>> My current exercise in instrument abuse is playing Scottish tunes
>> on the Black Sea fiddle or "kemence"
> So it won't be long before Blackfriars have a few of these in stock,
> then?
Wouldn't be a bad idea - they're good value for the money, extremely
well made and nice tone (the strings and bow you get with them are
invariably shit, though). I got mine in Istanbul years ago, but only
just got round to doing anything with it. Problem is that if even a
Turkish instrument shop can't set them up correctly, how likely is
Blackfriars to sell them in playable condition?
> I have just resisted buying a 'bombarde' from Scayles for £24.95.
> Pakistani made, oboe reed and neat little conical bore pipe turned
> from something resembling rosewood in one case, with a couple of
> keys and the rest finger holes. For the money it looked excellent
> value, but they could not tell me what temperament or indeed what
> sort of scale it played.
I suspect this is nearer to a zurna than a bombarde, i.e. the design
ethos is that having the fingerholes in the right places is for wimps;
you half-hole, shade-finger or lip down to get the right pitch.
It shouldn't have an oboe reed - a pipe chanter reed is more like it.
You don't hold the reed between your lips.
> They suggest it 'sounds like a snake charmer'
Charm is not quite the word. They probably use them to clear cobras
from cricket stadiums before test matches.
> might be just up your street, Jack, they have two in the little window
> to the right of the entrance with the low whistles, tin whistles and
> stuff.
I've seen them. I can't play high-pressure wind instruments at the
moment, waiting (...and waiting...) on some plastic surgery to fix
that. A couple of short tunes on a clarinet or practice chanter is
about my limit for now, otherwise I'm stuck with flute-family things.
> Any idea if these bombardes have any applications?
If you have moles in your garden, point it down one of their holes
and they won't stop running till they hit Australia. Or have your
dentist point it into your mouth to descale your teeth.
The one instrument in this family I do fancy is that Catalan keyed
tenor shawm thing. I've played an ordinary tenor shawm and it's fun
but a bastard to play beyond the diatonic scale.
=================== <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/> ===================
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