Which musical instruments do you have?

[wishful thinker]

I assume most people on here have a piano, in one form or anther, but what of other instruments?  And do you/can you, play them? 

[ahinton]

I assume most people on here have a piano, in one form or anther, but what of other instruments?  And do you/can you, play them? 

Just for the record, I though that you (in particular) might be interested to know that I do not posses any saxophones, nor do I play the saxophone!

Best,

Alistair

[wishful thinker]

I know not whether that makes your detailed knowledge any less a cause concern, sir    Do you have an unrequited sax life? 

Now, as you know (if you have been paying attention) I have three pianos, and also a flute (which I used to play in the school orchestra, though that was some time ago now, and despite good intentions, this "skill" has not yet been re-learned), a harpsichord (unplayable at present and one of my other good intention projects) and two reed organs (ditto, though at least I have remade the bellows on one, just need to put it back together).  And Mrs Thinker has a guitar. 

[ahinton]

I know not whether that makes your detailed knowledge any less a cause concern, sir    Do you have an unrequited sax life? 

I cannot answer that, other than to say that what I have already written here on the subject of sax ought at least to demonstrate that I possess some knowledge of the different sizes, girths (of tubing) and mouthpieces involved but, beyond that, what can I say? - except, perhaps, "reed all about it".

Go smoke a soprillo...

Best,

Alistair

[elspeth]

I currently own, besides my piano, a flute with two heads and a piccolo. At some point, when I have money, I'll be acquiring some of their big brothers, and alto and a bass flute. Will have to save for quite some time first, though...

[henrah]

Never heard a bass flute before...

I did own (I think my dad sold it on) an alto sax, and I could play only one thing on it: In The Jungle

[wishful thinker]

Henrah, your father has sold your property without your consent?  You must get therapy for this becomes a big issue in your life 

BTW, I forgot the recorder.  The descant recorder is a lovely thing in the hands of a talented musician.  In the hands of a nine year old......................

[henrah]

Ah yes the recorder, the instrument that overpopulates the primary school orchestra. I remember playing star wars in a big multi-school orchestra on the recorder, that was fun!

He bought it in the first place, and spent quite a bit of money on it actually. It was when a guy came into school and got us all interested in musical instruments. Had lessons and everything, I think nearly everyone at school had an instrument. For once it was cool to have one!

My requiem for a dream was to play along to lisa in the Simsons' title theme. Alas! how that faded into nothing...

[wishful thinker]

I should be careful, young man, if I were you.  There's a certain individual around who is a known stalker with a particular penchant for alto sax 

[ahinton]

I should be careful, young man, if I were you.  There's a certain individual around who is a known stalker with a particular penchant for alto sax 

Don't know who that is; I've certainly no especial penchant for any particular one of the sax family myself, still less for "stalking" anyone (not that one needs a stalk to play a sax - a reed has sufficed well since the instrument's invention in the 19th century)...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Ma az just bought a new banjo.

Thal

[kelly_kelly]

A piano, and 2 violas (one is the correct size and one is old, but I can play both).

[thalbergmad]

one is the correct size and one is old, but I can play both

At the same time?

[netzow]

I have a Piano and a Mandolin. I play both. There is also a Classical guitar and a normal acoustic guitar and a flute around the house.

[ganymed]

i have a flute which i can play and a crappy piano =[

[lichristine]

i have a piano, a guitar, and a violin. i can play the piano.
i can play "The Erie Canal" on guitar, and i can play a bunch of lord of the rings songs on violin.

[shortyshort]

I also play electric bass guitar, although, not being in a band at this moment in time, I very rarely play it. Plus it would take time away from my piano.

Shorty

[pianistimo]

i have three qigong balls.  right near the computer.  not sure if they help or don't help the wrist area - but they feel nice and i like to listen to them close to my ear.  it's like smelling flowers, to me.

also, we have a trumpet hanging on the wall of our music room (which houses the piano and hammond organ - but the hammond went kaput because of some electrical problem).
husband plays (played) trumpet.  five year old plays harmonica.

[ahinton]

i have three quigong balls.  right near the computer.  not sure if they help or don't help the wrist area - but they feel nice and i like to listen to them close to my ear.  it's like smelling flowers, to me.

also, we have a trumpet hanging on the wall of our music room (which houses the piano and hammond organ - but the hammond went kaput because of some electrical problem).
husband plays (played) trumpet.  five year old plays harmonica.

But no sax? Ah, well; there's always time, one may suppose...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

never suppose anything.  (although one may rather suppose the three children came from somewhere). 

[arensky]

I currently own, besides my piano, a flute with two heads and a piccolo. At some point, when I have money, I'll be acquiring some of their big brothers, and alto and a bass flute. Will have to save for quite some time first, though...

Alto flute is awesome, what a beautiful sound! Don't know why there isn't more solo literature for it...

