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Post by deleuran on Apr 7, 2008 20:11:29 GMT
It seems to me, there is a lot of focus on the fiddle, banjo, banjo, fiddle, fiddle, banjo. How about hearing from somebody in this forum, who are interested in some of the other fine instruments in this kind of music? Mountain dulcimer, autoharp, mandolin, guitar, harmonica and bones and hambones for that matter. I feel like I'm the only one, who are interested in these instruments? I might be wrong, I might be not.
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Post by Ptarmigan on Apr 7, 2008 20:53:48 GMT
Well Jesper, as you know, over on the Instruments of Old Time Music Board, I've posted boards dedicated to the: Banjo, Banjo Uke, Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, Bass Fiddle, Cello, Harmonica, Hammered Dulcimer, Mountain Dulcimer, Autoharp plus one for AOV, which so far has mentioned Jews Harp, Gutbucket, Tenor Guitar, Spoons & Bodhran. Your post here also reminded me that, after seeing the Carolina Chocolate Drops in action recently, I wanted to post a thread on The Jug but forgot. So that's on there now, too. So there is indeed, plenty of scope here for raising discussions on any of these other fine instruments & like Jesper, I'd be delighted to see folks chatting about them. I'm sure lots of folks here do play many of the other less popular instruments. Incidentally, since the forum was upgraded recently, it has now become possible to see just how many visitors have visited this site in the last 24 hours & right now, it reads 371, so I'm sure you are not ALL Fiddle & Banjo players .... are you? ;D Obviously, if most folks here actually play Fiddle & Banjo as their main instrument, then that's what most folks will probably want to talk about, but I'm sure, like me, most folks will also be interested to at least read, if not write, about all the other OT instruments, too. Let's face it, one of the nice things about these forums is that you really CAN if you wish, remain completely anonymous, so please feel free to post a thread on any of your favourite instruments & say what you like or dislike about them. I, like most folks, enjoy a good discussion & while we don't always agree, it is usually fun & informative to see what makes other OT enthusiasts tick. So please don't disappoint poor old Jesper, post a thread today, ..... otherwise he's liable to turn you into a cartoon character! ............... You have been warned! ;D What? .. you thought my avatar was just a smiley .... no, no, that's exactly what I look like now, in real life! ;D Cheers Dick
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Post by Susi on Apr 7, 2008 21:52:47 GMT
Mandolin!!!!! I get more and more interest in playing oldtime on the mandolin, especially when I get my new high-end mandolin. Loads of oldtime tunes are very suitable for the mandolin. Dulcimer is nice too... just a bit silent. But I guess it depends on what kind of dulcimer you have.
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Post by deleuran on Apr 7, 2008 22:38:28 GMT
I know Dick. I know, and you certainly do what you can, but I thought I missed a little action lately about the other instruments. So this is just to provoke a little And otfiddler, good luck with the mandolin. I too love that little instrument. My favorite next to the guitar. I wrote a little about it in the thread, Favorite guitarists. It was for you. Take a look.
