I was playing flute today at home, and after I stopped I heard a harmonic resonance coming from somewhere in the house. I tracked it down to banjo hanging on the wall.
I made sure the flute and banjo were in tune with each other as I could make them (banjo in tune? flute in tune? oxymorons abound), and then played flute about 2 inches away from the bridge of the banjo. It was glorious! Beautiful and rich overtones ... finally my banjo has found a use!
Kevin Burke on banjos: "When they're great they're good."
Eliot on Banjos: "They make great acoustic echoplex machines."
I used to have an old coalbucket that would resonate when I played fiddle near it - can't remember which note though - maybe it was open D? You could try laying the banjo flat and putting a bit of sand on it - study the vibration patterns...
Ah sympathetic strings!!! Love them. I often hold the sustain pedal in the piano down in college while playing something slow. Very nice. Fair play for noticing... next of all we'll have sympathetic banjo players!!! What an evolution! -- it all started at the session.org folks!!!
:D
I can't contribute to the thread in any sensible way, but I should like to congratulate you for what is by far the wittiest thread title for a very long time.
A few months ago, I started to hear a loud rattling noise whenever I played a C on the A string of my fiddle. Turns out my chinrest had come a bit loose, and rattled at precisely that frequency.
I found this many years ago in college when one of my roommates would walk into the room and say something. The five string banjo on the wall, & that's all it was fit for at the time, would ring in sympathy with his voice. Drove him up the wall, I loved it! It only seemed to ring for him & he, being an early American "punk" aficionado, had absolutely no appreciation of the acoustics involved. Ah well.....
Eliot - I've had the same experience with my banjo (which at best plays a few polkas very poorly), but I often practice flute near it just for the sonorous tones it creates.
I too have noticed this. It also works to some effect with my mando, but it's less pronounced. You can get it to work by playing any of the open string notes (G, D, A, E)
The lower notes like D, G, and A seem to work better
This brings to mind a few things.
My friend found the resonant frequency of our chimney flue by accident when it sounded a lovely deep note in response to her singing an "A".
Playing the piano one day I wondered what the rattle was, coming from the top of the piano - then discovered it was a pencil rattling inside a glass every time a certain note was played.
And - a slightly different phenomenon - have you ever heard a harp in the wind? What a lovely sound. But I heard they used to burn people at the stake for witchcraft if their harps sang in the wind... Thank goodness for more "enlightened" times.
I was playing guitar at a historical re-enactment campsite some years ago. Someone yelled "fire in the hole" -- the signal that a loud gun is about to go off -- so I clapped my hands over my ears as the guy fired a cannon across the field from me. When I uncovered my ears, my "A" string was ringing. It's happened since, with some smaller firearms -- all flintlocks -- but it's always the "A' string that resonates.
A friend of mine had his banjo in the back seat of his car and forgot to lock the car in a parking lot. Unfortunately, when he came back to the car, there was another banjo in the back seat next to his.
During my childhood our old dog Tess, a terrier of no fixed origin, used to growl disturbingly whenever anyone played the piano. My father's trumpet would often drive her to tail-chasing frenzy while my own attempts on the whistle led to rapid demands to be released outside to chase whatever 'demons' were lurking in 'her' garden. When I began playing the harmonica she did genuinely once cover both her ears with her paws.
She's now working as a reviewer for 'Irish Music' magazine. :-p
Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Flamebait title, but wait!!
I was playing flute today at home, and after I stopped I heard a harmonic resonance coming from somewhere in the house. I tracked it down to banjo hanging on the wall.
I made sure the flute and banjo were in tune with each other as I could make them (banjo in tune? flute in tune? oxymorons abound), and then played flute about 2 inches away from the bridge of the banjo. It was glorious! Beautiful and rich overtones ... finally my banjo has found a use!
Kevin Burke on banjos: "When they're great they're good."
Eliot on Banjos: "They make great acoustic echoplex machines."
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Eliot
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
I used to have an old coalbucket that would resonate when I played fiddle near it - can't remember which note though - maybe it was open D? You could try laying the banjo flat and putting a bit of sand on it - study the vibration patterns...
