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Help: un favorite instruments
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Subject: un favorite instruments From: kendall Date: 02 Nov 00 - 07:17 PM I'm thinking it's time to get away from politics and do something in the music line. I'm curious to know what instruments you DONT like, and why? I'm willing to stick my neck out and start. I dont like the bowed psaltry. It has an irritating zing to it which seems to be on a frequency which I find annoying.Sounds like a fly under a shingle. I also dont like the Saxophone. They sound like a big Kazoo to me. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Matt_R Date: 02 Nov 00 - 07:32 PM I don't think theirs an instrument I don't like. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: hesperis Date: 02 Nov 00 - 07:44 PM Oboe. Because I can't play it. (If somebody can actually PLAY it, I love the sound, but if it's me - forget it!) |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Lonesome Gillette Date: 02 Nov 00 - 08:24 PM Roto-toms |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: pict Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:24 PM I'm not very keen on solo accordions they're not so bad in a ceilidh band with other instruments to cover up their sound a bit but on their own they're definitely not for me. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:31 PM Then you've never heard the accordion played the way it should be. Which is very likely because there's an awful lot of people mistreating the poor instrument.
And that goes for pretty well any instrument. They can all sound bloody awful, but so can we all if we're being tortured.
I'm not sure if a drum machine counts as an instrument, but that is definitely an abomination for me. I suppose it might be possible to play the bongos in a way that doesn't put it in the same class. Maybe.
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: alison Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:35 PM sorry to any players.. but I second that bowed psaltery comment.... slainte alison |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Allan C. Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:36 PM I'm not quite sure if you could call these instuments (except as instruments of torture;) but I really can't stand the animal music recordings which often appear during the winter holidays. Yapping dogs, quacking ducks, and more recently, grunting pigs. The novelty of these things is so short-lived that after the first two "musical" bars, I am ready to be elsewhere. Unfortunately, I am among a minority, I guess. The shops seem to delight in blaring such stuff over the P.A. systems. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: MK Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:48 PM Alto sax. (Give me a tenor any day over an alto, or for that matter even a baritone or a soprano.) |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: catspaw49 Date: 02 Nov 00 - 09:59 PM I dunno' Michael.....Depends on who's hands the thing is in. I can't take Kenny G. although I don't mind soprano, but its hard to beat Paul Desmond or the Bird on an alto. I agree that tenor is a more malleable and smoky sound. I love bari, but it gets badly mistreated a lot. And Kendall, sax is like anything else in that it depends on the player and style, not to mention the mouthpiece and reed combination. Want a real hideous but fun sound? Try a table dulcimer....4 lap dulcimers sharing a soundbox. Now get 4 average players and go at it. Completely hideous and totally hilarious. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: CarolC Date: 02 Nov 00 - 10:06 PM I agree with McGrath of Harlow. In music class when I was in elementary school, our music teacher taught me to absolutely-bloody-hate autoharps. I never knew what a delight they could be until I heard my friend Don play the 'harp. Mind you, Don is, in my opinion, the worlds best autoharp player (better, even, than Bryan Bowers...sorry, but I've heard them both up close). But at least I now have an open mind about them, where before, I would rather have left the room than listen to one being played. Carol |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: pict Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:04 PM McGrath I've heard Phil Cunningham play the accordion and he is virtuosic but it's really the general timbre of the instrument I don't like.My music dealer is the main importer of accordions to Denmark and is a well known accordionist in DK so I hear very expensive accordions being played in his shop regularly and I am always glad to get out of earshot of them but unlike a previous poster I love the sound of the saxophone obviously it's a case of different timbres for different hombres. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: MK Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:16 PM Your points are well taken 'Spaw. My appreciation of the sonic qualities of the alto sax, was ruined by listening to one too many *Van Morrison and *David Bowie solos. Perhaps a renewed and thorough listen to Bird and Desmond will sweep it all clean again. *BG* *Great songwriters/performers who should have let real pros handle the alto sax solos, but oops...their egos got in the way. