Pan Pipe Buskers

Subject: Pan Pipe Buskers - Real or Fake
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:33 AM

This topic actually came up in the "Worst of Folk Category" but there was some question as to whether the "Pan Pipe Buskers" seen all over the place. Usually it's four or five Indian looking young men with pan pipes, a guitar, and that instrument made from an armadillo shell - the name escapes me for now. I speak fluent Spanish and during the 80's most of my work in the music area was in Latin American music - used to work as a strolling guitarist in a Mexican restaurant (I collect Corridos - Ballads from the Mexican Revolutionary period) and also used to sing with Mariachi groups. So much for my "credentials" unimpressive as they may be. But out of curiosity I often struck up conversations with these "pan pipe buskers" who usually seemed to come from Peru and Ecuador. They were frequently seen in the New York subway corridors. Their story as told to me is quite interesting. Most of them are Inca or Ayamara indians and part of their culture is going on a "quest" - a far journey and it's part of their coming of age tradition - gains them quite a bit of respect when they return. New York, Paris, London etc. is about as far away as you can get in many senses of the word from their mountain villages. They all speak Spanish but heavily accented and among themselves they speak Quechua or Ayamara. I think most of these guys are for real. I enjoy their music and always contribute something monetarily. I always thought New York City must have been quite a culture shock.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Louisa
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:48 AM

Was me who originally started this is 'Worst of Folk' category.

Hmmmm - New York, Paris, London is all well and good but Bracknell, Coventry, Preston? Why do they want to go to these places? I guess being from the States (?) you aren't familiar with these places but believe you me so wouldn't want to go on a quest there. The other thing is that the same 2 or 3 men seem to have been playing in Coventry every day since I moved there last October!

I don't actually mind pan pipes that much when they're played well but this lot I see are awful! Just randomly blowing over the holes in a very arbitrary fashion.

Actually worse than pan pipes are steel drum bands playing non-steel drum music - aaarrgh. I was busking once and an steel band set up next to me and started playing 'You've lost that loving feeling.'

I'm quite a tolerant person really! Honest!

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Matt_R
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:53 AM

The armadillo-shell instrument is the charango!! The hairy charangos are the most highly valued! Andean folk music is quite awesome! "El Condor Pasa" is actually a very old and tradition Andean folk song. I had an oppurtinity to hear a trad Andean band actually play it...beautiful. I guess the deer-hoof percussion doesn't make it into the busking bands? Wonder why...

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Lady McMoo
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 10:14 AM

We have one of these groups (several in fact) omnipresent in Brussels. What gets me in the main one of these has a state of the art portable Electrovoice mixer and PA system. There certainly must be some money in pan-pipe busking!

mcmoo

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 10:38 AM

Sorry to be picky, but if they're omnipresent, they're not just in Brussels ..?

i bought a modestly-sized zampoña a couple of years ago. I'm OK on the harmonica, so it's not too difficult to play. Except you never suck ... after three or four bars you just run out of wind, or hyperventilate! Maybe it's not a problem when you live at Andean elevations?
Steve

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 11:21 AM

Well, they might not all be authentic or play good music! I just thought it was interesting when they told me their tale. They also sometimes have womenfolk around selling sweaters and things. I guess if you go on a "quest" you never know where you might end up ! Yes, Charango was the word I was looking for.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 06:01 PM

there are some pan pipe buskers who are often seen in Hull and I've also seen them in York. I've always found it a bit 'muzaky' and tend to do a detour

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: wildlone
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 03:51 PM

Also seen in the fastest growing town in the west, YEOVIL!

