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TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres
The next instrument, and one where I ended up convincing myself to get one based on writing this thread.

Autoharp



Back around the late 1800s to early 1900s, there was a tremendous surge in new musical instrument designs, particularly those designed to be easy for novices to play. My understanding is that this was linked to the expansion of mail-order catalog in the US; rural folks without musical skills but a minimal amount of local entertainment were considered a growth market for "you'll be playing popular tunes in minutes!!!" innovative products. For a variety of technical reasons, zithers of all stripes were huge in this effort. Most of them were long-run failures, all kinds of freaky designs now mouldering in antique stores, hanging on the walls of restaurants, etc. Fretless Zithers.com is a great online museum of all these oddities.

Of all these zithers, the only two that really had success carrying to the modern day are the bowed psaltery (which our Norwegian goon earlier in the thread is getting), and the autoharp. The autoharp mainly gained popularity in its target market: rural white folks. Its role in Americana music was secured when it achieved nationwide attention in the ensemble The Carter Family (which June Carter Cash came out of). The Carter family kept it popularised into the start of the Folk Revival of the 1960s, and since then the instrument has maintained at least a small level of popularity.



The autoharp is actually a relatively clever concept. You have a flat box with a large number of strings covering most or all of the scale. If you strum all the way across, you get a mish-mash of notes across the spectrum. But the instrument has a series of spring-loaded bars with felt at the bottom; push down the C Major chord bar, and every note which does not fall into the Cmaj chord will be muffled by felt pads, leaving you free to strum all the way across with only the proper notes ringing out.



Unlike a lot of the "play in minutes!!!" instruments, the autoharp is genuinely easy to chord on. You push a button with your chord, strum all the way across, and there you are. If you have a decent amount of ability to move your hand in a rhythmic manner (:rimshot:) you can probably be at the equivalent of a guitar "three chord chump" in a half-hour or so. A lot of folks just stay at that level, which is fine, but doesn't really make the most of the instrument. As you build up skill, you can do impressive amounts of melodic work with rich chords backing up the melody line, on an instrument that does a pretty drat good job covering "ethereal" and "haunting".

So far as buying one. The good-ish news is that the instrument was only decently made by one or two major makers, which produced absolutely scads of them in pretty good quality: Oscar Schmidt and Chromaharp (sometimes sold under other brand names). Also, the instrument isn't in high demand these days, so on any given day on eBay you can pick one up for $50-100. With the market being pretty full, stick to buying ones that look 1970s-ish or later, and are in good condition, ideally from a seller who has the confidence to say "I know music and the felts and bars are good", vice "I dunno, I know nothing about music buy this looks okay. A+ L@@K!!!" The main issues to watch for on used: any kind of visible structural flaws, particularly bowing or cracking of the face, is total no-go. Next major issue is the condition of the bars. If the felt on the bars is torn or missing you won't get right chords. This is not hugely difficult to fix as a DIY, but adds another step before you can get started. If you do have to disassemble an autoharp, that'd be a good time to replace all the felt, and probably put in better quality springs, etc.

If you want to be safer, you can just buy a new one; they're not at all expensive even new for an OS or a CH. There's a good Facebook article here Choosing an Autoharp. It's pretty conservative in adamantly supporting buying properly-refurbished used, or a new one that's been "set up" by a knowledgeable seller. Apparently the difference between a $230 new 'harp that they just ship from the factory, and a $280 'harp that's been adjusted, tweaked, QC'ed, is well-worth the $50. If you have the cash and are serious about learning, you probably want to buy new from a seller who specifically details the extra tweaking they do on the new harps they sell. If your budget is more like $75, watch eBay and be picky about what you bid on, and be prepared to have to put in a little unskilled labour informed by the internet.



Clips:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgVDqXVK_dQ A good example of really basic chord playing. Not offered due to massive quality, but because this is a good example of where a noob can be at a few weeks in.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze21Z6M53Wo More basic chording, but pretty catchy Misfits cover
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyxL5KTsIwQ&feature=related In contrast to the above, Bryan Bowers, probably the most famous autoharpist since the Carter Family. Oddly enough, best known for an acapella piece he did that was popularised by Dr Demento: The Scotsman, the song about two chicks looking up a drunk guy's kilt. In any case, the guy does really awesome melodic work on the autoharp. What he's doing in this clip is, I believe, moderate intermediate, so nothing that a goon couldn't be doing a year down the road.


So far as websites and whatnot, the autoharp community seems to be one of those with a more sporadic internet grip. Their main discussions are on mailing list vice forum (I hate it when musicians do that), so I'd mainly check in with them there: Autoharp mailing list, and its parent page autoharp.org. Again, relatively small and friendly community, so should be able to set you straight. There is also, somewhat unusually, a pretty active Facebook discussion page for autoharp.

All in all, a relatively easy instrument to at least sound basically decent on, a very distinct sound, and available quite affordably. In the last week, I went on eBay and bought one tiny kid-sized one for a buddy's toddler, and one tricked out diatonic 'harp for myself for $80ish.

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Doc Faustus
Sep 6, 2005

Philippe is such an angry eater
TTFA (or whoever), tell me about buying and learning the Balalaika!

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres

Doc Faustus posted:

TTFA (or whoever), tell me about buying and learning the Balalaika!

No worries. I couldn't find any goon players on Google, so here's my best shot based on dicking around with them in shops, and some internet research.

Balalaika

The balalaika is a traditional Russian instrument. Skinny neck with three strings, and a triangular body with a roundish back. There are various legendary histories about where it came from, but I'm inclined to believe that, like a lot of Russian culture, it has a Central Asian background: "if you scratch a Russian, you find a Tartar."



Balalaika come in a variety of sizes, which put together make up a "balalaika orchestra". But for the purposes of this post, we'll refer to the prima size, the most common version, and also used as a solo instrument. The balalaika is traditionally tuned EEA, though some tuned it GBD to make it easier for guitar players to cross over. Compared to similar instruments, the balalaika is unusual because the left thumb is also used to fret notes, and the prima is usually played with the fingers instead of a pick.



So far as buying a balalaika, this is one of those instruments where there's a bunch of miscellaneous junk floating around. Balalaikas weren't really formally exported en masse to the US, so much as they were an obligatory souvenir for anyone who went anywhere near Russia throughout the Cold War. They're not terribly uncommon to find old 1970s ones in weird music stores, occasional pawnshop, and plenty on eBay.

Like many things, this is one where the serious folks say not to cheap out and buy a piece of poo poo. I'm in general agreeance with that, but, as noted for other instruments, sometimes you just want to risk $50 on a potential piece of poo poo just to figure out if you like something without sinking in too much cash. There is one legit-looking place that has Chinese-made balalaikas at $275, as student alternatives to their $1000+ Russian handmade ones. If your budget is more like $500+, you probably want to do check some of the links at the bottom and start doing some digging.

