Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute

Subject: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Feb 10 - 12:42 PM

Inspired by the 1929 footage of a nameless 70-year-old Catskill fiddler on YouTube, today I bought some Dolly Pegs to explore their adequacy as fiddle mutes. Hitherto I've been using all sorts of antique & commercial product made of brass, bone, rubber, plastic & wood to explore the various tonal colours offered by each, but initial experiments indicate that the Humble Dolly Peg would seem to offer a workable & versatile alternative to most of the ones I've tried. The added benefit here is that authentic folksy down-home look - and if I lose one, I've got another 49 to choose from for a replacement.

For those who haven't seen it, here's the 1929 footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_q4m4PeEMA

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: GUEST,Captain Farrell
Date: 06 Feb 10 - 04:03 PM

You learn something new every day.

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 06 Feb 10 - 04:19 PM

One of these?

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Feb 10 - 04:52 PM

That's the one, DD - works a treat.

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Will Fly
Date: 07 Feb 10 - 11:42 AM

It's a weird clip - almost surreal. I wondered for a moment if it was some kind of satirical modern video, but Dave Ruch (who posted it on YouTube) is a straightforward chap. I also thought, for a minute or so, that the peg was being used as a bridge, rather than a mute, as the fiddle sounded very clearly.

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 07 Feb 10 - 03:59 PM

By mute I mean a device for altering the tone rather than for making the instrument quieter. Think of the plunger, cup, wow & buzz / Harmon mutes that defined the tone of jazz trumpeters from Bubber Miley to Miles Davis & Don Cherry. What the Dolly Peg does is notch down the top end of a scratchy old fiddle (such as my ow) and make the sound a lot richer & fuller. Looks bonkers, but it sounds a treat. As I say I have a host of other mutes, including a buzz-mute - not sold as such of course, it's actually a heavy duty practice mute (like this) which effectively silences the violin to a Dorsey-esque trombone sweetness. Has a habit of flying off if you bow too hard though - & it's very heavy on the toes!

Trouble with me, I'm a natural born pluralist with a fetish for accessories - so the violin is the ideal beast. If you do a Google image search for violin mutes it brings up dozens of different types - including various clothes pegs!

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: open mike
Date: 07 Feb 10 - 04:18 PM

oh, you mean a clothes pin..
pa-tooey...he must be chewing tobacco

did he spit on the tuning pegs, too?

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 08 Feb 10 - 02:10 PM

That's what I would call a clothes peg. A dolly peg was a wooden contrivance with a long handle and a thing that looked like a small stool with three legs at the other end. It was used for pummelling clothes as they boiled furiously in a mixture of water and Sunlight Soap in a dolly tub.
At least it was in these parts. Different English usage, I suspect.
In my day...

Subject: RE: Technophobia: Dolly Peg Fiddle Mute
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 08 Feb 10 - 07:44 PM

Dave Roberts dolly peg

Dolly pegs a la Suibhne (and the reason they're called dolly pegs)

naked dolly pegs

Ross