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 14 Jul 01 - 04:55 AM

I've seen these guys on the Fast Show.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 14 Jul 01 - 10:27 AM

I was troubled by the writer who said that they were his pet peeve. In fact, my wife loves andian music and every once and a while I get tapes from them for her birthday. As a native law advocate, I am always greatly cheered to see some natives cutting a small piece for themseleves out of the streets of the towns of the folks who took from them - everything. For the past ten years or so, almost every day of my life I have worn shirts I buy from the same people, for several reasons, one, they are made by Native Americans 2 they are natural fiber, 3 they have no collar and are like the shirts Quakers wore for the first two hundred years of our community.
So in short, I like those bands. - Larry

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Willie-O
Date: 14 Jul 01 - 10:44 AM

Brings back memories of ye olde busking days at the festival of Spring in Ottawa. Around 1980. I was a newly minted hammered dulcimer player and was doing pretty well at attracting crowds and dinero. But there was this muchacho who I'd seen on the streets recently, blowing his pan-pipes with GREAT artristry and no amplification, thank you very much--and he'd get twice the crowd I would. (So we had a mutual respect of the streets.) By the way Steve, Andean origin has everything to do with the requisite lung power.

His name was Dario Domingues, he was a political refugee from the Andes, I'm not sure what country. He stayed in Ottawa and became a prominent member of our folk music community, a Canadian citizen, and also quite successful--went and toured Europe every year with a band of top-shelf Ottawa musicians.

He died a couple of years ago in his late forties, another sad and unexpected loss to the hometown scene.

And man, he could work a tune.

Willie-O

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Grab
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 01:00 PM

I don't mind giving a quid to a busker playing good music somewhere with an acoustic guitar. I don't even mind putting some cash in the case for someone with a little amp. But the panpipe guys in Cambridge have a couple of Marshall stacks and a fairly high-end mixing desk! I'm sorry, but I'm not giving money to someone who can afford several grand's worth of gear, unless it's at a proper gig.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 02:37 PM

Hey Grab... I spent 8,000 bucks for a set of pipes, had too, that is how much Uilleann pipes cost... as a result, I am in debt... these guys may be as well... Look, busking is a job, and you invest in it, just because we are on the street, don't hold us to a different standard. When you judge us, judge us by our music not our equiptment, when you look at someone like Bruse Springstien getting what he gets for a "at a proper gig" in my book that is not more ligitimate and what's more, I'm sure the boys from Peru need the money more than Springstien, no matter how much their gear is. Carried out to thhe next level of abstraction, I should put on torn dirty clothes and rub mud in my face to get a buck playing the pipes on the street and to hell with the years of perfecting my art. The streets are OUR concert halls.
All the best, Grab, Cheers, Larry

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Grab
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 05:22 PM

Fair point Larry. I guess it's just a bit of a shift from what I usually reckon on as street performing. Maybe it's an English thing that I shouldn't lay on anyone else - certainly each time I've been in Germany the place has been full of buskers and street artists.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 05:34 PM

No problem Graham, sometimes we all have to take a look from another angle, I know I have done every once and awhile. Cheers, Larry

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: BanjoRay
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 07:26 PM

The guys who come to Doncaster occasionally sound just like the ones I've seen in Peru and Bolivia - outstanding musicians with some good tapes or CDs for sale. Its great to stand at 75 feet above sea level and imagine yourself back to the Andes!

Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Sourdough
Date: 16 Jul 01 - 10:22 PM

In Paris, on the Boulevard St. Michele, over a period of a month or so I saw a group of Andean Indians in a group where the lead instrument was a panpipe and he was a fine musician by any standard - street, concert hall or recordings.

It adds to my pleasant memories to think that the members of the group were on a quest.

Sourdough

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 08:02 AM

Hmmmmmm sounds like a conspiracy or something... Could it be that Indians from the Andes are plotting to take over the world???????? What ARE they REALLY up to??????
Larry

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GeorgeH
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 08:57 AM

These guys are generally known as "The Peruvian Pests". A travelling UK folk journalist has noted that they sell exactly the SAME recording in diverse parts of the world. I have two major objections to them - no, make that three.

1) Their music is over-amplified. This is busking raised to the level of social nuisance - and, unlike most buskers , they have no respect for other musicians working the same general area. (The outfit in Cambridge is loud enough but is NOTHING to the one we heard on our last visit to Spain - quite literally, 100 yards from them we had to move behind a pillar to conduct a conversation with each other without shouting . . )

2) The "economy" outfit performs to backing tapes. Always pisses me off, with any buskers . .

