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Pieuvre posted:Yo guys, lovin' this thread. This goes out to you and TheShineNSB both, as well as anyone else who used to play flute. Given the advantage you have in embrochure experience, I suggest you consider a fife. Basically a small, keyless flute. I kind of covered fifes and "band flutes" with the Irish flute section a page or two back, so same point holds. One of the good things on fifes and small flutes is that there's a variety of inexpensive makes out there. There are various small fifes, simple flutes, bamboo/cane flutes, etc. Most notably, for those of y'all trying to save money, there are a good number of fifes and small flutes under $20. One item that's gotten generally good reviews are the small fifes made by Yamaha and by Angel (formerly Aulos), which are like $7. Those two brands use a somewhat different fingering system from the Irish-type instruments, but that's an easy adaptation instrument to instrument. Word on the street is that Angel is a little better in some ways, also comes in more colours.  $7 is kind of a no-risk option, and there are a variety of other inexpensive fifes on eBay. If you see any you like, or on any other site, I'd start a thread about "Fife for former silver flute player?" on this forum: Chiff & Fipple - Flute Forum. Helpful guys, should be able to hook you up, give advice on various flute and small fife options, etc. You can, of course, just play fife in any context where you'd play tinwhistle or whatever, jam with a guitarist, etc. If you're looking for something a bit more oraganised, but not back into highschool-type band, there's always fife and drum groups around the country:  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYcx4WLHYew&feature=related A chick playing an Irish slide on her Yamaha fife That's one American fife tradition, but there's a different one which is extremely awesome and not widely known, still barely holding on in black communities in the rural South: fife and drum blues   Clips: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUjxGra9uBw Awesome gig in the Mississippi hills. Note how much it sounds like the music from the initial marching-out scene from Gangs of New York. Probably no coincidence, since those folks brought some ethnomusicological expertise in. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9WyfCGghE4&feature=related Otha Turner, the gent pictured above - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6mRdPP6wRo Archival footage from Mississippi and Jamaica Awesome tradition, and shows sides of both flutes and of African American music not normally seen. In any case, both y'all, and others, should skip a meal and buy a $7 fife just to give it a shot. EDIT: for any flautists, here's a Ralph Sweet fife in G going for less than half what they cost new (6 days left): http://cgi.ebay.com/Rosewood-Sweetheart-fife-flute-key-G-/260811987637?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb99b1ab5. Also some British flute, which is selling for nothing, but then $15 shipping from the UK: http://cgi.ebay.com/Single-Key-Rosewood-Marching-Flute-Fife-/220807531137?pt=UK_Woodwind_Instruments&hash=item3369278a81 EDIT2: also a Graham Moore plastic Irish D flute going for $30 on C&F; someone here should get this: http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=82722 TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Jul 3, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 02:54
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I got my toy accordion today as a graduation present.  Can anybody recommend a decent site for basic tabs? I'm finding things here and there, but no big collections.
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Jul 3, 2011 03:56
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Argali posted:What about the bermimbau? I've always been interested in it ever since I heard it used on Sepultura's Roots. I can field this one. I'm a capoeirista, and as part of playing you learn the berimbau. For capoeira, the berimbaus are part of a bateria, which is a line of all the instruments accompanying the game. Other instruments in the bateria include the atabaque, which is a djembe-like drum, the agogo, which is a cowbell, the reco-reco, which is a resonator with notches along the top that are scraped to make a ratcheting sound, and the pandeiro, which is a tambourine. For the berimbaus, there are typically three voices. The gunga, which is the lowest, plays the basic toque for any given song. Next up is the medio, which is the middle voice. It plays a standard toque and then a variation on it. The highest voice is the viola, which improvs and plays solos over the notes laid down by the other two. One way to think of them is like the bass, rhythm, and lead guitars in a band. Bass lays down the time, the rhythm plays variations with the beat, and lead does his thing. Playing the berimbau well can be pretty tricky for an instrument that produces only three notes. The three tones are an open tone, played with nothing touching the wire. The closed tone is played with the vintem pressed against the arame and struck below the vintem. The other tone is a buzz tone, which has the vintem or dobrao pressed lightly against the arame so that it vibrates against it, rasping. Where one holds the berimbau in relation to the torso also affects the sound due to the resonation from the cabeca (the gourd). You can get some really neat whoomping sound effects from good positioning. This is the iuna toque. Here is samba de roda (note that he's playing it slowly, as that is an instructional video) ^^^^^^ Grape Juice Vampire posted:I got my toy accordion today as a graduation present. Sneaksie Taffer fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jul 3, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 04:13
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Ordered myself a mountain dulcimer.  Gonna spraypaint it electric, eye-bleeding lime green and black. It shall assault many senses, not merely the ears.
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Jul 3, 2011 06:24
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Lacerta posted:Ordered myself a mountain dulcimer. The first time I did a cardboard dulcimer, I laid down a base of blue spraypaint, then took it out in the backyard and scattered it over with dead leaves, and then sprayed on silver. So I ended up with blue/silver leaf camouflage. There are a bunch of things you can do, clearly, including stencils and whatever else, so have fun with it. I would generally advise to do the painting prior to gluing on the fretboard, just to avoid cluttering up the area where you're actually be fingering, quote:I got my toy accordion today as a graduation present. In tuning and in structure, your box is essentally a Cajun accordion, but missing the two lowest notes and the one highest notes. I'd start up watching some YouTube videos for Cajun accordion. This one looks quite informative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGReLvJIncg  Here's what one gets for 100x the price of the toy accordion, a Marc Savoy. As a totally minor sidenote, if you've seen the film "Southern Comfort", Savoy cameo'ed as the accordion player at the dance party. Just for reference, is your toy accordion a seven key, in which the scale starts by pushing on the top button, then pulling, 2 button push/pull, 3 button push/pull, 4 button pull then push? There are some instruments in that series where the scale starts on the 3 button, and there are like two low base keys that aren't a continuous scale on 1 and 2 buttons. It'd help if you let us know how your scale is laid out. If what you have is other than a 7-button (7 buttons in a row on the right side), let us know and that'll change our advice. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Jul 3, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 06:47
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I've thought it over, and I've decided that while I definitely want a kantele at some point, it's just a little more than I want to spend right now. In the meantime, I placed an order for a tinwhistle. I didn't think I'd want one until I read about its association with Irish music and the like; I really love that stuff.
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Jul 3, 2011 06:57
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It is indeed a seven button accordion. @Sneaksie: Thanks a lot  I'm looking specifically for the music for Simon and Garfunkel's "Cecilia", if anybody has a clue as to where to find it or how I can convert regular sheet music to accordion tabs. Edit: I am absolutely musictarded, so if I'm getting ahead of myself please tell me.
