Now, THAT'S a banjo

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:01 pm

Jessie posted in my Concertina thread that she was getting an Autoharp soon which led me to do a search to the maker's (Orthey) site which led to this link about the Stoneman Family:

http://www.fmp.com/orthey/stoneman.html

Which is quite interesting. If you scroll down a bit there is a picture of them and one of the boys is seated behind a huge banjo. Does anybody know anything about those or how it sounds?

23 kids

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:28 pm

Nah, that's a bodhran disguised as a banjo!

MarkB

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:33 pm

MarkB wrote:Nah, that's a bodhran disguised as a banjo!

Sort of like a lawyer wearing a shark costume?

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 5:44 pm

DCrom wrote:
MarkB wrote:Nah, that's a bodhran disguised as a banjo!
Sort of like a lawyer wearing a shark costume?

Notice that that great big banjo seems to have led Jim to the string bass.

I'm sure everyone remembers Roni on Hee-Haw, with her hair in curlers and her front teeth blacked out--the housewife from Hell.

Scotty became one of the all-time hot fiddle players and played some great stuff with the Kentucky Colonels. He could completely keep up with Clarence White.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:06 pm

DCrom wrote:
MarkB wrote:Nah, that's a bodhran disguised as a banjo!
Sort of like a lawyer wearing a shark costume?

I respectfully request that you immediately cease making any and all malicious and unflattering comments against sharks. Thank you.

Attorneys, on the other hand, are fair game!

Will O'Ban

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 6:06 pm

I remember a lot of them real well. I have played a little in a back lot session with Jimmy and Scot. I don't remember that banjo though. When I knew him Jimmy played string bass. There used to be a country music contest near Mannassas, VA in the 50s and 60s time period. Scot won top fiddler and the stonemans top band every year. A group I was friends with came in second to them one year. I hate to think that was over 40 years ago.

Ron

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:09 pm

That's a BMD(*)

Actually, probably some kind of bass banjo. Check out this one:
http://www.xstrange.com/bassbanjo.htm
Scary.

(*)Banjo of Mass Destruction

oleorezinator · Post by **oleorezinator** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:20 pm

once upon a time, string instrumrnt makers made corresponding equivilants of the violin family. mandolin, mandola, mandocello, mandobass. and some oddball pairings such as banjolins, banjo-ukes (which were the soprano voice of a banjo quartet) cool stuff.

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:25 am

oleorezinator wrote:once upon a time, string instrumrnt makers made corresponding equivilants of the violin family. mandolin, mandola, mandocello, mandobass. and some oddball pairings such as banjolins, banjo-ukes (which were the soprano voice of a banjo quartet) cool stuff.

Mandocellos are some of the coolest sounding things out there. I know an excellent Jazz duet who play soprano sax and mandocello mostly (sometimes with Bass and drums as a quartet). Very very good, and a great sound. Geoff Goodman and Chris Hirson. (Great people, too.)

http://www.jazzrecords.com/musicians/g_g_disc.htm

Their first one, Before & After is my favorite.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:42 am

Bloomfield wrote:
oleorezinator wrote:once upon a time, string instrumrnt makers made corresponding equivilants of the violin family. mandolin, mandola, mandocello, mandobass. and some oddball pairings such as banjolins, banjo-ukes (which were the soprano voice of a banjo quartet) cool stuff.
Mandocellos are some of the coolest sounding things out there. I know an excellent Jazz duet who play soprano sax and mandocello mostly (sometimes with Bass and drums as a quartet). Very very good, and a great sound. Geoff Goodman and Chris Hirson. (Great people, too.)

http://www.jazzrecords.com/musicians/g_g_disc.htm

Their first one, Before & After is my favorite.

Are there soundclips anywhere?

Tom

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 7:45 am

There are a couple on the page I linked, of the Human Lives CD. I knew them back in Munich ten years ago, don't know what their most recent stuff is like, but I don't doubt it's good. Amazing musicians.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:17 am

Bloomfield wrote:There are a couple on the page I linked, of the Human Lives CD. I knew them back in Munich ten years ago, don't know what their most recent stuff is like, but I don't doubt it's good. Amazing musicians.

Thanks, Tom

Daryl · Post by **Daryl** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:36 am

Bloomfield wrote:
oleorezinator wrote:once upon a time, string instrumrnt makers made corresponding equivilants of the violin family. mandolin, mandola, mandocello, mandobass. and some oddball pairings such as banjolins, banjo-ukes (which were the soprano voice of a banjo quartet) cool stuff.
Mandocellos are some of the coolest sounding things out there. I know an excellent Jazz duet who play soprano sax and mandocello mostly (sometimes with Bass and drums as a quartet). Very very good, and a great sound. Geoff Goodman and Chris Hirson. (Great people, too.)

http://www.jazzrecords.com/musicians/g_g_disc.htm

Their first one, Before & After is my favorite.

Blast! Our company's IT/Decency Police group is working overtime, I see. They've filtered this site and won't let me access it. I guess this means those mandocello they're showing are nude???

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:41 am

Hirson / Goodman's second CD is called "Nudism." Aren't you glad you are protected from modern jazz by your company?

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:24 am

oleorezinator wrote:once upon a time, string instrumrnt makers made corresponding equivilants of the violin family. mandolin, mandola, mandocello, mandobass. and some oddball pairings such as banjolins, banjo-ukes (which were the soprano voice of a banjo quartet) cool stuff.

They still do...

In Hobgoblin in London I've seen many weird and wonderful variations on the plucked string & fretted fingerboard pattern. I'm probably oversimplifying, but once you can play one fretted string instrument, you're halfway towards playing any others. It's only a question of the tuning and the fret spacing that makes it different.

I've also seen sites offering all the variations between fiddle & double bass, and even a soprano fiddle!