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Ebbie Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:20 PM The accordion is not usually a favorite instrument of mine but there is a man here in town (Dale Wygant) who does amazing things with it. I remember one time he was accompanying an International Folk Dance recital. At one point he said, This next piece is Hungarian- and it has 11 beats to the measure. I counted, and sure enough I thought I counted more than 10 beats. Then he said, OK, this next piece is Bulgarian and it has 13 beats to the measure. But no problem; I'll just add 2 beats. I gave up! Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: GUEST,Bardford Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:21 PM Spoons. In considerate, practised hands they can subtly sculpt a living, dancing vertabral column onto a tune. In the hands of the other 99.999999 percent however, the spoons are utensils of rude horror. Culinarily yours, Bardford |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: CBjames Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:23 PM I don't believe I ever heard of a psaltery before. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Matt_R Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:23 PM What's the matter with you people??? Accordions RULE!!! |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: sophocleese Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:26 PM Shocking millions of people world wide I will say that I am not a fan of church organs. I just get bored. We had Diane Bish here in Orillia to play a new organ in one of the churches and I was delighted to stay home and look after the kids so my husband could go with his family. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Peter Kasin Date: 02 Nov 00 - 11:45 PM I don't know if there's an instrument I really hate, but I hate hearing certain instruments brought in where I don't think they're appropriate - where they don't fit in (personal opinion, of course) with the particular music at hand, but fit in nicely elsewhere. The other annoyance is percussive instruments played badly and often. Yes, Guest Bardford, I hear you! As Spaw mentioned, Bird on alto was something special. He made it soar. You might want to listen to him and Miles Davis together on the piece "Ko Ko." It's a masterpiece! Agreed that bad alto playing sounds..well..bad. Like a goose in heat. Parker did record once on tenor. Look for "Birth Of The BeBop: Bird On Tenor, 1943." Recorded privately during the record ban, and reissued on CD. -chanteyranger |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: hesperis Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:10 AM Don't forget Cannonball Adderly! Didn't he play alto for Miles Davis on 'Blue and Green'? I love that one!!! I always found alto to be smoother than tenor, and without the annoying reediness of soprano in the wrong hands. It depends on the player, and the style of music, and the reed. Inexperienced players tend to use the wrong thickness of reed, or are unable to play a hard reed, which is better for harder jazz. But I used to play tenor and alto, so I'm a wee byt biased. Okay, what is a 'bowed psaltery'? (Actually, what's a 'psaltery'? No sick jokes please.) Wait, what did I just say?! |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: ddw Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:29 AM I'll see Sopho's dislike for church organs and raise you one HATE church organs. Also not fond of electric guitars, but particularly dislike most of the old hollow-bodies like the Les Pauls. And it's pretty rare that I hear a penny whistle that doesn't annoy the hell out of me. Other than those and a few (far from all) Asian and African instruments, I can't think of any I don't like if they're played well. I even love good jugs, gut-buckets and washboards. david |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: ddw Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:35 AM hesperis — to get a look at a bowed psaltery click here david |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: CarolC Date: 03 Nov 00 - 02:19 AM Yeah! What Matt R said! The bowed psaltery is actually a very ancient instrument. I have recordings of pieces from the late 13th century that were, appropriately, played on the bowed psaltry. Both of these pieces are English, but if my memory serves me correctly, the psaltery did not originate in England, and in fact probably probably came into being much earlier than the 13th century. (Someone correct me if I am wrong on this.) When this instrument is used to play early music (prior to the Baroque era), it can be very beautiful in combination with instruments such as harps, lutes, vielle, and also voice. There are also "plucked" psaltery. Carol |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Ebbie Date: 03 Nov 00 - 03:26 AM but I hate hearing certain instruments brought in where I don't think they're appropriate - where they don't fit in (personal opinion, of course) with the particular music at hand, but fit in nicely elsewhere.Chanteyranger, when I read that, I recalled my reaction when a didgeridoo briefly joined our New England/Cape Breton/Old Timey contra dance and square dance band. Now, there's nothing wrong with it in its place and I can even quite enjoy it on occasion but there? As far as I'm concerned, it's a didgeridon't. Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Patrish(inactive) Date: 03 Nov 00 - 04:02 AM I am not fond of the Hurdy Gurdy. Patrish |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Ella who is Sooze Date: 03 Nov 00 - 04:54 AM I hate.... the kazooo the spoons (arghhhhhhhh) the didgeredooooo and the piccolo and the st.davids mouth harp thing (per twannggg ga twannga tawannga wang) - YUK! :-@ Not at all neurotic - Ella |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: P05139 Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:15 AM I'm not that keen on Jew's harps and, being a former cellist (I quit when I was 14), I've started cringing when I hear new player of cellos, violins etc. I like them when people can actually play the things but when they're just learning...AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! SHUT UP!!!!! I like the bit in Sabrina The Teenage Witch where Hilda smashes up this kid's violin and says "This one's for Mozart", cos believe you me, it was terrible. If I'd been there I wouldn't have smashed the violin up on the table though, I would have smashed it on the kid's head (or just smashed the kid, either!) I'm not that harsh though, I'm just musical!!! |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Whistle Stop Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:44 AM ddw, a Les Paul is a solid body. There was a hollow body Les Paul model at one point, but it ever really caught on. I dislike Fender Rhodes electronic keyboard, which used to be quite popular when there were fewer keyboard choices out there (before synthesizers caught on in a big way). The sound is much too "pingy" for my tastes. I used to play in a jazz duo (guitar and keys) with a Fender Rhodes; really got on my nerves after a while. I also dislike the way a synthesizer "wash" is frequently added to otherwise acoustic music in a way that obscures or diminishes the melody/harmony, and fills in all the spaces between the notes. It's kind of the musical equivalent of Prozac. This frequently happens in Celtic music (no "definition police," please), as well as other acoustic-based music. There are a number of people out there that I would enjoy listening to if they didn't insist on submerging everything in a synthesizer bath. Loreena McKennit is a prime example of this -- imagine how good her music would be without the synthesizers clouding it. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:59 AM I don't really like pipe organs unless Fats Waller is playing them, never mad about accordions but having heard Sam Pirt's band on radio, I could be converted. Herself, who has very wide musical tastes from classical to pop, doesn't like vibraphones or jazz violin but tolerated Roger Nobes with the Alex Welsh Band and doesn't run screaming from Hot Club records. I think a good player in the right context can make any instrument sound good (except perhaps the stylophone!) RtS (still only "performing" on kazoo and pianola) |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Mooh Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:19 AM Whistle Stop, I noticed a new hollowed out Les Paul recently, though not like a Birdland or anything it was more acoustic than the solid body of legendary staus among guitarists. Synths piss me off in a big way. They cancel out overtones from acoustic instruments and that "wash" effect mentioned above drives me bonkers. For the same reason I dislike too much phase and chorus applied to any type of guitar, sounds like radio white noise. I pretty much like any other instrument played competently. As much as I like piano though, I can't stand it when pianists pound away simultaneously in all registers at the expense and detriment of the tune and other players. Because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. IMHO. Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: GUEST,Alex H. Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:42 AM Hurdy Gurdy - I have heard gurdies played by gurdy masters and virtuosi, and the very best player can make it bearable for about 35 seconds, before the basically unpleasant sound starts to get to me. To hear a gurdy is to understand why it (almost, drat) died out. Mandolin - I've heard the best. I just don't care for most of the styles of playing that are popular today. The variations on plinka plinka both bore and annoy me. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Jock Morris Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:01 AM 'fraid I LIKE hurdy gurdies. Want to hear something really bad, try the highland pipes played by a poor player e.g. half the buskers in Edinburgh. AARRGGHHHH!!!! Though my playing of the Northumbrian pipes is pretty horrendous as well. Scott |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:27 AM Re:mandolins: OK maybe not if they're like "Trois and his Mandoliers"(actually the Geoff Love orch.), but who can't like Yank Rachell? I like slightly odd instruments like valve trombones, bass sax etc in the right hands. RtS(just because I'm opinionated doesn't mean I'm right) |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Jim the Bart Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:45 AM I've always thought that the easier an instrument is to "play", i.e., make a sound on, the harder it is to play well. That's why a harmonica in the wrong hands can be a real pain. I almost never like the electric piano that was so omnipresent in the 70's. An example is the one on Steveie Wonder's "You are the Sunshine of My Life" (it is playing on the muzak as I write). Even played well it sounds artificial and uninspiring, and lends itself to pointless noodling of the jazz sort. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Lonesome Gillette Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:56 AM Accordions are hip on the Rock scene here in Boston right now. You gotta have an accordion and an upright bass. (and two electric guitars turned up to 11 so you can't hear the accordion and a full drumset all mic'd and sent through the PA, all this in a club that's usually the size of my livingroom) |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: tradman Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:58 AM I don't care for hammer dulcimers unless they have dampers. To me, an undamped dulcimer begins to sound like a subway station after a very short while. Bowed psalteries have a tinny sound, but they're much nicer than a ukelin which REALLY sounds thin. My understanding is that the bowed psaltery was invented in Germany in the early 1900's based on pictures from paintings, and that Renaissance psalteries were all plucked or struck. If someone knows of documented evidence to prove or disprove this, I would be very interested. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Clinton Hammond2 Date: 03 Nov 00 - 11:46 AM I'm with ya on the the kazooos, unless yer under 5 or 6...
I'm with ya on the spoons...
I don't mind accordion, provided it's in Len Wallaces hands, other than that, pass... And considering all the other instruments in the same family, highland pipes are feeble and lame in my book... I don't even qualify them as an instrument, more a noise maker... I'd rather listen to absolutely ANY other kind of bagpipe instrument... especially the irish elbow pipes... my 0.02 |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: hesperis Date: 03 Nov 00 - 11:55 AM Thanks for the link, ddw. It looks cool. Hmmmmm, maybe I can find a bowed psaltery... Anyway, I am probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but I find guitar to be tedious at times. Just because everybody plays guitar. It's just too common, and it can get boring.
Ducking and running FAST! |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Clinton Hammond2 Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:35 PM Good point hesperis... |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: kendall Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:41 PM Bart, that crack you made about Jazz being pointless noodling? Right on! |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Matt_R Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:45 PM I think a "FAVORITE instruments" thread would be much more interesting. I'm getting really tired of hearing about what people DON'T like. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Mooh Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:49 PM Hesperis. I am an unabashed lobbyist for guitar, but you're right. I've said it here before, that if only guitarists (me too) would vary their playing more we all would benefit. Peace. Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: mousethief Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:50 PM I'm with Matt. What I'm really tired of are "What do you hate?" threads.
Alex |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Troll Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:54 PM Sorry Matt, but I don't like 'synths in most situations. I DO, however like a good keyboard. troll |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Mooh Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:55 PM ...I almost forgot, Mbo/Matt's previous opinion notwithstanding (restart the favourite instrument thread, why don't you), I don't like the sitar much, though if I had one I might feel differently. Playing an instrument and listening to one can be two very different things. Remember the Concert for Bangladesh recording? As much as I tried, I couldn't learn to like it. Mooh.
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: Matt_R Date: 03 Nov 00 - 12:57 PM Sitars are beautiful...I especially love Ravi. In fact, there's a whole slue of Indian and Asian instruments that I really like. |
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Subject: Someone break out the bran muffins! From: Clinton Hammond2 Date: 03 Nov 00 - 01:52 PM Ya don't like "what don't you like" threads? Easy fix... Stay the hell out of them then! D'uh... How the hell hard is that to wedge into yer head? |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: mousethief Date: 03 Nov 00 - 01:56 PM Gee, Clint, I would never have thought of that. Thanks! |
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Subject: *sigh* From: Clinton Hammond2 Date: 03 Nov 00 - 01:58 PM That much was all too obvious MT.... |
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Subject: RE: Help: un favorite instruments From: mousethief Date: 03 Nov 00 - 02:05 PM My least favorite instrument is a computer keyboard when being used by a jerk. There. Hope that makes some of you happy.
Alex |
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