If you fall into the category of "I want to buy one for $50 just to dick with for a bit", I'd get yourself to eBay. I'd buy one that's pretty plain wood (less likely to be a decorative souvenir) and not pay more than $60-100 including shipping; note that some are like $30 shipping, so that's a huge factor. A balalaika is relatively simple, so the main things that could be wrong are lovely tuners (easy to swap out and replace), warped/bent neck (will really cramp your style, but can be partially suffered through for a week or two of practice), and just general lovely build that's unstable. Do note, if you buy one used, get new strings for it, and also note that the bridge (which is movable) might be out of position, so either ask me here how to fix that, or read up online for any instructions about emplacing mandolin/banjo floating bridges; same concepts apply.



Clips:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcx0ZAeNl-w&feature=related Awesome tutorial on playing Коробейники (the Tetris theme song). This guy is the one with the website, below. And unlike a lot of YouTube clips which are just dudes strumming guitar-style, this guy is doing actual balalaika technique.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pczmaa1rPag&feature=related Some virtuosic stuff by a modern Russian dude who's apparently really into it
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrI0Cw0QKAE Some hipster playing the balalaika guitar-style. Apparently too many playing ukulele for it to be hip. Not really a trad clip, but not a bad example of what you can do with balalaika despite now knowing any Russian stuff.


So far as sites, note that a variety of American cities with Russian population have balalaika associations; there's also the Balalaika and Domra Association of America, which may be a good place to start meeting people, ask if anyone has a decent student axe to sell, etc. The dude in the tutorial above is Alex Sinavski, who runs iBalalaika; he does charge for some of his material, but seeing the quality of his material I'd say it's worth buying if you're serious about learning actual Russian technique.

Overall, an basic instrument that can do a lot of intricate work. Lots of cheapies on the market, but considering you can get some of them for $50-100, might be worth the risk. Ideally, check Craiglist or local used-guitar stores, bring along a guitar-playing friend to judge the action height, etc. But eBay is always an option, and $40 is the kind of money folks spend on cheap starter ukuleles anyway.

TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Jun 22, 2011

TurdBurgles
Sep 17, 2007

I AM WHITE AND PLAY NA FLUTE ON TRIBAL LANDS WITH NO GUILT.
I just wanted to chime in that this thread finally made me pull the trigger on getting a musical instrument (NA Flute). The only experience I've ever had was playing the sax way back in elementary school so I am drat exited and my fiancee has ordered a box of earplugs.

I was so intimidated by everyone I know owning a flavor of guitar that I thought I would say screw it and become the whistling guy, but after reading up on different instruments in this thread my physics sense got so stimulated I had to pick up something!

FreshyB
Apr 29, 2006
.
Anybody have an udu? Its a clay pot with some holes in it pretty much. It seems like it would be fun to have around to play around with.

This guy shows it off pretty well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQxwGSTgMNU

Jasper Tin Neck
Nov 14, 2008


"Scientifically proven, rich and creamy."

TapTheForwardAssist posted:

"I want to buy one for $50 just to dick with for a bit"
This is me, except my grandparents have one my grandmother probably brought as a souvenir in the Soviet Union. I know absolutely nothing at all about music though. (As in, give me a note sheet and I'll be able to figure out "Yup, sure is a note sheet." and not much more.) What would I need to know anything before picking up "balalaika for dummies" or something?

Defenestration
Aug 10, 2006

"It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"


Grimey Drawer
I have recently come into a second-hand accordion, of the many-button and piano key type. Does anyone know of any good online resources for learning? I don't want to get super good at it, just enough to plonk out a couple of songs for yuks at parties.

So far googling has led me to realize that the online accordion community even surpasses the online harmonica community in terrible web design.

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres
Will do more on udu later, but for the moment just note that there is a company (Meinl) making fibreglass udus in the mid $100 range, in case folks want one but are concerned about having fragile, expensive ceramics.

EDIT: there's a Meinl Tri Tone udu (the one that has the extra mini-drumhead on the side) for $111 with free shipping on Ebay, so about $50 cheaper than the usual: http://cgi.ebay.com/Meinl-Fiberglass-Tri-Sound-Ibo-Drum-Mint-/260806064468?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb940b954



quote:

I just wanted to chime in that this thread finally made me pull the trigger on getting a musical instrument (NA Flute). The only experience I've ever had was playing the sax way back in elementary school so I am drat exited and my fiancee has ordered a box of earplugs.

I can't believe we've gone this far in the thread without getting into detail on the Native American flute. I'll have to fix that in the next few days.

I reckon your girlfriend is over-concerned; NAF is a pretty drat mellow instrument. Just make sure to start out practicing just getting a consistent tone with all fingerholes covered. Don't just start huffing into it; blow as softly as possible, and then increase slightly-slightly until you get a consistent low-note.

It's a common beginner mistake (especially on tinwhistle) to blow as hard as possible, wiggle your fingers aimlessly, and then wonder why it sounds like a cat being violated. Instead just try to get the lowest notes right in the lowest register, and then add note by note until you can go smoothly up the scale with a solid tone.


Nesnej posted:

[balalaika]
This is me, except my grandparents have one my grandmother probably brought as a souvenir in the Soviet Union. I know absolutely nothing at all about music though. (As in, give me a note sheet and I'll be able to figure out "Yup, sure is a note sheet." and not much more.) What would I need to know anything before picking up "balalaika for dummies" or something?

First things first: scope your poo poo. Do you have the instrument in your possession? Just as is, check it all over for any splits, separations, cracks, etc. Especially check load-bearing areas, like where the peghead meets the neck, the neck meets the body, where the strings secure at the butt-end, and check the soundboard (face) carefully for bad cracks.

Next, any missing parts? Does it currently have three strings on it, and three tuning pegs at the top of the neck to tune it. Most importantly (and losably) does is still have the "bridge", a wedge-shaped piece that sits below the soundhole and holds the strings up like a bridge support:



If it doesn't have a bridge, that'll take some minor solving, and the next steps will make no sense without it.

Next, try to tighten up the strings, at least partially. The point is not to be in tune, the point is to check the action and see if the instrument gets squirrely under pressure. Assuming the three strings are relatively loose, tighten them up (alternate between them every couple twists, to try to keep the pressure of all three relatively even). Tune them each until you can still wiggle each one about a quarter-inch side to side without difficult, but not so tight that it starts feeling really firm.

