Altivo

My sometimes quartet ThingamaJig has recently asked me to cover the fiddle riffs in the Old Crow version of "Wagon Wheel." My first thought was to do it on a flute, since I do not pretend to be able to play fiddle well. At least, not in public. But the styling is stuffed with fiddle artifacts, particularly the droning on a second string while playing a melody on an adjacent one. Can't duplicate that on a wind instrument unless perhaps on a harmonica.

I don't like trying to learn something by ear. I can do it, but it's a slow and painful process for me. If I can find standard notation, it becomes much faster and less bothersome. Fortunately, someone good at the process has written out those riffs and posted them on the net. Unfortunately, our lead singer prefers the key of G over Old Crow's A major. I know I can do a reasonable cover on mandolin, so that's my target. But going down a note rather than up rules out the simplicity of using a capo. Suddenly those double stops or drones become impossible in at least a few cases, as the drone note is no longer an open string and moves up to the sixth or seventh fret of that neighboring string. Even in the pinched fret space of a mandolin, my hands aren't going to reach and hold that while fingering a melody down in the first or second position.

Now I have to rework the whole thing, changing the harmonies to make them playable in G. Bummer, but at least it looks possible. This goes way beyond just improvising the way I usually do on a flute.

Tuesday is the day we usually rehearse with ThingamaJig, our Celtic/Jazz/Folk quartet. It's always enjoyable, both for the music and the company, but it takes a big chunk out of the day so I end up catching up late or chasing my tail as it were.

Most of our gigs are in the summer, at farmers' markets and other outdoor events. This is the time of year when we look at potential new repertoire and experiment with new formats. I've been pushing my ukulele skills, but mostly because I need to replace the strings on my tenor banjo and Irish bouzouki. Also, those latter two are large and heavy to pack and carry. The ukuleles are eminently portable. I can't keep getting away with this, though. Must get those strings changed. It's just a task I've always hated. Both instruments have springy wire strings that want to puncture your fingers or worse, poke you in the eye.

It's on my "to do" list, as husband Gary says. But I need to push it to the top.

[And what my excuses are for not posting here so often...]

Warning: Boring musical tech talk follows.

A lot of time in the last couple of years has gone into expanding my musical skills. That includes arranging and sharing music, as well as playing some new instruments. My first thought was to add more variety to the sound of our sometimes quartet, ThingamaJig, by learning the mandolin. I already have some background in violin/fiddle, and the mandolin is tuned and fingered in the same manner so I thought it would be an easy stretch. That turned out not to be entirely true. I'm still trying on and off, but rarely in public. As it turns out, the frets on the instrument are very close together and even though my hands are not much more than medium sized, I find it difficult to play rapid licks. Also, the string tension is much higher than that of a guitar or fiddle, so even with an instrument that was expertly set up at Elderly Instruments, my old hands get sore and poop out quickly. I intend to try some lighter strings, but the mandolin is on hold now.

Husband pointed out that he had a tenor banjo stuck in a closet. Someone had given it to him, and he just put it away and forgot about it. For those unfamiliar with it, the tenor banjo has only four strings instead of five, and is tuned GDAE like a fiddle or mandolin. After replacing the strings and a cracked bridge, I found the open-back tenor banjo to be much more hospitable to my playing style and had at it. That made it into ThingamaJig's act before very long, and soon I found myself buying a second tenor banjo with a closed back resonator to increase the volume and ring time.

At about the same time, I took interest in the Irish bouzouki, a long necked instrument adapted by Irish musicians in the 1960s and later from the Greek bouzouki. Irish luthiers dropped the heavy ornamentation favored by Greek makers, giving the instrument a teardrop shape and sleeker feel. They usually tune GDAD which favors the common keys of G and D used in Irish dance music and makes chording easier. I obtained a bouzouki from Europe, and when it arrived it was strung and tuned in the Greek style even though the form of the instrument was Irish. So I replaced the strings because Greek tuning of the eight strings arranged in four pairs uses octave tuning like a 12-string guitar where the Irish tune the pairs in unison. It wasn't long before I switched the first course from D to E, to give me octave mandolin tuning GDAE, an octave below the mandolin. I and my bandmates enjoy the slightly buzzy sound and lower range of the instrument, as well as the fact that all the repertoire I have developed is applicable to all four instruments: fiddle, mandolin, tenor banjo, and bouzouki.