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by airport
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Same thing happens with harps
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by FidDLe01
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Ah sympathetic strings!!! Love them. I often hold the sustain pedal in the piano down in college while playing something slow. Very nice. Fair play for noticing... next of all we'll have sympathetic banjo players!!! What an evolution! -- it all started at the session.org folks!!!
:D
M.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by martin t
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
I can't contribute to the thread in any sensible way, but I should like to congratulate you for what is by far the wittiest thread title for a very long time.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
A few months ago, I started to hear a loud rattling noise whenever I played a C on the A string of my fiddle. Turns out my chinrest had come a bit loose, and rattled at precisely that frequency.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
I found this many years ago in college when one of my roommates would walk into the room and say something. The five string banjo on the wall, & that's all it was fit for at the time, would ring in sympathy with his voice. Drove him up the wall, I loved it! It only seemed to ring for him & he, being an early American "punk" aficionado, had absolutely no appreciation of the acoustics involved. Ah well.....
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by ed veras
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Eliot - I've had the same experience with my banjo (which at best plays a few polkas very poorly), but I often practice flute near it just for the sonorous tones it creates.
Eric in KC
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Jayhawk
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
I too have noticed this. It also works to some effect with my mando, but it's less pronounced. You can get it to work by playing any of the open string notes (G, D, A, E)
The lower notes like D, G, and A seem to work better
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by rob_handel
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
I could always make my Boston Terrier yowl when the flute went into the second (and third?) octave, but then that's definitely another thread.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by jtrout
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
This brings to mind a few things.
My friend found the resonant frequency of our chimney flue by accident when it sounded a lovely deep note in response to her singing an "A".
Playing the piano one day I wondered what the rattle was, coming from the top of the piano - then discovered it was a pencil rattling inside a glass every time a certain note was played.
And - a slightly different phenomenon - have you ever heard a harp in the wind? What a lovely sound. But I heard they used to burn people at the stake for witchcraft if their harps sang in the wind... Thank goodness for more "enlightened" times.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by buttons 'n' whistles
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Perfect Pitch - getting a banjo into a skip (dumpster) from 10 yards without touching the sides.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by iwerzon
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
My tenor does this too as it sits in the corner with the guitar and mando. It even resonates my sons' voices as they holler at each other.
"Will you kids keep it down in here?!? I can hear your yelping ringing off the banjo!!!"
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Found the same effect with my singing voice and empty coffin.
(Bought my coffin, "Sleepy," at a discount and use it propped upright as a closet. Swing open the small upper lid for shirt access.)
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
I was playing guitar at a historical re-enactment campsite some years ago. Someone yelled "fire in the hole" -- the signal that a loud gun is about to go off -- so I clapped my hands over my ears as the guy fired a cannon across the field from me. When I uncovered my ears, my "A" string was ringing. It's happened since, with some smaller firearms -- all flintlocks -- but it's always the "A' string that resonates.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by cuchulain54
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
A friend of mine had his banjo in the back seat of his car and forgot to lock the car in a parking lot. Unfortunately, when he came back to the car, there was another banjo in the back seat next to his.
Does that resonate with you?
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Ailin
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
During my childhood our old dog Tess, a terrier of no fixed origin, used to growl disturbingly whenever anyone played the piano. My father's trumpet would often drive her to tail-chasing frenzy while my own attempts on the whistle led to rapid demands to be released outside to chase whatever 'demons' were lurking in 'her' garden. When I began playing the harmonica she did genuinely once cover both her ears with her paws.
She's now working as a reviewer for 'Irish Music' magazine. :-p
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
A cautionary tale, Ailin. Sad, really...
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
Iwerzon, sorry but your definition of 'perfect pitch' needs expansion.
It's tossing a banjo into a skip and hearing it crush a B/C accordion as it landed.
# Posted on February 8th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: Finally, a musical use for a banjo...
as a banjo playing accordionist I quickly saw the logic of opening a cushioned skip hire business and thereby made my first million.....
# Posted on February 10th 2008 by millionyears_bc