3) Mostly their music is banal - and far removed from its source (indeed it includes an incresing proportion of "western pop standards").

Very occasionally I've heard exceptions to this pattern (so perhaps Larry's struck luckier than I have) but in the main part I find them a pain in the ears . .

But by observation they appear to be making a good income at this . .

Cheers

G.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Louisa
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 09:07 AM

Hello

It was me that raised the objection in the first place! I have heard some good andean musicians in the past so lucky you if they're busking where you live. Well said George! I agree with your 3 points. They obviously make a lot of money at it, often because they're so loud nobody else can busk in the vicinity. In Coventry, the pop standards are definitely creeping in.

Cheers Louisa

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GeorgeH
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 10:10 AM

Thanks, Louisa . .

But be warned, agreeing with me can be Mudcat suicide . .

(sorry, folks, I'm feeling rather fragile today . .)

G.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: English Jon
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 12:22 PM

Yep, the "Andean" band in Cambridge is loud, annoying and not terribly good. PA ing a busking act is rude, as it ruins other spots up the road for other buskers. Also, it doesn't look good, and people assume you must have stacks of cash anyway. The most annoying busker in Cambridge is that twat with the musical sore, sorry, saw. God alive.

Has anyone seen the guy with the chapman stick? There's an exception to the Amp rule, as you can't play one acoustically. He's quite good if you like that sort of thing. Personally I'd rather catch Anthrax.

EJ

(feeling embittered for no real reason. time to go home)

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 12:37 PM

Hi George!
Don't feel fragile! Geeze I've been enough of that this week for both of us!!!! As to the terrible asault of western societies by capitolist rapacious indians wielding amplified pan flutes... well, need I say more?

(I know there is ONE at least out there, not GeorgeH who is a very well read fellow, {quite serriously I say this] to whom I do not have to refer to historical wrongs like the trail of tears... but if anyone does not get the ironic nature of the above comment - delivered with a smile and a pint to George and Louisa if I were there... well, if anyone needs clarification ask and a partial list will be added...)
Cheers, Larry
PS Remember that great line from Andy Devine's Classic movie, Froggie at the Battle of Greasy Grass... "Circle the wagons Hombres! Its INJUNS! an they got PAN FLUTES!"????? {Twang yer magic twanger, Frongie! Boooooooooyynnnnnnngggggrrrrrr

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,willie-o
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 09:24 PM

well, they should be held to the same standards of courtesy and mutual respect for other buskers as anyone else. Some do some don't. It of course is not only Andean buskers who can be problematic for others. My "most obnoxious busker" was the guy who had or made a full-fledged "crank organ" and even had the monkey with the cup...seen a few years back in Ottawa and Toronto. He'd set up right near ya and drown ya out...and was a handle-cranker not a musician. (He's stop in the middle of a tune to take a donation.)

w-o

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: sophocleese
Date: 17 Jul 01 - 09:30 PM

I do remember a hilarious occasion in Hamilton when a street-preacher with sound system set up in the place where a piper normally played. Five minutes after he was into his thing the piper showed up and started playing a little way down the street. This time however the piper didn't stand still but started pacing a little; he'd come closer to the preacher and then back away again. The preacher lost his audience really fast and the next week there was only the piper in his usual spot.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GeorgeH
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 08:16 AM

Sorry, In OBU, I should have made it clear that my feeling fragile had little to do with Mudcat (although my little spat elsewhere on the 'cat a few days ago sure didn't help) and more to do with "real life". And certainly I accepted the validity of the point you were making . . just didn't match my general experience of the pest variety.

Thanks for the kindly words!

Cheers!

G.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: InOBU
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 10:25 AM

Real life does get in the way often George. I just think of the line from "Morgan, a suitable case for treatment..." where Morgan laments, "The trouble with reality is, that it does live up to my best fantacies!"
Cheers, Larry
As to far treatment and standards in Canada, WIllie O, I agree... So, next time the pan flute players come to your street, let them build a hydro dam to flood the streets where you are playing, leaving them the high ground and hand you a bottle of cheep booze and some heroin in repayment. Ohhhhhh, canada?

