This video is about changing the sound of the clapper:

1 just one finger between the clappers

2 two finger between;

3 the bell hitting the bell-hammer way up.

The lower sound is made by an almost complete 'resonator', the air inside the clapper. The 'room' is made by the two clappers, the palm of the hand and the fingers in front. When opened, the sound is higher and sharp as always. A difficult technique, which I can't master myself, is closing and opening the 'fingers'-door while playing. I try it in the end. Anyway, the lower sound is made by the resonator (kind of a soundbox made of wood and flesh :-)

I don't know if I speak English well...

But like a friend of mine says 'the Dutch speak better English than the English speak Dutch' :-)

It's the same with 'the journey London to Stradford-apon-Avon has more miles than Stradford-apon-Avon to London'.

Wout, ik heb genoten van je video's van u het spelen van de botten. Je spreekt erg goed Engels. Bedankt voor het delen. 

Woot, I enjoyed all of those videos, thank you for making and posting them.  

It's funny how one can get some good deeper tones when the 'thumb-side' bone is held a lot more UP than the far bone....but it seems the result is always poor when the thumb-side bone is held a lot lower than the other bone.

I couldn't understand a lot of your words in the videos though, because your voice was too soft and low.  Can you tell me more about those very dark and flat ones you were demonstrating?

P.S. it was nice to see you!

BTW the sighing I do is what I always do when I am concentrating myself. :-)

Here some more information about the bamboo clappers:

Here's a video about Dutch clappers:

Hi Strumelia, you asked me to demonstrate the Yin-Yang sculptured bones made by Adam Klein. See

Two configurations wouildn't work because the energy wasn't able to make to right swing.

This is the first time I create a video on YoyTube and I used a photocamera...

Interesting style. Produces a much quieter sound. 

Also, try 1 up, 1 down, like Cuffy does here: 

Wow, i'm so happy we have a little group of us now here having fun learning to play!

Helen, though the grooves help keep the bones from sliding out of your hand slowing while playing, I think as yuo get better you may find you don't need them.  The advantage of not having grooves is that you can more easily change the positions of the bones experimentally, and you will find that this changes the tone and volume more than anything else- more than the type of wood even.  I have several different types of wood bones, and any type I can make louder or softer, crisper and ringy or dull and mellow- simply by changing their position in my hands.  Try experimenting a lot with that.

Yay!

Thanks so much, Tumbleweed.   :)

Wout said:

"My ten years old son just hides my bones, but I have a rather large collection."

That reminds of the joke:  "Our parents moved around a lot when we were growing up. But we always found them."   lolol

Wow Lisa Lisa that was GREAT!

My ten years old son just hides my bones, but I have a rather large collection.

My upstairs office is directly above Brian's downstairs office.  For bones practice, I'm supposed to go in the other upstairs room to cut down on the racket...oops I mean rattle.   And 10pm is the bones curfew, which I think is quite reasonable.   lolol

My family doesn't mind my practicing, as long as it is outdoors. 

Hey I'm just happy to have other bones nuts to talk to!

Your's, and Bob's, bones (spoons) playing videos were very inspiring. 

That's GREAT, Sheryl!   A practice buddy!!!  

Found out the nice lady who runs our weekly Dulcimer class is learning to play the bones too. She had a set of bones, and a pair of wood shims, with her last week(Just plain wood shims you can find a your local home improvement store). She had sanded the edges smooth. They were a little wide for my small hands, but they could easily be cut to be narrower. They are a creative, cheap, alternative to buying bones if you want to try them, but don't want to shell out the dough. 

Bringing my bones next time, and my Tim Twiss CD for a little extra-curricular activity. Should be fun!

I'm leaning towards ice cream. Really, I'm actaully leaning towards ice cream right now!

Bob, you and your son are totally rockin!     Yayyy...we both met the challenge! 

Ok, here is my half of the challenge.  My son and I doing Pretty Betty Martin on dulcimer and spoons.  I can either play them or use them to eat ice cream!

Ain't that the truth!

And it's so nice to see you having big fun on this site again,after all your hard work! 

Sheryl, we did about six takes for this video.  This one was the last take, and the only one where I couldn't resist putting in that final 'last word' click 'cause the silence was deafening... which made us both laugh. 