Now, look at the instrument from the side, so that all three strings are lined up in your vision so they look like one strings. Does the neck have severe bow to it, or just a little bit? Next, get some random small change (US or otherwise). Without pressing the string down or up at all, see what coins you can slide in between the fret (raised brass bars that go across the neck) and the string. As in, coins are in a stack and balanced on the middle of the fret, and just scrape but do not press upward the string. Do this on the 7th fret, and on the 12th, and let us know how many coins (of what mixture) can fit. The reason for this is to see if the strings are way too high, or are at a playable height.

The above is basically how to do a checkup on an instrument, but described in a way that hopefully a non-musical person can walk through and feel comfortable with. If any questions, check back in here. Otherwise, let us know what you find out.

If you don't have the instrument on hand at the moment, no problem, I can answer the rest of your question about learning.

I can expand at length as needed, but long-short, it depends on how you want to play it.

-If you want to play it just strumming it guitar-style (like the hipster in the clip I posted), this will be really drat easy. About as easy as the ukulele, and scores of goons in that thread have learned uke with no music background.
-If you want to play proper balalaika, check out anything you can find on YouTube with "balalaika tutorial" to get a taste for it, and that one dude's website. Those probably start at a certain minimum level of skill, but we can start you out here learning just the basics of how to play chords and notes to ease you into it. EDIT: this link is really comprehensive: Kaikracht.de balalaika school.

quote:

I have recently come into a second-hand accordion, of the many-button and piano key type. Does anyone know of any good online resources for learning? I don't want to get super good at it, just enough to plonk out a couple of songs for yuks at parties.

I probably know less about piano accordion that any other accordion type, but on the bright side the odds are highest that we have a few goons who play accordion. Do you have archives to check on that and see if you can PM any of them to the thread?

Do you have any previous musical background? Again, no expert, but piano accordion seems one of the least "tricky" kinds to learn; it has a lot of stuff going on, but it's basically a piano with a bunch of chord/bass buttons, so if you have any kind of musical background I'd say you have a fair chance of teaching yourself. Any luck finding YouTube tutorials or anything? EDIT: google "piano accordion tutorial", there are several good clips, an ehow, a knol, etc. on the first page. That should give you a decent start.

How many piano keys (white and black) and how many left-hand buttons (not counting the air button)? Once you know how many bass/chord buttons, you should be able to find an online diagram of what your chords/bass are, and print it out for reference.

EDIT: A few points on accordion maintenance, which apply to anyone obtaining an accordion or concertina.

DO NOT try moving the bellows without holding down a button of some sort (the air button is good). The buttons are what direct the rush of air, and if you push/pull the bellows with no button held down, the air has nowhere to go, and will start trying to force gaps through the bellows seal, which is bad.

The one exception to this, since you have a used 'box in unknown condition: use the air button to open the bellows part-way. Now gently push very slightly to see if the bellows are airtight, or if you have a major air-leak in the bellows. I mean like try pushing a half-inch or so, and stop even before that if the bellows put up any resistance. If they close very easily, push a little harder; worst case scenario is the bellows put up no resistance to closing a couple inches. If that's the case, you'll want to track down that leak. Have a friend get a hand damp (to better feel rushing air), open the bellows all the way (with the air button) and close them with no buttons engaged, and have him run his hand over (not touching) all points of the bellows, by the air vents, etc. to try and feel the leak. Only do that if you have significant leaking (as in no resistance at all from the bellows to being closed with no buttons engaged). If you have a major leak, google "accordion bellows repair" for ideas on how to patch it. Otherwise, just count it as "tight enough" and from then on always have a button engaged while moving the bellows. You should have button-snaps that keep the accordion closed; make sure you always close those when not playing so that you or a dumb friend don't pick up one end of the accordion and leave the other half dangling by the bellows.


In the meantime, I suggest you just dick around with your accordion to get a feel for it. Try feeling out melodies on the piano keyboard, and separately try to have some fun alternating between several good-sounding chords on the left hand. I'll try and go dig up more info on where you can find more professional instructions.

TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Jun 26, 2011

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres

Angra Mainyu posted:

I just wanted to chime in that this thread finally made me pull the trigger on getting a musical instrument (NA Flute). The only experience I've ever had was playing the sax way back in elementary school so I am drat exited and my fiancee has ordered a box of earplugs.

I was so intimidated by everyone I know owning a flavor of guitar that I thought I would say screw it and become the whistling guy, but after reading up on different instruments in this thread my physics sense got so stimulated I had to pick up something!

Now is as good a time as any.

Native American Flute



The Native American flute (NAF) is somewhat of an amalgamation of various American Indian influences, introduced European ideas, etc. Suffice to say, it's pretty hard to nail down the real history of it, and it's tangled up with a bunch of pseudo-history, legend, wishful thinking, etc. But long story short, they're generally wooden flutes, with a fipple (mouthpiece that directs air onto a blade, like a tinwhistle), and vaguely associated with some designs from the Plains Indians like the Lakota. They're generally tuned in a distinct scale, a "pentatonic minor", so the number of familiar American pop-music tunes you'll be able to play is limited, but on the bright side most things you play will sound really interesting since it's hard to mess up a pentatonic scale.

These are basically about as easy to play as tinwhistle, maybe easier since the design is harder to mess up the blowing pressure due to its double-chamber airflow, and less danger of sounding shrieky. If you're more interested in improvising and chilling out (and/or actually playing American Indian music), this is probably one of your best instrument options.

Here's the design that gives it that unique tone. Note the air actually leaves the body, hits the plate (usually ornamented with a "fetish", a small carving) and then is directed back into the body:


Do not buy a random no-name NAF off of eBay. If it's from a specifically-named maker with a good rep, sure, but if it doesn't specify any name at all, or has a name that gets no Google hits on flute websites, that's a pretty drat big red flag. Do not ask me how I know this.

Fortunately, there's a very well-developed online community of NAF players. The key place to check out is FlutePortal.com, which I strongly advise you read up on if you're interested in the NAF.

For makers, here are a few folks making good starter NAFs in the $50 range:
- Butch Hall, the most consistently recommended starter NAF maker. A little minimalist, but supposedly great flutes.
- Island Flutes has some budget bamboo flutes that are supposed to be great for $40-60.
- Northern Spirit has very durable starter NAFs made from black ABS plastic, so a good option if you're going to be taking this into rough weather, camping, don't want to wince if your flute falls off a table, have dumbass roommates, etc.
- Jonah Thompson is the only one of the main recommended starter flutes who is actual no-poo poo Indian, Navajo Dine, and therefore can legally call his product "Native American Flutes". In the USA, it's illegal to call a product "Native American" or similar unless the maker is legally one, so you see a lot of "Native American-style flutes" on the market. The "-style"s aren't necessarily bad, but if you have some spiritual/cultural angle involving supporting the Navajo, the man has a good rep and is a real Indian.


So far as what key to get, Am and F#m are the most popular. Am is probably the best way to go, though if you want something with a lot of bass, and have good finger reach or larger than average hands, you can look into F#.



