This is humorous in a shakey egg kinda way, but it's also pretty amazing. Ladies and Gentlemen, for those of you who haven't seen this before, I give you, the BALLOON BASS!
When I first saw this, I was worried. But now that I know how much attention span is required to make one, I'm not the least bit concerned. People who can't be bothered to learn a few tunes will never master something like this. :>}
What do you mean, new? Made of inflated goat's bladders and baling twine, these have been used traditionally in sessions since at least the early seventeenth century. In the past the string was made of drawn rats' intestines, but their popularity rose when nylon baling twine, which reacts less to changes in humidity and temperature, became easily avialable. Traditionalists, as you might guess, frown on that, and there are stories that it is hard to win a Comhaltas championship even at county level with nylon twine. But hey, Flunk's balloon bassist uses nylon and still gets that dark, traditional "fzzzbrrttt" sound, even in the 17/16 tunes, so don't knock it.
Personally I prefer the Kerry tradition of BB-ing, in which the balloon is held between the shoulder and neck instead of under the arm. Check out "The Munster Balloon Bass Tradition, 1436-1811" by Michael Flatulent. Get the hardback if you can - it has a few rare colour photographs of great players of the period covered by the book.
Haha, Dow I don't think you could compare this to a shaky egg, because if I saw someone walked into a session with a balloon bass I would be so impressed that they actually made one that I would have to like it! OR at least respect it....I don't think many would say that of a shaky egg...
I agree with Red Queen--nothing new about this at all.
See, you take a synthetic baboon's ass (in the old pre-PETA days, they used real baboon), stretch it out to make a one-string bass, and then some tweedledum realizes the "string" is a tube, connects it to another baboon's ass and shoves a low D whistle up one of the rectums. Voila--uilleann pipes. (And everyone knows that "uilleann" is Irish for "sound that you make when you squeeze a baboon's ass.")
That's correct Will; in fact I believe that this same instrument was used by Jerry Goldsmith when he penned the soundtrack to First Knight. However, budget costs hampered production when it came to flying in a professional balloon bass musician. In turn, the movie ultimately suffered when they dropped the expense of an accent coach for Mr. Gere.
A new instrument for sessions?
A new instrument for sessions?
This is humorous in a shakey egg kinda way, but it's also pretty amazing. Ladies and Gentlemen, for those of you who haven't seen this before, I give you, the BALLOON BASS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkgkp1PCQuE&mode=related&search=.
# Posted on June 4th 2007 by Dow
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
I love it... Are there classes?
# Posted on June 4th 2007 by ceolachan
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
for a while there it looked like a baboons ass. in fact i wonder how he got the idea. amazing stuff.
# Posted on June 4th 2007 by big B
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
When I first saw this, I was worried. But now that I know how much attention span is required to make one, I'm not the least bit concerned. People who can't be bothered to learn a few tunes will never master something like this. :>}
# Posted on June 4th 2007 by mickray
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
i used google to get more info about this instrument, and discovered there are hundreds of websites devoted to balloon fetishism!
after more research i discovered:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Banjo+Fetishism%22&btnG=Search&meta=
:(
# Posted on June 4th 2007 by DubChieftain
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
What do you mean, new? Made of inflated goat's bladders and baling twine, these have been used traditionally in sessions since at least the early seventeenth century. In the past the string was made of drawn rats' intestines, but their popularity rose when nylon baling twine, which reacts less to changes in humidity and temperature, became easily avialable. Traditionalists, as you might guess, frown on that, and there are stories that it is hard to win a Comhaltas championship even at county level with nylon twine. But hey, Flunk's balloon bassist uses nylon and still gets that dark, traditional "fzzzbrrttt" sound, even in the 17/16 tunes, so don't knock it.
Personally I prefer the Kerry tradition of BB-ing, in which the balloon is held between the shoulder and neck instead of under the arm. Check out "The Munster Balloon Bass Tradition, 1436-1811" by Michael Flatulent. Get the hardback if you can - it has a few rare colour photographs of great players of the period covered by the book.
# Posted on June 5th 2007 by Lingpupa
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
Haha, Dow I don't think you could compare this to a shaky egg, because if I saw someone walked into a session with a balloon bass I would be so impressed that they actually made one that I would have to like it! OR at least respect it....I don't think many would say that of a shaky egg...
# Posted on June 5th 2007 by possumawesome
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
I agree with Red Queen--nothing new about this at all.
See, you take a synthetic baboon's ass (in the old pre-PETA days, they used real baboon), stretch it out to make a one-string bass, and then some tweedledum realizes the "string" is a tube, connects it to another baboon's ass and shoves a low D whistle up one of the rectums. Voila--uilleann pipes. (And everyone knows that "uilleann" is Irish for "sound that you make when you squeeze a baboon's ass.")
# Posted on June 5th 2007 by Will CPT
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
That's correct Will; in fact I believe that this same instrument was used by Jerry Goldsmith when he penned the soundtrack to First Knight. However, budget costs hampered production when it came to flying in a professional balloon bass musician. In turn, the movie ultimately suffered when they dropped the expense of an accent coach for Mr. Gere.
# Posted on June 5th 2007 by Ray Mariani
Re: A new instrument for sessions?
Prize to the first person with a pin fastened on their fiddle bow.
# Posted on June 5th 2007 by geoffwright