Tom, the lucky break of Dom actually coming to our town inspired me to try yet again with the bones, and this time it began to 'take'.  I love that we all inspire each other!

What Tom said! Very impressive Lisa. Loved the improvised final click. You got the last "word" in. 

OK Bob, now you have to put yor money whar yer mouth is!:

-still rough, but I'm happy to be at this stage after two months of steady practice...lots of room to improve going forward!...

http://fotmd.com/strumelia/youtube/1797/bones-practice-with-fiddle-sept2015

Strumelia, I'm up for the challenge if you are!

Lisa, can I borrow your husband? Me thinks you have an unfair advantage.

Hey Bob, is this challenge still on?   Are you going to post a recent video of yourself on spoons?

Wout I'd love to see a little quick video demo of you playing the sculptured bones you have...?

To practise the left hand (or right hand when you are left handed) a good exercise is playing both hands the same, special a changing rhythm. Also playing the right hand playing the rhythm line first and in the same tempo repeat it with the left hand. Another exercise could be playing the beat with left hand and a rhythm at the right, while at the end playing both hands the same rhythm.

About the sound of the left hand, I play one bone between the thumb and the index finger with the latter pressing that bone into the thenar of the hand, so it stays fixed, Placing the other bone between the index finger and the middle finger results in a higher 'pitched' sound than placing it between the middle finger and the ring finger. In the last situation the small resonator 'room' made by the V-shape between the bones and the palm of the hand is larger, so it emphases lower over tones. Doing so with the left hand it will sound lower than the right hand. This effect is much greater than using different types of wood. An exception is made when using different materials, like slate stone, iron or aluminum.

At http://www.bonedrymusic.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=419 one can find Adam Klein who makes also strange shaped wooden bones. There are some from which you will think: "Impossible to play!" but which makes different sounds by changing the grip. See

To contact Adam http://www.adamcjklein.us/lilycontact.html using adamcjklein@adamcjklein.us

Tom, that's cool, a boxwood set.  They must have a very clear tone, it being such a hard dense wood.

I've been practicing.  This evening in fact I played for about an hour along to Brian practicing his fiddle.  At this point I can keep semi-decent rhythm 'most' of the time, though I don't have much of any fancy moves yet.  Because I'm no longer making a horrific random clatter, Brian now doesn't seem to mind my playing along sometimes as he practices.     
I'm pleased with my progress over the past two months, especially so because I had tried and failed on bones several times over the past few years.

I find my left hand is mostly just doing plain time stuff, while my right hand does the triplets and such.  It seems to be veering to that naturally, and I'm letting myself just develop whatever feels good.  I remember the advice about how you could take a dozen beginner bones students and have one teacher teach them all the same way...then if you look at them a year or so later every one of them has their own unique style.

I like my wooden bones most of the time, they are easier to handle...but I have some ox shin "Lark" thin bones that have that porcelain-like bone tone that Im trying to work with too.  They seem to require a whole different hand position and technique, so that presents additional learning curve I'll have to work through. 

For the wooden ones-  my favorite right hand pair is a maple Whamdiddle brand pair in the 'short/narrow' size.  Then in the right hand my fave pair so far is some Whamdiddle poplar in regular size.  I suspect if we practice a lot we can probably make most bones sound pretty good no matter what the wood is or whether we split pairs up. 

Tom, that's exciting! Let me know how you like them. My left hand set is minstrel style, from bone dry, made from teak wood. I like them a lot, although they are very different from my right hand set, made of unfinished walnut. But they both have a mellow sound, and do compliment each other. 

 This may sound weird, but try mixing them up; splitting up the pairs, and see how you likethe sound.

I see what you mean, Wout. Interesting observation.

I noticed today playing the bones and playing the bodhran is in a way the same technique.

Lisa, I just might do that! Of course it won't be long until I want to learn to play, the I'll want to buy a banjo!

Tom's a member over there too, Sheryl!   YOU could join there just because you like to listen, too, you know.   ;)

Lisa, that looks like a great site for music and education. I think I recognize one of the members.   <--- YOU!

I bought the album on iTunes because I can play it and practice on the go. But This is a great site for when I'm stuck in the house. Thanks for pointing it out!

