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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 6:32:13 AM

lovethyself

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I play fiddle, but I play for a morris dance team, so most can't hear the sour notes over the noise of the dancers bells and (sometimes) sticks. I play more to keep the dancers together than for any melodic value. There's only so much you can do to play around with a tune when you have dancers following you. Change it too much and they don't recognize it and get thrown off.

Gotta say, 15 years of playing the same 20 tunes for them is mind numbing. Good thing I like their company!

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 6:33:53 AM

Kana

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All I want is a gal who's a maestro when it comes to playing the skin flute. :-)

Now, me, I love music-preferably live. Grew up with it, around it, immersed it, but tragically can't play it. I'm hopelessly white, got zero rhythm, can't keep a beat to save my life. But I did stage and lighting when I was a kid, did a few national tours with bands, worked lots and lots of local shows, large venues and small. Got to meet Garcia and Jagger when they were on top,people like Perry, Maynard, and Rose on the way up (Worked a Guns show about six moths before Appetite came out-yeah, that was one band that was gonna make it all the way-they had the chops, the look, the talent, but most of all, they had swagger squared), and many others.
Good times.

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 6:34:08 AM

Missdressed

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Since I know Gary is dying to hear all about it ... Shawn Cuddy. He has a website www.shawncuddy.com

He is like a cross between Daniel O'Donnell and The Hoff. So, my best friend loves country music. Had been trying to get me to go for YEARS - eventually she wore me down and I agreed to go to a local bar where there was a Mr Cuddy going to be playing.

Now, I'm 5ft2 in my socks and she's just a tad over 6ft tall. (This will be relevant I promise). She is also a wheelchair specialist - she is a therapist (also relevant I promise)

So, we toddle off to the local bar/hotel where the great Mr Cuddy is playing. First, she can't find the fricking room where he's playing. So we have to go to the FUCKING RECEPTION and ask where the room is and we LOOK LIKE A PAIR OF FUCKING GROUPIES.

And we go into the room. And there's proper bouncers with ear pieces and shit and we have to be stamped on our hands. Open the door. And there's six people there, including us. At 9pm. I counted. And the other 4 were all blokes, and farmers. In stonewashed jeans and black shoes.

My heart went to my boots. I was driving so she got me a coke and she got wine and we settled ourselves like an art exhibit at a table.

Then this woman arrived. In a powered wheelchair. I thought my bestie was going to have an orgasm, she was so excited about this woman's chair. Now, we were just outside of Belfast. And this woman, in a powered wheelchair with oxygen and the full caboodle, had come from ABERFUCKINGDEEN on a fucking plane to see Shawn Cuddy. I was starting to think he might be half decent.

So, glossing over the fact that we were the youngest people there by about 20 years, some other people started to arrive and sit at our table. Nice couples, very chatty and had come from all over Ireland to see Mr Cuddy. Literally 3, 4 hour drives to see him.

And then the warm up guy came on. He had the worst sort of spangly dangly shirt on with shiny cowboy boots and a stetson. A fucking stetson in Belfast. And he starts to DJ all these cheesy country songs.

And this wee guy of about 103 staggered over and asked my friend to dance. He was 5ft3 at the very most. And when she stood up to dance with him I just about wet myself. It was, and remains, one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen in my entire life.

Eventually The Great Mr Cuddy came on. He could not sing. He was out of tune. And HE KNEW ALL THE WOMEN IN THE AUDIENCE !! "This tune is for Annie over there hello Annie did you bring your sister tonight? Oh there's Ada Ada how is your husband doing after his stroke"

It was dire beyond dire and I was stone cold sober.

And then he played some song about dancing with your daddy at your wedding. And my friend got rather over emotional and sobbed into her wine.

Not. A. Good. Night.

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 6:35:35 AM

Missdressed

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MasterCaneman

When I was a kid,I bounced around through a number of different instruments, violin, clarinet, sax, euphonium, and finally, the Uber-Domliest of instruments, the tuba (and by extension, the sousaphone). I was able to play each fairly well, but after a point, I lost the drive to truly master them. The last instrument I played was bass guitar, because the tablature was identical to tuba, and one of my ne'er-do-well friends had found a bunch of stuff that had "fallen off a truck" and needed a safe place to store it. In payment, he offered me a bass and an amplifier.

For a couple years I worked at it, but not hard-core. Jammed with a couple friends, and at one point was considered a member of a garage band, but it was more for the fact I was the only one who could figure out how to work their homemade sound board and had a van. I filled in for their bass player a couple of times, but I lost the drive when I started working the clubs and getting into the scene. Burning the candle at both ends and the middle doesn't lend itself to developing marketable prowess with any instrument unless one has a natural talent for it. Still, it was fun.