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Jul 3, 2011 16:16
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Jabarto posted:I've thought it over, and I've decided that while I definitely want a kantele at some point, it's just a little more than I want to spend right now. In the meantime, I placed an order for a tinwhistle. I didn't think I'd want one until I read about its association with Irish music and the like; I really love that stuff.  No worries, no hurries. You have a target to save up for, and in the meantime you have a tinwhistle to work on, so you're in good shape. If you're interested in Scandinavian music overall, this could be a good time to start learning Finnish (and other) Scandinavian tunes on tinwhistle. Mainly, I'd go ask about it on Chiff & Fipple forum, to get a feel for where you can find some easy Scandi tunes to start on. Not too many Finnish clips of tinwhistle on YouTube: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-h8SoyT2fQ A duet of Metsäkukkia (Forest Flower Waltz) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o0T57ePUsQ Swedish polska played with a drone (by taping two tinwhistles together) So far as the kantele, like with some others above I suggest you get a jam jar or whatnot and start dropping all your loose change into it at the end of the day. If you have some spare singles from time to time, drop those in too if you can spare them. You may be pleasantly surprised as to how fast you get to $135 and can get a kantele. I would contact the maker well in advance though to find out if he has a waitlist, as it'd suck to save for two months, order, and find out you're waiting another month for delivery. Even at $2 a day you'd be set by September, so just save up and don't dip into your jar to grab a beer. We haven't really covered keyboard much (aside from piano accordion), so I wanted to hit that up. Most keyboards either aren't "weird" (being piano variants), are electronic (which I don't know well, but whoever else jump in), or are expensive (clavichords, which are awesome). There is one decently affordable and interesting keyboard choice: Harmonium  To make yet another long story short. Around the early 1800s, Whitey finally stole another idea from the Chinese and adopted the "free reed"; that is, instruments where you choose a note by directing air up one passage or another to vibrate a reed set to a fixed note: harmonicas, accordions, reed-organs, etc. Around this time, a bunch of folks were heading off to convert the swarthy heathen, and the new existence of reed organs (vice the enormous old pipe organs) made it possible to make tiny little keyboards to truck around with them. So a bunch of small suitcase-sized reed-organs, called "harmonium", ended up being taken to India. The Indian reaction was basically: "I'm not so thrilled with your whole baptism thing, but I do like your little music box." Thus was the harmonium stolen back from Whitey. Indian harmonium can't play all the complex scales of Indian solo work, so it's primarly used to back up singing, largely in Northern India and in Pakistan. The version of the instrument they adopted was the smallest type, where it's hand-pumped since pedals take up too much room. This would be a disadvantage to Westerners, since a whole hand is tied up in pumping, but since Indian accompaniment really only needs one hand, and a small box sits well on the floor, it coincidentally worked out. You can see in tons of YouTube footage how the harmonium is placed on the deck, pumped with one hand, and provides backing tracks.  Clips: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUbAZbJDJOo Okay, generally an accompaniment instrument. Here's a blazing solo backed by tabla - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=428tWaiQ53Q&feature=related Western girl playing kirtan (Hindu prayer music) backed up by herself on harmonium - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uChPFsb6wdM Sufi Muslim qawali (prayer music) backed by harmonium and tabla - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNoTEgQKE6c Cool clip of random Euro dude playing a didj and jamming on harmonium simultaneously - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kryu8Kyr2U4 Huh. Apparently, Iron Maiden cover on harmonium - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afAAltAmIzA Poet Alan Ginsberg often accompanied himself on a small harmonium he picked up in India; very minimal backup, but it adds a lot to his songs and recitations.  So far as buying one. Again, there are a ton of cheapies on eBay from $100-$200 shipped. Again, I would read up in advance; aside from general cheapness, a lot of Indian harmoniums are still made to older musical standards, so not necessarily A=440 pitched or equal temperament. Those things aren't necessarily bad at all, but it makes them hard to use with some modern fixed-pitch instruments. A=440 and equal temparament were only really decided on in the mid-1900s, and honestly kind of arbitrary, but that's what modern-make instruments are set to. In any case, you can take some risk on a cheapie (though ideally figure out who makes actual good cheapies), so long as you're mainly planning to play solo, or with instruments (like strings) that can be slightly re-tuned. If, however, you want something A=440 and ET, and overall with good quality control, you're looking around $400-500 for a good basic box. I would read up on forums like Chandrakantha (or whatever your preferred Indian forum is), though surprisingly the music gear-geeks site Gearslutz has some really informative threads on harmonium. A few reputable sellers gleaned from the above (and other experiences) include: - DMS Harmoniums, very reputable store in Deli, very experienced with worldwide customers. - The Ali Akbar College of Music school store in California So far as learning, it totally depends on what style of harmonium music you want to play. There are tons of YouTube tutorials, so if you're keen on this, go watch as many as you can, get a feel for the instrument. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Jul 6, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 16:21
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Grape Juice Vampire posted:It is indeed a seven button accordion. Not at all. Cecilia is a basic three-chord song, so pretty easy to back yourself up with three chords and then sing the melody. Not to over-dumb it down, but two extremes of "how to play a song" in your case would be to either play the melody (that is, note for note what Simon is singing), or else to play the chords (the accompaniment that the guitar is doing) and then sing/hum/whistle the song over your own backing. Here are the chords to Cecilia: http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/www.willamette.edu/~jbanks/tab/sg/cecilia.pro . For you and everyone else, for almost any remotely popular song out there the search for its name and the word "chords" will find something like this. Okay, so you need a C, an F, and a G7 (or just a G). Not going to try to make you figure out the chords on your own (and I really should just write a chord chart for these things for all the noobs), but here's a good cheat-sheet with at least what the notes are: http://barrystaes.nl/melodeon/20090201%20Cheatsheet%20Mini-toy-Accordion.pdf  Okay, so a C, an F, and a G. The Cmaj chord is C, E, G, that's easy: Push 1-2-3. That is, make sure you have air in the bellows, hold down keys 1, 2, and 3 (counting from the top), and push. Bingo. Now an F chord, which is F, A, C. The problem is that the Cs are only on push, F and A only on draw, so we can fake it by doing: Pull 2-3. Next, G7 chord: a G7 is GBDF, a straight G is GBD. Looking at the chart, Push 3-6-7 gets us two Gs and a B, so that'll work. Alternately, a Pull 1-4-5 gets us some Bs and Ds. If you want to get the 7 in there, a Pull 4-5-6 gets us a rootless 7th chord. If the above is confusing you, basically ignore everything but the bolded parts: C: Push while holding 1-2-3 together. F: Pull on 2-3 G7: Pull 4-5-6, or 1-4-5, or Push 3-6-7. Try all three within the song and see which fits best. So, turning to the song (putting chords in parentheses since SA doesn't line up multiple lines well): (C) Cecilia, you're (F) breaking my (C) heart, Do this very slowly as a noob. Make sure you have about half your bellows filled with air. Again, as noted earlier in the thread, always have a button held down when moving the bellows; if you want to do so silently, use the air button. Don't force the bellows with the system sealed off, no buttons pushed, or you'll cause leaks. Now form the C (fingers on 1-2-3) and push in while singing (or speaking, or humming, or whatever) the first two words. Then pause, move your fingers to 2-3, and pull while singing "breaking my". Then switch back to C for "heart". Just do that throughout the song, and you'll be backing yourself on Celia in no time. Just take it nice and slow, don't try to do much with rhythm, don't worry if it takes you 30sec to switch chords. Just make the chords, hear how they sound as they change, and keep working that song. Does the above make sense? Give it a shot, let us know how hard/easy you find it as a noob. 
