|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Tap, have you ever messed around with a laud, bandurría, or charango? First off let me say that you need to focus on your harp and hammered dulcimer before you distract yourself with more gear.  And write us a post about Paraguayan harp.That said, I haven't messed with bandurria much since those stubby little necks bug me, and not played with laud too much. When I was living in Colombia I got a bandola llanera (kinda like a slightly deeper-pitched pear-shaped baritone uke) which was awesome and a tiple requinto, sold/gifted off both. I once owned a small Ecuadorean charango but shipped it to Sweden in like 1997 or so for a guy who was going to make me a sackpipa but had some health crisis and dropped off the face of the earth. I almost bought a ronroco (bass charango) in Bogota two years ago but couldn't find one I liked. If you or anyone wants a cheap Hispanic string instrument, take a look at the Puerto Rican cuatro. There's some Chinese company making cheapies for like $70 new on Amazon; you absolutely must do an action job on it, yourself or your local guitar shop, since the action is ghastly high, but other than that a decent sturdy cheapie and a fun instrument to play. Meanwhile back in Austin, I'd been debating selling my 2-stop one-row D button accordion before moving overseas but didn't and just kept it in the closet, and now that I'm back I'm glad to have it. Gonna google up when/where the Irish pub sessions are in Austin and take it out for that. I'm not amazing at squeezebox but it's an incredibly simple instrument and appealing in its minimalism, so I figure I can just ease my way in. Other than that, I'm trying to avoid buying any instruments for now, as since I've gotten back to the US and to Austin I've bought a motorbike, bicycle, dart board, etc and still need to get some gun stuff and furniture for my house and a pico projector, so other than the Portuguese guitarra I'm having shipped over (and maaaaybe getting a small hammered dulcimer maybe to lend out) I'm trying to avoid getting new music gear for the moment, but need to get my clavichord, lute, and kabosy fixed up or worked on first.
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 06:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 08:28 |
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:First off let me say that you need to focus on your harp and hammered dulcimer before you distract yourself with more gear. quote:And write us a post about Paraguayan harp.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 06:50
|
|
|
Danknificent posted:I'm learning piano. An unconventional choice.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 15:36
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:Gonna google up when/where the Irish pub sessions are in Austin and take it out for that. I'm not amazing at squeezebox but it's an incredibly simple instrument and appealing in its minimalism, so I figure I can just ease my way in. Be prepared for some serious stinkeye FYI.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 15:38
|
|
|
Hedningen posted:I really should record something. I'm just rear end at doing it myself due to weird mental pressure - the moment I start, I suddenly lose most of my musical ability. It's hilarious - I'll see if I can set something up where my wife is recording without telling me so I don't start forgetting how to play. It's basically crippling "Oh god, permanent record of sucking!", similar to jamming with a new group, but even worse. Something that I found that helps is just to record your entire practice session. Whenever you play, record it. You can listen to it later to get a different perspective on your playing and can play without worrying about messing up a 'take'. If you end up doing something you like, just edit it into its own file later.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 15:39
|
|
|
withak posted:Be prepared for some serious stinkeye FYI. I've been to the main Austin session at B. D. Riley's in years past, I think mostly with mandolin, and haven't had trouble. On the melodeon I can set it for just one reed per note and it's pretty quiet. Riley's is a "serious" session with the kind of players who fly overseas to go to training camps and stuff like that, but despite that were pretty chill. In all seriousness once I get settled in I might see if I can get one of the local pubs in my neighborhood to host a "slow session" for more basic players like me on one of their quieter nights, just network a few folks to definitely show up that night and then see who else drifts in from internet announcements.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 16:12
|
|
|
