You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Kaleea
Date: 12 Apr 06 - 07:21 PM

You answer the door to find the mailman delivering a little package & you hollar out, "Yahoo! My new fangerpicks are here!!"

Jeepers, Don, there IS a tuner less within reach on my desk & less than 1 ft from TV!

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 07:48 PM

When there is an electronic tuner closer to hand than the TV remote, and the computer screensaver is a screenshot of Cakewalk Guitar Tracks.

When you go to the cupboard under the stairs and have to climb over a PA rig to reach the Hoover.

Don T.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 06:51 PM

"A drum practice pad mounted on a camera tripod doubles as a hat stand."

Hmmm, a music recycler?

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: GUEST,Val
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 03:33 PM

There is AT LEAST one instrument within arm's reach of every comfy chair in the living room

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 12:12 PM

From all the above it looks like I'm in trouble - after years of singing various styles and accumulating a large box of music scores, I started to re-learn some instruments at the tail end of last year.

To date, I now have 2 guitars, a flute, 2 recorders, a music stand and various bits (plecs, capos etc) cluttering up my lounge and am thinking about buying more instruments. Ho hum......., still at least I don't have a cat or dog to retrain in the process!. And it is such a lot of fun - who really cares if if the housework takes second place?.

Pity the garage is already full of other stuff.......

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Scoville
Date: 11 Apr 06 - 10:36 AM

He bought his car based on how well it accomodated the upright bass.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Jim Krause
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 10:53 PM

A drum practice pad mounted on a camera tripod doubles as a hat stand.

All the rest are only too true. Egad!

Jim

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 10:17 PM

Charley, I have another Catter's out takes from an album he was working on. He was kind enough to share them when I asked for an example to play for our band as a demonstration of how hard one can try, and still not be "ready" to launch. I would LOVE to have a collection of these from various Catters-- and I'd keep 'em under wraps, too, and just use them as described above.

We have some tracks like you describe, of our own. Members would LOVE for me to "distribute" these-- but they are not really fit to do that. It's hard to think of sharing them with anyone! Still, I learn more each time I can stand to listen to them.

~Susan

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:55 PM

I wonder how many cassette tapes I have of our group rehearsing, performing, regressing. Probably more than a dozen, maybe more than four dozen. Sure will be fascinating for some dedicated ethnofolkologist to sort through to gain a full understanding of what we tried, and many times failed to deliver. There probably even are occasion brilliant tracks.

Somewhere I hear a landfill calling...

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:37 PM

Re-found our BEST setlist EVER-- too bad the third lead vocalist moved away-- hm, I can plug in some other baritone.... this list reappears periodically in the oddest places!

~Susan

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:36 PM

yessssss! I must have 35 festival T-shirts! When I hosted a backyard party for our festival volunteers a few years ago, I strung up a clothes line with 10-12 years of festival shirts strung on it thru the sleeves....'twas a hit!

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Don Firth
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 05:39 PM

Festival T-shirts! Oh, Gawd!!

Albums of photos from various gigs, including some publicity shots taken years ago (Jeez! I look like a kid!), posters, flyers, promos, shoebox full of old set lists I had masking-taped to the side of my guitar. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Rasener
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 03:54 PM

LOL

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 03:53 PM

What about three drawers in the dresser being reserved for festival T-shirts?

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Rasener
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 03:23 PM

hammered dulcimer

Time to get practising Anahata. Nice to see it introduced at Market Rasen Folk Club. Bit of a sucker for it.

Maybe I should start a thread called Your in a real folk club organisers home when....

You see loads of paper everywhere for the current diaries
You see loads of CD's from folk singers that have taken over all the other music I love
Posters hanging out your ears
Mrs moaning that you spend to long on it
In my case listening to folk programs such as folkwaves and the folk program from Radio Lincolnshire and the missus and kids buggering off upstairs to keep the peace :-)
Trying to find an excuse to get out and see every performer possible.
Finding a way to keep the family happy when I am at a folk festival such as Moor & Coast.
Arguing with my kids about wether I have a folk CD on in the car, when they want Radio One. They make so much din, I have to give way because I can't hear my music.
LOL

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 03:04 PM

There's always at least one used guitar string hanging out of the trash bin.

When something is run over by the vacuum cleaner the immediate response is to think "pick" or "ball-end" instead of "coin" or "hairpin".

There are a couple of genuinely creative art projects prominently exhibited that involve using the ball-ends from used string sets, especially the color-coded ones from D'Addario.

"Spring cleaning" means going through all instrument cases' accessory compartments throwing out broken strings or worn-out picks and wondering why the Coricidin bottle used for electric slide is in the hammer dulcimer case.