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Jul 3, 2011 16:46
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This is so exciting. I get your instructions, but how so I go about playing a string of notes that are all push or pull? I was looking at the Row Your Bowt PDF and I found that I was running out of air by the time I got to the third note. Am I just pushing/pulling too far? Edit: Or is it just a matter of pulling it out with the air button between notes? Grape Juice Vampire fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jul 3, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 22:19
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Oh, if you happen to have an iPad, TradLessons has iPad simulators for various concertinas, button accordion, as well as various bagpipes. Here's their 2-row squeezebox: http://www.tradlessons.com/Accordion.html OH MY GOD I'm getting this as soon as I get home tonight! I love accordions, with a particular love of conjunto & norteņo music as well as Cajun & zydeco. This looks like it's a good starter for a lark. Thanks!
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Jul 3, 2011 22:45
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Thought I'd share some pics of my little teardrop backpacking mountain dulcimer, made in 1986 by Folk Roots (Rugg & Jackel) before they sold off the company, which then became FolkCraft. Folk Roots also made higher-end dulcimers but mine was the simple 'backpacker' model:  The soundboard and back are both nice hunks of Flame Spruce. This was my beat-around instrument for many years, it got hauled to more folk festivals, vacations, hikes, and Renaissance Faires than I care to remember. It has held up well, the only thing I've ever done to it is to add a strap button on the tailpiece...and since it lacked a 6 1/2 fret, a chunk of paper clip held in place by a strip of masking tape--which inexplicabley stayed in place and worked just fine for more than 20 years. v  v I think I'll treat it to having a REAL 6 1/2 fret installed soon.If anyone else has one of these or is interested in the history of Folk Roots, Howard Rugg (one of the founding partners) posted in a thread over on Everything Dulcimer--he has the original book in which he noted the build details of every single instrument they made, and is helping people find out when their instrument was made, what number it was that day, materials it is made of, etc. Very cool! http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=8635 For instance mine was made on April 17, 1986 and was the 5th one made that day. This thread inspired me to break it out and clean & re-string it, it still sounds great. It has a nice, bright, sweet tone...not as loud, mellow and rich as my Blue Lion was, but very good considering it's modest orgins. You don't need to know how to read music in order to play mountain dulcimer (or banjo, for that matter)--the music is written out in tabulature format. Lots of tabbed stuff on the web. Music that is written in tab simply tells you which fret and string to place your finger on--super simple. You can also change the tuning on your strings from D-A-D which is Mixolydian, to Aeolian mode tuning (C-A-D), Dorian (G-A-D) or Ionian (D-A-A). Mountain dulcimer is one of the easiest instruments to learn and play, Hell, you don't even need tab, you can just play by ear. Speaking of button accordians, I have two Hohners out in the garage awaiting restoration if possible. I got them at a yard sale years ago, both were damaged in a fire but amazingly, still play.  I'd place them as being made around 1930 or so. No pictures right now as they are packed away.
Velvet Sparrow fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jul 4, 2011 |
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Jul 3, 2011 23:03
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Grape Juice Vampire posted:This is so exciting. Yep, pull with the air button between notes if you're running out of air in a given direction. On the Toy, you're facing two contributing issues so far as air: you have tiny bellows, and, making the problem literally doubly worse, you have doubled reeds. Doubled reeds aren't bad per se, in fact the standard Cajun box has four reeds per note. However, the Cajun has much bigger bellows, the whole system is set up nice and tight, and it also has those four knobs up-top ("stops") that can turn on or off reeds depending how you're playing.  You can't do much about the bellows, but if you want to get more air in your box, what you can do is tape off one of each of the doubled reeds. That'll bring you down to one reed per note, and thus twice as much air. I picked up a toy accordion at a toyshop today, mainly to work up some chord chart and tabs, and also to practice some tweaking. I did recall while shopping that the solid-colour ones tend to be mostly plastic, while the ones with pearlized finishes (swirly) tend to be cheap wood with plastic coating. I prefer the latter, so if given a choice I'd suggest finding a pearly one. Mine is decently in tune, but draws too much air, and there's something wrong with one seal on the left side, so I'm getting a constant same chord in both directions. My goal in the next week or so is to film me taking the box apart and tweaking it, and put it up on YouTube as a tutorial. Did you get any chance to see if you can get the chords to Cecilia to make sense for you? quote:Speaking of button accordians, I have two out in the garage awaiting restoration if possible. I got them at a yard sale years ago, both were damaged in a fire but amazingly, still play. I'd place them as being made around 1930 or so. No pictures right now as they are packed away. That could certainly be interesting. I've talked to some accordion repairers who refuse to work on the old stuff because it's less standardised, more labour-intensive, not cost-effective, etc. On the bright side, that means old ones are cheap if you're willing to futz with repairing them just as a hobby. I wouldn't recommend it as a "great way to save money", but more a "I like tinkering with stuff and it'd be nice to have an accordion at the end." I bought one Hohner one-row from 1920 or so on eBay for $50; turns out it was in Bb (or a C that had uniformly gone flat everywhere). It didn't work much at all, and rattled horribly... but happily the rattle was caused by many of its reeds having come loose inside its guts, so not a difficult manner of picking them all up and securing them back in. Another forum guy bought it from me to fix up; I should write him and ask how it turned out. Very cute 2-stop 1-row, very compact and light.
