Daddy, I want them all! - Choosing an instrument

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pransur
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Daddy, I want them all! - Choosing an instrument

Post by pransur »

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I thought C&F a good place to structure my head a little (don't smerk!). So I'll do some a'thinkin' out loud, and if anyone can help at all, then that would be cool.

Points to note

I'm in England
I have small hands, thin fingers
I like drones (sympathetic strings, also)
I like Indian culture
I like the slow-air(e?)-esque sentimentality and the meditativeness of slower flute pieces
I played (electric) bass for a while, but found notes in the low register difficult to discern
^I know some theory - modes, etc.
Eclectic listener (right now: tango)
Learning circular breathing on the didj
Can seldom sing in tune with myself, but I tend to default to Billie Holiday type vocal jazz
Can play a bit of piano (can work out chords, a solo from a chord sheet)
I like the idea of being able to play something quite nice sounding quite quickly, but with tremendous scope of musicality (pos. reading, complex theory etc.)
I like hazelnuts


Music styles

This isn't exhaustive. I always forget lots of things.

Minimalism
World trad/folk (English, medieval, Irish, Malian, Bulgarian (love those dissonant choirs etc.), Hungarian, Indian, Mongolian, folk fusion, everything I've (n)ever heard)
Anything with a drone
New agey (sorry) - Lisa Gerrard etc.
Classical (Minimalism/dissonant/Pärt,Beet,Mo,Purcell,Hadyn,Górecki,lots more)
Classical Hindustani
Jazz (lots of styles, so long as it doesn't use an electric bass. ie. an upright ethos)
Tango
Soundtrack music


The music makers

I've found a fun little decision maker test thing online. I thought it a good way of showing the attributes that interest and influence my decisions. If anyone can suggest more instruments, then that would be cool. I hope I don't offend anyone with the data; I'm very naive about the instruments, they're just guesstimates and the values ought come default with parentheses - 'perceived.'

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Thoughts on individual instruments

Low Whistle

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Seems to be excellent for both accompaniment/social playing as well as introspective playing alone.
I really like the lower register, despite my presumed inability to discern the notes.
For the music they can produce, they seem brilliant value, with name makers in the UK (Dixon)
I have small hands and fingers - may have trouble with notes and techniques.
I'm worried about my perhaps preferring a more exotic scale inherent to bamboo instruments.
Many videos seem reverb heavy - might I be disappointing with the natural sound?

Jam Session - YouTube
Finistère - slow air on Low Whistle
hatao playing Overtone low D whistle

I love this. This guy seems to have found an Asian style which really appeals to me:
Susato Kildare Low D Whistle Demo


Bansuri

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Brought to tears by a soundtrack song, been obsessed ever since.
Worried about the larger size of the holes - while good for technique, I don't know if my thin fingers will handle them.
Perhaps I could get a smaller (higher) than concert standard flute, but it's difficult to find information about this.
I haven't found a source for buying or learning in the UK. It's a completely different style of music and I'd rather do it properly.
Thin walls make it fragile?

Harsh Wardhan : Dhun Bhairvi on Bansuri flute
Bamboo Flute
''Farewell To Earnest'' From Merchant-Ivory's Film ''The Householder''.mp3(filmi?)
Raga Jogiya Bansuri Bass E Tonic
Raga Kafi Bansuri Bass E Tonic
(cross-cultural) Atalyja-Ruta Zalioj


High Tin Whistle

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Walking down Dorchester's main street in town, hearing a tin whistle can completely change my mood.
I remember watching a folk band where the flautist would play tin whistle for a couple of tracks; always thought it sounded cooler (generally worked better) than the flute.
Despite the above, the high tin whistle just doesn't appeal to me on a gut level. I don't know why. Perhaps I could get over it -- It would probably be worth it if I could.
A lot of them seem out of tune with themselves on youtube videos. Might just be my ears.

Haste to the Wedding/Trout in the Bath - Featuring Nollaigín -- Gah. The Fiddle's so much cooler in this :(


Sitar

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I love the sympathetic strings!
The slower melodious pieces are really beautiful.
The slower non-melodious pieces are wonderfully cerebral and meditative.
Can't think of much more to say. I dislike how it reminds me of a guitar. I dislike its association with the Beatles (nothing against the Beatles, I just rather they were separate).
I'm fairly clueless about the instrument - what quality you get for what price? Upkeep price? Ease to learn? etc. etc.

This up to about 4mins in. I love how Anoushka looks up to her father, dejected. Ravi Shankar - Raga Rangeela Piloo
(I don't know how long this guy's been playing, but it seems to have a great seemingly simple:effective ratio) Sitar Practise II
Sri Aurobindo -- A Homage


Melodeon

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I'm more into the continental styles for the melodeon.
I've had some success mixing bass rhythms on piano, so I might be OK on one of these.
Very expensive when I'm not sure I'd like it. And still, the keys are limited etc.
Perhaps I'd feel a bit of a failed bandoneon player. :-?
I imagine the resources for the types of (Italian/French) music I'd want to learn would be hard to find.
Ingenious in its one-man-bandery. Also compelling as accompaniment, and ego-satisfyingly prominent in the mix despite the audience being unsure which instruments are actually playing it (or so I imagine).
No spiritual connection to these. Not a shiver, not a tear.
I remember seeing one with Kate Rusby. The melodeon being there really annoyed me for some reason. So perhaps a versatility problem.

ces heures-là (D.Denécheau) (stunning!)
L'Escargot "Magida" (live)
Beirut - Mount Wroclai
Vincent's Polka


Gaida

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The first video below I found incredibly powerful. The context was important, but I'm powerless against the instrument with its drone and like-notes.
I love the choir singing, the dissonant harmonies (oxymoron? I don't really know what I'm talking about), etc.
I've watched 30 or so Gaida videos, and they all pretty much sound the same. Perhaps once I've got the rhythm down I'd begin to get bored. And there'll probably be no one to play with.
Perhaps noisy (dulcet), inconvenient to practice.
Short of expensive books online, I'd imagine resources are hard to come by.
This one's tricky. I got really excited about buying one at one point.
I love drones!

Beautiful Bulgarian Girl Playing Bagpipe Kaba Gaida Каба Гайда (up to 3.20)
Nevena Tsoneva sings a Bulgarian folk song "Delio Haidutin"


Fleeting ideas:

Sarangi
Gadulka
Octave Mandolin
Maybe something medievalish that isn't impossible. I liked the instruments in Whisper of the Heart.

Some nice Shakuhachi playing.
Is enthusiastic about hazelnuts among other things.
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