We've been at risk of straying onto the "which instrument is best?"
territory here, methinks, but Jim's points are right, to my mind.
And they bring me a few more thoughts which I hope are useful and not
merely pompous!
Some instruments are easier to make an acceptable sound on than others,
(OK, acceptable to whom?) though I believe most to be equally hard to
make play real music.
Generalisations:
Some, like harps, make a magic sound which attracts many people even if
the player isn't that good, and can lure the player into thinking
they're wonderful.
Some, like the hurdy gurdy, are so fascinating that they attract people
even when they aren't making a particularly nice noise: see above.
Some, like squeeze boxes, easily fool the player into thinking they're
doing a great job, because they are powerful: see above.
Pipes, like fiddles, are hard even to get a decent sound from, but then
need longer by far to turn that nice noise into music, and nsp's need
more precision playing, I feel, than open-ended pipes, because of the
very possibility of silence which Jim also mentioned as so important.
And on all of these, making real music is then much harder, and tuning
and setting up are both of prime importance. (Margaret Watchorn's
article in the latest Journal is very much to the point.)
On instruments like squeeze boxes it doesn't even occur to many players
that adjustments are possible - it's tuned when you buy it, and that's
it, sadly.
String instruments may be hard to tune, but with the aid of ears.., or
sadly, more often now, the electric tuner... they can be put into tune.
Smallpipes, like hurdy-gurdies, depend a whole lot on the player to
maintain the voice, and to go on doing so, and I suspect they're more
demanding of constant attention than most instruments.
And that's a skill which a lot of players need more confidence, and
help, with.
I know when mine sound right, (and thanks, Nigel, they do!!) but
despite being very well shown by experts, I'm still not a reed maker, I
hesitate to fiddle with a reed in case I make it worse, and I surely
hesitate before adjusting a hole with a bit of shellac. And I wouldn't
dare take any wood away.
And yes, a really good player can make a poorer [insert instrument name
here] sound better, and a music-less player is never going to make
anything sound wonderful, but I do feel there are too many instruments
of all sorts out there - whether harps, gurdies, squeeze boxes,
fiddles or smallpipes, sold as "a beginner's instrument" to people who
don't get the reward they deserve for lots of hard work, and may not
even realise why.
And that does perturb me on their behalf.
Dunno if this helps at all.
Regards,
Richard.
On 21/12/2010 11:09, Jim McGillivray wrote:
Talking about "expression" outwith the context of tone, technique and rhythm is
like talking about tone as detached from tuning. The most moving performances ar
e always a combination of all three. One may play the greatest expression in the
world, but if it is on an instrument the is not well tuned, it ain't music.
<and more of wisdom too, here edited>
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