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Jul 4, 2011 02:02
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They did make sense. Thank you for spelling it out for me, I really appreciate it. I've been playing with my accordion for a few hours now, and I found some really awesome websites for simplified sheet music. One is tabs4toyaccordion.wordpress.com , which is pretty much just as the name says. Not a huge selection, but it did help me pick up a few songs really quickly. It also directed me to Harptabs.com , which is a gigantic selection of harmonica music. When using diatonic tabs, subtract three from every number and bam, accordion tabs. I have to thank you so, so much for inspiring me to pick up one of these things. I'm having an awesome time learning to play it. Once I have the money i think I'm going to look into having it tuned up professionally like you suggested. Thanks so much for all your help, man. Redirecting my friend who wants to play the ocarina to this thread.
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Jul 4, 2011 02:45
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Grape Juice Vampire posted:They did make sense. Thank you for spelling it out for me, I really appreciate it. Glad you found a good site; that should be helpful to several other folks. Also note that any instructional info you find for Cajun accordion online will largely apply to your box (though you're missing two low buttons and one high). Again note that you can play one note at a time melodies, chord accompaniment, or something in the middle where you're doing a melody while harmonising. The last being quite easy on diatonic accordions because all the harmonising notes are in the same area. I'll work at getting that tweaking tutorial up in a week or two; don't be afraid to try tweaking it; so long as you don't damage the reeds, there's not really much that you can screw up. Feel free to just pull out the four little pins holding it together, look inside and see how primitive it is. If you do upgrade down the way, you can do the reed upgrade to your current box (though I would definitely do the reeds in the coated-wood box vice a pure plastic one for (relatively) long-term durability. Alternately, some of the Hohner 2-stop models go for as little as $225 in decent playing shape, some 2-row models like the Hohner Erica go for $325ish as well, particularly if they're in CF or GC vice the DG that's more popular for Irish and English. Just depends whether you end up really attached to the little box, or want something with more power though (reasonable) added cost.  EDIT: Hohner Erica 2-row F/C going for $100ish on eBay with one day left: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Hohner-Erica-accordion-Made-Germany-NO-RES-/220806283009?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3369147f01 . No guarantees it's perfect, but these are pretty quality boxes, and pretty standardised and thus repairable if needed, and can likely be jury-rigged to run smoother until you can get it pro-repaired later.  EDIT2: for anyone interested, I added a Table of Contents to the OP TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Jul 4, 2011 |
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Jul 4, 2011 03:30
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I just scored a pretty awesome old piano accordion off some guy on craigslist today for a lot less money than it probably should have been. All the reeds work and sound in tune to me and the bellows hold air. This thing is a blast and my neighbors are going to hate it. Now I am sorely tempted to get one of those little toy button-boxes for irish music. I have also played a keyless plastic M&E irish flute for quite a while now. I like it better than nearly all of the wooden ones I have played, and the wooden ones that did like better were all ones that I couldn't afford anyway. A plastic flute is great because it requires no maintenance and I will second the recommendation for the Irish Flute Store; he sells a lot of new instruments pretty much at cost (just for the pleasure of helping people get instruments that they like, as far as I can tell) and when he does make money it goes towards an orphanage in Haiti that he supports. withak fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Jul 4, 2011 |
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Jul 4, 2011 05:05
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Also on the subject of recommendations, I recently got a Mellow Dog tinwhistle in C from Jerry Freeman and it is fantastic. My girlfriend got me a non-tunable Shaw one a while back so that I could play D-minor tunes along with her harp and the difference between that one and this one is like night and day (also being able to play in tune is nice). I got the set where you get a D body and a C body with a mouthpiece that fits both, but I think I actually prefer my old $7 Generation D over this new one. The Freeman D sounds very good; I just like the sound of the unmodified Generation better.
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Jul 4, 2011 05:17
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withak posted:I just scored a pretty awesome old piano accordion off some guy on craigslist today for a lot less money than it probably should have been. Mama mia! That is a huge piano accordion. That is why I stick to buttonboxes. quote:Now I am sorely tempted to get one of those little toy button-boxes for irish music. Do note that all the toy ones are in C(ish), while you really need a D for Irish. Couple options: you can sent it to Irish Dancemaster to be converted to good quality European reeds in the key and arrangement of your choice for $100. Or, if you're handy (and I know you are) you can see if ID will just sell you the reeds and you can go rig them in yourself. Alternately, you could take out all your current reeds and shift everything down one notch so that D is your base note. That'd leave you one note short at the top, unless you take one of the reeds and tune it sharp to hit your new highest note. While you're hacking I would also convert it to single-reed (install half the reeds, and block off where the doubleds were) to save air and focus tone. Also, note above that you want to hunt down one with a pearlised finish. It used to be 90% of the eBay ones were pearlised, but now they're mostly solid-colour plastic, so you might need to check various online stores. I think the "Barcelona" and "Child Prodigy" brands are pearlised, though I'd contact the sellers to make sure those brands hadn't cheaped out too. quote:I have also played a keyless plastic M&E irish flute for quite a while now. I like it better than nearly all of the wooden ones I have played, and the wooden ones that did like better were all ones that I couldn't afford anyway. A plastic flute is great because it requires no maintenance and Glad we finally get an IF player up in here. I think it's a great instrument, and one that wouldn't occur to a lot of goons even if they like Irish music. It's pricier than a tinwhistle, but has a lot of flexibility of expression. Dammit, your post has revived my old vague interest in learning IF. I keep avoiding it, even though I already know all the fingerings, since I don't know embrochure, though I suppose it couldn't take me that long to learn. Speaking of simplicity and embrochure: Shakuhachi  The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown bamboo flute. It's traditionally made from the root, so very dense and heavy, and a sharp notch cut into the top onto which you blow. It only has four fingerholes and one thumbhole, in a pentatonic scale surprisingly similar to the Native American flute (though since the modern NAF is a modern congolmeration, totally possible shakuhachi influenced it). That may sound limiting, but with changes in air angle, partial-holing of the fingers, etc. a huge array of tones become available. The shakuhachi came from China around 600AD in a simpler form, and evolved in isolation in Japan. It was particularly associated with the Fuke-school Zen Buddhist monks, the komusō ("priests of nothingness"). They played the instrument as a form of meditation while wandering and begging, and are often depicted wearing baskets on their heads, done to "remove the ego".  There's a bunch of stuff further about the monks, and samurai, and shakuhachi and whatnot, but I can't tell how much of it is true history and how much breathelss otaku sperging. There's some stuff about how samurai would disguise themselves as Fuke monks to spy, and became monks after samurai orders were broken up so they could keep wandering around under a religious exemption. And even odder stuff about samurai-monks using the shakuhachi as a weapon, since it's a huge chunk of bamboo root yet not suspicious to carry around. But in any case, instrument got banned during the Meiji restoration, which put a break in its monastic tradition during which much was lost, but has since revived in both religious and secular music.  