row D being a little harder to find for having been less imported here, and in relatively high demand in a niche of Irish players, but I still got mine in worn but playing shape for $225 off a Maryland guy I met on MelNet. If you're interested in button accordion but don't have one, consider dropping by a toy store that will patiently roll their eyes while you try out every toy accordion in the store and pick the least out of tune one, then take it home and tape off the doubled reeds until your narrow down the best in-tune ones. If you own a toy accordion and like it, take a hard look at getting a proper button accordion. Anyone digging 1-row Irish, check the clip of Bobby Gardiner earlier on this page, for other styles dig these: - Dominican merengue on the 2-row (they're big on C/C#): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F45Ekl29VQ - English folk music on a 2.5 row: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp0lwFjWXOo - Breton musician playing some French Celtic music on 3-row, probably GCF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_1sjCdN2l0 - Amateur covering a Beirut tune on 2-row: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_w7A8WqyQs 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Apr 10, 2013 |
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2013 04:11
|
|