Hey everyone. I'm a new member and was just wondering if anybody knew anything about getting a Charango over to Ireland, and what problems I might encounter with the possible humidity and the wood warping, etc.
I'm not interested in a beginners model, and was looking at BoliviaMall.Org, but I found a number of complaints about the company, including them shipping and refusing to exchange a damaged $400 Ronroco. I've also looked into Bob Brozman, but he only offers two models.
Would anybody have any experience or insight into getting my hands on a fairly decent example of these beautiful instruments?
You shouldn't have any problems with humidity unless you leave it out in the rain. Bolivia is not exactly a desert. Ask the vendor to insure it and have it sent by a reputable delivery service.
Stupid posters with unfunny jokes just clog up the works here. Too much time on their hands? Too stupid to read a book?
God forbid they should practice an instrument or become able to play a tune.
I'm in the office right now and I don't think my colleagues (or the undergrads taking exams in this building!) would appreciate the pipes right now. I'm boring holes in my brain trying to decipher some pretty illegible 19th century handwriting. So making really bad jokes is a welcome distraction.
Why whinge about a few wise-arse comments. Some of them are even funny! They're selling senses of humour at the pound store.
Gee, who peed in your cheerios? The silly jokes are part of the deal, my friend.
(or were you referring to the original post? Charango in ITM is an unfunny joke indeed!)
ChUrango/chArango in diddley might not be such a 'joke' at all. Possibly a tad far-fetched; but way better than saxophone, or cello, IMHO. Far more important: When will the chip shops of Britain and Ireland discover the guinea pig?
The potato and the cuy both came from Peru, but the cuy never caught on. I don't know why.
I've always thought the Tiple would work well with Irish music because both emphasize the treble. I would never buy any of those ethnicky instruments sight unseen.
Gotta go down and talk to your boy, Evo Morales over some cuy and cervecitas and he'll hook you up with a Charango.
jaysus!..and here I was thinking I was the only one...I`m in the process of accquiring one for myself here in Chile at the moment. Not nearly as plentiful here in Santiago as they are in Bolivia, and furthermore the vast majority (to be found in santiago) are of bolivian origin. I definitely wouldn`t trust going through a website such as Boliviamall.org.
They have many beautiful charangos on offer (at often exhorbitant prices), but the issue of tuning is paramount and their shipping policy is dodgy at best.
Best to get in touch with a luthier such as Quispe Torres(whom I`d highly recommend incidentally) and hope for the best!!
150 - 200 euros should get you a fine instrument.
Finally please avoid anything that comes with ears attached and/or wonderful "ethnic" carvings of lllamas/che guevara etc...
good luck!!
I suppose *someone* has to be the Robin Williamson or Andy Irvine of now, introducing a sackful of weird instruments from some weird corner of the world and changing the course of folk / trad in its bed...good luck anyway! Just so long as the things don't turn out to be total session-killers and the cane toads of music, that is.
Cane toads were introduced to Australia from SE Asia (I think) to eat crop pests. They bred right out of control and started eating their way through all sorts of other endemic fauna as well - that's the reference.
I've seen a wooden frog in a session with a ridged back, which is played by running a stick along it, very like a washboard...
You should buy one in Bolivia. Boliviamall is a rip-off. A really decent one will be $600-1000. Do not worry about the changes in temp etc-- good wood will be OK. I can pass you on to Gil Godimier, a French musicologist and musician I know who works in La Paz every summer, and you can email him-- he knows every builder and seller. PM me.
Only thing with charangos is, they are incredibly quiet (always amped when played live) and there are an awful lot of strings and weird tunings. I wanted to buy one when last in La Paz but decided against it-- it simply doesn't work for sessions, and the tunign is so weird you have to re-learn eveythign you know re: guitar, mando etc. If you are going to play non-inca music with it, it really lends itself to jazz!
There is a very fine charango maker in Bridport, Dorset called Dan Williams. I play a charango and cuatro made by Dan and he is, currently, restoring a Jonathan Hinves charango for me. Hinves doesn't make charangos any more. His website is http://www.danwilliams.co.uk
By the way, I've played charango on many a trad/folk track. It can work very well.
The normal charango is tuned (from the bottom) GG, CC, LowEHighE, AA, HighEHighE. It can handle everything from almost inaudible to EXTREMELY LOUD. If anyone has any questions about my stuff, feel free to e-mail them to me through my website.
Charangos and Dublin
Charangos and Dublin
Hey everyone. I'm a new member and was just wondering if anybody knew anything about getting a Charango over to Ireland, and what problems I might encounter with the possible humidity and the wood warping, etc.
I'm not interested in a beginners model, and was looking at BoliviaMall.Org, but I found a number of complaints about the company, including them shipping and refusing to exchange a damaged $400 Ronroco. I've also looked into Bob Brozman, but he only offers two models.
Would anybody have any experience or insight into getting my hands on a fairly decent example of these beautiful instruments?
Thank you.
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by adamokeefe
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Getting a Charango to Ireland is well and good but who is going to feed it? What does it eat? Can you breed them with a Ronroco?
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by iwerzon
Re: Charangos and Dublin
I'd have friends do it. I hear they are tiny but vicious., and that they eat the firstborn of a litter of kittens, exclusively.
And of course you can breed therm with Ronrocos. Where do you think Waylacho's come from?
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by adamokeefe
Re: Charangos and Dublin
They are horrible! Many people don't believe in them but my aunt was attacked by one a few years ago. Area livestock will be devastated!
http://www.weird-encyclopedia.com/chupacabras.php
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by shanty
Re: Charangos and Dublin
You shouldn't have any problems with humidity unless you leave it out in the rain. Bolivia is not exactly a desert. Ask the vendor to insure it and have it sent by a reputable delivery service.