Roke. posted:Something that I found that helps is just to record your entire practice session. Whenever you play, record it. You can listen to it later to get a different perspective on your playing and can play without worrying about messing up a 'take'. If you end up doing something you like, just edit it into its own file later. Speaking of ukulele, I was very, very excited to discover ukulele fingerstyle which is or can be a cousin of classical guitar technique. Rob MacKillop has several great books, including 20 Celtic Fingerstyle Uke Tunes. MacKillop's arrangements use the campanella technique, in which consecutive notes appear on different strings as far as possible. This lets each individual note ring out, instead of being muffled by your finger snapping down on the next note on the same string.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 16:18
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:I've been to the main Austin session at B. D. Riley's in years past, I think mostly with mandolin, and haven't had trouble. On the melodeon I can set it for just one reed per note and it's pretty quiet. Riley's is a "serious" session with the kind of players who fly overseas to go to training camps and stuff like that, but despite that were pretty chill. The Fiddlers Green shop has been hosting slow learning sessions as well. It's okay but it lacks personality. They have more advanced sessions every Sunday as well. If you do want to start up a slow session let me know, I will bring my flute and whistle.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2016 21:42
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:Ah, I was just going to say "dude they're like $5-10 on Amazon" but I see you're going cash-economy here. Broadly speaking, just google or yelp any of the following in your area: What would you suggest Amazon-wise? I'm going to be ordering some books this week, and love Irish traditional music, so this seems like something I could thow a couple bucks at to meet shipping minimums.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2016 09:46
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:What would you suggest Amazon-wise? I'm going to be ordering some books this week, and love Irish traditional music, so this seems like something I could thow a couple bucks at to meet shipping minimums. I'd go Walton or Feadog; the Walton Little Black is like literally :5bux: if you're just trying to edge over shipping, otherwise models by these two are  give or take a few.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2016 14:36
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:I'd go Walton or Feadog; the Walton Little Black is like literally :5bux: if you're just trying to edge over shipping, otherwise models by these two are I was $15 off free shipping so I went with both.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2016 23:58
|
|
|
Hey! Neat thread, the banner ad called me here. So I'm looking for some recommendations on something fun to learn... I'm moderately musical (can read music, know how to do some basic orchestration, etc), play guitar, and primarily work as a sound designer for video games and theater. That means I spend a lot of time messing around with synthesizers, which is a blast, but it's hard to find one that feels like a really physically rewarding thing to play in the same way that guitar can be. With that in mind, I want to add to my arsenal and actually learn some kind of hand percussion or similar sort of thing. I haven't ever had a percussion instrument, beyond the odd noisemaker I've picked up for sound design work. I'd love something that demands some technique and that's fun to play solo, given that I rarely have time to find people and jam, and if it's weird and makes some wacky sounds that I can use in my day job, all the better. What say you, thread?
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 00:51
|
|
|
quote:With that in mind, I want to add to my arsenal and actually learn some kind of hand percussion or similar sort of thing. Homie, have I got a suggestion for you: udu drum. Traditionally it's a clay water pot with a hole in it, played for music in Nigeria; it's gained a little popularity in the world music scene over the last couple decades, and it's a simple but surprisingly versatile instrument. I had one in DC and played it for a few gigs, and I love the tabla-like "bloop" you can get smacking the hole, and the assorted sound textures you can get out of it. Traditional ones are just a necked jug with a hole (the Indian Carnatic equivalent, the ghatam, has no second hole), but a few companies and small makers have gotten pretty creative with them.  