Kind of a sideline issue, but I'm pretty set on getting a drone flute, a bagpipe-like NAF with an additional tube providing a constant drone. There are also "double flutes" with fingerholes on both side so you can do changing harmonies. Those are a bit beyond the beginner stage, but maybe something to look to as you gain experience, or if you're already an experienced musician looking at NAF:



Clips:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMkhQ1Vq14o Mary Youngblood is apparently one of the top NAF players
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqxQ0XqZxG4 This dude has a ton of great clips of the NAF drone flute,
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyh9B7MIFuU&feature=related Just to show that some Anglo songs sound good on NAF, a cover of House of the Rising Sun

bigfoot again
Apr 24, 2007

Is the sousaphone weird enough for this thread? In the UK we don't have the high school marching band tradition so you almost never see them, but I fell in love with Youngblood and Hypnotic and some other brass bands and I want to do that.

So I bought a Euphonium to try it out and it's all going nicely. I personally hate most music that's written for euph in the UK and America but I love the instrument. Now I'm taking a trip to California which seems like the ideal time to live the dream and pick up a sousaphone. Any advice on where to go/ what to look for/ what to avoid?

E: If you have thoughts on the Helicon, I'd also love to hear them

Bonus picture of my uketar which cost £30 and sounds really quite ok:

bigfoot again fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Jun 23, 2011

AstroZamboni
Mar 8, 2007

Smoothing the Ice on Europa since 1997!
At TapTheForwardAssist's request, I'm popping in here to give a good beginning primer for the harmonica; an instrument that can be learned (on a basic level) in a day, but can take a lifetime to master.

The Diverse and Wonderful World of Harmonicas



The harmonica, while most commonly associated with blues music, was originally invented in Germany for playing polkas. Harmonicas are typically based on a diatonic scale. When you randomly blow into a group of adjacent holes, you get a properly harmonizing chord. This helps make the harp a very simple and intuitive instrument to learn the basics of. It isn't difficult to learn basic melodies.

Unfortunately, the diatonic scale also introduces a sordid little wrinkle to the harmonica. In order to play in more than (at the most) 3 keys (more on this later), you need to purchase multiple instruments as a single harp is tied to a single key, usually stamped in the metal of the harmonica's cover plate or printed somewhere on the harp's comb. A C harp (which is what most people start with, is made for playing melodies in the key of C. This same-with-same key matching, melody-playing harmonica technique is called straight harp. When you play the melody of "O Suzanna" (as is traditionally the first tune one learns on the harmonica) you're playing in "straight harp."

More commonly used, however, is cross harp. In cross harp, the aforementioned C harp would be used to play a song in the key of G by accentuating different wailing and resolution notes than you would in straight harp. Here's a YouTube video that properly illustrates the difference in sound between cross harp and straight harp. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwIyY-NI2Dw

Here's a chart for the straight/cross harp transpositions.


A harmonica can be used in a third position for playing with certain minor key chord progressions. This position is called "Slant harp" but that's a fairly advanced and I'll wait and do a post devoted specifically to it because it's a fairly strange technique and not commonly used.

Note Bending:

One topic that frequently pops up in the harmonica threads in Musician's Lounge is the subject of "note bending." It's difficult for some people to grok at first, so I'm going to do my best to explain (roughly) how it's done.

Without a harp between your lips, pucker like you're blowing into a harmonica. While doing this, blow and while you're at it move the back of your tongue (as well as regulate the airflow from your lungs) as if you're making the sound "eeeeeeeehhhhoooooooohhhheeeeeeeeehhhhhooooooo." Feel the way the air direction is changing around the back of your throat. Now, try doing that while inhaling as well, and then try it while inhaling on the 4th hole of the harp. Once you get it, you'll wonder why it took you so long to figure it out.

I'm going to do more posts here on the subject of the harmonica, but I'm nearly out of time on the library computer (my home machine went tits up last week). If anybody has any specific questions, feel free to ask. I've been blowing harp for 15 years (since I was 13 years old), and have built up a respectable degree of knowledge on the subject.

AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jun 23, 2011

Jabarto
Apr 7, 2007

I could do with your...assistance.
This is a fascinating thread. I never knew what a kantele was before reading it, but I really want one now. :)

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres

Jabarto posted:

This is a fascinating thread. I never knew what a kantele was before reading it, but I really want one now. :)



Kantele is awesome. Personally, I'd go for the 5-string version. Not only is it a lot less expensive, but the sheer minimalism of it will make you really focus on using what you have. With a larger instrument, it'd be tempting to just use it as a psaltery, but with 5 strings you're so limited that you can freely adventure without worry of messing things up.

Fortunately, a kantele made by the main expert maker in the US costs less than a used made-in-Japan guitar at a pawnshop, so saving up $135 shouldn't be too problematic for you.


Though just plucking the 5 strings can be cool, I would recommend that anyone thinking of kantele also observe the "block-strum" method. In this kind of playing, you muffle the strings with your fingers, and then selectively raise fingers as you strum to allow strings to sound. Here's a guy doing the same technique, albeit on a lyre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkC1ohl2Knk&feature=fvsr

It gives it a much more driven sound, a lot more ancestrally Scandinavian :black101:.

Argali
Jun 24, 2004

I will be there to receive the new mind
What about the bermimbau? I've always been interested in it ever since I heard it used on Sepultura's Roots.



From Wiki:

quote:

The berimbau consists of a wooden bow (verga – traditionally made from biribá wood, which grows in Brazil), about 4 to 5 feet long (1.2 to 1.5 m), with a steel string (arame – often pulled from the inside of an automobile tire) tightly strung and secured from one end of the verga to the other. A gourd (cabaça), dried, opened and hollowed-out, attached to the lower portion of the Verga by a loop of tough string, acts as a resonator.

Since the 1950s, Brazilian berimbaus have been painted in bright colors, following local Bahian/Brazilian taste; today, most makers follow the tourist consumer's quest for (pretended) authenticity, and use clear varnish and discreet decoration.

To play the berimbau, one holds it in one hand, wrapping the two middle fingers around the verga, and placing the little finger under the cabaça's string loop (the "anel"), and balancing the weight there. A small stone or coin (pedra or dobrão) is held between the index and thumb of the same hand that holds the berimbau. The cabaça is rested against the abdomen. In the other hand, one holds a stick (baqueta or "vaqueta" – usually wooden, very rarely made of metal) and a shaker (caxixi). One strikes the arame with the vaqueta to produce the sound. The caxixi accompanies the vaqueta. The dobrão is moved back and forth from the arame to change the pitch produced by the berimbau. The sound can also be altered by moving the cabaça back and forth from the abdomen, producing a wah-like sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm5sTIHluVU

...but I've never bothered because I already play guitar and bass. :smug:

N183CS
Feb 21, 2007

MOMS WITH GUNS
Haven't seen any Resonator or Slide Guitars yet so I'll go ahead.