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Skipjack K8
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 11:53 AM

Took the family for a flight on the London Eye, t'other week, and there was a man of oriental extraction playing a scaled down church organ contraption in front of his face, miked up, over a very loud backing track. It was claimed to be ancient Chinese folk music, but owed much more to Happy Christmas Mr Lawrence.

It was still audible at 450 feet, through bullet proof glass. Ghastly.

Skipjack

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: harpgirl
Date: 18 Jul 01 - 02:52 PM

I have to defend our own Dr. Sound who plays pan pipes which he has been making with bamboo, for many years. Barry's pipes are carefully tuned, he plays extremely well, and his presentation is effective and non-intrusive.

He has been playing wind instruments (flutes, trumpet) since he as a small boy and he can play anything he hears on a silver flute almost instantly.

He makes pipes in any key you like and he changes keys whenever he has to for a pipe song. He also makes wonderful digeridoos and his circular breathing is very fine.

His philopsohy and approach to teaching children's music is revolutionary and very supportive of creativity. There is no finer pan pipe player, in my NOT SO HUMBLE opinion. hg

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,vernon equinox
Date: 09 Aug 04 - 02:34 PM

Sorry Folks
There is a factory in Staines where they clone the pan pipe buskers who have no decency nor consideration for other buskers, its all the the gene mix.
Ban the sound of the pan pipes.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: mike the knife
Date: 09 Aug 04 - 06:15 PM

Where I was working in Heidelberg, this one group (rather good actually) played the same corner- hours on end. My commute into work was too early for them, but when I went out for lunch, or to go home, or for a coffee/beer/meal... the Andean Pan Pipe Band suddenly became the soundtrack for EVERYTHING I did. Wears on you after a while. I had a brief stint as a tour guide & the folks on the tour got a kick out of playing "who can spot the Andean band first" game in every city we visited.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: reggie miles
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 12:09 AM

English Jon, your comment hits a little close to home, as I started out playing musical saw on the streets many years ago. To venture forth as I did with my new found instrument took courage. I certainly didn't have anywhere near the ability I possess today. I was fortunate that while making my many mistakes I was able to laugh at myself and folks were kind enough to laugh along in a supportive way. It made the learning process go a lot easier for me. We all have to start somewhere in our explorations. There's a huge price to pay if you're a beginner trying to master any instrument. The criticism of some folks can easily crush the spirit of young budding talents. We should all strive to support those making their first attempts into this musical realm. The musical saw is a fearsome instrument to master especially for those just starting out. If you play a guitar you might end up with a little blister on your finger, but should you slip while flexing razor sharp spring steel betwixt your knees, well, let's just say it can get real messy. ;)

Here in the upper left corner of the USA I've seen every conceivable permutation of the pan pipe band configuration. It does, at times, seem like the influx of so many of these bands is some kind of an evil plague across the land. I doubt street musicians from this neck of the woods, myself included, could florish as well if they(I) were to make a quest to the Andes, even though one of these groups told me that the folks in Ecuador would love my saw playing.

The most recent example of the many variations of these bands that I've seen was the kari-yucky version described above, where a solo player was playing through a PA system along with his song track. Yes, it was too loud and the PA was pointed right at the area I was hanging in at this garage sale/swapmeet. He had a table full of CDs that he was selling. He was talented, but after a while, at that volume, I was wishing that he would have considered turning down his PA. His PA gear was a top of the line Mackie setup with speakers and power output that was over the top given that particular situation. I don't know how he was able to afford the gear as he didn't seem to make that many sales. I sometimes go into the music stores to gawk and drool at all the new stuff they're coming out with. I know that I can't afford to go out and drop several thousand dollars on all those goodies. Hmmm? Maybe I should take up the pan pipes?