I like udu because it's zero maintenance (nothing to tighten or to spoil), reasonably compact, and a good variety of sound textures including some basic tonal variation by using the hole. For a basic player, the two main options to look at are Meinl and Latin Percussion (LP). Meinl mostly makes fiberglass udus (which they call "ibo drums" so you might miss them if you just search "udu") with a few wacky variant ones. LP makes theirs out of some kind of ceramic, and has some really unorthodox shapes. I've read some back-forth online as to which of those people prefer, but Meinl won out for me since I wanted durability, got a Tri-Tone since it adds an extra drumming surface, but if travel/storage weren't an issue I'd be really tempted by LP's little double-udus (they have a few double variants). I'd stick to either of those brands as a starter, mainly depending on your materials preference; they go for a little over $100 each usually, and pop up used on eBay more than I'd expect. - Marco Fadda playing a whole array of udus, this is probably one of my favorite udu clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ44TcvX5Q4 - Renato Martins getting some really varied sound textures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLFNUDsMbAM - Weird instrument guru Nadishana playing an LP double-udu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FeC1SITxA8 (though I will say he keeps it pretty dry in this clip, doesn't get too creative) These would be fun for just dicking around at home, but still good in a quiet small jam, and aren't unduly loud compared to a large membrane drum. They're pretty easy to mic if you want to record, and you can definitely get some interesting sounds out of them. I'm probably going to pick up another udu once I settle into Austin because it's probably the favorite drum I've had, though I do want to give my kanjira more attention. Just as some fallback options, from what you describe I'd take a look at the cajón (Cuban wooden box you sit on and drum, crazy popular these days), and the West African talking drum, which has some serious tonal possibilities since you have direct control of head tension at every moment. I'd also suggest watching a good clip of Carnatic kanjira drum, but as always make sure you're using decent speakers/headphones because that tiny drum puts out a lot of bass that you totally miss if you just watch it on your laptop. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Jun 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 16:53
|
|
|
I kept seeing the banner pop up at the bottom of threads and decided "you know what? gently caress it, I've got nothing better to do with my time". I gotta say the ukelele looks fun as hell, and I'm a sucker for things with a low barrier of entry. What's a recommendation for a good ukelele in a price range of ~$50? I can go over a bit, but I'd rather start with something inexpensive so if I end up not liking it it's not a huge money sink.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:32
|
|
|
My hands-down recommendation for cheapest ukes would be Kala. If you're pinching pennies their Makala series is playable, but the basic Kala is only a few bucks more. If you want the smallest, get Soprano size, Concert is a good middle of the road. If you want a bigger body and mellowed sound you can get a Tenor, and there Kala might not be the cheapest but you can get an Hola or maybe Lanikai for around $80. EDIT: Hola! brand tenor is on sale on Amazon for $59 if you have Prime, I'd totally do that if you want Tenor size. If the uke you're buying doesn't specify what strings it has, that means it's cheapies so you want to spend $5 for a new pack from a good brand, but glancing at Amazon a lot of the Kalas come with better strings included. Other than new strings you don't need any other gear since you can use your smartphone as a tuner. Though a few sellers have pretty good packages that come with a case and all if you want that. If you were buying over $100 I'd buy from an actual uke dealer, but at your price point Amazon or eBay should be fine as long as you stick to established cheapie brands and make sure you have okay strings. Standard uke caveat: nylon strings need to stretch so the first few days you play it you'll be re-tuning a lot (just takes a minute or two to tune) but they'll settle down and keep in tune for weeks (or even months) after that. Ukulele is a ton of fun and easy to learn; YouTube is simply awash with free tutorials walking you through just about anything. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jun 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 18:58
|
|
|
I noticed you live in the Austin area - I actually live up in Round Rock. Is there any music stores here you'd recommend (pref. N Austin, because gently caress traffic) for me to go in and try some ukes out? I think Soprano might be too small (I've got big hands and sausage fingers), but Concert looks like it jumps up in price a lot, from $45 for a soprano to over $100, so I wanna hold one before I make a choice. Plus, then I don't have to wait for the mail! Also, what app would you recommend? I did a quick search on the app store and there's a ton of ukelele tuners, but most of the functionality for them seem locked behind pro upgrades. EDIT: Oh, just saw your edit. Hrm, is there much of a difference between tenors and the smaller types w.r.t. ease of use? surfacelevelspeck fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jun 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 19:10
|
|
|