Minor aside: I fondly recall the folk novelty song about merging Baptist and Buddhist culture: clip Zen Gospel Singing If you want a shakuhachi, there are a few ways to go about it. Proper shakuhachi are surprisingly pricey since it takes a while to find the exact right kind of bamboo root, carve it right, and then the real labour comes in coating the inside with ji, a kind of paste/epoxy, to shape the bore to get the perfect tone. So around $400+ for a good traditional shakuhachi. That said, there is one very reputable make of cast-ABS shakuhachi that goes for $155 and is a noob recommendation in most discussions. There are also the more affordable ji-nashi ("without ji") which are pasteless shakuhachi where the inside isn't mucked with. As I understand it, to do really complicated high-skill stuff the paste makes a difference, but on the noob level not so much. I have two ji-nashi I got off eBay; I'd recommend the seller, but I don't see any of his stuff there this week. Ji-nashi go as low as $30-70, and there are also PVC shakuhachis for like $12, though I haven't read up on the opinion on those, who makes good ones, etc. You often see decimal numbers in shakuhachi listings, "1.9", etc.; they're measured in shaku, which is just about a foot long. 1.8 shaku are key of D, and that appears to be the most common size. If you have small hands, you should ask about the reach on 1.8 and see if your fingers can reach that far on a broomstick or something. I have a Bb which I think is 2.4, and it's a stretch for me, though not quite as bad as a Low D tinwhistle. I always like to recommend forums for anyone with an interest, as we assembled goons only know so much, and I strongly advise that folks read up and ask questions of experts as they move into a new hobby. It takes five drat minutes to register for a new forum and ask a noob question, or run an archives search, so rock it. In any case, the main current shakuhachi forum appears to be ShakuhachiForum.eu, though it's new and recommends the now-defunct ShakuhachiForum.com for archives searches. Apparently there is some massive drat drama in the English-speaking shakuhachi community, so these forums don't just die or move because of traffic, but due to flamewars, of all silly things for folks playing a Zen instrument. The following blog is impressively sperglordy, but the linked page gives a summary of the recent epic battles: ShakuhachiBeat.blogspot.com - Shakuhachi Forum shuttered for lack of decency . Overall, a paradoxically simple-yet-complex instrument with an impressive tradition. You can play it for meditation, learn the complexities of its various schools, or just learn basic blowing and fingering and learn your own way around it to jam with a guitarist. Embrochure instruments take a little more initial learning than fipple instruments, but the payoff is the level of tone control that such hands-on breathing brings you. 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Jul 4, 2011 |
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Jul 4, 2011 17:53
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Do note that all the toy ones are in C(ish), while you really need a D for Irish. I'm not too worried about the actual key; I doubt that I would play the thing with other people. I just want to try it. Also, my girlfriend has a shakuhachi and I don't know if it is because it is a cheap one that she picked up somewhere or if it is normal, but that thing takes some serious wind power to play. I have played regular flute for about 20 years and that shakuhachi leaves me gasping for breath. withak fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Jul 4, 2011 |
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Jul 4, 2011 18:18
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quote:I'm not too worried about the actual key; I doubt that I would play the thing with other people. I just want to try it. Give me a few days, and I'll figure out some Celtic tunes that don't have too large a range, and I'll write out some tabs. Not that you yourself need it, but for the various folks here starting out it might be nice to have a clearly-tabbed something more snazzy than nursery rhymes. Man Irish tunes aren't hard when played at a slow pace.  withak posted:Also, my girlfriend has a shakuhachi and I don't know if it is because it is a cheap one that she picked up somewhere or if it is normal, but that thing takes some serious wind power to play. I have played regular flute for about 20 years and that shakuhachi leaves me gasping for breath. Again, I am by no means an expert, but even as a non-winds (except for bagpipes and tinwhistle) person, I don't have inordinate trouble with breath on shakuhachi. Finding the right angle takes a moment or two, but I don't get lightheaded playing it. Any idea what make of cheapie she has, or is it unlabeled? My cheap jinhashi that works well has an outline of a bird (seagull?) on it, so if I can't find the maker on eBay later, I can probably track him down by logo. On a minor sidenote, it does bug me when makers don't sign/stamp/logo their instruments somewhere. I've seen some gorgeous dulcimers, clearly made by skilled luthiers that are simply untraceable since they have neither a label inside the body, no mark/initials on the back of the headstock, etc. Given google these days, it'd be quite easy to find a maker of a given instrument even with some vague sign.
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Jul 4, 2011 18:36
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It has a sticker on it but I think it is in Japanese. She might know what it says though. I don't have much trouble actually getting sounds out of it, it just takes a lot more air than anything else that I have played.
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Jul 4, 2011 18:44
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Hey, this is identical to one of the charred button accordians I have out in the garage! Cool! The other one I have is considerably older and is red/gold. Your picture with it closed I think shows the reason mine survived a fire with only some charring to the outside. Tough little beasts!Also, the Japanese priest playing the flute while wearing the basket on his head looks like he paying a bar bet. 
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Jul 4, 2011 19:50
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quote:Also, the Japanese priest playing the flute while wearing the basket on his head looks like he paying a bar bet. I imagine that's how most school of Japanese zen started out: "okay, whoever is the last to finish his skin of rice-wine has to go and tell the shogun a nonsensical story about oxen and cherry trees; ready, chug!" Velvet Sparrow posted:Hey, this is identical to one of the charred button accordians I have out in the garage! If it was exposed to heat, my main concern would be the condition of the wax holding the reeds onto their blocks, and the condition of the flapper valves. If the reeds are all present (somewhere rattling around the body, decently in tune, the bellows can be made airtight-ish, the rest seems pretty DIY-able. The model is a HA-112 (if it has 2 stops) or 113/114 if it has 3 or 4 stops (those knobs on top). Okay, I hacked my toy accordion from yesterday. Went in and repaired one internal key that had fallen off and was letting a left-hand chord sound constantly. Then I did a 10-second single-reed conversion by just putting a piece of masking tape down one side of the reedblock. It's helping already, I get a lot more air now. Still not a ton, and you have to be pretty deliberate about playing with the bellows pretty wide open to have maneuver space, but it's a lot better. I'll transcribe some more tabs for that Wordpress site later, but here's a quicky tab of the Irish tune Road to Lisdoonvarna. Here's a guy playing it on a 2-row: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl8fL5kUFhI Basic melody with no harmonising or ornaments: Road to Lisdoonvarna - note in Irish song you generally play the A part twice, then B part twice, back to A part, etc. So they're not "parts" like duet, but more like phases of the tune. A part: -1 -3 -3 3 -3 -4 4 / 2 3 3 -3 3 1 -1 2 -1 1 / -1 -3 -3 3 -3 -4 4 / -4 4 -4 -3 3 -3 -1 -1 / B part: -5 5 -6 5 -5 4 -3 -3 -4 4 / -4 3 3 -3 -4 4 -4 4 -3 / -5 5 -6 5 -5 4 -3 -3 -4 4 / -4 4 -4 -3 3 -3 -1 -1 Someone else savvy try that out and tell me if you concur, but that should be about it. EDIT: still have dozens of instruments to cover, and a few guest goons who are dragging their feet on coming in for their specialties. Does anyone have any particular requests for things they want covered sooner rather than later? TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Jul 5, 2011 |
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Jul 5, 2011 00:09
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I'm contemplating using a current recording project I'm working on to justify buying a banjo. For reference I am a guitar player. Because of this, I'm thinking of getting a 6 string guitjo, but as I was researching, people kept saying that these are never going to be able to completely emulate the 5 string banjo. I know it has something to do with that weird halfway-up-the-neck 5th string, but I can't seem to find any specifics of how close I can get the guitjo to emulate banjo sounds. So I guess what I'm asking for is specifics about the banjo and what can't the 6 string do that the 5 string can.
