If it's 'NOT' a Dulcimer, then what is it?

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Ptarmigan
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Post by Ptarmigan »

OK Mack.

So 'Hammered Duckslammer' it is. ':o'

But if that's the way you want to go, then surely it is only fair that we have new names for 'all' the instruments we know & love.

Any more ideas? ':-?'

Well, here are a few ideas to get us started:

Tin Whistle - Thin Twizzle
Concertina - Constant Screamer
Tenor Banjo - Rattlin' Bedpan
Highland Pipes - Tartan Torturers
Mountain Dulcimer - Mounting Duckslammer
Button Box - Mutton Box
Bodhran Drum - Boring Hum

OK I know, they're not very good ':sniffle:'

But I'm sure some folks here will have more imagination than little old me!

Have fun...... :twisted:
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Nanohedron
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Post by Nanohedron »

As someone who plays backup (cittern) as well as melody (flute), I really like one term applied to any backup gizmo whether guitar, bouzouki, or cittern: "tuneable spoons". Yes, well-played backup is very nice, but it ain't a requirement.

Got a compliment from a bodhrán player about the rhythmic qualities of my backup, which was appreciated, of course. I said, "Yeah, that's why gizmos get called 'tuneable spoons'".

"'Tuneable spoons'?", she said with a raised eyebrow (she plays those, too).

"Tuneable spoons", said I. She was not best pleased, being a flag-bearing champion of all things percussive. As far as I'm concerned, it's a balanced perspective thing.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
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Post by Nanohedron »

By the way, there's a fellow I play with who, when he wants backup, will say to me, "Gizmo". I don't have a problem with that.
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Post by rh »

i'd always thought the epithet "tuned spoons" was reserved for banjo-mandolin, as one was about as welcome as the other in sessions.

i've also thought the name "stringed bodhran" would be an appropriate moniker for the tenor banjo.

rh (who actually plays tenor banjo and owns a bodhran)
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Post by Nanohedron »

rh wrote:i'd always thought the epithet "tuned spoons" was reserved for banjo-mandolin, as one was about as welcome as the other in sessions.
I came across the idea applied to all stringed instruments when played as backup; can't recall where, exactly. Of course, "tuned spoons" and "tuneable spoons" suggests that the latter aren't usually. :wink:
rh wrote:i've also thought the name "stringed bodhran" would be an appropriate moniker for the tenor banjo.

rh (who actually plays tenor banjo and owns a bodhran)
I've had other banjo players say the same thing! It does have a skin head, after all.

There's one fellow who frequently says that he loves playing with accordions as "it makes the banjo sound almost delicate". Actually, I love a well-played banjo.
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Post by rh »

Nanohedron wrote:Actually, I love a well-played banjo.
me too.

a great banjo player quote i've heard is IIRC from Kevin Burke:
"When they're great, they're good."
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Post by Nanohedron »

rh wrote:
Nanohedron wrote:Actually, I love a well-played banjo.
me too.

a great banjo player quote i've heard is IIRC from Kevin Burke:
"When they're great, they're good."
Heh.

One of the better banjo players out there IMHO is L. Nugent's sister. I forget her name, now, but I heard a recording of her playing a couple of reels, and the sheer emotion of it was an eye-opener. Before that, I'd never thought that a banjo could be used to express emotion. She did it, and big time. Must run in the family, I guess!
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Post by rh »

Nanohedron wrote:One of the better banjo players out there IMHO is L. Nugent's sister. I forget her name, now,
Margaret McElhlom?

http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/sites/CCE/ed ... 8/sean.htm
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Post by Nanohedron »

rh wrote:
Nanohedron wrote:One of the better banjo players out there IMHO is L. Nugent's sister. I forget her name, now,
Margaret McElhlom?

http://www.mayo-ireland.ie/sites/CCE/ed ... 8/sean.htm
If he has only one sister, that'd be her.
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Post by Ptarmigan »

Nanohedron, the trouble with:
I've had other banjo players say the same thing! It does have a skin head, after all.
...... is that if you called a Banjo a Skin Head & someone shouted pass the Skin Head, bald guys like me would be on the move all the time! :)




As for Kevin Burke's quote about Banjo players:

"When they're great, they're good."
As a former Banjo player, who turned, or some might say 'moved up' to the Fiddle, I can see where Kevin's coming from. At least if he's talking about the Tenor Banjo.

If, however, your talking Frailing, then I would beg to differ. But then you don't see many Frailing Banjos in ITM sessions ..... :o
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Post by Nanohedron »

Ptarmigan wrote:But then you don't see many Frailing Banjos in ITM sessions .....
I shudder to think. Let us all take a moment to pray for kind Heaven's continuing intervention in that wise.

"Skin head", though...more grist for the mill if I want to take a poke at banjo and bodhrán players. Wry nudges about them making political statements come to mind...

"So, like, where's the Bodhrán Supremacy tattoo?"

They wouldn't get it. *sigh*
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
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