Forum Activity for @strumelia

Hi Eileen,

That's very cool!  There's a fellow in New Zealand who makes wooden double ocarinas where opne side is a drone note, and they are made with an interval that sounds rather medieval...sounds so pretty!  -see the pure white wood one on the middle of this page, with a sound clip:  http://www.wood-n-bone.co.nz/musical_instruments.html

I didn't keep up with learning my ocarina.  However I did actually learn to play the bones in the end ok (yay), and I'm making progress on penny whistle now...which is sort of vaguely related to ocarina I suppose?...I mean, you blow into both of them at one end and cover the various holes to make music, right?  

Lol John...!

Hoosier, it could be that although your action is not too low, maybe your strings are slack enough in your particular tuning to create whisper-fine vibration noises against the frets once released.  Try putting a one-step heavier gauge string on.  That would tighten the tension a hair and keep the string from vibrating so freely when you remove your finger.  This could completely solve your problem- just a slightly heavier set of strings.

Also- are you fretting and unfretting your fingers at a fairly straight down angle?  If you fret from the 'side' (like keyboard typing) then you could be very slightly pulling the string when removing your finger, causing that unnecessary vibration.  Check the angle of your fretting fingers here .

Joe- what an awesome solution.  Big win all around!!  

I do the same.  That stuff is like gold...works so well.

It's now I think about my two month mark at learning to play...I just recorded another short tune today on my penny whistle... Pretty Saro . 

Oh, very good!  That's reassuring.  Yes, you should give a few additional details there on ED ...though no need to give publish your email address or personal info publicly. Helps to give a little background tho- if I were a potential buyer I'd be leery of an ad with zero info about the seller, espec with them being brand new to joining. 

Good luck with your sale Sheryl!  

Sheryl, are you now reselling the Presnell right away over on the EverythingDulcimer site?  

I'm just curious....  I wouldn't want some scammer over there on ED trying to rip people off while using your photos and info...that actually happens on instrument sites.  The seller there just now joined ED with no other posts and does not give any info about themselves in their profile.  It raises a red flag for me, so I just wanted to check if that's you reselling the Presnell.

Susie, your new flute is beautiful.

All these flutes are like works of art, really.

Bill!  So nice to see you drop in again!  

I have a couple of Dixon polymer (plastic) whistles and yes the tone is a little more recorder-like than the metal whistles.  But I like both types...so alas guess I just have to buy lots of whistles.   lolol   Good thing they are not the same price as banjos.  

Susie, we'd love to see a picture of your new walnut flute with turquoise.  And always good when one's spouse approves of a new instrument!  

I've learned over the years to never, ever say "This is the last ____ I'm getting".  Never paint yourself into a corner. lolol...

Last night I ordered several more pennywhistles in various keys.  

Robin, that flute is a real beauty!  

I totally relate to your excitement. I've been learning to play the pennywhistle for the past couple of months now, and the largest/lowest one I have right now is a brass low G Dixon which is two and a half steps higher than your D flute. But while learning, I'm mostly playing my higher whistles, and playing a bit with Brian on fiddle, in the kitchen.  
The low whistles and flutes require a good set of lungs, and lots of air, for sure! ..but they have such a velvety rich tone.

Both the Irish flute and the penny whistle come in various sizes/keys, and materials, and some are even sold in a set with interchangeable heads to convert them back and forth between whistle and flute....both having basically the same 6 holes. The lowest penny whistles come I think in the low key of C, a step below your D flute.

You sound wonderful already Robin!  If you love it as much as I'm loving learning my new whistles, then you'll be a hopelessly in love 'lost soul'.      This music thing is the Devil!   lol

I'm very sorry to see you go Mary.

Terry, my right foot always starts tapping to the beat when i play bones...so I'd say that would not be compatible with driving...lol!   =8-o

Terry, I hear you!  I think I can add to that list of handy take-along instruments too:  the Bones!  and...when I get a little better at it...my penny whistle!  Both are extremely portable, lightweight, and the bones can be played one-handed... but I can't do either while driving.  We're all different, too much traffic here (and deer!)...my brain is one-tracked...requires my whole concentration and both hands while driving, the most I can do is listen to music or talk to my traveling companion. 

