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Post by pavane on Oct 29, 2023 11:03:15 GMT
We will be staying in a hotel and don't want to be thrown out so, no, I won't be taking any kind of musical instrument. Who knows, though - something might be acquired while we are away!
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Post by Zi on Oct 29, 2023 11:27:21 GMT
We will be staying in a hotel and don't want to be thrown out so, no, I won't be taking any kind of musical instrument. Who knows, though - something might be acquired while we are away!
rofl! Ye of little faith. This might be your opportunity to return home a star! I do like the reasoning though - I can't take something with me so perhaps I'll bring something home!
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Post by Zi on Oct 30, 2023 9:40:51 GMT
It's arrived. It arrived a few minutes ago. I've unpacked it and looked at it in the case but I have a mug of coffee just now so I won't play it until later. I'm impressed with the case and how it looks though!
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Post by Zi on Oct 30, 2023 11:51:55 GMT
I've had a little go with this. It comes in a really nice plastic and cloth bag with sections for each of the three parts. They fit very easily together. The bag has carrying handles and is zipped. There's a separate section inside for recorder paraphernalia. There's a place on the back of the recorder for a neck strap thing to hook on at the back of the recorder and the neck strap is included. Without that I'd find it quite heavy to hold. I'm not sure if that is meant to operate as a thumb rest as well but if it is then it's not in a good place for me. But then I really don't get on with thumb rests. It's keyed and the keys work well and seal well. It comes with a mop, grease, the strap I mentioned and a fingering chart. It sounds nice but I haven't played anything serious on it. I'd find playing it for any length of time, quite challenging I think as some of the fingering is quite a stretch for me (at the moment) it may improve as I get used to where the keys are. The knick neck is also weird at the moment and I think that will take some getting used to and I'm wondering if my arms are long enough! The mouth piece seems really big too. Actually, a bass recorder seems very big overall. I imagine that the keys would need careful looking after. It's not the kind of thing you'd want to leave lying around somewhere; and it does need some care putting it together - luckily I've learned that from the clarinet. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to someone who is clumsy (like me for instance!) and I wouldn't equip the orchestra with it. But if you want something to 'play' with (rather than to play with) then this would be ideal. It'd let you see what a bass is like without having to mortgage your house. My experience with the recorders above the size of treble is definitely that I wouldn't go that way - I'm not built for it. But I'm looking forward to having a go at adding a bass line and it has provided me with some amusement on this really dreary looking day. For those who are interested in what The Collie thinks - she raised her head and stared at it and then went back to snoozing... Clearly bass recorders aren't for singing-along to. That's a relief!
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Post by pavane on Oct 30, 2023 17:28:59 GMT
I'm glad to hear that it sounds ok. I know exactly what you mean by 'play' with, and that's the only reason I'd get a bass recorder, so I might still add one to an order that otherwise wouldn't be enough to qualify for free postage. I bought the bass recorder I had from Japan. It was new and even paying customs charges was cheaper than buying it here. Our forthcoming holiday is in fact in Japan and I did think I might be able to get a Yamaha bass at a similarly reduced price, but the only ones I have seen are pretty much the same price as I'd pay here (so substantially more expensive than the Thomann one) and I don't want one that much. Maybe the other one was just an oddity. I will keep an eye out though. I've always rather fancied having a go at a koto but I doubt if I could ever actually play one, and they are large and expensive items. I quite enjoy having a pop at the Saunders Japanese pieces for tenor recorder.
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Post by Zi on Oct 31, 2023 9:36:56 GMT
That is a seriously unusual sound. Because my ears aren't really tuned to it, I'm not sure if what I heard was well played or not! re the bass - yes, you know exactly where I'm coming from. I thought about it before I bought and ideally, I'd go to a music fair or a recorder workshop and get to try these things out but that isn't going to happen. By the time I'd paid travel costs and other things, it looked cheaper to just buy something to have a go on. Who knows, I might actually manage an easy line one day... Japan sounds seriously interesting!