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by gam
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Don't you hunt them with burlap sacks?
Oh, wait.... that's snipes. Or maybe haggis.
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Stupid posters with unfunny jokes just clog up the works here. Too much time on their hands? Too stupid to read a book?
God forbid they should practice an instrument or become able to play a tune.
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by David Levine
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Lighten up, dude.
I'm in the office right now and I don't think my colleagues (or the undergrads taking exams in this building!) would appreciate the pipes right now. I'm boring holes in my brain trying to decipher some pretty illegible 19th century handwriting. So making really bad jokes is a welcome distraction.
Why whinge about a few wise-arse comments. Some of them are even funny! They're selling senses of humour at the pound store.
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Gee, who peed in your cheerios? The silly jokes are part of the deal, my friend.
(or were you referring to the original post? Charango in ITM is an unfunny joke indeed!)
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Cocus: do you go to the same session as brians? He was also funny about being funny. Funny really!
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by yhaalhouse
Re: Charangos and Dublin
ChUrango/chArango in diddley might not be such a 'joke' at all. Possibly a tad far-fetched; but way better than saxophone, or cello, IMHO. Far more important: When will the chip shops of Britain and Ireland discover the guinea pig?
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Charangos and Dublin
The potato and the cuy both came from Peru, but the cuy never caught on. I don't know why.
I've always thought the Tiple would work well with Irish music because both emphasize the treble. I would never buy any of those ethnicky instruments sight unseen.
Gotta go down and talk to your boy, Evo Morales over some cuy and cervecitas and he'll hook you up with a Charango.
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by Dzia Dzia
Re: Charangos and Dublin
jaysus!..and here I was thinking I was the only one...I`m in the process of accquiring one for myself here in Chile at the moment. Not nearly as plentiful here in Santiago as they are in Bolivia, and furthermore the vast majority (to be found in santiago) are of bolivian origin. I definitely wouldn`t trust going through a website such as Boliviamall.org.
They have many beautiful charangos on offer (at often exhorbitant prices), but the issue of tuning is paramount and their shipping policy is dodgy at best.
Best to get in touch with a luthier such as Quispe Torres(whom I`d highly recommend incidentally) and hope for the best!!
150 - 200 euros should get you a fine instrument.
Finally please avoid anything that comes with ears attached and/or wonderful "ethnic" carvings of lllamas/che guevara etc...
good luck!!
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by laguacamaya
Re: Charangos and Dublin
What about llama and puma decorative motifs on pipe sets?
# Posted on May 18th 2010 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Thank you master cocus, may I have another. Here's a book for you...I'm too stupid to read it but I've looked at the pictures....
http://www.amazon.com/Chupacabras-Other-Mysteries-Scott-Corrales/dp/1883729068/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274239366&sr=8-2-spell
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by shanty
Re: Charangos and Dublin
I suppose *someone* has to be the Robin Williamson or Andy Irvine of now, introducing a sackful of weird instruments from some weird corner of the world and changing the course of folk / trad in its bed...good luck anyway! Just so long as the things don't turn out to be total session-killers and the cane toads of music, that is.
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by nicholas
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Didn't Ovation make one of those, replacing the Armadillo skin with Lyrachord?
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by harmonic miner
Re: Charangos and Dublin
What? You can play a cane toad now? Is it like a type of percussion instrument? A shaky toad instead of a shaky egg.
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Cane toads were introduced to Australia from SE Asia (I think) to eat crop pests. They bred right out of control and started eating their way through all sorts of other endemic fauna as well - that's the reference.
I've seen a wooden frog in a session with a ridged back, which is played by running a stick along it, very like a washboard...
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by nicholas
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Yes ,there was definitely an Ovation Frogarango available in the 70's, didn't Mike Oldfield play on on Tubular Bells.
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by harmonic miner
Re: Charangos and Dublin
hI THERE--
You should buy one in Bolivia. Boliviamall is a rip-off. A really decent one will be $600-1000. Do not worry about the changes in temp etc-- good wood will be OK. I can pass you on to Gil Godimier, a French musicologist and musician I know who works in La Paz every summer, and you can email him-- he knows every builder and seller. PM me.
Only thing with charangos is, they are incredibly quiet (always amped when played live) and there are an awful lot of strings and weird tunings. I wanted to buy one when last in La Paz but decided against it-- it simply doesn't work for sessions, and the tunign is so weird you have to re-learn eveythign you know re: guitar, mando etc. If you are going to play non-inca music with it, it really lends itself to jazz!
chris
# Posted on May 19th 2010 by chris stolz
Re: Charangos and Dublin
There is a very fine charango maker in Bridport, Dorset called Dan Williams. I play a charango and cuatro made by Dan and he is, currently, restoring a Jonathan Hinves charango for me. Hinves doesn't make charangos any more. His website is
http://www.danwilliams.co.uk
By the way, I've played charango on many a trad/folk track. It can work very well.
# Posted on May 20th 2010 by Chief Wanganui
Re: Charangos and Dublin
Hate to bring this further off track but parts of Bolivia are desert.. several different types of desert, actually.
# Posted on May 20th 2010 by gravelwalks
Re: Charangos and Dublin
cHIEF-- how do you tune your charango, and hwo loud is it?
# Posted on May 20th 2010 by chris stolz
Re: Charangos and Dublin
The normal charango is tuned (from the bottom) GG, CC, LowEHighE, AA, HighEHighE. It can handle everything from almost inaudible to EXTREMELY LOUD. If anyone has any questions about my stuff, feel free to e-mail them to me through my website.
# Posted on May 21st 2010 by Chief Wanganui