That may sound like enough to use up at least a couple of years, and it certainly has been. I am now comfortable with both the tenor banjo and the Irish bouzouki in performance, as well as my concert and alto flutes which we have used extensively since forming our group.

I bought a 5-string banjo (the one you hear and see in bluegrass music all the time) because I was particularly intrigued with the clawhammer style of playing. I even attended a six week banjo class at the local community college in hopes of developing the skill, but most of the focus was on Earl Scruggs style three finger playing. Our final session was cut off by the school shutting down in the pandemic last winter. I'm still working on it, but not playing 5-string in public.

Never satisfied, and in the vacuum caused by the pandemic, I bought a ukulele too. Our friends Alvin and Chris were promoting the instrument and encouraged me to try it, and reasonably good ones are not terribly expensive now. The next thing I knew, I had acquired three more. This may sound absurd, but they are small, light, inexpensive, and interesting. The tenor uke is commonly played in two different tunings that require different physical strings as the fourth string is dropped a full octave. Normal ukulele tuning is gCEA (where C is middle C on the piano, but the g fourth string is the higher pitch a fifth above middle C) and this is called re-entrant tuning, similar to what a 5-string banjo uses with the fifth string a high drone. The result is that the tenor ukulele tuned this way (and the soprano as well) can be played in clawhammer style like a banjo. However, the tenor with a different, heavier fourth string can also be tuned GCEA where the G is a fourth below the middle C third string. These four strings are now in the same relative intervals as the four highest strings on a standard guitar, and consequently the same chord shapes or fingerings can be used, though the pitch is higher by a fourth. I wanted both those worlds, and changing strings in the middle of a performance is impractical, so I now have two tenor ukes.

Then I got the urge to accompany myself singing, which I do easily enough on my regular old classical guitar. The tenor ukulele pitch doesn't complement my bass baritone voice nearly as well as the guitar does. BUT... there is a baritone ukulele as well. Sometimes called a "tenor guitar," the baritone uke is still only four strings and tuned in the same intervals as the high four strings of the guitar, but the pitches are the same as a guitar as well: DGBE. This opened up a large repertoire of songs and tunes that I have played for years on the guitar, but using the smaller, lighter baritone uke. I'm furiously flipping through pages of a whole shelf full of guitar music and having nostalgic thoughts of Peter, Paul & Mary or Gordon Lightfoot or maybe Bok, Muir and Trickett songs that we could explore.

At least this has kept me busy during the last year of isolation and limited social contacts. Fortunately, we both remain as healthy as can be expected for our age, and nothing bad has developed. This week we received the second vaccination dose of Moderna, and other than a sore arm for two days, no major side effects. The Woodstock Farmers Market is returning to its regular schedule this summer, and we have several gigs on the calendar, so all this musical experimentation should bear some kind of fruit. Or maybe it's all just fruitcake, who knows?

[Next time: the writing edition of this update, some of which has been touched upon already.]

Yes, I know, official meteorological spring began a month ago and astronomical spring two weeks ago. But one of our significant measuring points was hit over the weekend: our ducks began laying eggs. The first two are in the fridge along with four more left in the hay storage by the neighbors' wandering hens.

Also, I got some sour jelly beans (Starburst, not the best ever but they'll do) so that annual requirement is met. I think last year I never found any at all.

It has been raining on and off for three days. Coming down fairly hard at the moment. I can hear it on the roof and hitting the skylight in the kitchen as well as dripping into the stovepipe (despite the fancy cap that is supposed to prevent that.)

( Music chunterings )

Other than going out to care for the horses, I spent most of the day editing and arranging tunes for ThingamaJig. Tomorrow we should see a little more of the sun, but then they tell us to expect some actual snow. Had enough of that now, no thanks.

Too much stuff going on.

The most interesting to me, though (I'll avoid political rants for now) has to do with music.