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Post by john on Apr 8, 2008 14:09:14 GMT
The only two instruments fit for oldtime mountain music are the violin and the banjo. The rest are just noisy hangarounds. Same for Cajun, violin and accordion But of course, the more the merrier cheers, John
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Post by deleuran on Apr 8, 2008 15:14:14 GMT
Including the bass
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Post by Ptarmigan on Apr 9, 2008 7:40:50 GMT
........ from "My New S S Stewart" thread! Yup I know Jesper, just funnin' ... you know me. I am of course with you on the, other instruments being nearly as valuable to OT as the Fiddle & Banjo. How could I not be, given that I play so many OT tunes on my Hammered Dulcimer, which is not the most popular instrument by any stretch of the imagination in any musical circles ... except of course H-D circles. If I had a different Mandolin I know I would play OT tunes on it, but on my folk one they just don't sound right, at all, so I don't bother. However, for nearly 40 years now I have had a Mandolin close by. Having a son who plays Bass has meant that over the past few years I have grown to love the sound of that instrument. As for the Guitar, what's not to love about it, classical spanish Guitar music is, to me, some of the most beautiful music ever composed & in any case the Guitar must surely be one of, if not THE, most versatile instrument of all time. I've played the Jews Harp for many years too, used it in the recording studio often & even won a Scottish competition on it, back in the mid 70s ... the judge that day was none other than Fiddling giant ~ Aly Bain! Being a full time musician, I don't think I could really survive & stay sane by just playing only one instrument ALL the time. I need to be able to put one instrument behind me for a while & charge my batteries by working away on another. Which reminds me, I really must spend more time on my Smallpipes & Hurdy Gurdy ........ oh & I was planning to start work on the Fife ......... which reminds me, I must ask Lasse to recommend a good Harmonica for a beginner .. me! Anyone know where I can buy a good JUG? So yes Jesper, as you can see, I do really enjoy talking about & playing too, many different instruments. At the moment though, as I've just put this old Stewart back together again & started learning CH, my head is just full of the Banjo. .......... I'm not sure if there is a cure! ;D At the end of the day though, I think we must admit that the Fiddle & Banjo are the two instruments that really give OT it's characteristic sound, so it's only natural there's going to be more chat about those, here. However, I welcome discussions on ALL the others .... that's why I started all those different instrument boards. By the way, isn't it amazing Jesper, now that we can see how many hundreds of visitors this forum gets every 24 hours, just how few people actually bother or have the time perhaps to register & feel interested enough to actually contribute to any of the boards or discussions here. I often hear folks say, oh but I could write anything on those forums because I don't know enough, little knowing or understanding that forums like this are here primarily to get folks especially newcomers interested in this music. They are of course, also here for experienced musicians to chew the fat & share their knowledge & often those are the members who contribute more, but this forum would be so much more valuable & worthwhile if more learners & beginners would pluck up the courage to ask questions & get involved. I, like many folk, lurked on a forum for a while, but quite honestly, I didn't really start to learn lots until I removed my finger & started posting questions & comments. Being anonymous, it can be lots of fun. ;D As for John talking about all those other instruments as just noise .... I am convinced he was just doing the same thing that we're doing with all our chat here, trying to stimulate discussion, only he seems to do a far better job ........ with far fewer words. Cheers Dick
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Post by john on Apr 9, 2008 10:00:15 GMT
Back in them good ole days, mandolin and guitar was considered ladies instruments. Well boys?
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Post by deleuran on Apr 9, 2008 10:36:22 GMT
Hi Dick, I'll return to you later. I haven't got the time for a proper answer right now. But I have this picture of an old mandolin add, I wanted to show you, John. Look at all the advantages involved in playing the mandolin And I don't know about them good old days. I wasn't born yet. I live here in 2008, and all the mandolin- and guitarplayers I know and admire are all male, so that.....?
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Post by john on Apr 9, 2008 14:27:19 GMT
Hi Jesper and thank you for THE HEAD. Good to see that you agree with me. All the sentences are like listening to a woman. I know that person!! My wife has been married to him for over 30 years now cheers, John
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Post by deleuran on Apr 9, 2008 14:49:34 GMT
Is it this sentence you think of: "Keeps me at home evenings where I should be." ? Or "I can play it myself" ? Or "It makes me forget little worries." ? ;D Oh me, oh my! All those years, and you didn't know? I don't know if I agree with you, John. I cannot see the satanic expression on you face, when you write these things. But if you are just trying to piss me off, I agree. (and get pissed off) ;D Cheers Jesper
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Post by deleuran on Apr 9, 2008 14:57:39 GMT
Hey again , John. I guess this is one of the ladies you are talking about: I think I will bring my mandolin to Kattinge and be dressed like that.