In the 1920's people were trying to find a way to amplify acoustic guitars. Several attempts were made with varying degrees of success. Around 1928 or so (no one knows the exact date) a pair of brothers named John and Rudolph Dopyera who had recently immigrated from Czechoslovakia came up with several patents using spun aluminum cones in the body of the guitar that acted as mechanical speakers. Their first design used an inverted cone with a wooden biscuit in the middle which held the saddle. The cone sat under a metal coverplate and the vibrating strings caused the thin cone to resonate. Later they came up with the idea of using metal bodies and three smaller cones attached by a metal T bridge. This is what we now know as the National Resophonic guitar.

These early guitars were very popular in the beginning and business differences at the National Guitar company led the brothers to leave and start a new company using their new improved design. The new guitar featured an even larger cone but instead of using a biscuit or t bridge they designed an eight legged spider bride that gripped the cone in the middle and also touched the outer rim with each leg. The new design was much louder than before. The new company was named Dobro, a combination of Dopyera and Brothers, and also the Czech word for good. Several other companies caught on and up until World War Two the dobro was a premier player in Hawaiian music. After the war electric lap steel guitars could deliver even more power and the resonator guitar sort of fell by the wayside.

In the 1960's and 70's a few independent luthiers began building fine custom made guitars using exotic tone woods. Players like Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes grew up around this time and took the instrument to where it is today.

Because of their high action( on square neck versions) a metal bar must be used to effectively create a fretted position on the strings. Because the slide can move anywhere on the string it allows an unlimited array of tones. The downside is that certain chords can not be played and open tunings must be used. Standard tuning from low to high is Open G (GBDGBD) but Open D ( DADF#AD) and Open E (EBEG#BE) are also very popular.

Here's what the dobro sounds like at the very height of perfection. Jerry Douglas is using Open D tuning here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gukFvG8VbK4
Here's an awesome sound clip also in Open D:
http://www.harper-resophonics.com/downloads/music/StyleA-007_demo.mp3
Disclaimer: If you're going to try the next two tunings on a regular round neck guitar with raised action you might want to consider some heavier resonator strings as regular acoustics might not handle the stress. Also these tunings will add a lot more stress than regular (EADGBE) tuning so if you notice your guitar making sounds of pain or otherwise telling you to stop then Open D might be your best bet.
Here is Open E, which is a step above Open D:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fnilr40QDs
Finally Open G which is standard Dobro tuning sounds like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk0hzDRehAE
Most stuff you hear on the Dobro will be in open G, if it sounds real low and bluesy it is most likely Open D. As a fairly new player I can tell you that after a few months of listening you will be able to pick put the different keys and tunings, the undrstanding of the instrument increases immensely once you get to this point.
Also if that Metal/Wood sound doesn't capture your ears and leave you wanting more then you are probably deaf.

Edit: Per TTFA's request here are some price levels for dobros.

If you want to go super low you can do what I did when I started out and take your little sisters busted up ovation and make a new nut out of some wood you found in your dads basement. I used a 45-70 cartridge as a slide and surprisingly it sounded ok. Any guitar can become a lap slide guitar simply by raising the action. My next guitar was a Johnson 14 fret round neck I found at a pawn shop. I can't speak for all Johnsons but the one I had sounded quite good to my beginner ears. You can buy aluminum nut extenders for like $10. If you want to start out with a resonator there are plenty of new ones to be had in the $100-$300 range. I went a step further with my next guitar and got the one on the left in the photo. Its a Gold Tone Paul Beard signature and they run around $650 new. I actually have it listed in SA mart right now for $500. Other guitars in that price range are the Wechter/Scheerhorn line, Regal, Morrell and if you look around you can find real Dobros made by OMI for around 6-700 dollars. I own a Wechter also and the interior design is totally different that the Gold Tone so they sound quite different. A good setup makes a surprising amount of difference. My Gold Tone was set up by a little man in China and sounds pretty good after I took it apart corrected some obvious oversights in the original setup, but my Wechter was actually set up by Tim Scheerhorn (whose handmade guitars sell in the $10,000 range) and everyone who has heard it is blown away.

Most people are perfectly happy with these guitars and never go higher but these are basically starter instruments. For not a whole lot more though you can find some of the independent Luthiers models. I just picked up a McKenna which is a luthier instrument made from solid walnut with a spruce top for $1000. The guitars Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes play can be had for around $7500.

N183CS fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Jun 29, 2011

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres

N183CS posted:


If you want to go super low you can do what I did when I started out and take your little sisters busted up ovation and make a new nut out of some wood you found in your dads basement. I used a 45-70 cartridge as a slide and surprisingly it sounded ok. Any guitar can become a lap slide guitar simply by raising the action.

...You can buy aluminum nut extenders for like $10.



Just to reinforce this: back when I was buying a lot of pawnshop guitars, this was my go-to solution for guitars with dicked-up nets or fretting. $20 panwnshop guitar with shot neck? Toss on a $10 nut-riser and sell it on Craiglist for $30 for some college kid to dick with. On a dobro-type guitar the strings are pretty much just suspended in the air, so mechanically not really much drawback to just converting a cheap steel-string guitar. Granted, the tone is going to be nowhere as good, but it's a cheap way to try out this type of instrument.

Just buy whatever cheap steel-string at a pawnshop that doesn't seem to be made from balsa wood. Alternately, you could call a couple shops that sell lots of used guitars (your basic hipstery-type guitar shop) and ask if they have any cheapies with shot necks that you can convert to a slide. I've seen some pretty upscale guitar shops do this with 1920s-1930s guitars that are overall nice, but had no truss rod to keep the neck straight and are just not playable as standard guitars.


N183CS, once someone has a cheap guitar and a nut riser, any comment on what they should do to re-string it so as to be able to hit common dobro tunings, and what bar to get as a noob?


One related variant is the Hawaiian guitar. A cool option is you like the slidy sound, but not the metallic twang. Basically once enough Hawaiians played slide guitar (originally all just cheap guitars with raised nuts), luthiers figured that the neck didn't need to be usable for slide, so just more space to expand the soundbox forward:



Same slidy sound, just mellower tone. Clip:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2oQAQFpKFo Fernando Perez does a Hawaiian medeley
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdTa9MzgF6s Bobby Ingano playing an electric Hawaiian guitar; interestingly enough, a ton of the earliest electric guitars were of the Hawaiian slide type, vice the currently-popular fretted. Crazy how styles change.