(A) There are at least three small bowls spread around the room to serve as receptacles for picks, capos, slides etc. (B) They're all full.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Barbara
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 02:34 PM

Ah, yes, the plastic bucket holding miscellanea.
Ours, under the melodion, contains a rain stick, about ten Generation whistles in brass or chrome from Bb to G high, a low D whistle, a metal slide whistle, a couple wooden whistles, three wooden flutes, E, A and C, and two Sweetheart whistles, A and G, a practice chanter, a wooden clarinet whose reed is held on by a brass slip-ring, one cheap Mexican maraca, two shake-shake eggs, one shake-shake avocado, a set of clave, and a flute cleaning brush. I think that's all.
There's probably a few picks and maybe a jaw harp in the bottom.

Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Don Firth
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 01:39 PM

A large bookcase full of music books of various kinds, such as The Ballad Tree by Evelyn Kendrick Wells, The Ballad Book by MacEdward Leach, The Viking Book of Folk Ballads, and various books on regional ballads, sea songs, books like Positively 4th Street by David Hajdu, The Mayor of McDougal Street by Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez's autobio, Follow the Music by Jac Holtzman, Folk Song U. S. A. and Folk Songs of North America by miscellaneous Lomaxes, The American Song Bag by Carl Sandburg, and on and on. . . .    These, along with song books 'til hell won't have it. Several music theory textbooks and workbooks I used when I was at the University of Washington School of Music and Cornish School of the Arts. Several books on vocal technique.

Two 2-drawer file cabinets full of guitar technique manuals (folk, classic, and flamenco) along with folios of guitar music, folders full of sheet music, both store-bought and hand-copied, lead sheets, folders full of the words to songs and ballads both learned and to be learned yet. Problem is, to get at the drawers, I have to move two guitar cases. GO-GW travel guitar in it's gig-bag right beside the bed.

Between my wife and I, we have about 12 feet of shelf-space devoted to LPs (stacked on edge) of classical music, folk music, jazz, and miscellaneous. These were acquired before we started buying CDs. Enough CDs (same variety of music) that, if stacked one on top of the other, would reach about 14 feet (I'm not kidding!). About 300 cassette tapes, some store-bought, mostly home made or tapes of various musical events such as song circles and hoots. Two old phonographs for the LPs, various devices for playing CDs and cassettes, in addition to CD-DVD player-burners in both Barbara's and my computers.

Two organs in the living room, both Barbara's:   an Estey reed organ (have to operated foot pedals while playing) that used to be in a church somewhere, and a small reed camp organ (operates the same way) that folds up into a box the size of a foot-locker—used to be trucked around to religious camp-meetings before Barbara bought it. She also has huge stacks of piano music (took lessons for years when she was a kid--she's very good with keyboards), but we don't have a piano right now. Problem of figuring out where we can put one and still get into our apartment. A hog-nosed psaltery, various instruments that resemble zithers, a whole quiver of penny-whistles, a case of recorders, and a laud (Spanish street-lute).

Musicians? Well . . . looks kinda suspicious. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Fidjit
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 01:25 PM

Has anyone checked that the coffee table is still there underneath all the clutter? (Sorry. Important stuff).

Can you remember what the surface of the coffee table looked like, or was made of?

Oh yes. And the kitchen table. And the bedside table.

Yeah. Been there and still doing that.

Chas

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 01:18 PM

Yer right-- Who needs winter heat? Clean water?

~S~

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Purple Foxx
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:56 PM

Susan,it may be just you at the moment but I think you are describing the "dream home" of at least half the people who post on this site.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:43 PM

Mick, that must be a HUGE bucket-- banjo and all???

I hesitate to admit this.... "Susan, how come you rent such a big house now the kids are moved out?" Well.... each instrument has to have it's own practice room, right? Space to arrange? Restringing area with emergency-repairs worktable? And of course each room needs at least one amp, right? Pickers' chairs? "Current" music books to go with the instruments?

No? It's just US???????

And I used to think the "what's in your case" thread was amusingly hyperbolic!

~Susan

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: open mike
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:37 PM

there might be a basket or box of rhythm instruments
which are taken to jams and parties for everyone to play.
Mine are kept in picnic baskets...there is a stack of 3 of them..

claves, maracas, shaky eggs, found objects....


and you might find in the kitchen a canning jar of beans
used as a rhythm instrument...not to mention dents in the
spoons form them being used for playing.

how about clothing with musical designs...
neckties (does anyone wear them anymore?)
with piano keys on them...and tee shirts
from festivals and perfomers and public
radio statino fundraisers...


and souveniers from places you have played..
posters, bear mats, brewery nick nacks...


and when christmas time comes,,,the ornaments
are little miniature instruments...


and, oh, what about earrings made out of guitar picks, etc.

oh yes those elastic capos make good hair ties...

and what uses have you found for used and broken guitar strings..

wiring together broken hinges??
replacing that blade on the cheese cutter?
using them (high E string) to take pottery off the wheel...

you keep clothes pins to hold music to stands in the wind..

suitcases are more likely to hold music, mike cords, etc.
than clothes.

although there may be one suit case that still has stuff in it
from the last festival and you could use it an any moment to
go somewhere to make music...