Unfortunately for me, after years as an artilleryman, heavy metal concerts, and large-caliber weapons without hearing protection, most music is lost on me now. I can't even listen to it on the radio, and live music is even worse. Too much sounds overloads the nerve and all I get for my troubles are another week of tinnitus. Maddening.

That's what my eldest is like, he has severe hearing loss due to medical issues and he can't cope with loud music at all.

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 6:59:19 AM

garyFLR

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I'm sorry to hear you have hearing problems, I have friends with tinnitus so I have empathy.
With brass instruments they have the same three valve system, from the cornet to the tuba, so by changing your embouchure, you can effectively play a whole panoply of instruments. There seems to be an awful lot of bass players knocking around on CM. Where are the harmonica players, I thought all Americans could play them. I've seen the cowboy films & stuff

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 8:03:29 AM

igor2003

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FR

Music in my family goes back quite a ways. I had a great uncle (or is it great great?...my grandfather's uncle anyway) that played in the John Philip Sousa band. Several of my uncles played fiddle, guitar, and keyboard. And my brother is one of those people that can learn just about any instrument he puts his mind to. Guitar, banjo, fiddle, keyboard, bass guitar, ukelele, drums, Indian flute, and on and on. He played in a local band for 11 years and did backup recording for a number of local musicians, where he was known as "One Take Rick" because he would go in and do his track in one take, and not have to do retake after retake to get the sound right. He now (can you believe it?) mows lawns for a living, but does teach guitar as a side job. (He's an avid hiker, and enjoys mowing lawns because it helps keep him in shape for his hiking.)

As for myself, a guy I went to school with in my Sophomore year of high school showed me my first few chords on a guitar, and I've been playing AT playing a guitar ever since. Never very accomplished, but find personal enjoyment in it anyway. Can't really read music, but can figure out what note is which by counting "every good boy deserves fudge" or "good boys deserve fudge always" when I have to. Probably 20 years ago, or so, I started figuring out a bit about playing keyboard, and I'm every bit as un-accomplished in that as I am in guitar. Then last fall I started learning harmonica and ukelele. Blues cross-harp is proving to be a bit of a challenge, but I'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of trying, anyway. Recently, though, I've had a new interest in the guitar. Just a week ago I bought a new Ibenez acoustic and have been learning different scales. Still haven't quite figured out what to do with them yet, but I'm working on it.

At one point I was a considerably better dancer than musician. Ballroom, Latin, swing, country, nightclub...all kinds of social partner dancing. I even taught dance lessons at the weekly dances that were held by a local singles group. But severe disk degeneration in my lower back put an end to that, which is part of the reason for my recent increased interest in playing music.

And I do enjoy at least a little bit of most all kind of music, with classic rock being my favorite. But if you look on my MP3 player you'll find rock, hard rock, big band, country, Latin, and even some Chinese, Turkish, and Egyptian music. Not really into rap at all, but did enjoy doing the Tango to Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise"!

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 8:26:34 AM

cordeliasub

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I always wanted to play the drums. Even though I took "class percussion" as part of my music ed degree.....I didn't get enough. One of these days....

I play the flute and sax and enough piano that elementary school students think I'm really good, but voice was my major instrument. there is something about singing that is...cathartic and therapeutic.

As far as music goes...I like pretty much everything except twangy, marry-yer-cousin country, rap that must insert the F word every sentence (please increase your vocabulary) and that scary, screaming, possessed by the devil sounding stuff - this mainly bothers me because I just imagine how much it must HURT to sing that way.

I am lucky to have kids who are also music crazy, and they keep my horizons broad with recently added to my ipod selections like Dancing Lotus, Creature Feature, Amilie Autumn, and some mix of techno and flapper (1920's) music, which I really like. And being the cheesy person I am, I have a special place of love for Broadway, I admit it. I am a sucker for a good rendition of Defying Gravity or Show Me.

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 8:30:48 AM

garyFLR

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Ibenez Acoustics aren't a bad guitar, so I've been told by those that know as I don't play guitar, learning 2nd position harp is a good thing to do , as you can play about with it wherever, unlike a grand piano, or a double bass

.
You seem to have quite a family heritage in music, plenty of influences to draw on.

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RE: Musical stuff. - 6/1/2013 8:38:06 AM

garyFLR

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I'd love to be able to sing, it's something you just can't learn, you can get to a level of competency in any instruments, but if you can't hold a note, no amount of tuition will make you a vocalist.
Incidentally, what's all this interest in drums from Ladies these days, I know three female drummers, even in my small circle of friends.
I think it's a great development

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