Susie -  last flute purchase... yeah right.  

Thanks everyone!  

People still do this dance today, so cool:  

Here is a little French tune I practice with, called Branle de L'ours (Dance of the Bears).  

 I've been now playing pennywhistle for about a month... still a rank beginner with almost no 'technique' as yet, but it's waaay fun.   I have compiled a bunch of simple very old tunes to practice with.  I'm typically practicing about 30 to 40 minutes per day...that's kind of a lot for me actually.  

 Alan Ginsberg...good times... lol   

From a 1984 edition of the "CoEvolution" magazine published by the Whole Earth Catalog...an ad for Dulcimer Players News.  We just happened upon it in some of my husband's old Whole Earth items he had stashed away, i thought I'd share it:

Just a little update on my penny whistle adventure, which I started about a month ago now.

I've been progressing pretty well lately, and am actually enjoying it more and more.    I can't wait to steal some time to practice every day, and I have a few favorite simple tunes under my belt now- though I can rarely play any tune without a note mistake or two still.  Will try to make a little 'practice time' video and post it here soon.

Finding I like both the polymer whistles and the brass whistles- they have two different sounds and both are real nice.  In general, the polymer plastic ones sound more warm and breath-y a bit like a recorder (great for haunting or ethereal melodies, or for playing while alone), while the brass ones sound more clear and sweet- more useful for playing with other instruments and fiddles for sure.  

Additionally, the lower/larger the whistle, the more mellow and breathy it sounds no matter what it's made from.  I think the lowest/largest whistle is usually a low C, which is an octave plus one note below the standard high D whistle.  I don't see many whistles higher then high E - a note above the standard D whistle.  I do have a high E whistle (rather than Eflat) because it will enable me to play in A ionian on it easily. The lowest whistle I now have is a low G.  Lower than that and the finger stretches get quite difficult, even if using the "piper's grip" as they refer to it.

I can really envision playing the whistle as one of my standard go-to instruments, for several reasons:

1) It seems it's quite do-able for me to play and I'm progressing fairly quickly (when you're over 60 this is a big thing, lol)

2) Is not a huge investment, money wise  -Yay for that!

3) Like the Bones, whistles are easy to take along and carry, especially when having to haul around a large minstrel banjo.

4) The whistle is well adapted to play ALL the genres of music I happen to like playing: old-time/Appalachian music, traditional early/minstrel American, traditional European folk/dance tunes, and medieval/renaissance. This is a huge plus.

Terry, I like to think of you carrying a harmonica with you everywhere you go.  I know how you love to play music for people and spread the happiness music brings to us all.  

Jennifer- the colors you chose for that woven flute bag are just beautiful- and perfect now for the coming Autumn.  Did you make a drawstring closure? or so other closure system?

Agreed-  a very well deserved honor.  

.

Well pretty much the only time I actually hear current 'pop' music is when it's inflicted on me against my will-  while pumping gas, in an airport, waiting at the car dealership or doctor's office, in a restaurant.  So most of the time I don't have to hear any 'whoops'.  

This is so weird- YES I hear it everywhere now!  Should never have watched this video...now it'll bug me to no end...lol

http://qz.com/767812/millennial-whoop/

Fingerpick garters?....oh my, my laugh of the day!  

That's good advice from Ken.  I don't drink, so I just have to remind myself to not tense up.  Even after many years of playing on various instruments, I still catch myself tensing now and then in some area.  Being aware of it however really does help us to 'check in' on what we're doing regularly.  Like any bad habit, simply becoming more acutely aware of it is half the way towards correcting it.