Saw ya in the future

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 12:36 AM

Two weekends back I was on the island of Palau in the South Pacific to attend the 9th Festival Of The Pacific Arts. One evening the dance stage featured a troupe from Papua New Guinea doing traditional dances. The men danced wile playing bamboo pan pipes! Now, the little ones don't need much air but they were also playing some huge pipes. And the dances were pretty energetic! They must have huge lungs!

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 12:06 PM

You mean they're not always the same crowd wherever I go ? - I was beginning to think that they must be following me around. They always look the same, and as mentioned, seem to have the same rather expensive sound gear. I think that it just that up in the Andes, they've learnt how to teleport - probably through time as well !

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Wyrd Sister
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 04:09 PM

Aaargh - just when the scars were beginning to heal... all the way round Whitby... no escape even up the steps... makes even the Oirish lot outside the bank (with the doleful woman staring mystically into the CDs) seem almost acceptable...

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Wyrd Sister
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 04:13 PM

Actually Pan Pipers turned up in home town recently. Since they're a standing joke between daughter and me, I phoned her to give her a blast. Unfortunately I couldn't hear a thing and switched off too soon. She, being at work, thought there was some emergency and nipped out to phone back. "Not amused" doesn't begin to cover it..

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Cluin
Date: 10 Aug 04 - 04:15 PM

A group of these guys was in one of our our local malls for several days last Christmas shopping season. Made a refreshing change from all the "seasonal" music around.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Goggle-ads
Date: 22 Apr 07 - 07:17 PM

They come to my home-town in Co. Durham quite regularly. I enjoy listening to their music. I've asked them questions about where they actually live here when they are not travelling and how long have they been here, but I've never gotten a straight answer. (what are they hiding ?)

I also bought a cd for £10, but if it was scratched or damaged, there is only an obscure email address on the sleeve, to get any recourse. There is no info. about who exactly they are or where the recording was made. There isn't even the name of their group on the cd. I tried emailing to find out other venues so I could get another cd, but have never had a reply..........so much secrecy.......and where is all the money going ?

Gogs.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 22 Apr 07 - 10:01 PM

Look under Andes and Peru - that is where I first encountered the milage' au sunk....it is a pretty good commercial gig. If you can make the move beyond Cuzco to Lima - the next stop is Europe - you are now set for life (as long as you return to Peru) and stop home construction with the re-bars un-cut.

Actually, I like them....I imitate them....I use Peruvian Pan-Pipes.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

It is the same five, upbeat, tunes....over and over and over....in every country.....but blah/plain enough that it is always "new" in every environment.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Sugwash
Date: 23 Apr 07 - 03:48 AM

We've had a band of Peruvian pan pipe puffers in Plymouth for quite a while now. They're obviously talented in their chosen discipline and make a not unpleasant sound, in a lift music kind of way.

Interestingly they appear to have recently shifted their ethnicity and are now a native American band (or Red Injuns as my not very PC childhood would have had it) complete with head dresses, tassled buckskins and various feathered accoutrements. They still sound the same to my jaundiced ears.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Alex Meinl
Date: 02 Sep 08 - 07:02 AM

Thieves!! These buffoons ruin the ambience of just about every city they wield themselves upon. They turn up with mega-dollar concert PA's, and blast the shit out of unsuspecting passers-by with their humiliating pre-recorded dribble. Look. I dont mind street performers, in fact, its a known fact they help commerce and shop owners by attracting/keeping people in retail areas LONGER and for the most part, entertained too. Some amplified buskers, usually musicians (as opposed to these clowns), can be quite remarkable, and although eccentric, utterly enjoyable and I appreciate their contribution. However- These fools are clearly only in it for the money, their music is a hidious rendering of a once respected folk idiom, even if they occasionally play LIVE. The impact of these cheese-pedlers is clearly completely counter to a productive, symbiotic artistic/business environment. People leave the area, Sales drop, Shop owners (rightly) complain, councils act, and LEGITIMATE street musicians get booted out of town as amplifiers, even tiny ones, are subsiquently banned locally from the city precints. And they have the AUDACITY to stand there on the street and ask you to take them SERIOUSLY!! These outfits are not only ethically bankrupt, but they are destroying the culture of street performance for others with their remarkable arrogance.
A pox on the artistic earth.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Acorn4
Date: 02 Sep 08 - 02:14 PM

That's one of the best rants I've read for a long time, Alex.

