Hi everybody. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how many of you take more than one to your local session? When I head out I usually take my flute and whistles (my piping isn't good enough for any session yet lol.)
Seriously though, I take two baritone ukuleles, a banjolele, a treble ukulele, a 'zouk, an Indian harmonium, a £49-99 keyboard/ piano from Argos, a Stylophone, a bugle and a glockenspiel. Anymore would be inappropriate to the tradition.
Configuration 1: Pipes on the lap, whistle and flute on the table. Maybe anglo concertina in a box under the table that I'll switch to from pipes if other pipers show up later.
Configuration 2: (channeling Jack Gilder) Flute on table, Anglo concertina in box on floor under table. Great for when I'm traveling by air, but inevitably I miss having the pipes.
Configuration 3: Bouzouki on stand, flute/whistle on table. When the weather is dry, I'm in zouk/backup kind of mood, or just don't want to deal with the freakin' pipes.
Configuration 4: Just the whistle from the seat pocket in my car. For those unplanned session opportunities when everything else it at home.
It depends entirely on the nature of the session.
Small session in a quite pub, I'll take a couple of instruments to add a bit of variety (there are always plenty of other fiddlers).
But big sessions and crowded pubs it's strictly one instrument. Anything you're not actually playing is fairly sure to get sat on/drowned in guiness/borrowed by the local not-quite-rightie when he gets bore with his shaky egg.
Re: Bringing more than one instrument to a session
Melodeon and whistles. If I can't be bothered to cart my box up and down Durham City or it's raining hard, then it's just a D and C whistle in my belt.
Banjo and mandolin, if there's a chance the mando will be heard. I'm working on getting flute up to session level - figure banjo and flute cover a wide range of expression.
I usually have my moving van double parked out front of the pub.
(I have EMT plates, so I never get ticketed.)
The key to the reat liftgate is then handed off to waitress.
She then, during the course of the evening, fetches the appropriate instruments as I request from the back, bringing them in and to my table with the handtruck.
For this extra service, I tip her an extra 50p, as she does have 6 young kids to support.
A symbiotic relationship.
And I do not have to hurt my back with the heavy stuff.
Pierce: I like your posting because it highlights the subtle difference between language & culture either side of the Ocean.
'moving van'- I assume that is 'Transit' or 'Luton' .
'EMT plates'- no idea what that is but I assume it's some sort of permit to allow you to park your vehicle anywhere.
'rear liftgate'- I don't think there is a London word for that but I think I know what you mean- the mechanical flappy thing on the back of vans to aid easy loading of heavy stuff.
'handtruck'- sack barrow
'waitress'- in pubs they are barmaids and you don't tip 'em!
Big Ed sometimes does viola at our session (it's his main instrument away from diddley dudley) and I like the visual joke of sitting next to him with the baritone uke. From the other end of the pub' the combination completely confuses the sense of proportion. And voila! It looks the smallest gu*tar and the biggest fiddle you've ever seen.
Re: Bringing more than one instrument to a session
strictly in order of priority
Flute,
C Whistle,
D Whistle,
SSP,
Boehm Flute,
F Flute, Low A Whistle
Which I bring depends seriously on the weight that I am prepared to lug on any particular night. I always start at the top of the list. Without one of the D Flutes I would not bother going to a session (unless just to listen). I would also tend not to pull the SSP out unless I am fairly sure some of the other people there know at least some of my tunes since my repertoire on the SSP is a bit more limited than on the flute and not quite aligned with the Irishyier sessions. Even on a good night, the SSP would not see more than 2 or three sets. No other instrument except the D Flute is likely to see more than one set, if it is played at all.
I could be perfectly happy at a session though, just with the Windward keyless D flute...
Nowadays; Bouzouki; english concertina; bodhran. But there are also, in the 'zouk case, a shaky egg, kazoo, goosecall, owlcall, and cuckoo call. ( Am I a bit of a bird man on the qt ? ).
Whereas the Other Half usually has a shopping bag AND a daypac, with flute, a sheaf of whistles, ukulele, washboard, bones, spoons, jews harp, and sometimes she brings the 5-string banjo as well !