Yet another variant is the Indian slide guitar (or Mohan veena). It's late and I don't recall all the historical detail I once knew on these, but suffice to say that slide guitar entered India mid-last century from the USA, and found a particular niche in film music. Over time, some neat variants occurred with sitar-style sympathetic strings, buzzing bridges, etc.



- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_omCsitGYs Manish Pringle (in the above photo)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZgF-vNk92I&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL British dude who home-converted a guitar to Indian-style, with all the cool extra strings

TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Jun 27, 2011

N183CS
Feb 21, 2007

MOMS WITH GUNS
If someone who already plays electric guitar were looking at getting into lap slide they could do the raised nut thing and basically have an electric lap steel. As far as slides go I use a Dunlop Lap Dawg which has very sharp ends and is useful for pull offs where you snap it away from the string and end up with a quick changeover from a fretted note to the open string. For most playing I use a Shubb bar because it fits my hand nicely. I've found that any bar that sits in my hand and stops just before the tip of my ring finger works well. Each slide has different finger groove lengths to fit different sized hands. They can be had for around $25 new but ebay usually has good deals. Different materials make different sounds, I've seen glass, chrome steel, stainless steel, glazed clay etc. Finger picks are just as personal. I like propik nickel plated brass finger picks with two finger bands and dunlop zookies thumb picks. I've tried Alaska Picks, which slip over your finger and under your nail to basically extend it and Fred Kelly speed picks which are made for banjo players.

The Hawaiian lap guitar is also known as a Weissenborn, after its creator. They are usually made of thin tone wood, usually koa and have some pretty elaborate bracing going on inside. Standard tuning for them is open D (DADF#AD) and you can play everything from gritty delta blues with lots of turnarounds to melodic celtic stuff.

That Mohan Veena is pretty cool. I exchanged some emails with one of my favorite dobro players, Billy Cardine, the other day and he is playing a lot of amazing stuff on a Chaturangui. It's a lot like a Mohan Veena, with a bunch of sympathetic strings but it has even more of them. I have no idea how they work but they sound neat, maybe that could be your next weird instrument write up.

Edit for string info: They do make strings specifically for resonator guitars, I think the outer windings are different material to absorb being slid on more easily. I have noticed with regular acoustic strings that they seem to have more of a brass colored winding while every set of reso strings I have had uses bronze outer windings. If you go the cheap guitar route, I would go ahead and throw new strings on as well. My first guitar had rusty old strings and the bar would hit every one of the pits in the steel and it would make an awful sound. Strings are like $5-7 anyway so why not treat yourself. My electric lap steel guitar uses steel wound strings but I think thats more for the purpose of helping the electric pickup than anything else.

N183CS fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Jun 27, 2011

sithael
Nov 11, 2004
I'm a Sad Panda too!

quote:

Do not buy a random no-name NAF off of eBay. If it's from a specifically-named maker with a good rep, sure, but if it doesn't specify any name at all, or has a name that gets no Google hits on flute websites, that's a pretty drat big red flag. Do not ask me how I know this.


i did this. it's not going to explode on me, will it?

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres

sithael posted:

i did this. it's not going to explode on me, will it?

Nah, it's just that you might have more issues getting the right notes, getting the right payoff for holding steady breath pressure, etc. NAF isn't the worst instrument you could buy blind, since it's not impossible to get it decently-right on the cheap.

I really need to add in huge bold letters in the OP: "Don't buy instruments on eBay unless you know about the exact make you're buying."

In any case, what kind did you buy? Any links to the seller's other auctions? Definitely let us know how it looks when it comes in; you could be totally fine... depending.

EDIT: While we're here talking flutes:

Irish Flute

I'll caveat right off the bat that I don't play Irish flute, but hang around with some people who do, know folks from forums, etc. So what I'm putting here is mainly "five minute summary of the common knowledge from Irish forums", and the strong encouragement to actually go to said forums and socialise if you're interested in learning this instrument. Honestly, that goes for about everything here: if it has a forum/e-list, get on it, talk to people, and learn about what to get and how to start playing.

In any case, what we commonly call the "Irish flute" is called such because English-speakers mainly use it for Irish music, but it's used plenty throughout Europe in all kinds of folk traditions. The main distinction between the Irish flute and the modern Boehm-system metal flute is that the Irish has a tapered bore (vice cylindrical on a metal flute), is made of wood, and often has no keys, just bare holes. For the folks who are into it, it's an amazingly expressive instrument, and has a definite pure minimalism to it.



Like most things here, do not buy a random Irish flute off eBay. There is a whole thread at Chiff & Fipple about how this is a Bad Idea. For cheap options, Doug Tipple makes simple (cylindrical) flutes from PVC for $50 which get surprisingly rave reviews. Tony Dixon is a British shop, and though their 1-piece IFs are a bit tricky to use, their 2-pieces are said to be good, and 3-pieces pretty solid. The 3-piece retail for $185 or so, and you can probably encounter any of the models cheaper used on forums or eBay (where you would not be buying random, but a recognised decent make). Going up in value, there are quite a few flutes in the $300-500 range of respectable but not fancy. Casey Burns makes a really stripped-down version from solid wood that's said to be a great buy. Many flutes in that range are turned from Delrin plastic, said to be a good material for flutes, and the Irish Flute Store seems to have a good community rep, and an every-circulating stock of new and used flutes, some quite affordable. Do note that plastic is not necessarily a bad thing in this context, and as a noob will save you money and avoid any maintenance risk of having to care for a more finnicky wooden instrument.

Do perform your advance research and discussion on a good forum, Chiff and Fipple's Flute Forum being a good call, or The Session.org. If you have particularly tiny hands, make sure you ask about reach, as you might want to go for a key of A or G rather than the standard D, if hand-size is a major issue (or get a make of D flute suited t small hands, see thread). Do note that there are usually plenty of used IFs on Chiff and Fipple, and/or you can always just start a new thread asking if anyone has a cheapie laying around to cut a good deal for a young, poor noob.



Once you have one, there are a good amount of learning materials online. And fortunately the instrument is fingered basically the same as a tinwhistle (though sounding an octave lower). So a lot of the educational materials are relatively transferable. The instrument also has a great presence online, so easy to meet other players and get starting tips. Once you've got some basic skills down, try googling up an "Irish session" in your area, drop in to check it out even if you aren't comfortable enough to play along with them yet. The only way to learn traditional Irish music is to be around it, so dive in.

Clips:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFeKXaFYJo0 Tommy Coen's Reel on IF
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQsgtSWGQQ A Breton tune on IF
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzheD9Uo1x8&feature=related Swedish tunes being played on the same kind of wooden flute


Low Whistle



One last side note: what if you want to have that low, breathy flute sound, but just aren't down with blowing across a tiny whole? There is a solution, the low whistle. Basically a big honkin' pennywhistle. If you have at all small hands, don't try going much lower than Low G unless you get to try one out in person, and even with normal hands you have a use a different grip with the Low D just to be able to reach. But they're relatively affordable compared to flutes (I got a Kerry Low D used for like $70), and not particularly harder than the smaller tinwhistle. Again, read the Chiff & Fipple forum, and here's their Guide to Low Whistles.