I've developed quite eclectic tastes in my time but have never really got into South American music -remember the Billy Connolly jibe about Mexican food always tasting the same but being folded differently.

One pan pipe track is OK but not the six CD set.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 11:58 AM

'I guess the deer-hoof percussion doesn't make it into the busking bands? Wonder why... '

Here is a possible explanation.

My husband likes percussion. He also has a very keen sense of smell. One Christmas, a friend gave him a set of those hooves, but the smell almost knocked him over. I put them outside for six months or so to air out. When the six months were over, he said they smelled just as bad, so we threw them away.

(I never smelled anything wrong with them.)

As for Andean music, I like it. I have been to several concerts, and I have a number of recordings. There is plenty of variety to the music, and much beauty. I believe that 200 years from now, our rock music, pop music and academic (contemporary classical) music will be dismissed with a paragraph, and the music of the Andes will be praised as the most worthwhile our era produced.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 06:42 PM

There is a group of Peruvian musicians, of the live, and usually unamplified persuasion, who busk regularly at the same pitch in Maidstone UK town centre.

They call themselves Runa Marka, and they are pretty good. Good enough that I bought a CD, and enjoy listening to it.

One thing they don't seem to do, is drown other performers, and I have seen them move along the street, rather than play loude, when somebody else with drum backing track, and electric guitar, set up close to them.

Their repertoire seems authentic, varied, and accomplished.

Don T.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Tootler
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 07:05 PM

There was a group I saw in Middlesbrough and Newcastle about two or three years back. I thought they were pretty good, they certainly had an excellent Quena player. I bought a CD off them and I found it very good with good a variety of material on it. A mixture of songs and instrumental tracks. I like it and play it from time to time.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Jack Campin
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 07:20 PM

I saw a trio of them turn up at a session in Edinburgh two weeks ago. They were very nice people, played some of their own stuff and joined in with a few Scottish tunes. My girlfriend later saw them in action in the city centre - there seemed to be some sort of turf war going on, with that trio and the larger and very much louder group that's been coming to Edinburgh for years facing off across the street. No idea what that was about.

The loudest groups (like those Edinburgh Festival regulars) are obnoxious arseholes. Nobody has any business using that much amplification.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Colin Pretorius South Africa
Date: 31 Mar 09 - 05:18 AM

I have been to Germany Frankfurt in September 2007.
I heard a pan pipe group. 3 guys. They were amazing.They imitate Eagle sounds, played on different type of flutes. Were can I get a cd of these guys.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: breezy
Date: 31 Mar 09 - 06:24 AM

They drown me out.

Much of their 'music' is in Bm so I just strum along and make them a backing band

but generally they are

A 'Plague' of pan pipes

Selfish , inconsiderate, extremely loud, boring after a while, and bring their 'form' into disrepute.

It can make you think, feel, and say things you know could be considered unacceptable.

LOUD and intrusive, lack subtlety

Well said George H couldnt agree with you more and then I saw how old this thread is

So is the desease aspreading?

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Jonathan
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 03:19 AM

I myself am an Andean musician in New York, although I am not with a group and I dont busk at this point, and I am certainly not going into debt to purchase top of the line audio equipment lol.

Whats funny is that I was born here of Hungarian/Dominican extraction and have no Andean blood, however its music that resonates in my soul(Andean music and culture). I started playing this music when I was about 16 and I'm 22 now. I have read many comments here good bad and indifferent and I can understand some of the complaints of various people.

Many of the andean bands throughout the world tend to hit on certain standards to cater to their new audiences. Thus it can seem that they all play the same songs. While I enjoy these songs and play them also, I much prefer the authentic music from the Andean region that passers by who hear these bands would NEVER hear in the U.S.