This is for our regular sessions at the regular pub. Elsewhere I might only have the 'zouk, and she might only have whistle, flute, and the little bag of percussion and jews harp.
Reminds me of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain gag; a concert uke will burn for longer than a soprano, but in a resonator uke you can cook your sausages !
A moving van would be more like a lorry.
Big ol' box truck.
Emergency Medical Technician=EMT.
Medics, right?
You were spot on on the rest.
Over here, tipping is a different thing altogether.
The wife mentions that waitstaff and barstaff get less than the national minimum wage, due to the expectation of compensaton from gratuities.
"Seriously though, I take two baritone ukuleles, a banjolele, a treble ukulele, a 'zouk, an Indian harmonium, a £49-99 keyboard/ piano from Argos, a Stylophone, a bugle and a glockenspiel. Anymore would be inappropriate to the tradition..."
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by yhaalhouse
The mind reels, though the music maybe mazurks. If everyone brings a similarly bizarre complement of instruments to the same session, it must sound like a knees-up in the court of Cthulhu.
Actually, a string bass (or double bass or bass fiddle) is better than either a violin or a viola or even a cello because it is so much bigger than the other three stringed instruments. Just think how much beer you could put in an acoustic bass or how merry a fire it would make and how long that fire would (wood) burn.
I recommend drinking all of the beer first before you try to set the instrument on fire.
Would that be "The Court Of The Crimson Cthulhu" by King Crimson?
Would accordions, banjos, and bagpipes at the bottom of the ocean be instruments in the briny deep?
Would a saxophone and fiddles performing together be an example of sax and violins?
Especially if they are on television?
"I'd like to be your Salty Ball, if I can't be your man at all. Honey, let me be your Salty Ball."(words and music by either Anonymous or his dog, Author Unknown)
Brining more than one instrument to a session
Brining more than one instrument to a session
Hi everybody. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how many of you take more than one to your local session? When I head out I usually take my flute and whistles (my piping isn't good enough for any session yet lol.)
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by WishiwasIrish
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I thought this was gonna be about steeping your doodah in extremely salty water like what you do to preserve hot water bottles.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I thought it was going to be the-alternative-to-dubbin bodhran advice.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by Steve Shaw
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
If Wishi was Irish what national/ ethnic/ cultural indentity is Wishi now?
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Lately, in my neighborhood, we're more concerned with someone bringing more than one gun
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Seriously though, I take two baritone ukuleles, a banjolele, a treble ukulele, a 'zouk, an Indian harmonium, a £49-99 keyboard/ piano from Argos, a Stylophone, a bugle and a glockenspiel. Anymore would be inappropriate to the tradition.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Configuration 1: Pipes on the lap, whistle and flute on the table. Maybe anglo concertina in a box under the table that I'll switch to from pipes if other pipers show up later.
Configuration 2: (channeling Jack Gilder) Flute on table, Anglo concertina in box on floor under table. Great for when I'm traveling by air, but inevitably I miss having the pipes.
Configuration 3: Bouzouki on stand, flute/whistle on table. When the weather is dry, I'm in zouk/backup kind of mood, or just don't want to deal with the freakin' pipes.
Configuration 4: Just the whistle from the seat pocket in my car. For those unplanned session opportunities when everything else it at home.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by Michael Eskin
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Fiddle, C#/D or one-row or all three.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by curamach
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
It depends entirely on the nature of the session.
Small session in a quite pub, I'll take a couple of instruments to add a bit of variety (there are always plenty of other fiddlers).
But big sessions and crowded pubs it's strictly one instrument. Anything you're not actually playing is fairly sure to get sat on/drowned in guiness/borrowed by the local not-quite-rightie when he gets bore with his shaky egg.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by skreech
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
One Rhythm & One melody
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by edorian
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I usually take mandolin and concertina.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by Jiml
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Bodhran, mandolin, whistle, blues harps, guitar, and various "bits" essential for percussion.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by bodhran bliss
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Flute, a whistle, and a shakey egg to pull out for humor.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by ElaineT
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
fiddle and flute. sometimes low whistle.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I need to get a shakey egg. Kalimba would be a useful weapon too. Ocarina. Wood block. Anything cheap/small/irksome.