( Current musical developments )

In other news, the neighbors' wandering chickens are back again, as many as a dozen of them meandering around our yards and scratching holes in the ground. Just now we had two roosters in a knock down battle that got our dog Laddie all excited and worried. Gary had to literally kick them apart and chase them back toward home in the end. The way they were going at it, I figured the larger one was going to kill the other if left alone. He had the victim trapped in a fence corner and was stomping, scratching and biting for all he was worth. I'd have turned the hose on them except it hasn't been warm long enough for us to have put it out yet.

A productive weekend, more or less, but not nearly enough done.

We went up to Williams Bay, Wisconsin with friend Carol to hear the opening performance of the season by the Lake Geneva Symphony. There were only two pieces on the program.

The first was Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, new to all three of us and (I gather) not often performed. The piece clearly reflects the result of an American visit by the French composer, who used jazz styling and motifs throughout. The timing and nuance are almost Gershwin-like, and reminded all of us of American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue though there were no obvious quotes from either of Gershwin's masterpieces. Pianist Krassimira Jordan was remarkable, virtuoso even beyond what I expected, and that is certainly needed for this concerto. The style is intricate rather than bombastic, and requires passages where each hand plays in a different key or time signature, as well as a lot of cross-hand work. The overall result was very fine and we enjoyed it greatly.

The second selection was Tchaikovksy Symphony No. 4 in F minor, which was all the better for Conductor and Musical Director David Anderson's advance explanation of major themes and elements of the work. The LGSO has improved a great deal (not that it was bad to begin with) under Anderson's direction, and the performance came across very well. The French horns play a major role in this symphony, and they sounded like the noted horn section of the Chicago Symphony this time.

A predicted heavy frost skipped over our small garden, so we still have green tomatoes that "might" ripen before the vines are killed, but hope is diminishing. The plants are heavily laden, but almost nothing has turned ripe yet. The pumpkins I did NOT plant have produced six usable pumpkins so far after sprouting from seeds that apparently made it through last winter in the compost bin. There are many more immature fruits on the ground, but I'm pretty sure the frost is going to cut them off soon. These are the small and heavy pumpkins that can be used for pies and soup, not the large thin-shelled jack-o-lantern variety. We will put them to good use.



On Sunday I also baked a peach pie, bought groceries, tried to photograph the fall colors though it wasn't really sunny enough, and made a pot of cholent. We haven't had cholent for a couple of years and the cooler weather inspired me to put it together. It's a traditional Jewish stew, created to cook slowly overnight from Friday to Saturday so it would provide a hot meal on the sabbath without requiring anyone to cook or light a fire. The principal ingredients of my Hungarian version include small lima beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, turnips or rutabaga, smoked sausage (I use a turkey sausage,) and both hot and sweet Hungarian paprika. I usually bake this in a closed cast iron pot at 250°F for about 8 hours, but this time I opted for a slow cooker set to high temperature. A little red wine added near the end of cooking enriches the blend and enhances the aromas. The smell becomes enticing after about four hours and makes you drool after the sixth. As usual, it turned out well, since it is almost foolproof and requires little attention once assembled.

(As opposed to one-upsmanship, wretched excess, and destructive enhancement? Well, maybe...)

A week ago, good friend @RothRWolf and I went up to Organ Piper Pizza in Greenfield, Wisconsin, for a little entertainment and lunch. We've been there before, and will be again I'm sure. The restaurant has a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ (enhanced with a lot of additional traps and pipe ranks) installed and a regular round of organists who perform daily. This time some questions about the mechanical controls on a theatre organ console came up, and I did my best to answer in simple terms. (Though I'm no virtuoso, I do have some playing experience and a lot of hours of disappointing practice behind me.) Concepts such as "second touch" and "reversible pistons" can be tricky to explain, even to other musicians if they don't play the keyboards or don't have exposure to the way things were done before MIDI came along.

I won't go into the history of the electro-pneumatic action or the tragedy of Robert Hope Jones, its inventor and primary promoter, here. Let's just say that the organ console is a hugely intricate device that rivals a mechanical computer, even to the point of some pretty impressive programmability and non-volatile memory.