As I said I live in New York City and I have not experienced the kind of uncourteous behavior, the kind of which I have read hear (amplification too loud, drowning out other performers etc.)

In fact many of these bands in my area play in the subways and are part of the "Music under New York program" which permits a wide array (including a few andean bands) of auditioned and approved musicians who play the subway scene with the city's blessing.

Also I am aquainted with a certain group which is leaning towards the Native American identity but I havent seen them wear feathers. The leader of that group is a true gentlman, and several of the groups give me a special price, I guess because they realize Im a fellow player. Whe I was first learning the music I met one of these groups and I had my instrument, so they allowed me to play which was very nice.

Some groups are Native American sounding, some are latin jazzy/ Andean and western pop, some are more traditional so we have a nice variety here in NY.

I enjoyed reading the comments, although I was a little shall we say...biased concerning some comments lol but some of the points made were valid. I think some of these musicians are a misunderstood lot, but if there is ungentalmantly behavior taking place that cannot be excused no matter what race you are or your musical genre.

Sorry for the long post, That all being said

All Andean music lovers, appreciators and entheusiats, keep listening and supporting the artists.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 05:13 AM

THANK You JONATHON - best wishes with your music.

I enjoy their music in all forms and have found it:

Two age under twelve boys in Nasca Peru - working the local restaurants
A group of six to eight in Frankfurt
An almost identical group in London
An almost identical group in San Francisco.

I concider them a Peruian cultural export.

And a very pleasant one at that....better than "The Yage Letters."

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 09 Jul 09 - 02:29 PM

I saw Atacamenos busking on the Dufferin Terrace in Quebec several years back. It was the summer festival so there were buskers all over the Old Town that week, but they were my favorites. Them and this funny juggler from Calgary. I bought their CD and have enjoyed it since. I never knew that this was some kind of worldwide cultural phenomenon till I read this thread.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 10 Jul 09 - 07:06 AM

Actually, I can't remember seeing any for years, have they all gone home?

RtS

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Oldie
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 04:01 AM

Please don't tar all amped buskers/panpipers with the same brush!
I play panpipes - own make - and have a small (15 watt)amp for backing tracks which I keep turned down as low as I can to avoid disturbing shopkeepers and other buskers. I have played all over Britain and the Continent.
A lot of my repertoire is classical music, which is not solo; I mean, even Pavarotti needed backing!
I use a variety of backings: orchestra, church organ, midi, and myself on guitar for pieces like Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)and Cavatina ("Deer Hunter"). I also play weddings etc.
I too have my work cut out avoiding the mostly too loud-amped, M.O.R. South Americans.
I also sometimes get out my guitar, and do classical/beatles/cohen/drake/taylor/simon/gershwin/jobim/zep covers
etc.
There are one or two other "solo" panpipers, like Andreas Gmelin, who is a genius (and also uses backing!)

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: bubblyrat
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 05:05 AM

People of my age might be more used to South American music,having been exposed,back in the 'fifties / 'sixties to the wonderful sound of Los Trios Paraguayos----how I thrilled to the sound of the Peruvian Mountain Harp in "The Bell Bird" !!
   As to the Pan-Pipe stuff ? Well, I quite like it,if properly played and un-amplified ; I have seen a few really good bands,and a lot of dreadful ones.One of the best that I saw were performing in Paris (Montmartre) some years ago,on the steps of Sacre Coeur.I did own a CD of Andean music for many years ; it sounded very authentic,and included (inevitably) El Condor Pasa,but the musicians were,I discovered,not South Americans at all, but European musicians who played professionally for Ballet Rambert !! I wonder how many Peruvians have played with the Bolshoi ? !!