Pipes/flute/piccolo/fiddle. Also have a melodica I can plug into the pipes bag but don't lug it around anymore.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by KLR
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I usually take both a fiddle and a concertina.
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by fiddlentina
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I know a guy who takes a whistle a set of spoons and a brief case crammed with music sheets.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Free Reed
Re: Bringing more than one instrument to a session
Melodeon and whistles. If I can't be bothered to cart my box up and down Durham City or it's raining hard, then it's just a D and C whistle in my belt.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by nicholas
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Guitar and banjo, and don't upset me or I'll start singing!
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Tony O'Rourke
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Banjo and mandolin, if there's a chance the mando will be heard. I'm working on getting flute up to session level - figure banjo and flute cover a wide range of expression.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by will morgan
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Concertina, and sometimes fiddle.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by snorre
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/22497
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by gam
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Flute generally with a whistle or two, if I know the session I may take the bouzouki.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Why Bother?
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
A fiddle, and usually a bow as well.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by tradshark
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Arrows optional?
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Bruce
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Dondo, Djembe and a lambeg to pull out for humour.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Weejie
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Mobile phone, house key, taxi fare, sackful of harmonicas.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Steve Shaw
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I usually have my moving van double parked out front of the pub.
(I have EMT plates, so I never get ticketed.)
The key to the reat liftgate is then handed off to waitress.
She then, during the course of the evening, fetches the appropriate instruments as I request from the back, bringing them in and to my table with the handtruck.
For this extra service, I tip her an extra 50p, as she does have 6 young kids to support.
A symbiotic relationship.
And I do not have to hurt my back with the heavy stuff.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Piece
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Pierce: I like your posting because it highlights the subtle difference between language & culture either side of the Ocean.
'moving van'- I assume that is 'Transit' or 'Luton' .
'EMT plates'- no idea what that is but I assume it's some sort of permit to allow you to park your vehicle anywhere.
'rear liftgate'- I don't think there is a London word for that but I think I know what you mean- the mechanical flappy thing on the back of vans to aid easy loading of heavy stuff.
'handtruck'- sack barrow
'waitress'- in pubs they are barmaids and you don't tip 'em!
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Brining??? brining instruments?? pickled fiddles
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by mcknowall
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
fiddle and viola
(Though Yaalhouse will probably read that as "fiddle and vwala", and in french for "ta da")
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by ...
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
(my bodhran with the red circle and diagonal red line painted accross it in dulux gloss lives in the pub)
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by ...
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Big Ed sometimes does viola at our session (it's his main instrument away from diddley dudley) and I like the visual joke of sitting next to him with the baritone uke. From the other end of the pub' the combination completely confuses the sense of proportion. And voila! It looks the smallest gu*tar and the biggest fiddle you've ever seen.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I've met that bloke Big Ed ... his viola is bigger than mine.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by ...
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
It's not the size. It's what you do with it!
Ooh er Matron!
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
That's what I told Big Ed
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by ...
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Why is the viola a better instrument than the violin?
It burns longer...
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
It only burns longer on 25 January
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by ...
Re: Bringing more than one instrument to a session
strictly in order of priority
Flute,
C Whistle,
D Whistle,
SSP,
Boehm Flute,
F Flute, Low A Whistle
Which I bring depends seriously on the weight that I am prepared to lug on any particular night. I always start at the top of the list. Without one of the D Flutes I would not bother going to a session (unless just to listen). I would also tend not to pull the SSP out unless I am fairly sure some of the other people there know at least some of my tunes since my repertoire on the SSP is a bit more limited than on the flute and not quite aligned with the Irishyier sessions. Even on a good night, the SSP would not see more than 2 or three sets. No other instrument except the D Flute is likely to see more than one set, if it is played at all.
I could be perfectly happy at a session though, just with the Windward keyless D flute...
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Crackpot
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
http://jokes.contentavailable.com/i/Instrument_Jokes/Viola_jokes/10620/
The bodhran of the orchestral world.....
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Weejie
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Nowadays; Bouzouki; english concertina; bodhran. But there are also, in the 'zouk case, a shaky egg, kazoo, goosecall, owlcall, and cuckoo call. ( Am I a bit of a bird man on the qt ? ).