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Jul 5, 2011 22:38
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GrAviTy84 posted:I'm contemplating using a current recording project I'm working on to justify buying a banjo. For reference I am a guitar player. Because of this, I'm thinking of getting a 6 string guitjo, but as I was researching, people kept saying that these are never going to be able to completely emulate the 5 string banjo. I know it has something to do with that weird halfway-up-the-neck 5th string, but I can't seem to find any specifics of how close I can get the guitjo to emulate banjo sounds. So I guess what I'm asking for is specifics about the banjo and what can't the 6 string do that the 5 string can. I need to go hassle the banjo-playing goon who's supposed to drop into this thread, but I reckon I can cover this one. In terms of pure tone, sure a plucked string on a guitjo/gitjo/banjitar sounds pretty much like a plucked banjo string, but the banjo "sound" is defined by the picking styles, which aren't exactly replicable on a guitar. You can tune a guitar banjo-ish (basically an Open-G tuning, and variants thereof), but as you note the drone string (short fifth string on the left) plays a big role in the sound. Broadly, broadly speaking there are two major schools of American five-string banjo: clawhammer and bluegrass/Scruggs style. Clawhammer (related to frailing) is the older style, and the bluegrass style was invented in the mid-1900s by a guy named Scruggs. You can do apply some banjo techniques to guitar, and on banjitar it would sound similar to banjo, but to a careful listener it'd be clear that you were playing guitar (a banjo-sounding guitar) with banjo-influenced techniques, vice a banjo. Long/short, there's a reason a guitjo is generally a novelty instrument; there aren't really many (any?) serious players who specialise in guitjo, and it's generally seen as somewhat of a cheap attempt on the part of guitar players to sound banjo-ish without actually learning banjo. If I were you, I'd just break down and get an inexpensive banjo. You'll learn some really interesting technique ideas from the transition, and there are tons of affordable and used banjos out there, while for guitjos there are only a few makers, fewer decent makers, and few on the used market. You're going to get a much better bang for your buck getting an actual banjo, and can probably find a serviceable one for $100ish used. You can get a Deering Goodtime (the gold-standard noob banjo) for low-$300s used, while I'd be leery of the cheapie (Savannah, Dean, etc) banjitars in that price-range. I'll go ping that banjo goon for more data, but you get the general idea. 
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Jul 6, 2011 00:23
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GrAviTy84 posted:I'm contemplating using a current recording project I'm working on to justify buying a banjo. For reference I am a guitar player. Because of this, I'm thinking of getting a 6 string guitjo, but as I was researching, people kept saying that these are never going to be able to completely emulate the 5 string banjo. I know it has something to do with that weird halfway-up-the-neck 5th string, but I can't seem to find any specifics of how close I can get the guitjo to emulate banjo sounds. So I guess what I'm asking for is specifics about the banjo and what can't the 6 string do that the 5 string can. Sorry, actually recovering from surgery and kind of forgot my post, I have a half finished one in my notepad that I'll work on. You'll get the same sound, and depending on the make the same timbre with a 6 string'd banjo. But it will sound different if you are looking for the same feel of the song because the method of playing will be different. I think it would be completely awkward to try to incorporate all the drone high G's... or whatever it is tuned to for whatever song, into whatever you are trying to play. And it will sound different without that string because it is rarely ever used as a melody note, but it is used extremely frequently between each melody note as part of the roll, so you may be doing a crapton of left hand work. I imagine with the banjo sound you want, you are looking for the rolling scrugg's fingerstyle, which would actually be easier to emulate on a banjitar. Especially if it is a more celtic type piece which doesn't really use that 5th string at all since they are played on 4 strings. In other words, you'll get the same punchy sound from the banjo-guitar as from a banjo, but that is it. I think people will be able to tell you are playing a guitar and not a banjo. But it would be much easier to play than learninga new style. Just don't get a cheap banjo like Tap sad, cheap banjos/resonator instruments sound really cheap. Jarmotion fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Jul 6, 2011 |
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Jul 6, 2011 00:35
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quote:Especially if it is a more celtic type piece which doesn't really use that 5th string at all since they are played on 4 strings. Okay, this school I know a little bit: Celtic banjo is a whole 'nother thing. It's more like melodic mandolin playing (with a pick) than anything in American 5-string banjo. It's only "banjo" in the sense that it's played on an instrument with a membrane head, but otherwise not any closer to, and arguably further from, Scruggs banjo than guitar fingerpicking is. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNkaLGf5ziQ Two Irish reels on tenor banjo, again note flatpicking style quite unlike Old-Time or Bluegrass banjo. Jarmotion posted:Just don't get a cheap banjo like Tap sad, cheap banjos/resonator instruments sound really cheap. Meaning "don't get a Deering GT" or "don't go any cheaper than a Deering GT"? Fully admit that banjo is not my strong point, plus I'm a fringe opinion because my main/only banjo is a fretless Appalachian with nylon strings. I do desperately want another banjo though, but I want a fretless Appalachian bass banjo: EDIT: Dammit, I know exactly what I want, have seen them at festivals and played in shops: those all-wood, scooped-neck, really huge banjos with gut/nylon strings. Will go track down exactly what they're called so I can post pics/clips. EDIT2: In the meantime, here's a Jeff Menzies gourd banjo to tide y'all over. With apologies to our bluegrass brethren, primitive banjos are the best banjos. 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Jul 6, 2011 |
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Jul 6, 2011 00:53
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Get a Deering GT completely. I love mine more than my Nechville. Amazing starter banjo that will sound better the longer you have it, and it will also be your go to takeabout banjo if you drop cash on one you are too scared to take camping.