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Post by pavane on Oct 31, 2023 10:37:16 GMT
Koto is indeed unusual, and is a sound that I've always rather liked - I bought an LP of traditional Japanese music way back when I was a student (and probably still have it somewhere). I assume the playing is good but, of course, I really have no idea. I recently read a Japanese murder mystery where the (somewhat improbable) solution hung on a koto tuning thingy - I hope to get an opportunity to see/hear one being played, but it's not the sort of instrument I'd ever try - I don't think you can get A Tune A Day for koto. Mrs P and I travel to Australia on what I think you'd call a regular but infrequent basis, so have briefly visited assorted places in SE Asia as stopovers, but have never been to Japan. We decided this year that, apart from the Aus trips, we would give up long haul flights, partly because they're horrible, and partly because they are bad for the environment. We also decided the single place both of us would love to see is Japan so, despite feeling a bit guilty environment-wise (which we tried to offset a bit by investing in a lot of tree planting) we thought we would give it a try. Mrs P is an artist and Japan has some fantastic art "stuff" - both to see, and to stock up on: they do a huge range of hand-made paper and have what I gather is the largest pigment shop in the world so we are taking large suitcases! If I see any music shops I will have a look around but I don't really expect to bring anything back. But, you never know!
Apologies that much of this is
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Post by Zi on Oct 31, 2023 11:15:13 GMT
You can have my 'share' of travel - I'll never use it! In any case, Mrs P deserves to see the goodies - it's like going to a music fair I think. Handmade paper is amazing - I have made quite a lot in the past but haven't made any since we moved. Too busy with the wreck of a house.
Re off topic - this forum is so small that off topic is almost meaningless. When we set out we didn't want people to join just to talk about treacle toffee but actually hearing about people's other hobbies and interests and little bits they share, is very nice. It turns forum members into rounded people - not just people who play a whatsit - so I don't think it matters. If it were bigger then it would likely become a problem if everyone rambled at once but here it doesn't matter. And if I was to start doing pointy finger for being off-topic then I'd pointy finger at me first and foremost.
The pigment shop looks wonderful! We dabble with art (I do mostly crafts) and that place would make us drool!
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Post by keff on Oct 31, 2023 12:50:44 GMT
Zi, congratulations on receiving your bass recorder. What is the pitch range...presumably similar to a double bass, in which case you will have to take up jazz (?).
Pavane, have a splendid time in Japan.
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Post by Zi on Oct 31, 2023 13:45:37 GMT
keff - Thank you! There's a chart here which shows the relative ranges of the recorder family. Recorder Family RangeI'm really, really hoping I can handle the bass enough to just put in a little backing. I think the chances of it being jazzy (in any sense of the word) are close to zero in a negative way!
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Post by keff on Oct 31, 2023 15:10:22 GMT
Looks like the contrabass recorder would have a similar range to the double bass (guess that shouldn't be a surprise because double bass also known as contrabass according to the Observer's Book of Music). Perhaps the contrabass would be mightily heavy unless it is floor standing.
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Post by pavane on Oct 31, 2023 15:29:16 GMT
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Post by Zi on Nov 4, 2023 12:26:39 GMT
I had another little play of this today. I adjusted the neck strap properly this time which makes it much less heavy. I like the neck strap. It's just a soft, lightweight strap - nothing fancy. I do find the fingering quite awkward and the knick effect is still extremely strange to me but so far I've probably played all of 15 minutes. I'm also puzzled as to how one is supposed to dry that neck with the swab on a stick thing that has been sent with it. To my joy, I've also found that I have zero carols for the treble therefore nothing that the bass can do... so I'll have to buy a suitable book. I have played the accompaniment to Good King Wenceslaus though - just the first part which doesn't go to any awkward fingering. I recorded that and then spent several minutes trying to remember how we got the Tascam to play nicely with Linux... I'd forgotten that too. Fun was had by all... Mr Z was in the gym...
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Post by largissimo on Nov 27, 2023 15:16:04 GMT
Been slowly contemplating a bass recorder myself.... I like the lower instruments. It's a shame that Great Basses are a bit outide my price range at the moment.
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Post by Zi on Nov 28, 2023 12:47:21 GMT
How is the recorder coming along? I've not played much recently. I really have to actually *do* something! I've been a bit distracted by computer stuff recently. before that it was the garden. I've always got some sort of excuse...
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