Anyway I own

two pianos (Steinway "A" and Baldwin Hamilton upright)
Fender Rhodes Mark I/73
Kurzweil K1000
Korg X5
two trombones
french horn
tabla and duggi
clarinet (non-operational  )
alto saxophone (non-operational, perhaps it will become a wall decoration  )

[thalbergmad]

My piano accordian appears to have disintegrated.

[arensky]

My piano accordian appears to have disintegrated.

 

[caperflutist]

I own 3 flutes (yamaha student model, yamaha 481 H and a Powell), piccolo, violin, tin flute, chinese flute, pan flute, sopranino, soprano, alto recorders, violin, baby grand piano

[caperflutist]

I also play pipe organ, but I don't own one!

[quantum]

Yamaha grand piano
Heintzman vertical piano (non-working)
GEM F30 spinet organ
Buffet Bb R13 clarinet
Vito Bb student clarinet
Buffet tenor sax - made sometime 1918 or earlier (out of tune with itself)
Piano Accordion, 120 bass
Selmer Signet student flute
Dizi in D (Chinese bamboo traverse flute)
Meg tin whistle in D
Meg tin whistle in C
Pan flute labeled in G but plays in Ab
Wooden fipple (unsure of exact name), 6 hole - got it for $5
Yamaha Guitar (I don't play guitar)
Filipino "King flute" in C, 6 hole fipple, made of bamboo
Violin 1/4 bow (no violin, sounds good on plastic ruler or putty knife)
Maracas
Ceramic bongos


Main instrument is piano, clarinet is secondary.  I can improvise on organ, and squeeze some simple tunes on the accordion.  The rest I just dabble with or use for certain occasions where they are called for. 

[thalbergmad]

I also play pipe organ, but I don't own one!

If i could only get this into my house, i would buy it.

£18,000 would appear to be a bargain.

Thal

[imbetter]

piano and guitar

[caperflutist]

Thal- that looks liek a nice instrument!

[quantum]

Thal, do you have the specs on that organ?

[timothy42b]

Ah, the recorder.

I have most sizes.  But I made a critical error purchasing a set once that caused me considerable pain for more than a year.

One year my children were attending an underfunded school.  The music teacher wanted to do a semester on recorders but had none.  They requested parents come up with $3.00 US each to buy them.  90% of the parents could not do this. 

So I bought enough for the whole class.  I bought inexpensive but decent plastic soprano recorders, somewhat better than the $3 el cheapos the school could get, but affordable. 

Unfortunately, good recorders come with Baroque fingering - you have to fork to get the F in tune.  The teacher, bless her heart, was only familiar with German fingering.  German fingering is pretty out of tune on a German recorder, but on a Baroque recorder it is excruciatingly painful.  When I tried to correct the kids, they sided with the teacher.  "No, I'm supposed to play it this way."  There was nothing I could do but endure it until the school year ended, then hide them all. 

Huh.  Wonder why piano players don't double on accordion.  Why not have a portable piano you can actually make money with? 

[thalbergmad]

Thal, do you have the specs on that organ?

Yes, you will find it here. It is a Viscount Symphonia.

https://orgue.free.fr/anglais/viscount.html

I was just googling around the other day looking for a replacement for my old Omegan organ which appears to have blown up. My eyes nearly fell out when i saw this as it appears to be a bargain.

I admit to knowing nothing about Viscount organs. I was going to look at an Allen or a Rodgers or go back to Wyvern where i bought my old one. I must not allow myself to get turned on by looks and specs as it does not guarantee a good organ. 3 manuals should be enough for most of us.

As time goes by, the digital organ seems to get better and better. Whilst i hope the pipe organ will always be with us, what church is going to turn an organ like that away for £18000.

Thal

[timothy42b]

I was just googling around the other day looking for a replacement for my old Omegan organ which appears to have blown up. My eyes nearly fell out when i saw this as it appears to be a bargain.


Thal

I don't know if your old one has MIDI out, but if it did that might be a good alternative.  If the MIDI works and the rest of the organ doesn't, you can use it as essentially a 3 keyboard plus pedal MIDI controller, running your outputs to something like Hauptwerk, and possibly doing considerably better sound than most home organs can.

[wishful thinker]

So Thal has a disfunctional organ? 

Maybe too many beers 

[molto-marcato]

I have an electric and an acoustic guitar and a coconut rattle  .

[rebby]

i have an eletric piano

[thalbergmad]

I don't know if your old one has MIDI out, but if it did that might be a good alternative.  If the MIDI works and the rest of the organ doesn't, you can use it as essentially a 3 keyboard plus pedal MIDI controller, running your outputs to something like Hauptwerk, and possibly doing considerably better sound than most home organs can.

I don't think it has, it is a rather old "analogue" church organ. 2 manuals with full pedal board and a decent range of voices, but it can't compete with the modern breed.