I see, Sheryl- good sleuthing, my friend!

If you go on this site:  http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/    you can play just about any of the videos there and have some good minstrel banjo tunes to play bones along with on your computer, along with a LOT more by Tim Twiss.   :)

Lisa, I don't play minstrel banjo yet...  I was looking around on iTunes for some minstrel banjo tunes, because well, bones go with minstrel banjo, and I came across this album and really liked it. (Also came accross Odetta singing Careless Love, and that video should not be missed!)

Sheryl I have most of Tim Twiss's recordings, including his Grape Vine Twist cd- good stuff to practice with!  Brian and I are actually playing Grape Vine Twist on fiddle/banjo lately.  I have almost every minstrel era recording I can get hold of.  I'm curious as to how you came to get Tim's cd- do you play minstrel banjo?

Tom- what are your fave minstrel banjo cds to practice bones with?   I like the Joe Ayers, Bob Flesher, and the Camptown Shakers stuff particularly.

Lisa, "an old country song" was a joke.  I like to practice outdoors, and since I've mostly been practicing the rudiments, I am serenaded by the cicada bugs and I see a lot of fireflies.

I have Timothy Twiss' album The Grape Vine Twist (available on iTunes) and I try to play to Narraganset Jig, and Union Jig.   It's a really nice album. Union Jig has bones playing in it, so it's a nice way to hear how they should be played to that song. 

(Sleepless nights... Have to appear in court today, which is not my hobby)

Playing bones and the tempo of the tune: up tempo is easier than a slow tempo, although the last is more rewarding, special in the breaks.

I use the bones in Shanti and other sailor songs, like hornpipes.

To the dulcimer I have couple of sets: 17th centurey Dutch dance music, childrens songs and Christmas songs.

My main instrument is the double bass (pizz. & bowed) and the bass guitar (special to Israëlian dance music)

At the performances of my music group it is common the audiance will dance: that's why they visit the gig!

Cool- so Wout you are practicing to old English or Irish tunes?

Sheryl to an old country song?

When I'm practicing alone, I'm playing to Civil War era minstrel tunes and songs on cds.  Here's an example of stuff i play to: https://youtu.be/VI-Ukj7c78E?list=PLSMm3dUxYUnV5epZOGii-FCbDrPdVQsFU

Or I practice just with no music, practicing very basic rhythms over and over. When I play to Brian's live fiddling, he's doing American oldtime tunes at various speeds.

Then you'd need to make an actual photo album so one can see all the images side by side... either here in your profile page Photo section, or online somewhere in a photo hosting site.

Sure, but I wanted to be grouped together, like showing the grip or how to make the 'bones' or clappers.

A song to practice? I mostly start with The Drunken Sailor. Or maybe Cockles and Mussels?

I've been practicing to an old country tune called "Song of the Cicada” out on the back porch, while the fireflies put on lightshows. But seriously, I’m still working on the rudiments of playing. And watching a lot of instructional videos.  

So...what music are we practicing to?  

Why?...Because the file attachment editor feature is not intended to function like a 'photo story album', Wout.      Most folks would either just attach ONE file or image file, or if there were many, they'd just load the pictures onto a free photo site somewhere online and then post a single link to them in their post so peopel could go look at them in an album or webpage online, rather than attaching 15 or more separate pdfs in one post after another. OR, they'd create a new photo album in their profile page Photos area.  The post attachment function is not meant to present a long photo album series of pictures named the way you want.   That's why. 

I bought both of my pairs of bones at Bone Dry Music. They do have a lot out of stock, but they had what I wanted, good prices, and a lot of good information. I emailed them a question, Scott sent me a long, very informative email back. 

My new bones are coming any time now, they were in stock.  Good thing is that the site tells you right there whether a particular style is in stock or not.  A lot of specific bones are hard to get, being made by hand by certain people only.  Some styles are only available once in a while, too.

I talked to Scott last week and mentioned what you said about the American vs. European grip, and Scott said for the people he knows, it mostly just comes down to personal experimentation and choice.  I have to say that of the American players i see all kinds of different hand/bones positions- lots of variety!      We all have different size and shaped hands, so we all need different size/weight/balance bones, too I imagine!  Brian's walnut ones he made for himself are way too big and clunky for my hands, I know that.  They seem to fit him just right.