Jarmotion fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Jul 6, 2011 |
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Jul 6, 2011 01:34
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Actually, if anyone has experience, what's the take on resonator-mandolins? I wouldn't be trying to sound like a banjo, it just seems like a cool idea to have a louder, banjo-sounding mando to gently caress around on. Anyone know what the market is like on those?
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Jul 6, 2011 05:09
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Xiahou Dun posted:Actually, if anyone has experience, what's the take on resonator-mandolins?  EDIT: Lovely overview page with thumbnails for each maker: http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/builders/resonator.html Pretty straightforward, there are really only two echelons of reso-mandolins these days: - $350ish Asian imports, absolutely all of which are identical semi-copies of 1930s National mandolin. Sold under various names: Johnson, Ashbury, Recording King, Republic. All basically the same, though Republic might occasionally have some bonus features due to the Texan importer being able to get the Chinese to occasionally make some design tweaks for them. - $1000-2000 custom or semi-custom mandos from the US, UK, France, Australia, New Zealand. The main one you hear about is National, which run $1800 and are amazingly gorgeous and everyone who owns one spergs about it incessantly. Donmo from Australia gets good reviews ($1300ish plus insane shipping) with cool galvanised finishes, Beltona from New Zealand ($1500) are lightweight fibreglass, etc. The only wildcards to the above (that jump to mind) are Wailing Guitars of the UK and the US Commodium. The Wailings look cool, but the sound is apparently iffy and they weigh an absolute ton. The Commodium is pretty odd, but apparently a lot of people like them, and at $800 they may be reasonable. So far as the Red Chinee resos: opinion is mixed. Some people find them to be quite reasonable for the price, others just can't warm to the tone and sell them. I think I've tried the mandos a few times, but I've owned several of the reso ukuleles. My impression was that they have a decent gritty/dirty sound, so not really a clean reso sound, but if you want something more bluesy-grimy it might actually suit well. If you were to get one, I would read up on the tweaks folks have made to them: with $30 for a new cone, $50 for new tuners, and some judicious tweaking of the action, you might actually come up with something pretty enjoyable. As a minor sidenote, the imports are solid metal bodies. Do not drop one. Do not ask how I know this, but it does involve a girl. This is a $5 pint of Old Crow bourbon:  And this is a $300 bottle of 30yr single-malt:  And this is some weird bottle labeled in Armenian that your buddy smuggled back from a backpacking trip through Syria, where you have no idea what the hell it is but it is pretty tasty: 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 06:43 on Jul 6, 2011 |
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Jul 6, 2011 06:40
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I have inherited a 30+ year old banjo, I loving suck at it. Sigh.
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Jul 6, 2011 06:47
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^^^ Give it to me, please, please!  TapTheForwardAssist posted:Is...is this ACTUALLY made from a metal bedpan as it appears? Because that would be AWESOME. Also, future banjo players be aware: when you fret a banjo, you do not use the pads of your fingers like you do when playing guitar. You brace the pad of your thumb on the back of the neck and use the ENDS of your fingertips to fret, holding your hand in a claw-like manner, and you gotta trim your nails off damned short. Since banjos are VERY tightly strung with superkeen-o metal strings that take a hefty amount of pressure to fret, learning to play can be a painful experience at first until you develop BANJO calluses on the end of your fingers--NOT guitar calluses. Just FYI.
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Jul 6, 2011 07:41
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Hey, I dropped in on this thread after seeing the banner ad! I used to have a major passion for old/unusual instruments, 15 years or so ago before I started college. Anyway, I've never been able to settle on an instrument. I took mandolin for a couple of years during college and spent months trying to find a teacher when I moved here (Orange County, CA is not a prime site for folk music apparently) and took more lessons when I did find a guy... but I never practiced enough due to my own lack of motivation. I loved flute when I took it many years ago but stopped playing when I started apartment life due to the loudness. I dug out my two tinwhistles just now and gave them a bit of a cleaning; perhaps I'll translate some of my Irish fiddle-tune knowledge from mandolin to whistle and try the Irish flute or fife if that inspires me. Or I could just play my old flute. The neighbours can't complain if I stop at 9 p.m. I don't think I want a fancy real harp anymore, now that I could afford one... but I do wish I could dig mine out and see what I could do with it  edit: I used to read this catalog like porn: http://www.larkinam.com/
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Jul 6, 2011 08:45
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Jarmotion and TapTheForwardAssist posted:guitjo stuff Honestly, I'm not sure how much I would actually pursue banjo playing. Like I said, I'd be getting one to add some tones to some tracks on an album I'm working on. The album has a deadline, so optimistically I would like to be able to just pick it up and apply guitar techniques with a bit of practicing of banjo styles to "get the gist". The album is singer songwriter indie pop, so it doesn't need to sound immensely true to any particular sound. Outside of this particular project, I am also an avid jazz musician, and having read about the likes of Django, et al. using 6 string banjos, this sort of piqued my interest in the 6 string. That said, I think I may stick with an inexpensive 6er, and if I get bit by the banjo bug along the way, I'll buy the 5er. Thanks again for the advice.
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Jul 6, 2011 09:00
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Okay, I bought one of those 20 plastic squeeze boxes blind online (and it turns out one of the plastic ones at that, oh well), and it has a lot of problems. The two reeds on the 1 button are almost a half step out of tune with each other, one of the buttons makes no noise at all, and the chord buttons are either half functioning or non functioning. Yeah I can send it to Irish Dancemaster to get it done for real, but I want to just mess around with repairing it, because I'd rather spend the real money towards an actual button accordion in a month or so. So TTFA, any good tutorials for beginner repair?
