Celestina

After hearing a NPR special on the Celestina I had to look it up. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wolff/mechmusic/Celestina/Celestina.htm
Celestina
It makes a very ethereal sound.

Doumbek Drum

I got my doumbek out today, dusted it off, and found some tutorials on line to help me brush up my skills and learn new ones. I wish this tutorial thing had been around in the 70's when I first got my drum. Or maybe it was early 80's. At any rate, I took a few lessons before my money ran out, and for years I didn't learn anything new. So I'm glad to see progress.

Musical Instruments I Have Played

I was pondering the different musical instruments that have come and gone throughout my life. When I was a eight, my parents got us an upright piano so I got to take a few lessons on that. And I remember a neighbor letting us try out her organ.

My father had a trumpet he would play once in a while. I was going to play it in the high school band, but my sister decided she was older so she should get to play it, and my mother said neither of us could. Later on my younger sister did play it in a band of some kind.

In high school I took guitar, choir and snare drum. Come to think of it I was in choir in grammar school, Jr. high and high school.

In college I kept on with the guitar. And somewhere along the way I started playing dumbek. I also have a clarinet I toyed with, a fife, numerous recorders, rattles and so on.

And then about 1999 I bought a mandolin on Ebay. Sad to say I'm not really very good at any of them. I could be a one woman band. Oh and I forgot the didgeridoos we made.

Symphonies

I was most intrigued by a PBS special I just watched about freelance orchestra musicians in the San Francisco, CA area. If you think that might interest you they have a website here. To see their dedication to their careers is very inspiring. I particularly liked Robin, who plays the cello. I can see he clearly loves his work. People with that kind of passion are so appealing to me.

Didge

Last night I pulled my didgeridoo down off the wall and played it until my lips were tingly. In my case that's about five minutes. Then my boyfriend asked me to keep it down so he could watch the Family Guy. To which I said, "You mean people actually watch that on purpose."

Where Does Music Come From

I was talking on line about playing guitar and I realized that if you have the heart of a bard, you can turn even the most mundane of objects into an instrument. In ancient times and even today in primitive cultures, they don't get their instruments at fancy high end music shops. They use what is at hand. Reeds and bamboo to make flutes, gourds to make rattles, drums and banjos, sticks to make percussion instruments, hollowed out logs to make droning instruments and so on. So even if you are broke that is no reason not to get up and make some noise. Remember when you were a kid and you filled an empty plastic container with bottle caps or beans and made a rattle? So no more saying you can't be a musician without a $2,000 instrument. The rhythm is inside you. And me. And everyone.

I just signed up for Tagfoot. http://ping.fm/lfV6m Come see all my links and comments and my wishlist.