Yep, Scott is doing a great job. Most of my clappers and bones I bought there. At the moment most of the goods are out of stock...

BTW when I am looking good at his pictures: Scott is using the European style instead of the American style!

Oh, I really should mention this- here is the biggest/best website dedicated to bones, run by Scott Miller... BonedryMusic.com

Scott is awesome, and very giving of his time and knowledge. He offers the absolute biggest selection and learning material on bones .. anywhere .

Here's a video of Scott's energetic and joyful bones playing style at a Civil War re-enactment 8yrs ago (too bad it's fuzzy and has wind noise): 

Well, some sanding (sharp edges) and French lacker will finish the instrument. Takes about 15 minutes to make...

BTW I choosed bamboo because of its round shape, which works the same as on the Dutch Clappers.

Yes, I see what you mean. 

Which one?

The slots are placed to the players hand. They are used to get a better grip without much force.

I hope photo 06 shows how the index finger pusches the bell into the soft tissue of the hand, so together with the thumb it is a firm grip, also without too much force. I hope the difference between the American bones style is very clear, but fast triplets are easy to make.

The experiment isn't able to produce triplets, in fact it works like a normal woodblock, so not useful. I used liile bells too

Why doesn't upload a browser just the way I entered the data?

I numbered the PDF's which are telling the same story.

Maybe I forget this one?

14 Experiment a resonator.pdf  •  208KB

Probably the most useful photo! 

Real Dutch Clappers & a grip to play spoons like.

18 Spoon grip 2.pdf  •  180KB

16 Dutch Clappers.pdf  •  211KB

17 Spoon grip 1.pdf  •  186KB

See also 04

15 How the slots on the clapper are placed.pdf  •  185KB

Pretty self-explanatory, Wout. I think we can skip the text. Those are kind of cool, and would be real simple to make. Thanks for sharing.  

How simple to make...

10 Three parts to cut.pdf  •  55KB

11 The first blow.pdf  •  163KB

09 Bamboo pipe to start with.pdf  •  157KB

12 The last blow.pdf  •  194KB

13 Filing the inside node away.pdf  •  175KB

How to get grip on the thing

08 Grip Three Set.pdf  •  194KB

06 Pushing in the hand and pressing the thumb.pdf  •  181KB

07 Lower Grip (two fingers).pdf  •  180KB

What we are talking about

01 Single Set.pdf  •  198KB

03 The Bell.pdf  •  200KB

02 Three Set.pdf  •  256KB

04 The Bell-Clapper.pdf  •  202KB

05 Smalle Bell-Clapper (Three Set).pdf  •  192KB

Wout, Now you've gone and done it. Got us thinking about a Bones comic book hero!

Kandee, thanks for the beeswax tip! I'll be watching for Dom. 

I never finished the text in Dutch either, but I have the pictures, so I will post those and maybe we can find a text together. A kind of comic book.

Wout-  maybe bones made from bamboo should be called "boos"   heh heh

Wout, sounds interesting. And there is no shortage of bamboo in my state. If you find the text, let me know. One questions: Is it in English? My Dutch is a bit rusty. 

Instead of using beewax or gorilla snot or what ever, preparing the 'bones' is an option too, at least if you know how. Somewhere on my computer I have a text about making 'bones' from bamboo which allows experimenting. And is rather cheap, but you allready I am Dutch...

BTW don't go shaving, sanding, sawing, etc on ox bones, because the dust coming from it could be dangerous to your health!

Sheryl, I'm a beekeeper.   Send me a private message with your postal address and i'll mail you a little piece of pure beeswax.

Ken, I'll keep looking for the beeswax candle. I'm not in any big hurry, as I am not swinging my arms around in Dom Flemons fashion quite yet. I could order the snot (sorry, couldn't resist) but I do love the smell of beezwax candles. 

Sheryl -- I get beeswax all the time from the Honey table at the Farmers Market just downriver, here in Fort Myers, FL with 90+ temps.  I'll be stopping there tomorrow for some veg and fruits to write about in next Monday's food blog.

I'd tell you the name of that bonobo product, but this is a family oriented forum....