I wrote about this and included some videos here on beginner strumming habits: tips, posture, shoulder pain, etc:

http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming.html

http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-tips-for-beginners-strumming_08.html

We also have a dedicated Group here on FOTMD where UK members can stay updated on local events and make new friend and local jamming connections! :   http://fotmd.com/john-henry/group/41/uk-and-european-mountain-dulcimers          

I use two different foot rhythm devices- both are 'low tech' though:

I made an ankle percussion strap that closes with Velcro. I sewed various rattling/jangling things on it.  When I tap my foot with my heel, it works well but obviously does not sound like a drum, more like rattles.  But when combined with the stomp of a hard heel on my shoe, it works nicely.  This doesn't work as well if you are a toe-tapper rather than a heel tapper.

Same thing with putting a tambourine under my foot-  I put the tambo on the floor with the skin side down.  Then I put my toe into it and that lets my heel rest on the rim edge that's nearest me.  I then tap my heel down on the tambo rim and that creates the rhythm.  There's a percussive quality if you use your heel assertively.

I actually first trim the string length so there's only about 2 inches of slack, then thread in the peg and wrap it around a couple times.  Then I lay the string in the nut slot and put my middle finger of my left hand on top of that slot to hold the string in place (a capo would work too, as Dusty said).  At this point there's still enough slack to hook the other end of the string on the tail end pin... and I use the thumb of my nut slot hand to pull up the slack as i start tightening so the string doesn't pop off the tail pin.  I then use my right hand to turn the peg a couple more times to tighten it up.  When it's snugging up enough I remove my left left hand from the nut area and make sure the string is in both nut and bridge slots as I finish tightening.  Sounds more complicated than it is- once you've done it a few times it's no big deal.

I once changed a whole banjo skin without taking the strings off the peghead end by using a capo to keep them in place on the neck while changing out the head skin.   lol...talk about wanting to save a couple bucks...

Ken makes a great point.  It's not desirable to go around the post or peg eight or ten times.  
I approach it a little differently than Ken, but we both get the same results.  I trim the string before I even put it on-  holding it over the instrument and trimming it to leave only about 2.5 inches for winding.  Typically this means I'm trimming off about 6" from the original string length.  The length from tailpiece to cut end will vary by an inch or two depending on which peg you are going to.
Once the string is on and tuned, I trim the little end at the peg to a short length and then I take a pocket-sized needle nose pliers and kink the cut end back on itself so it can't prick my fingers...or you can leave a half inch and with the pliers just tuck the cut end back into the hole out of the way.  I hate getting stabbed while restringing!  

Well I am of course a beginner to all this pipe/whistle stuff which makes it a challenge, but I found the metal pennywhistles to be very difficult for me to get clear notes on, and not so at all on my plastic tabor pipe, which has a nice clear warm tone.

So as an experiment I ordered two plastic/polymer Dixon penny whistles instead to try- in the keys of high D and low A. (there's a substantial size difference between the two keys).

They arrived today and I am finding them much easier to get good notes on than the metal PWs.  Not sure why but the plastic ones make clearer notes and warmer tones for me.  Perhaps when i get better I can make the metal ones sound better, who knows.

I was delighted to discover that all my diligent tabor pipe practice is helping me here-  the learning curve for these new pennywhistles is way less steep than when i first started tabor pipe.  I can already play some of my favorite simple tunes, with only a few mistakes here and there.... so fun!!

I'm not one for playing lots of Irish tunes, but I can play my favorite renaissance and medieval tunes on these, and also some early folk/country dances from various European countries.  I'm working on some simple French branles, also things like Nonesuch.

Thanks John, I will remove both videos as you suggested.  I agree with your conclusion.

Perhaps you can follow Salt Springs' link above and use the Reinhardt tune from 1754 for the hymn instead, and then repost a new video of it for everyone if possible.  :)

Here's a website by Bates' great grandaughter:

http://www.abbiebetinis.com/writings_burtcarols.html

You could ask her.  But I imagine the tune cannot be freely used by others for their own compositions.

Well, it's really cool (and challenging!) to practice on both tabor pipe and penny whistle, I gotta say.  

Though they have different fingering patterns to play the same tunes, there is a sort of common thread of logic between the two.  A recorder on the other would be completely different fingering learning curve.  But tabor pipe and PW do follow the same 'increment hole/pressure logic'.  That's is a very inadequate way to try and describe it, sorry.