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 25 Sep 09 - 01:09 PM

I didn't want to revive the thread just for this, but since it's here... the other day my son was watching old episodes of South Park online. I find this show strangely attractive and repulsive. They have some funny/crazy story ideas, but they're layered with such a crude and mean sensibility that I mostly can't watch it. One such funny story idea -- the "Pandemic" and "Pandemic 2" episodes:

Pandemic: Pan flute bands are everywhere. The world is suffering from a "pandemic". The boys decide to cash in and form their own band. Unfortunately, just at that point the bands are outlawed. The Department of Homeland Security rounds up all the bands and the boys are to be shipped off with them to Guantanamo, or maybe South America.

Pandemic 2: the Startling: Giant guinea pigs are running amok. It turns out the pan flute bands were protecting us all. The boys have to save themselves... and the world.

The last part of the second episode is all you really need to see...

~ Becky in Long Beach this week

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Bob Kinzett
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 10:25 AM

Years ago, I heard a busker in Wellington, New Zealand. It was an "Andreas Gmelin". I bought one of his tapes "Panpipes and Organ". I have never heard anyone else play panpipes as beautifully as him, and I'm wondering if a) he's still around, and b) is any of his music available for purchase, or on the web. The one tape I had of his wore out years ago and I have never been able to find a replacement...

Does anyone have any advice?

Bob

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: breezy
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 02:51 PM

Please, do not encourage them.

They are so too LOUD

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Jack Campin
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 03:22 PM

Google for "Andreas Gmelin" and you can find recordings for sale.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 08:03 AM

Well, we always enjoy South American pan pipe groups, and always buy a CD from them.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 08:41 AM

Just spent 18 days in Peru. Lots of Panpipes, flutes and son. Amazing music being played all over Peru. Seems to be a living tradition. The posh bands in hotels play some pop, some classical and some old and strange. Bands in the High Andes tended to play more old and strange
L in C

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 04 Oct 09 - 08:52 AM

There are all sorts of ways the panpipes can be played. Try Gheorge Zamfir on YouTube for exquisite classical panpiping.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,wobflob
Date: 09 Nov 10 - 07:24 AM

In Copenhagen a few years ago I counted six identical fake Red Indian bands, all plastic feathers and azo-dyed acrylic clothes, all miming to the same music and with identical rigs - Mackie mixer, JBL sepakers, AKG microphones.

Then in Lisbon a few weeks ago there was another lot in one of the big squares, drowning the place with more mimed tripe and the Big Chieftain character with the biggest panpipes dropped his panpipes while trying to reach a nose flute in time for a nose flute solo and the music kept playing so I went over and wolf whistled into his mic and.....nada - a completely un-amplified wolf whistle limped across the square.

I came across this thread after trying to Google for the Instant PanPipe Band Kit from the Acme Corporation that these guys must obviously be getting from the same place. I want in on the action - they obviously make a fortune. And if the moron of a German woman who went over to the ones in Lisbon and put her hands together and bowed (I kid you not) is anything to go by, they probably receive regular sexual favours for their efforts, too.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 09 Nov 10 - 10:00 AM

The others only play for tourists and the market, whereas I play music people really like. Therefore, frauleins and donors, please queue here.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 May 13 - 06:13 AM

I have just come across a cassette that gives an address for the "fair trde" shop that started it all:

Tumi (Latin American Craft Centres)
8-9 New Bond Street Place
Bath
Avon BA 1BH
UK

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

...so now you know where to direct messages of thanks, or perhaps not.

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Jim Martin
Date: 06 May 13 - 06:52 AM

I actually like the music but I don't like the way they do it during the Sidmouth Folk Week - they don't seem to be part of the Festival at all!

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: GUEST,Henry Piper of Ottery
Date: 06 May 13 - 08:15 AM

There NOT part of the festival,!!   they just turn up and play all day to their repetative backing tapes, hogging the spaces that other local entertainers could be using,
last year they stopped for a "Lunch Break" went off to a Cafe, leaving there masses of equipment in the care of a minder thus reserveing there space for their next 5 hour marathon.,

Subject: RE: Pan Pipe Buskers
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 May 13 - 08:32 AM

They seem have moved to Bristol. New details: http://www.tumi.co.uk/