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Post by tobias on Apr 9, 2008 16:13:47 GMT
I think I will bring my mandolin to Kattinge and be dressed like that. Oh Lord! Please remove that mental image from my head!!! Pleeeeaase! :-D /Tobias
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Post by Ptarmigan on Apr 9, 2008 17:28:45 GMT
Tobias, is this the image you have in your head? ;D ;D ;D Cheers Dick
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Post by tobias on Apr 9, 2008 20:58:29 GMT
Tobias, is this the image you have in your head? Almost...Just needs a beard and a little more belly /Tobias
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Post by deleuran on Apr 9, 2008 21:59:58 GMT
Well, Tobias. I guess it's more like this, ain't it? Except for the belly. It is incredible what corsets can do. ;D
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Post by tobias on Apr 10, 2008 5:02:55 GMT
Ah geez! How will I ever sleep again....
/Tobias
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Post by john on Apr 10, 2008 7:45:02 GMT
Hi Jesper, nice mandolin. Have you been in the Navy ? Lookin forward meeting you again at Kattinge. cheers, John
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Post by deleuran on Apr 10, 2008 10:57:44 GMT
Yes, me too, John! Now let's get serious for a moment. Since I started this thread it has developed into pure giddiness. Nothing wrong with that. I have participated with my share. ;D Actually I'd like to hear from others who play other than the fiddle and the banjo. Yes, Dick you are right off course. I'd like to talk about those too, and if I didn't like to hear them, I wouldn't be in this forum, or play in an OT band. But John's statement that I can't agree with (though he just try to piss me off ) I'd like to draw the attention to the fact that there's a lot of OT music where the fiddle and the banjo are not involved. Just to mention a couple of the CD's I listen to a lot these days: Mountain Dulcimer Galax Style with Bonnie Russel and her familyNo fiddle or banjo, but definitely OT music. Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson at Folk City A live recording from 1964 with a couple of giants from the folk revival when it was at it's highest. OK Doc plays the banjo on some of the tunes in his own special way. A kind of clawhammer blended with uppicking. But no fiddle, and it is definitely OT music. High Atmosphere. Ballads and banjo tunes from Virginia and North Carolina. Field recordings collected by John Cohen in 1965. Lots of a cappella songs. Songs with guitar accompainment, and banjo tunes. There's no way around that All of this is not 'Yeehaw' fast fiddletunes for the dance saturday night, but definitely OT music. We must not forget that there are other aspects to OT than just the fiddle tunes. And don't get me wrong, I love that too and play it myself. But in the beginning was just the song, or even earlier some grunting and beating on hollow logs. And I forgot to mention some Riley Puckett recordings I also listen to at the moment. Without the Skilled Lickers. No fiddle, no banjo. Just the song and the geetar. But definitely OT. Or folk music as we called it, when I first learned a lot of these tunes as a boy in the early sixties. It was only until much later, that I learned that the music I had known and loved for many, many years was in fact Old-time music. I agree it would be great fun if more would join the dicussions here, but I don't really care that much. I guess I would write if we were only two, because I think it is great fun, and I learn new things all the time. I am no expert in these matters, and I probably make a fool of myself now and again, but I don't care. There's nothing wrong with some cheap laughs. It is my experince, among others, from a blog/discussion forum made for the assosiation of cartoonists/ iilustrators, that I'm a member of here in Denmark, that most of the members never write a word. Out of about 70 people we are at the most 5 people who write in the forum. Theres an old saying: "You can drag the horse to the trough, but you can't force it to drink." I guess it goes for this forum too. But write a few words now and then, keep the sh*t flowing, just like a good plummer. The more the merrier, as John said in another context.
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Post by Ptarmigan on Apr 10, 2008 11:32:55 GMT
;D ;D ;D Nice one, & just before lunch too! Yeah, I don't know about you Jesper, but I really don't care if folks get a laugh at me now & then, or even regularly. I'm simply not afraid to write stuff here, or any of the other forums for that matter, because I'm quite happy in the knowledge that I don't know everything about anything, & I find I always learn so much more from chipping in. Sometimes I find out I was right in the first place, more often than not though, I find that I was way off beam, but either way, I win ..... by learning more. I know there are lots of visitors to this forum, who could teach me a lot about various aspects of OT Music, Instruments, Culture etc etc & also loads about their own local OT scene, which I'm sure would make fascinating reading for lots of folks here. So who knows, maybe this thread will trigger a few more active posters ... I certainly hope so. Cheers Dick
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