Whereas the Other Half usually has a shopping bag AND a daypac, with flute, a sheaf of whistles, ukulele, washboard, bones, spoons, jews harp, and sometimes she brings the 5-string banjo as well !
This is for our regular sessions at the regular pub. Elsewhere I might only have the 'zouk, and she might only have whistle, flute, and the little bag of percussion and jews harp.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
"Why is the viola a better instrument than the violin?
It burns longer..."
Actually, it's a better instrument because it holds more beer.
Or is that the reason why it burns longer?
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by banshee misfortune
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Reminds me of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain gag; a concert uke will burn for longer than a soprano, but in a resonator uke you can cook your sausages !
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by Guernsey Pete
This is all so fabulously off topic! I love it!
Far Side cartoon: "Welcome to Heaven, here's your harp." "Welcome to Hell, here's your accordian."
http://img13.imageshack.us/i/accordionfarsidecartoon.gif/
Adapted: "Welcome to Hell, here's your harp." "Welcome to Heaven, here's your tuning key."
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Ah luv dose ol wunz moother...
What's the definition of a gentleman?
Someone who can play the accordian but chooses not to.
# Posted on April 15th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Hi, yhaalhouse:
Language, I love it, too.
A moving van would be more like a lorry.
Big ol' box truck.
Emergency Medical Technician=EMT.
Medics, right?
You were spot on on the rest.
Over here, tipping is a different thing altogether.
The wife mentions that waitstaff and barstaff get less than the national minimum wage, due to the expectation of compensaton from gratuities.
Vis a vis, they survive off their tips.
# Posted on April 16th 2011 by Piece
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
"Seriously though, I take two baritone ukuleles, a banjolele, a treble ukulele, a 'zouk, an Indian harmonium, a £49-99 keyboard/ piano from Argos, a Stylophone, a bugle and a glockenspiel. Anymore would be inappropriate to the tradition..."
# Posted on April 14th 2011 by yhaalhouse
The mind reels, though the music maybe mazurks. If everyone brings a similarly bizarre complement of instruments to the same session, it must sound like a knees-up in the court of Cthulhu.
Any YouTubes of this, yhaalhouse?!?
# Posted on April 16th 2011 by nicholas
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I usually have 8. A guitar, and 7 harmonicas. Playing all 8 simultaneously gets a bit atonal though
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by harmonic miner
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Brining an instrument? ........ er .. em .. Does that mean you soak it, perhaps overnight, in very salty water?
OK perhaps you'd like to list the instruments you'd like to see brined ........ & why!
Cheers
Dick
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by Ptarmigan
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
"OK perhaps you'd like to list the instruments you'd like to see brined ..."
A whistle in sea.
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by Weejie
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
A Saltarelle accordion.
Plucked and bowed psaltery.
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by Weejie
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Saxaphone
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by ethical blend
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Hmm.. I wondered about a Stylophone. If its trad enough for yhaalhouse, its trad enough for me.
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by harmonic miner
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
I wonder what happened to Wishi Washi (or wotteffah) the OP?
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
What's a Stylophone got to do with salt?
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by ethical blend
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Decided he only wanted to brine one instrument after all. Mmmm. salty fiddles...
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Now why is that reminding me of "Chocolate Salty Balls"?
# Posted on April 17th 2011 by ethical blend
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
Actually, a string bass (or double bass or bass fiddle) is better than either a violin or a viola or even a cello because it is so much bigger than the other three stringed instruments. Just think how much beer you could put in an acoustic bass or how merry a fire it would make and how long that fire would (wood) burn.
I recommend drinking all of the beer first before you try to set the instrument on fire.
Would that be "The Court Of The Crimson Cthulhu" by King Crimson?
Would accordions, banjos, and bagpipes at the bottom of the ocean be instruments in the briny deep?
Would a saxophone and fiddles performing together be an example of sax and violins?
Especially if they are on television?
Laurence
# Posted on April 18th 2011 by fauxcelt
Re: Brining more than one instrument to a session
"I'd like to be your Salty Ball, if I can't be your man at all. Honey, let me be your Salty Ball."(words and music by either Anonymous or his dog, Author Unknown)
Laurence
# Posted on April 19th 2011 by fauxcelt