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:27 PM

Hey, Shambles, thanks for the Monty Python link. It gave me a chuckle.
----------
You know you're among musicians when they sing Happy Birthday and there are at least three notes in the harmony on the note.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 11:59 AM

Yep, Anahata, I left all that out but I have that stuff here and in Michigan. I gotta get a life!!

Mick

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: treewind
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 11:50 AM

You can always tell a real gigging musician by the proximity of the PA gear to the front door (if it's not occupying the garage of course)

I think Mary and I qualify for most of the other things mentioned here.
Apart from instruments that we play, I've noticed that most musicians accumulate a number of instruments that they don't play but are hoping to start learning "some time". The number of these reaches a limit: you're dissuaded from buying any more when you remember how many things you have hanging on the wall that you haven't started on yet (in our case a hammered dulcimer and a Bulgarian gaida, kaval and tambura, not to mention various whistles)

The rest of it looks horribly familiar:
Home studio with mics up on stands, instruments in most rooms of the house, music, bottles, empty glasses and coffee cups...

Anahata

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 11:38 AM

I am looking at my living room. Under each of the end tables are more books and music than fits. The rest of the books are in the basement with the boxes of CD's and tapes. There is a small red bucket holding 15 or 20 whistles, a Highland practice chanter, a practice set of uilleann pipes with 3 chanters (all in D), a fiddle, a tenor banjo, a small 23 string celtic harp, a music stand, a portable music stand, a baby Taylor, a Freshwater Irish bouzouki, a Guild 12 string, a Larrivee six string, a music seat, and a bodhran. In the basement is a bass guitar that I decided to renovate.

Can I join the club?

Mick

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 11:15 AM

My wife, who owns 2 guitars, a fiddle, a bodhran, a hammered dulcimer and a bowed psaltry says,"The concept of ENOUGH instruments hasn't gotten through to Jim yet." Our house resembles many of those described above. We hired a man to build a room on the back of the house. My wife said she wanted some place to store instruments. The builder said he had a great idea. We could hang all the instruments on the wall. My wife said,"Empty cases take up as much room as full ones."

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 10:39 AM

if those renditions of Birthday songs include 2-3 that are NOT Happy Birthday to the standard tune....
♫HappyBIRTHday♫ (to the "Volga Boatmen")

or ♫"Why was he born so beautiful, why was he born at aaaalllll"♫

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: JennyO
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 10:29 AM

One entire wall of the living room has racks full of CDs, then a piano with a fiddle on top, then a corner lined with 3 guitars in cases, 2 broken / incomplete guitars, a bouzouki, a mandolin, bags of percussion instruments, 2 bodhrans, a darabukka, a frame drum, a bunch of whistles and 3 or 4 music stands (not sure how many are under the pile).

On another wall - the computer, the TV and the stereo are all connected for EXTRA good listening, and under the little table that the TV is on, is lurking another darabukka. On the coffee table a stack of songsheets, an email about a gig and a magazine open at an article about "Making a mountain dulcimer".

In the dining room the sideboard has numerous picks, a capo, 3 harmonicas, and a train whistle. Another cabinet has a portable CD player and another stack of CDs. The table has song lyrics, drawings, bits of scribbled words, another couple of picks and another capo.

In the bedrooms - songsheets all over the floor and boxes of CDs - probably a few other things if I went and had a look...

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: jojofolkagogo
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 10:15 AM

.... you're BROKE !!!!!!    :~>

Jo-Jo

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:57 AM

Mo:

2 there is a box of music taken to the last practise on the floor

3 there is a pile of music not needed for the last practise chucked out of the box onto a chair

Yes, I think that really captures it-- the incessant organzing which, of course, requires comcomitant DIS-organizing!

~Susan

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:45 AM

er...make that as I happily received this morning!!!!   :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:44 AM

If you wake up in the wee hours of the early morning to sleepily make your way down the stairs and find someone already having fun playing their instrument.

If you carry a harmonica in your purse....

If your eBay watch list includes Hardanger fiddles, Martin, Taylor, Froggie Bottom, or Bowed Psaltery....

If your television set gets less use than your music stand...

If your bookshelves are drooping from the pressure of too many music books...

If you enjoy the Christmas gift of a magazine subscription to Acousitc Guitar, Bluegrass Unlimited, or Fiddler is more enjoyable than the cookies from you neighbor....