Clips:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NXy3s_I87M The Lochaber Badger/The Glass Of Beer (Low Whistle & Guitar)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTIXotjy9VI Breton tune played on a Low G whistle by a small chick

TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jun 28, 2011

KarlMarx90210
Jan 30, 2011
Learn the Euphonium. Its like a tuba for people who aren't obese.
http://i.imgur.com/lHVVv.jpg

sithael
Nov 11, 2004
I'm a Sad Panda too!
I bought this one, since i went to a world music festival saturday and they had some drone flutes for sell, but they were like 150 bucks each. This one seems to be double melody pipes, which i guess would still work for drone: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250844928252&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The seller seems to have a few more for just as cheap if someone wants to waste 30$ and see http://shop.ebay.com/msanders626/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686


Tomorrow my dilruba (bowed sitar) ships from india if its not still raining there... I've had waaaay too much money in the past few months so I've been buying poo poo at random from ebay. Havn't had anything totally bogus yet, cept a sarod that got broken in the mail, but they sent me a new one, and now i have two! So far, a cuatro, 3 mbiras, the sarod, a bowed psaltry, a viola, and an autoharp have all played decently and tune up fine enough that i don't know the difference. Maybe they would to an expert, but im not an expert in any of them. I also have a fretless guitar thingy from thailand and some mizmars/shawms already in the mail.

I can't decide on what i want next. Half the stuff on ebay it's hard enough to find info on, let alone anyone else who sells them in the first place. I found this weird filipine instrument that fits what i wanted in a triple coursed instrument and is tuned like a guitar/cuatro with a low F, the bandilla laud. http://cgi.ebay.com/Philippines-BANDILLA-Acoustic-LAUD-Hard-Case-NEW-/260699076927?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb2e0393f (the abba cover in the description is awesome, also)

Or the santoor... indian hammered dulcimer. I like it's more compact size compared to western ones. I think preparing it with paper clips and such would be neat.

sithael fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Jun 27, 2011

bigfoot again
Apr 24, 2007

KarlMarx90210 posted:

Learn the Euphonium. Its like a tuba for people who aren't obese.
http://i.imgur.com/lHVVv.jpg

I'm doing this but tubas/sousas are mightier and cooler


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MypmT0kwBR0

Whereas euphoniums have the most terrible purpose-written music known to man. This is world-renowned euphonium player Stephen Mead:



His signature piece is a cover of the Simpsons theme tune

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres
... and just to close the loop here:

Folk fife or band flute

Pretty much along the lines of the Irish flute melded with the tinwhistle. These tend to be conical bore with a flute-style head. Smaller, easy reach, generally pretty affordable.

Two makers that jump to mind are Dixon (as above, $39 for High D combo) and Ralph Sweet ($125 for High D in plastic, $125+ for A/G/F fifes in wood). Both also make combo sets in D, where it's a High D body that can take either a tinwhistle head or a fife head, so a good way to be able to try both methods of playing.





EDIT: Does anyone play the shakuhachi and want to do an intro post on it? If not, I can basically cover done, as I have a couple jinashi that I dick around with. I'm by no means a serious player, but can speak to the utter basics. I'd think we'd have at least a couple real players on the forum somewhere though.

TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Jun 28, 2011

Super Fly
Apr 9, 2009

Delivered fresh since 1991!
This thread is so awesome.

People have already given alot of my suggestions, BUT if I'm not mistaken, nobody mentioned the jug. Jugs were used in Jug Bands, which is a style of the Blues that was usually found by rivers.

From Wikipedia:
"The eponymous jug sound is made by taking a jug (usually made of glass or stoneware) and buzzing the lips into its mouth from about an inch away. As with brass instruments, changes in pitch are controlled by altering lip tension, and an accomplished jug player could have a two octave range. The stovepipe (usually a section of tin pipe, 3" or 4" in diameter) is played in much the same manner, with the pipe rather than the jug being the resonating chamber. There is some similarity to the didgeridoo, but there is no contact between the stovepipe and the player's lips. Some jug and stovepipe players utilize throat vocalization along with lip buzzing, as with the didgeridoo.
The swooping sounds of the jug fill a musical role halfway between the trombone and sousaphone or tuba in Dixieland bands, playing mid- and lower-range harmonies in rhythm."



(this here is my jug)



Here's an example of a jug in action..basically it sounds like a tuba when you play it right.


a video of a jug band in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwo6HVTacYs

NOTE: If you're a brass player of any kind, you'll pick this up pretty quick. But for me, this is not a particularly easy instrument..I'm still trying to get the hang of it. Alot of fun though.

Ziggy Smalls
May 24, 2008

If pain's what you
want in a man,
Pain I can do
Thanks to this thread I just bought a tin whistle. It's a blue Clarke Sweetone in D and a book with Irish songs. I'm really excited.

Xenpo
Feb 20, 2009
Just thought I would also chip in and say I was picking up a Mountain Ocarina. Thanks everyone!

WAFFLEHOUND
Apr 26, 2007
Get the ocarina I posted guys, jeeze. :(

I saw a dude on the street jammin with a hang the other day. I'd kill for one of those. :(

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres
Glad to hear folks checking in; no surprise that the tinwhistle and ocarina are doing so well, given the overall ease of learning, durability, and great affordability.

Seriously, even if you're getting another instrument anyway, go ahead and get a tinwhistle too. They cost less than an appetiser at Bennigan's dammit, and can last you for decades. My uncle bought me one back in late 1980s when I was 7 or so. It sat in my toybox, then junk drawer, for years, until I picked it up as a teenager and suddenly figured out how to play it. So even if you don't have an immediate need, get one and keep it around.

WAFFLEHOUND posted:

I saw a dude on the street jammin with a hang the other day. I'd kill for one of those. :(



They are pretty awesome, though pricey at $1000+. Are you going to break down and buy a steel drum in the meantime?

EDIT: There appears to be a competing product called the HAPI drum ($345 and up), but I just found out about it now. Anyone want to dig into the reputation of these and report back? EDIT2: Also there's an Argentine instrument called a Garrahand, runs £349 in the UK.

I suppose it was inevitable that the success of the Hang would inspire similar designs. Overall I'd say that's a good thing though, as Hangs are pricey and long-waitlisted, and these other variants are pretty cool in distinct ways. Offhand, I think I might actually like the Hapi most, and it's also the cheapest.