From the way you describe your hands, I'd say just automatically jump to a Tenor and get that Hola that's on major sale for $54 or whatever on Amazon; you must know somebody with Prime so you can get the low price and free shipping. There are some good stores in Austin but you won't find a better price and will burn gasoline looking, so just get that tenor now and shop around more when you want to upgrade. Sure, you're welcome to visit me in Austin and check out all my weird music gear, just PM me to find a time/day to meet (I work from home) and remember to grab a couple cheap cans of unusual beer from the Iranian gas station with all the flags outside it just down the street from my house. EDIT: I can take a glance at apps, but all you need is the barest functionality so any free uke tuner, or really any free tuner at all, will be plenty. Regarding use, soprano/concert/tenor all play the same notes/pitches just on a different scale and with a different size of body producing a different quality of sound (brighter, mellowed, etc). But if you have big hands definitely go Tenor so you aren't squishing your sausages too tight. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Jun 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 19:47
|
|
|
Oh god, I just spent $60 on a musical instrument because some words on the internet told me to, what is wrong with me. I actually went and listened to a few sound comparisons and I'm surprised at how different yet similar each size sounds! It actually made me pretty ok with picking up that tenor, I honestly think it had the nicest sound to it. Though, looking at the sizes in the videos, I probably didn't need to worry about size much, only the soprano really looked small enough to cause issues. I splurged and grabbed one-day shipping, so my brand new uke'll be here tomorrow! How hard is it to restring a ukelele? I'm a lefty, so I'll probably feel more comfortable swapping them out, though I'll give it a try and see how playing right-handed goes.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 20:32
|
|
|
Syndlig posted:I splurged and grabbed one-day shipping, so my brand new uke'll be here tomorrow! How hard is it to restring a ukelele? I'm a lefty, so I'll probably feel more comfortable swapping them out, though I'll give it a try and see how playing right-handed goes. Restringing is really easy because the strings aren't as stabby as a guitar. Just do one at a time, take it slow, look up a guide on how to wrap the string. I've done it before on what I think was a tenor uke and it was simple.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2016 20:45
|
|
|
Syndlig posted:Oh god, I just spent $60 on a musical instrument because some words on the internet told me to, what is wrong with me. Once you get it, I'm quite sure you'll consider it money well spent. And at that price, if you either tire of it or start jonesing to upgrade, you'll have no trouble selling it for just under what you paid for it in the Austin area, especially once college kids come back in fall. Re-stringing should be easy, just take a close-up photograph of the head/nut of the instrument and the tail/bridge so you can see how the strings are before you start and mimic that, and swap them out one at a time. Swapping them backwards is 95% likely to be painless unless somehow the nut slots are really narrow and need a smidgen of sandpaper or filing. On a pricier uke you'd want to find a specifically left-handed one (or a model that's definitely symmetrical inside) but on a cheapie it's not a huge deal at all. Get it, string it left-handed and tune it and you'll be good to go. The Amazon listing says yours comes with Aqila strings which are good, so for now just switch the order of the current strings and keep your spares for later when you break one. Then just search "easy ukulele" on YouTube and find a simple three-chord or four-chord song you like where they walk you through it uber-slow. You'll be playing basic songs in a couple days, it's really an extremely accessible instrument. And if you start really digging it, you can either upgrade easily, or use that as your gateway to play basically any other string instrument. Let us know what you think once you get it fired up tomorrow night.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2016 00:18
|
|
|
It finally came! Package arrived at 7:45 while I was at work, so I've only been messing around with it for about 40 minutes now. Looked at a tutorial (this guy, though I feel like his how to strum video wants you to go to full-finger really fast when I can barely do thumb), tuned my uke with a $0.99 app that seems to work pretty decently (it listens and tells you to tune up or down, and has a string for comparison), and hosed around for a bit. It's super fun! If I really concentrate I can sometimes do an upstrum and it not sound like poo poo, but I think right now I'm gonna focus on making sure my downstrum is consistent before I start with up. My fingers hurt now, but it's a good burn! Probably the most fun I've had messing around with an instrument. Calling it a night on the strumming so I don't get huge blisters when I still have work to go to. EDIT: It looks pretty nice, too! Mahogany's got a nice pattern to it. I'm really curious what koa wood looks like. 