But what it comes down to is that I think this is do-able.  When I can play a real simple tune on the tabor pipe, I can 'sort of' stumble through it on the pennywhistle, which has more holes available before blowing up into a higher register.  Very fun to compare the two.  I have the plastic G tabor pipe and the metal G pw (both 17" long), and a metal C pw.

I'm finding it easier to get clearer tones on the plastic tabor pipe, but not really sure why yet.  Less holes to worry about leaking air from maybe? 

It's a bear to wrestle through all this and sooo many wrong and squeaky notes.  But I really look forward to my practice sessions and that's the true test- am I having fun? ... yes!

Sheryl... you seem to know me too well.  heheh

hmmm

Here are a few instruments I will probably never ever play:

piano or organ

Highland bagpipes

hammered dulcimer

autoharp

standup bass

guitar

trumpet

marimba

Jim, that's so clever to 'trick' the kids into helping work the limberjack.      

You need a one-handed concertina & tabor.

Fun to see a little mini flurry of posts here       Terry , the vision of you marching around your house with pipe and tabor while your wife perhaps takes cover someplace gives me a good chuckle.      I try to take full advantage when Brian goes out to mow the grass or on an errand... I rush to do a practice session as soon as he's out the door!   lolol   The notes of these pipes and whistles are pretty good at traveling through walls and even floors.  The high notes are piercing indoors, and my neighbors are too close for me to practice in my yard.  At this point in my playing i wouldn't want to cause suffering for wild birds either.  Or I might attract the unwanted attention of chicken hawks.  ;)

Jim , I can't believe how you did that to make a penny whistle into a tabor pipe!  Very inventive!!

Did you calculate where to position the thumb hole?  Because the thumb hole placement is very specific to give certain notes, and your thumb hole looks to me to be much closer to the mouthpiece than my tabor pipe's thumb hole is located in relation to the two top holes.  But the proof of the pudding is- are you able to play tunes on it, like Mary had a little lamb etc?  Does it jump into the higher register where you need it to go to the next note?  I would 'think' that by design a PW would not be able to behave the same way as a tabor pipe, but if it works then I am amazed and very impressed!

I think you could easily use that frame drum as your tabor.  You could either drill a couple of holes in the rim and hang it over your arm (don't make the strap too long), or sit to play and hold it vertically on your lap using your arms and legs somehow.  I recommend a short drumstick with a padded tip, especially if practicing indoors.  If you want to beat the drum with your right hand, then you'll need to hold and play the pipe with your left hand.  While it might be good at some outdoor festival, I hate the sound of my snare while practicing alone indoors, so I beat on the other side of my two-sided tabor drum, and I tucked a little folded piece of chamois under the snare thread to keep it quiet.

I might be wrong, but I 'think' that on either a PW or tabor pipe, if you have a D pipe you can play in G, or D, or E minor.  I have a G tabor pipe only so far, and mostly I've been playing medieval and renaissance simple tunes in A minor.  But if I know the tune by ear, I can base it on the A minor key and work it out without having to find actual sheet music in the key my pipe is in.  Some accidentals (a sharp here and there in the minor key) I have found i can get by half covering a hole.  Using half holes gives you the ability to play in some other keys since you can then create sharps and flats as needed.  But this is mostly beyond my current level.  I do this stuff by hearing rather than by knowing music theory- I hear when I need a note to be a sharp in a certain part of a tune, and I experiment to see if I can make a sharped note with my fingering somehow. If there are several 'missing' notes I know I need to start the tune in a different key or home note (or else get a pipe in another key)...it feels kind of like the mountain dulcimer noter style playing that way!- find where the tune 'fits' on your fret board and start it there so you'll have the needed notes for that tune.   

One other thing I noticed-   I tend to practice for about 45 minutes or so.  When I practice every day I don't notice my progress as much.  When I skip a day or two once a week, when I pick up the pipe again I can actually see and feel the progress since the last session.  hmm...I like that!  lol