Anyway, it's always difficult to point out the details of these functions at a live performance. For one thing, you don't have a close enough view of the performer's hands and feet, or of the controls available to him/her. Even in a venue like the Organ Piper, which is a lot more intimate than the original theatre setting of the instrument and is designed to let the audience see the pipes and mechanics at work, it would be pretty rude to stand next to the console and stare at the performer's hands or feet. I haven't seen anyone, even little kids, doing that and I'm not about to do it either. (Let alone point at things and shout out explanations while they are playing...)

( Critical essay cut for brevity. Caveat lector. )

Thanks for bearing with me while I was being overbearing. I don't mean any disrespect to these performers, all of whom are great virtuosi whose abilities I can only envy and admire. I just think that there's a practical limit beyond which dramatics can overshadow the artistry of a performance.

Here is the first of a series of photos that cover the flax processing yesterday morning.



To view the whole series, click the image above and on the resulting screen use the "next" link to proceed through the entire group of 14 images. Note that they are in no special order. We were doing all the steps at once after thing got started, as individuals rotated from one tool to another.

After that, I went directly to the Illinois Railway Museum for the Rails 'n' Tails picnic. Gary's group, Kishwaukee Ramblers, were providing some music for us and they allowed me to sit in with them for a bit. Here I am (left) with Gary (center) and Neal (right.) Amy was to the right of Neal and didn't fit into the picture.

Today we kept a lazy low profile for the most part, trying to recharge from yesterday. Both of us got some sunburn and have been running on short sleep for several days.

The guitar is a vice that requires constant practice. By neglecting the instrument for years, I have of course lost all the callus on my left hand and consequently I now have sore fingertips. At least it's a familiar condition and I know it will go away.

I think I am at the bottom of the problem with the Literati upgrade. It appears that the firmware update, which is downloaded as a compressed tar archive, does not download correctly if you are using a current version of Firefox. It ends up with many spurious characters (probably carriage returns or linefeeds) inserted into it, corrupting the file. At first I thought this was because I used a Linux system to download rather than Windows. However, repeated tests have now shown that if the file is downloaded by Internet Explorer it is saved correctly and has the expected length and checksum. If downloaded by Firefox the file is longer than expected and has an incorrect checksum. I suspect that the server offering the download is set up improperly as well, so that Firefox doesn't get a correct mime type for the file and tries to handle it as text. IE assumes from the file suffix that it is an unknown binary blob and as a result performs a correct download. In other words, FF follows standard more strictly than IE does, and this server isn't following the standards either, so the results are unpredictable.

I know have what should be correct copies of the update file, and will attempt the upgrade again very soon. But not tonight. I'm too tired and might mess it up.

Got up early, turned out horses and sheep, and went to a practice session for Saturday. Went directly from the practice to work for eight hours. Came home from work, had supper, and I'm more than ready for bed. Tomorrow we do it in a reverse order. I'll go to work first, and we'll practice in the afternoon.

Had an interesting GPS malfunction too. After practicing this morning, Gary and I had lunch on the east side of Woodstock. We debated what the shortest route through town and out the west side would be in order to get onto US14 and head for Harvard. Finally I decided to just let my GPS choose. Very odd. I plugged the Garmin in and turned it on. It acquired satellite fixes. Then I asked it to plot a route to the library in Harvard, an address it has stored in memory. Two attempts produced an error message: "Unable to calculate route." I've never seen that. It's the GPS equivalent of "You can't get there from here," I suppose. The third time it claimed to have a route, but I should have been tipped off by the fact that it was estimating travel time at 2 and 1/4 hours. It should have been closer to 25 minutes.

So I started out and it immediately told me to turn away from the direction I knew I had to go. It kept trying to get me to turn around and head for Chicago, preferably by way of the Northwest Tollway. This made no sense at all, so I ignored it and picked my own route. It never quit trying to turn me around. I didn't shut it off because I wanted to look at it and see where it thought I was going.

Once I was parked at the library, I examined the entire plotted route. It was trying to take me to Portage, Indiana to a friend's apartment. How it got that turned around I have no idea. When I left work I let it calculate a route home, and it did that correctly. Or at least as correctly as it ever does. It makes one odd choice that may shave a few feet off the distance covered but just seems illogical. However, it has alwasy done that on this particular route.