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Jul 6, 2011 21:19
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Chin Strap posted:Okay, I bought one of those 20 plastic squeeze boxes blind online (and it turns out one of the plastic ones at that, oh well), and it has a lot of problems. The two reeds on the 1 button are almost a half step out of tune with each other, one of the buttons makes no noise at all, and the chord buttons are either half functioning or non functioning. Yeah I can send it to Irish Dancemaster to get it done for real, but I want to just mess around with repairing it, because I'd rather spend the real money towards an actual button accordion in a month or so. So TTFA, any good tutorials for beginner repair? These are definitely a crapshoot buying blind; as mentioned earlier in the thread my preferred method is to find a store with 12 of them, play them all, and choose the best one. In your case, your first priority is to crack this puppy open. There will be four round-head pins arrayed around the 7-button side: get a tool and pull them all out. The best tool for this is a small pincer, but you can use whatever works. Once you pull those four out, the whole right end will slide off the bellows. You can now see the reed arrays on both sides, and can remove them easily if need be by just unscrewing the little brackets that hold them in. If there is any chance that there might also be trouble with the key arms or pads, you can take a small screwdriver and unscrew the little screen sitting above the 7 buttons, and the floorplate on the botton down by the bass/chord. Once you take the screws out of the floorplate, you might need to take a small pointy thing and lever it up, as it fits in their kind of snug. Each button is just a spring-loaded lever which lifts up a pad to uncover a hole which leads up to a specific set of reeds. The buttons are probably okay as long as each one lifts its pad, and as long as the pad sees to come down flush covering its hole when not depressed. If you had a button/pad problem, it'd probably manifest itself as a note that won't stop. If your bass and chord aren't sounding, there are a couple options: 1) the reeds are missing 2) the reed comb isn't snug against its holes, so air isn't forced to pass through its reeds 3) the keys aren't lifting the pads and so the holes are staying closed. And various variants on this, but you get the idea. There are only physically so many possible things that could be going on. So far as the pair with too much warble (reeds tuned too far apart). Pick the reed that sounds most in-tune with the others, and cover up the other one with a piece of masking tape or something. In general, while you have it open I suggest you tape off half your reeds, as the single reeds sound cleaner and use half as much air. For the melody notes that aren't sounding at all, check to see if your seals are gumming them up somehow, or there's crap stuck in them, etc. Fix what you can at first, and then put it back together and see if it's much better. While you're in there, look for any gaps where air may be leaking or avoiding going where it's supposed to. Note that getting the four pins back in is the biggest pain of the process, since you need to line them up carefully and then whack them in with a hard object. While doing so, make sure the little rubber seal between keypad and bellows is lined up straight, since it it's untucked you'll have terribly low pressure until you set it right again. Once you convert it to single reed and seal it back up, you should feel a significant difference in bellows tension. The bellows will be a little stiff when new, and also don't be afraid to use the air button even while playing a note. Say you're pulling out a D and know you need a nice long C next, use the air button so that you go almost all the way open on your D-pull, leaving you plenty of room for a long close to C. If you need an extra-long C, briefly let up your C button, quickly hit Air and pull out a few inches to buy more room. Again, these are crude little critters, but anyone capable of operating a screwdriver and a roll of tape can work on them, and they give a general good feel of the basics of squeezeboxes for $20. I do mean to make a full YouTube tutorial of how to do this, if anyone else is interested in this process. Chinstrap, have you figured out what kind of squeezebox you're inclined to get down the road?
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Jul 7, 2011 02:44
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:
Thanks for the info may try it tomorrow. I'm going to get some sort of button accordion. If it is diatonic or chromatic I'm not sure yet. The chromatic ones seems good but so big.
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Jul 7, 2011 03:32
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Chin Strap posted:Thanks for the info may try it tomorrow. I'm going to get some sort of button accordion. If it is diatonic or chromatic I'm not sure yet. The chromatic ones seems good but so big. For diatonics, I'd take a hard look at the Hohner Erica, or if one row will do you the HA-112. The dude at Irish Dancemaster and I have talked shop on and off, and he's just not a fan of the HA-112 for various technical reasons, but as a casual player I simply loved it. Very lightweight and trim instruments, and they look awesome. If you get a an HA-112, eBay is probably your best bet. I would be not at all shy to ask the seller if you can hear it played over the phone to see how the tuning is, as getting an HA-112. Getting a complete and total re-reed would be $300ish, tuning a few reeds might be affordable though. Usually I find HA-112s by searching "hohner -piano" (if I'm willing to look through a few pages) or "hohner (button*, cajun) if I'm just perusing a few listings. There's also the Hohner Pokerwork and Vienna (I think the use those same names for the 1-row versions) but those I just found a bit clunkier, and I think they're tuned wetter too (more warble). EDIT: Dammit withak, you're about to make me blow $380 on an Irish flute. Dick.  EDIT: If anyone likes tinwhistles, but wants a nice low tone, there's a used Kerry Low D tinwhistle up on C&F, and it comes with a case too, for just $60 total. I have this exact model and am most happy with it: http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=83065 
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Jul 7, 2011 |
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Jul 7, 2011 03:50
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Is it possible to get fairly cheap brass instruments? I remember looking around on Ebay for a flugelhorn when I got into Beirut, as I used to play trumpet and find I much prefer the sound of the fluge. Does it count as a weird instrument? Alternative, how hard is a fiddle to learn? I've always liked fiddles.
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Jul 7, 2011 04:45
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Darth Windu posted:Is it possible to get fairly cheap brass instruments? I remember looking around on Ebay for a flugelhorn when I got into Beirut, as I used to play trumpet and find I much prefer the sound of the fluge. Does it count as a weird instrument? I know about zero about brass, but we have had one or two brass goons poke their heads in here. If you have archives or can get clever with google, you might be able to track down a flugelhorn-playing goon and PM him to drop in here. So far as fiddle: fiddle has a pretty steep learning curve, and more than most any other instrument you will sound like rear end for at least a few weeks until you get even the basics of the technique down. If you're really adamant about learning fiddle, by all means shop around to get a decent used violin, watch a bunch of YouTube tutorials (and maybe get some actual lessons, whether in person or Skype), and suck up the irritation of the learning curve. I'm not saying "don't do it", I'm saying "don't just casually ramble into fiddle playing" since it'll take a certain amount of dedication to build the initial momentum, more than most any other Western string instrument.  quote:OH MY GOD I'm getting this as soon as I get home tonight! I love accordions, with a particular love of conjunto & norteņo music as well as Cajun & zydeco. This looks like it's a good starter for a lark. Thanks! Definitely report back and let us know how it works for you. If you decide you're getting even more interested in Mexican accordion styles, do note that Hohner's budget three-row models are actually pretty reasonable: the Panther goes as low as mid-$300s, and the Compadre a couple hundred more. I've just glanced at a few reviews of the Panther, but they seem generally positive of this Chinese-contract import. Several folks mentioned that some people save money by buying a Panther and replacing the reeds with set of German Hohner Corona reeds (which cost more than the Panther does) to end up with a $700ish instrument pretty much as good as the $1200 Hohner Corona. I've seen Panthers in pawnshops in Texas, and if you live in a border state you might be able to find a deal on one at a pawnshop or on Craigslist. Just don't buy any generic three-rows unless you can read good things about the make online. In any case, just a couple Hohner model names you may want to read up on.  
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Jul 7, 2011 07:07
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