surfacelevelspeck fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Jul 2, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2016 04:34
|
|
|
Great first uke! Feel like you got your $60 worth? Glad now that you got a tenor for your meaty bear paws? Did you string it left-handed yet? If you're feeling wear on your fingertips, thank your lucky stars you aren't learning mandolin; it's not dreadful or anything but mando you really gotta pace yourself and build up calluses. Stick with this one for a bit, but if in a few months you're playing it just all the time, you might start looking for an upgrade later this year. Fortunately the huge popularity of ukes means finding an affordable used mid-level uke is pretty drat easy these days. And again remember the instrument learning mantra: 5 minutes a day is far better than one hour a week, so make an effort to pick it up and strum it for even a few minutes every day and it'll add up fast. Are any goons still dulcimer shopping? I need to start listing Shop Goodwill auction listings too since they always have tons of dulcimers. If anyone is in Austin, I always have tons of spare dulcimers, need to take a "family photo" and post it soon. Off the cuff, and not counting cardboard dulcimers, I'd say I've easily owned more than 50 dulcimers but probably not as many as 100, almost all of those in the last 10 years.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2016 20:53
|
|
|
Thanks for the great tips about mandolins, but unfortunately it seems that in Sweden your starter mandolins are at least 230 buck, and there are very few available on the second hand market, and pretty much no electric mandolins available. At all. So I'll be looking for some other weird musical instrument, probably. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2016 21:59
|
|
|
I got a starter mandolin from Thomann shipped here to France for about 60€, I'm pretty sure they have an electric one for about 80€. It's handled an entire school year of me messing around with it for about an hour every day with no discernable wear or warping so I'd say I got my money's worth.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2016 22:23
|
|
|
lilljonas posted:Thanks for the great tips about mandolins, but unfortunately it seems that in Sweden your starter mandolins are at least 230 buck, and there are very few available on the second hand market, and pretty much no electric mandolins available. At all. So I'll be looking for some other weird musical instrument, probably. Oh, you're in Europe? Solid-body electric mandolin, €111 from Germany: http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbma500_sb.htm?sid=e892228fd1e8a9f30f85506170d85043  If you ever want to upgrade to a nicer electric mandola, Thomann has that same Eastwood Airline e-mandola for prices comparable to the US.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 01:19
|
|
|
Day 3 of playing the ukulele, I can slowly change between C and F, and C and G, not so much between F and G. I can consistently downstrum relatively properly, though I can hear my finger scrape the fret board every once in a while, and I'm still not great at upstrumming. I'm only doing 10-15 minutes each day so I don't get blisters, but I'm still really enjoying the instrument! I didn't end up restringing it left-handed. Partially because the bridge looks like it was specially designed and I didn't want to try to reverse it, and also because when I tried strumming with either hand it felt about the same - I do a lot of stuff right-handed already. I noticed a buzz when I'm playing, which I'm not sure is because of lovely tuning, me mauling the chords, or something with the ukulele; gonna take it in to a repair place and see if I need to contact Hola! about getting a replacement uke or if it's just User Error™. Thanks again for the suggestions, TTFA! I think I might take you up on the offer to check out your instruments some time soon, if I get a free day.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 05:06
|
|
|
Syndlig posted:Day 3 of playing the ukulele, I can slowly change between C and F, and C and G, not so much between F and G. And since this seems to now be the de facto uke thread, anyone got any recommended tutorials or exercises for learning/practicing clawhammer uke? I've got a friend who plays banjo and every time he picks up my uke and fucks around it sounds great, but the tutorials I've found so far are basically "don't strum up, don't pick the strings, just bum-ditty and you're good" which, while easy, isn't particularly rigorous, or even that helpful.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 10:39
|
|
|
Oh god I bought a 5-string banjo and lessons though I've never played an instrument or read notes before. Am I going to be okay? 
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 13:40
|
|
|
TetsuoTW posted:An easy beginner's way of getting F>G easier is to play G7 instead, so your index finger doesn't have to move at all - the other two fingers are the same as a straight G. Quick googling found me this, hopefully it's what you're asking for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BS1tXzrVsk
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 15:46
|
|
|
Tias posted:Oh god I bought a 5-string banjo and lessons though I've never played an instrument or read notes before. Am I going to be okay? Banjo doesn't at all require you to read music; basically all instructional materials for the 5-string banjo will use "tablature", four lines representing your main strings with a number showing what fret your finger goes at. And while banjo isn't the easiest first instrument, it's also an instrument where prior experience doesn't matter so much since it's conceptually way different from say guitar, ukulele, mandolin. I kinda think of banjo as a more "intuitive" instrument, it's a lot more about patterns and flow. So to one side the first couple weeks playing will be a little confusing because you have to grasp the overall concept, but once you get that *click* in your brain it's just silly how easily everything flows together. I dicked around with clawhammer banjo a few times and just couldn't wrap my head around it, then one summer after I got out of the Marines I had a lot of time on my hands, was messing with it and reading the Pete Seeger banjo book I got from the library, and it suddenly clicked and I just sat there and played half of the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou on the spot. That's another reason why banjo, probably more than any other plucked string I've tried, I'd recommend folks get lessons on since it really helps to have someone guide you through the initial mental hurdles. Not bad or unpleasant hurdles, just expect it to be totally normal that your first few times playing are pretty baffling but know that's totally typical and it'll be easy once the idea sinks in. Are you planning to do bluegrass/Scruggs style banjo, or clawhammer/frailing, or is that something you're going to decide once the lessons start? What banjo did you get for your first?