It has to go

Thal

[pianowolfi]

Well I have a grand piano (Bechstein), a second grand piano (Blüthner from 1892 or so), which is at the house of another family because I have just no place yet, a cello (sorry to my cello you always are in the corner because I have no time for you  ) A Yamaha keyboard, a Roland E-Piano. And....err.. a tin can 

[soliloquy]

If you're John Cage everything is an instrument


I have a lamp, and a bed, and a cigarette lighter (dupont, ooh la la), some Chex Mix and a glass of Diet Dr. Pepper, and that's just some of the stuff on my desk!  (well, not the bed)  You wouldn't EVEN believe what I have in my pockets



Oh and my three Ruggieri Violins and my Strad Cello of course, not to mention the Fazioli and the Steinway 328 I keep in storage 



I used to actually have some castanets but I don't know where they are any more =/  I will upload a pic of my violin tomorrow though XD



Lessee.... I have a Yamaha C7 Concert Grand Piano, a Yamaha 26II Bb Clarinet (don't play clarinet any more), a Yamaha CLP-130 Clavinova which I recently had repaired (for free!  gooo recalls), some really cheap chinese student violin which I really suck at and an unmarked Cello (late 19th-early 20th French).

[ahinton]

If you're John Cage everything is an instrument

I think Mauricio Kagel would disagree!

Yes, I think that we can take both of those statements as true! The only problem (if indeed it is one) is that none of us here IS John Cage. Not to worry - that fact doesn't undermine what you wrote.

Perhaps the notion that "everything is an instrument" is less surprising when it is known to come from someone whom one of his teachers described as and inventor rather than a composer (I speak here - as I'm sure you know - of Schönberg).

OK, so here's a thought; had John Cage had an alter ego as Andy Warhol, do you suppose that he'd have been famous for 4'33"?

Best,

Alistair

[timothy42b]

I don't think it has, it is a rather old "analogue" church organ. 2 manuals with full pedal board and a decent range of voices, but it can't compete with the modern breed.

It has to go

Thal

If it were mine, and it could still be played (keys and pedals work adequately) I would consider a retrofit project.

You need a switch attached to each key and pedal.  That may exist if it is electric, worst case if this is pneumatic you end up buying 145 reed switches (61 great, 61 swell, 24 pedal).

Then you need a MIDI out for each.  Cheapest way, buy three 61 key electronic keyboards.  You don't care about sound or touch, all you need is MIDI. Say $50 each.  They'll fit inside your console, nobody will see them. All you need is to wire each organ key or pedal to one of the keyboard keys. 

You need a MIDI to PC interface.  Mine was about $40, I don't know if you can daisy chain or you'll have to buy one with multiple plugs.   

You need a fairly fast laptop to run Hauptwerk software.  This has some really impressive cathedral organs modelled with all their stops.  If you don't have a laptop, you're going to spend about $2000 here.  And of course you want the sound going to a decent amplifer and speaker system, which you may already have. 

So, keypress connects to cheap keyboard, which outputs MIDI ON signal to PC, which converts to sampled organ sound from Westminster or whereever your favorite is, and sends to your speakers. 

There are other ways, you could use a hardwired organ sequencer instead of the laptop and software. 

[soliloquy]

https://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.do?invite=VEqr4K785zUS0Y7hULxQ&shareName=MMS&messageState=RETRIEVED


Ahaha this is my violin    $19.95 + shipping

[annoying_airhead]

A Yamaha upright, a classical guitar, an accoustic guitar, three recorders (two wooden, one plastic - it's blue, lol), a xylophone, a keyboard *and two violins (one 3/4 with a broken bridge and needing new strings, the other is full sized).

Oh I wish I had a brain!  =)

*NB - My eldest sister is thinking of buying a ukulele.

[pianowolfi]

Oh I wish I had a brain!  =)

Well the brain can bee understood as an instrument as well, is it that what you mean? As somebody once wrote in the "What are you listening to"- thread: "I am listening to my thoughts"

[thalbergmad]

*NB - My eldest sister is thinking of buying a ukulele.

Buy a banjolele instead.

Much brighter and crisper sound and it looks sweet.

Thal

[ahinton]

Buy a banjolele instead.

Much brighter and crisper sound and it looks sweet.

Thal

I'd prefer a Bösendorfer 290. You can't play Sorabji on a banjolele.

(OK, I can't play Sorabji on anything at all, but that's not quite the point)...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

I'd prefer a Bösendorfer 290. You can't play Sorabji on a banjolele.

Well, you can't really play George Formby on a Bosendorfer 290.

I bet Sorabji loved Formby. Styles are so close.

Thal

[ahinton]

Well, you can't really play George Formby on a Bosendorfer 290.

Well, that's a relief!

I bet Sorabji loved Formby. Styles are so close.

Thal

You must sharpen up your typing skills, Thal (though who I am to tell you this after all my silly typos I do not know!); clearly, you meant to write "I bet Sorabji loved form, by the way" - which of course he did...

Anyway, I hope to meet you soon leaning on the lamp-post at the corner of a street while whistling a certain St. Bertrand de Comminges or contemplating a Pastiche on the Song of the Window Cleaning Merchant...

Best,

Thalistair

[thalbergmad]

Turned out nice again.

Just bought a new banjolele.

Anyone know where i can get a left handed "Lucille"?

Thal