Hang Clips:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLl2eBGZlF0&feature=related Dutch busker playing Hang
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xxnFqdBCE&feature=related Pretty awesome Hang duet
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRGqSHZLqlw Here's that HAPI drum one-off; it actually sounds pretty solid. These may be worth looking into.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxrQDZprAYs ...and yet another, the Argentine Garrahand


UPDATE: because I'm just that serious about getting goons to play music, I bought us a banner ad:




EDIT: @ Super Fly, any advice on where to actually get a good jug? Can you just use an old jug emptied of Gallo wine, any old jug at all? Or do you have to mosey on down to Pottery Barn and get a stoneware jug, or what?

TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Jun 29, 2011

Pixelante
Mar 16, 2006

You people will by God act like a team, or at least like people who know each other, or I'll incinerate the bunch of you here and now.
I don't have much to contribute, but I'm really enjoying this thread. Keep the weird instruments coming. I think I may pick something as a gift for my 13-year-old godson, who is turning out to be quite musically talented.

Mradyfist
Sep 3, 2007

People that can eat people are the luckiest people in the world

Super Fly posted:

Jugs

To go along with that jug, you could make yourself a washtub bass. I can't tell people all that much about them myself, but I do remember playing one my dad had built a long time ago and really liking the sound of it.

Rotten Punk
Nov 11, 2009

Where the hell can I get a decently priced hurdy gurdy? Like, do they make chinese knockoff hurdy gurdies like they do for guitars and violins? I'd love to have one but I don't have a spare several thousand dollars lying around.

TapTheForwardAssist
Apr 9, 2007

Pretty Little Lyres

quote:

I don't have much to contribute, but I'm really enjoying this thread. Keep the weird instruments coming. I think I may pick something as a gift for my 13-year-old godson, who is turning out to be quite musically talented.


Heck, have the kid drop by and check out the thread. I think it's been reasonably PG-13. And we do have yet more instruments on the way, some more goons dropping in from other subforums, etc.


Rotten Punk posted:

Where the hell can I get a decently priced hurdy gurdy? Like, do they make chinese knockoff hurdy gurdies like they do for guitars and violins? I'd love to have one but I don't have a spare several thousand dollars lying around.

Generally speaking, you can only go so cheap on a 'gurdy. They have a variety of very precisely-aligned parts that take time and skill. I built one back when I was a teenager, but even after re-truing the wheel several times it was still just enough misaligned or out-of-round that it gave this notable pitch skew as it rotated.

There are a couple kits, and the aforementioned Susatto symphony (medieval box 'gurdy) mentioned earlier in the thread. And I think there might still be a few individual makers making the symphony in the $600-800 range. Given though the importance of getting one that works right, I would definitely check in with the Hurdy-Gurdy Mailing List. If you read their archives, I'm sure "how do I get a cheap one?" must come up all the time, but I would positively read up on the subject before trying to decide.

In the meantime, if you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to the hurdy gurdy, I would strongly suggest trying out an Appalachian dulcimer. We can find you one used under $100, and its an instrument built around the same drone concept as the 'gurdy:

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYCSLxa346o&feature=related

If you want to try a dulcimer, post or PM me and we can check out which are the best deals on eBay. Buying there takes a bit of knowledge, but if you know dulcimers you can get awfully solid deals.

Mr.Trifecta
Mar 2, 2007

So what is an extremely easy to use but weird musical instrument for those who are not musically inclined at all? I tried the ukulele with no success. I would love to learn an instrument, but it seems so far out especially seeing I can't get past hard on games that don't require any musical talents like Rock Band.

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



Rock Band has minimal relationship to musical competence. People who are excellent musicians can often be terrible at it.

It's really in your head though ; you just need to find something simple and learn to enjoy practicing. It took me three tries to find an instrument that clicked for me where I really enjoyed just playing the same simple tunes over and over and over so I get could get the basics down.

Uke was actually a pretty good starter because it can do basic rhythm and chords for pop and rock quite easily, while having a relatively low initial investment.

As others have said, penny-whistle and ocarina are similar, but are melody instruments.

Do you sing? If so, I'd pick up something that can do basic chords, like your uke.

If not, a basic melody instrument is probably a good bet, like the above whistles and ocarina.

(And mandolins do both. Play the mandolin ; mandolins are cool.*)





*I'm not biased and all, no sir.**

**No content. I just like nesting foot-notes.

I like turtles
Aug 6, 2009

I like the sound of the dulcimer, and it feels like it would be a much cheaper/quality ratio option than the slide/dobro guitar I was talking to you about a couple months ago.
I poked around and there are some cool slide dulcimer videos out there.

Rotten Punk
Nov 11, 2009

While I look at more instruments I can't afford and won't learn to play even if I buy (violin, harmonicas, trumpet, bongos, djembe, clarinet, I have a loving orchestra in my closet.) I figured I would just leave this here.

http://www.electrickazoo.com/

rope kid
Feb 3, 2001

Warte nur! Balde
Ruhest du auch.

Does anyone know how the "guitar-style" dulcimers compare to the normal lap mountain/Appalachian dulcimer? I'm talking about these guys:

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Mr.Trifecta
Mar 2, 2007

Xiahou Dun posted:

Rock Band has minimal relationship to musical competence. People who are excellent musicians can often be terrible at it.

It's really in your head though ; you just need to find something simple and learn to enjoy practicing. It took me three tries to find an instrument that clicked for me where I really enjoyed just playing the same simple tunes over and over and over so I get could get the basics down.

Uke was actually a pretty good starter because it can do basic rhythm and chords for pop and rock quite easily, while having a relatively low initial investment.

As others have said, penny-whistle and ocarina are similar, but are melody instruments.

Do you sing? If so, I'd pick up something that can do basic chords, like your uke.

If not, a basic melody instrument is probably a good bet, like the above whistles and ocarina.

(And mandolins do both. Play the mandolin ; mandolins are cool.*)





*I'm not biased and all, no sir.**

**No content. I just like nesting foot-notes.

With the Uke, I have found that I am not good at all with stronged instruments. I think their is just too much going on by strumming and pressing down on the neck at the same time and it feels a bit overwhelming. I can sing, but not well. I am leaning towards a basic melody instrument. Are their any others besides the whistles and the ocarina?

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



That's normal, dude. Pretty much all instruments make you do stuff like that. After you get over the initial 'AAAAH!' it's fine.

Like, the ocarina and the penny-whistle make you breath correctly while fingering, so you're going to have the same problem of doing two things at once for every instrument I can think of.

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tuckfard
Dec 9, 2003

Just chillin

The Cleaner posted:

I taught myself circular breathing on the Didgeridoo if anyone has any questions on that. I'm not a pro but just learned it quick and it's really not hard as some make it out to be.

This is back from page one but I didn't see you go into any detail about it. I've always wanted to learn circular breathing but I don't know where to start.

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