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 18:21
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:Banjo doesn't at all require you to read music; basically all instructional materials for the 5-string banjo will use "tablature", four lines representing your main strings with a number showing what fret your finger goes at. I'll leave the style up to my teacher I guess( though I'd like to play some bluegrass eventually), because right now it's all incomprehensible. I have Chinese Epiphone 5-string, got it used off the teacher, but it sounds great and seems no worse for wear.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 18:42
|
|
|
Tias posted:I'll leave the style up to my teacher I guess( though I'd like to play some bluegrass eventually), because right now it's all incomprehensible. I have Chinese Epiphone 5-string, got it used off the teacher, but it sounds great and seems no worse for wear. Cool, just roll with what your teacher's got going and see how you like it. Just don't get frustrated early; banjo has a steep initial learning curve but levels off quickly as soon as you click. Got a $30 dulcimer off eBay when I was still in Africa, got back to Austin and unpacked it and it plays fine but the finish is sticky everywhere. Like newspaper and plastic bags stick right to it. I'll give it a wash of spray paint (or clear finish?) to seal it and fix that, and the next owner can just paint it or whatever; fingerboard is unfinished and not sticky so I'll probably just tung oil it. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Jul 4, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 18:51
|
|
|
Syndlig posted:I didn't end up restringing it left-handed. Partially because the bridge looks like it was specially designed and I didn't want to try to reverse it, and also because when I tried strumming with either hand it felt about the same - I do a lot of stuff right-handed already. I noticed a buzz when I'm playing, which I'm not sure is because of lovely tuning, me mauling the chords, or something with the ukulele; gonna take it in to a repair place and see if I need to contact Hola! about getting a replacement uke or if it's just User Error™. Here's a weird easy solution: check if the free ends of your strings are vibrating against the instrument, either at the bridge end or at the nut end. I clipped the bridge-end strings closer to the knot and my buzzing stopped.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 19:25
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Here's a weird easy solution: check if the free ends of your strings are vibrating against the instrument, either at the bridge end or at the nut end. I clipped the bridge-end strings closer to the knot and my buzzing stopped. In general try to narrow down where the buzzing is coming from, probably an easy fix. If you're down in Central Austin anytime soon I can take a look at it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 19:44
|
|
|
TapTheForwardAssist posted:Are any goons still dulcimer shopping? I need to start listing Shop Goodwill auction listings too since they always have tons of dulcimers. If anyone is in Austin, I always have tons of spare dulcimers, need to take a "family photo" and post it soon. Off the cuff, and not counting cardboard dulcimers, I'd say I've easily owned more than 50 dulcimers but probably not as many as 100, almost all of those in the last 10 years. After bidding and losing a few auctions I broke down and ordered a Sweet Woods student dulcimer. It should hopefully ship early this week.
|
|
#
?
Jul 4, 2016 21:55
|
|
|
Tias posted:Oh god I bought a 5-string banjo and lessons though I've never played an instrument or read notes before. Am I going to be okay? Yes. I can help answer questions. Phone posting now but I started a banjo thread in musicians lounge. If you can't find it or have questions me know. I play a lot of banjo.
