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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 228 responses total. |
krj
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response 100 of 228:
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Mar 13 05:30 UTC 1998 |
I dug into a long-unopened box sent to me by a trading pal and
fished out PINGHA FRENZY, the live album from the latter days of
Blowzabella. Blowzabella was an English dance band from the 1980s
who specialized in the music of continental Europe. They were anchored
by hurdy gurdy player Nigel Eaton, and the other lead instruments were
usually fiddle and cittern, with the occasional saxophone.
This feeds into one of my minor interests, which is continental
European instrumental folk music, usually French or Breton.
I used to joke that the hurdy gurdy was the medieval version of the
synthesizer, mostly because it produces a continuous tone -- no
strumming, bowing or breathing.
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lumen
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response 101 of 228:
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Mar 17 22:48 UTC 1998 |
Um, I don't know what a hurdy gurdy is. Care to enlighten me?
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mcnally
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response 102 of 228:
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Mar 17 23:32 UTC 1998 |
I think instead of strumming, bowing, or breathing, you turn a
crank..
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scott
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response 103 of 228:
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Mar 18 00:03 UTC 1998 |
...which rubs a string with its edge, continuously making sound. A set of
levers are used to clamp the string down at various points, changing pitch.
|
orinoco
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response 104 of 228:
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Mar 18 02:08 UTC 1998 |
...and those levers are attatched (sometimes) to a piano-type keyboard,
meaning all you have to do is crank and push buttons - none of this pesky
bowing business.
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mcnally
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response 105 of 228:
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Mar 18 07:15 UTC 1998 |
and if you have everything set up right, the ball drops on the ramp,
causing the little plastic figurine of a man to jump into the bathtub,
which vibrates the pole on which the cage is suspended, and the cage
falls down and captures the mouse. oh, wait.. sorry, wrong contraption.
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scott
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response 106 of 228:
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Mar 18 12:00 UTC 1998 |
Yeah, and you missed a few steps too.
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mcnally
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response 107 of 228:
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Mar 18 19:53 UTC 1998 |
Did I? I was just going for the last couple of steps, not everything
that occurs from the time you turn the crank.
"Roll the dice, move your mice.." Carry on..
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lumen
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response 108 of 228:
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Mar 18 23:06 UTC 1998 |
Oh yes-- it produces a droning sound, doesn't it? If it's what I think it
is, I remember an exchange student playing one he made himself in h.s.
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orinoco
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response 109 of 228:
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Mar 19 03:08 UTC 1998 |
I think it does have a few strings besides the melody string, for some sort
of drone effect. Wow...that's neeeat.
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mziemba
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response 110 of 228:
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Mar 25 18:11 UTC 1998 |
Speaking of curiosity about instruments, there's quite a wonderful encylopedia
put out by Facts on File called _Musical Instruments_, published in 1976.
It's a large trade paperback that runs about $20.
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krj
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response 111 of 228:
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Mar 30 19:01 UTC 1998 |
re my previous response 100: Blowzabella, the English dance band
dominated by hurdy-gurdys, refuses to go away. NP: "The Duellists,"
a disc I picked up in Philadelphia over Christmas. It's not an
official Blowzabella disc, but it features Cliff Stapleton and Nigel
Eaton on hurdies -- both longtime Blowzabella players -- and another
Blowzabella player, Ian Luff, on bass and cittern. This is mostly
faux European courtly dance music -- faux because it's all credited
as contemporary compositions.
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mcnally
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response 112 of 228:
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May 6 03:54 UTC 1998 |
Lately I've been enjoying the album "Pink Moon" by Nick Drake..
I've entered this in the folk item because that's where his albums
usually get filed and because he seems to be better known among folk
fans (perhaps for his association with members of the 60s British
folk scene) though I'm not sure I myself would classify him as a
folk musician..
Anyways, I'm looking for recommendations from anyone familiar with
the body of his work -- I like the fairly sparse, unadorned vocal
and guitar sound that prevails on "Pink Moon" but have heard work
from at least one other album where the instrumentation was much
different, and frankly intolerably cheesey -- brief encounters with
that stuff prevented for several years my buying any of his albums.
Recommendations for stuff that sounds most like "Pink Moon" would
be appreciated.
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krj
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response 113 of 228:
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May 7 04:06 UTC 1998 |
I'm not real familiar with Drake's work, but I have often heard
that PINK MOON was the class of the set. He only released four
albums while he was alive, I think, plus two posthumous collections.
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katie
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response 114 of 228:
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May 7 04:52 UTC 1998 |
ichard Shindell at the \ark June something. He appeared with Joan Baez at
the Michigan Theatre last month. HIs songwriting is tremendous and his
voice is amazing.
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mziemba
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response 115 of 228:
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May 16 12:45 UTC 1998 |
Catie Curtis will be at the Ark tonight, Saturday May 16, for two shows: one
at 7:30P and one at 10P. Worth checking her out...
|
eeyore
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response 116 of 228:
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May 18 03:07 UTC 1998 |
Richard Shindell and Dar Williams were supposedly in the studio putting
together an album together....:) I'm REALLY looking forward to hearing it
after listening to them together live!
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anderyn
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response 117 of 228:
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May 18 23:30 UTC 1998 |
I'm kinda bummed that only 24 people showed up at the Artisan show at the
Ark last night. They are a truly gorgeous three-person a capella group
from Yorkshire, and they gave a kick-ass show. I was glad I was there.
Upcoming Ark shows for me: Moxie Fruvous, Capercaille, Frances Black.
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mziemba
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response 118 of 228:
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May 19 03:42 UTC 1998 |
Oh, when's Moxy Fruevous going to be there?
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anderyn
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response 119 of 228:
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May 21 02:31 UTC 1998 |
June 10. What do you think of them? I don't know much about them!
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mziemba
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response 120 of 228:
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May 22 02:14 UTC 1998 |
Twila- I've only heard a few songs off one album...and I guess I'd describe
them as alternative "babershop quartet". Thanks for mentioning the show date!
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jiffer
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response 121 of 228:
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May 24 17:30 UTC 1998 |
I *WILL* be at the Moxy Fruevous show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *screams of excitement*
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krj
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response 122 of 228:
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Jun 3 03:52 UTC 1998 |
twila/#117: only 24 in the audience for Artisan? Darn. Leslie and I
would have made it 26, but we had a previous, um, engagement; we've
veen fans of Artisan for some time. Reminds me of the English singer
Peter Bellamy, who rarely drew more than 20 people for his Michigan
concerts.
Item from the Progressive Torch & Twang radio show: there is going
to be a touring "Newport Folk Festival" concert package this summer,
and it might have a stop at Pine Knob. (For out of towners:
Pine Knob is a music amphitheatre in southeastern Michigan.)
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katie
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response 123 of 228:
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Jun 3 04:03 UTC 1998 |
It's been on the Pine Knob schedule for months.
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mziemba
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response 124 of 228:
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Jun 4 23:11 UTC 1998 |
So, Ken, are you going to see Richard Thompson? As a bonus, you'll also get
to see Bruce Cockburn and Dar Williams, two favorites of mine...
I think they're all playing the Royal Oak Music Theater this month sometime
soon...
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