If you are celebrating your birthday, you can count on a rendition or two of Happy Birthday before you get downstairs in the morning (as I happy received this morning!!!   :))


Michelle

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Mo the caller
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:36 AM

Your neighbour comments that she has "fairies at the bottom of the garden" - (Jim and his whistle)

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Mo the caller
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 09:34 AM

"The dog has been trained NOT to howl along."

Cats are not so trainable.
He was miaoing are biting my feet last night along with my descant recorder.

In my case
1 there is a music stand in the middle of the dining room (mine)and in the lounge (Jim's)
2 there is a box of music taken to the last practise on the floor
3 there is a pile of music not needed for the last practise chucked out of the box onto a chair
4 the table is covered with dance instruction cards
5 the book cases are full of dance instruction books
6 the other chairs are full of open cases of dance cassettes
7 the window sill holds spare boxes of dance cards
8 yes, the calendar is full of dances, and the names of my "other men" - band leaders

But then I'm only a pretend musician, but a real dance caller

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: greg stephens
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 08:52 AM

Fiddler: Malcolm Webster and Pam Barfield(of Steamhead) had a real piano on their narrow-boat Mallard. Very good for parties. They've changed boats now, but alas there's no piano in the new one.
When I was on the boats we built a high cross cross-bed up at the sharp end just below gunwale height(to tuck my feet under), and managed a lot of instrument storage in two layers underneath the bed.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: fiddler
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 08:46 AM

This all fits my place to a 'T' trouble is it is a British Narrow boat 67' long and 6' 10" wide (externally) and now I'm looking to get a keyboard in for composition work etc. too!!!!!

Yes the free areas have the computer cables in them too!

The house was no different in the past and somehow I downsized but it doesn't show (and the ladies have not complained either).

;-)

Andy

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 08:31 AM

If every wall and doorway has great scrapes and gouges at case carrying height!

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 08:19 AM

HOUSE concerts a Federal Case

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 08:17 AM

If the local police are also there and preventing you from making music.

Houst Concerts a Federal Case

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 08:08 AM

They have scores of various sizes of tote bags, each full of lead sheets, small tools, flasks, and a slide whistle or two.

They let the most motley-looking folks in their door, happily, whether they're home or not.

~S~

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Purple Foxx
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 06:28 AM

To take the next logical stereotyping step, check out "The Folkie Profile" at www.folklib.net folkfile.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 06:23 AM

The various CD marked only with a date and some cryptic and a scribble have good music on.

They've built shelves for the books, Lyrics folders and lyrics most of the rooms of the house.

There's an old speaker stand in use as a coat rack

There are enough T-shirts about in really bright and tastless colours to keep a molly side dressed, from obscure festivals, and covered in some language you can't read.



I've just managed to evict the PA to someone else, so I stop falling over it...

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 05:52 AM

If they are never there................

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: greg stephens
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 05:45 AM

Well, I'm pretty true to type. I am sitting on the safa at this moment, I can see many many folk magazines lying on the floor, half drunk coffee on the table in front of me, leads,cd writer, desk, 8-track in fron of me ,leads everywhere, I can see five guitars, 3 melodeons, a mandoline, a banjo, an overflowing piano stool, the piano is covered in music books and small instruments, and bits of bigger instruments.I can see three drums, and a large ribbed bit of drainpipe I use a s scraper.The sleeve of a Brownie McGhee and Sonny TerryLP is open in front of me. There are countelss CDs everywhere. I can see a Boi Sec Ardoin LP lyibg on the floor.There aare to boxes of cassettes spilling onto the floor.
Also, as is generally the case with pro and semi-pro musicians, there are various odd bits of cash lying about waiting to be accounted for.
   I have just notice, immediately beside me on the floor, a boxed set of cassettes a Verdi requiem, which I have never played, and came from my father's desk when he died some five years ago. It appears to have sat on the floor by the sofa ever since. Interesting. On the safa beside me are many unread newspapers, the Oxford Book of Carols, a ring binder full of musicians email addresses, a CD of Hank Wedel and Ray Barron. and a Musician's Union leaflet.
Judging bythe other posts, I'm pretty much a stereotype, as we all are.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: Melani
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 04:22 AM

The dog has been trained NOT to howl along.

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: mandotim
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 04:18 AM

The dining room is a home studio, the calendar has gigs on it instead of birthdays, coffee and whisky are available intravenously, and breakfast is cold curry you left in the van last night, not to be eaten before 11am...
Tim from Bit on the Side

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 04:14 AM

http://www.phespirit.info/montypython/four_yorkshiremen.htm

Subject: RE: You're in a REAL Musician's Home If....
From: The Shambles
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 04:11 AM

You have homes!

You were lucky

We lived in a shoebox in the middle of the road Etc Etc