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2016 02:43
|
|
|
quote:After bidding and losing a few auctions I broke down and ordered a Sweet Woods student dulcimer. It should hopefully ship early this week. Can't go wrong with those, good basic price and you're guaranteed to get something that runs well from the get-go. Note that the book In Search of the Wild Dulcimer is published free online and a hippie classic worth reading. What kind of music are you fixing to play on your new dulcimer? MockingQuantum posted:That means I spend a lot of time messing around with synthesizers, which is a blast, but it's hard to find one that feels like a really physically rewarding thing to play in the same way that guitar can be. By the way, if you want something keyboard but much more analog, see if anyone around you has a Clavinet you can muck around with. It's basically an electrified clavichord, so essentially an electric guitar and you activate the "frets" by hitting piano keys which are direct simple levers (not complex piano-style levers-to-hammers) that tap the string. They've been out of production a long while, but you can buy refurb ones as low as $600 or so if you shop around and there are a few workshops that produce all the parts needed to keep them running. You can play it unplugged (extremely quiet) or jack it into some amps and run some guitar effects through it. The awesome thing about the direct engagement of the lever is you can literally add tremolo by wiggling your finger on the key, it's like the fixie bike of keyboards where you're completely in-touch with the mechanism.  I really need to make this week the week that I order a spare string for my clavichord (or just order a whole new set of strings if they're under $100 EDIT: looks like I can get a full new set of strings and zither pins (mine are all rusted) for $100 total) and sign up for some adult piano lessons, learn some basic Bach and also how to do basic song accompaniment vamping. Mine looks pretty much like this except it's a little weathered and grungy and the soundboard is depressed slightly which means the two bottom keys don't sound well, but mine cost like $250 used whereas getting one used from a dealer would be over $1000 and a lot to ship since they're like 70lbs, so I'll play this for now and get a cute little 20lb triple-fretted down the road if I stick with this. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 5, 2016 21:26
|
|
|
I saw the banner ad and thought of my brother's accordion that I'm hanging on to. It's got a few sticky bass buttons and I wouldn't mind giving it a tune-up. I'm guessing it's just a little corrosion or bent rods and I'm pretty mechanically inclined. I always wanted to give it some practice and learn some Russian folk tunes for fun. Alternatively, I borrowed a 5' flared didgeridoo from a friend years ago to cure my wife's sleep apnea but it turns out that she doesn't like music in bed (har har). I wouldn't mind getting better with this one as well as the associated breathing technique. I can do it alright, but have a tough time softening the transition back to the lungs. I'm a bit surprised that the OP doesn't mention the hand ocarina in the list, since most of us have the equipment already! I taught myself how to play my hands well enough to do convincing mourning dove calls and expanded on it enough to cover nearly 2 octaves, though I need a lot more practice to get a solid armature every time and reliably hit tones without accompaniment.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2016 19:26
|
|
|
Shame Boner posted:I saw the banner ad and thought of my brother's accordion that I'm hanging on to. It's got a few sticky bass buttons and I wouldn't mind giving it a tune-up. I'm guessing it's just a little corrosion or bent rods and I'm pretty mechanically inclined. I always wanted to give it some practice and learn some Russian folk tunes for fun. Is it a piano accordion (how many bass/piano keys), or what kind? The piano ones especially have a zillion little levers and reeds, so they can be (afaik) pretty laborious and thus pricey to have a pro maintain, plus especially Italy has churned out so many thousands of brands and models that it can be tricky to find the exact right spare parts and understand the quirks of each. That said, if his isn't a hugely pricey model or a treasured collectible, my all means get in there and work on it. Just make sure you do a little reading up on what materials to use or no, you don't want to lube your joints with graphite and then find out that it tends to dust down into the reeds and jam them. There are a number of DIY sites for maintaining accordions, YouTube tutorials etc so if you're a mechanical guy and patient it could be a really fun project. I'd recommend that you photograph the gently caress out of it as you disassemble so you have a guide to getting it back together the same way, but a lot of what's causing the trouble is likely corrosion, bent or loose levers, bad springs, and particularly gunk in the reeds. I'd strongly advise trying to fix all the basic stuff before you get into tuning; it's entirely possible the tuning is fine-ish once you get it cleaned up, and also if you have it cleaned up you can then play it for a bit and figure out how off the tuning is, and then decide if it's worth having that more specialized task done by a pro or if you want to give it a shot. But definitely, just clean it up first, get it together again and play it. I think a number of us would be curious to see some photos of before and after, and comments on how you found the DIY repair process.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2016 20:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 08:28 |
|
|
I want to learn how to play Bowed Banjo.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2016 21:00
|
|
