Most of our public appearances are in the style of what we call "Informances" where we spend as much time talking and answering questions as we do playing. In case you're wondering about anything, this is a list of our most frequently asked questions (in order of frequency). If you have some burning question that isn't answered here, please ask, we'll some up with some kind of answer. Email: info (at) itinerantband (dot) com
- "What is that?"
It's a Hammered Dulcimer. This is where the piano comes from. If you look inside a piano, you'll see strings like this and when you press a piano key a small hammer comes down and strikes the strings. This is what was played before the keyboard was hooked up to it.
Longer answer:
It was developed over 2000 years ago in what was then called Persia, and made its way to Europe during the crusades. It had become a very popular instrument in Europe by the 17th century, developing at the same time as the harpsichord. However, the harpsichord, while making a lovely sound, could only play at one volume, whereas the hammered dulcimer could play more loudly or softly by varying the strength with which the strings were struck. Somewhere along the line, whether in parallel or independent development, someone put all these ideas together and attached a keyboard to the hammered dulcimer, thus leading to the development of the pianoforte.
- Follow up question:
"And what are those called?"
Hammers.
- "What is that?"
An Appalachian dulcimer, also called a Mountain Dulcimer, Lap Dulcimer, Fretted Dulcimer, or Hog Fiddle.
Longer answer:
This was developed in the Appalachian mountain region of North America during the late 17th or early 18th century. It was based on earlier instruments common to Northern Europe: the French epinette, the Swedish hummel, and the German scheitholt, among others. Both this and the hammered dulcimer are in the zither family (a zither being a box with strings stretched across it, where the strings are no longer than the length of the box. If they are longer, then the instrument in question falls into the viol family). We figure that the name came about from the fact that the dulcimer (hammered variety) is mentioned in the bible (1)), and since that was often the only book that was available in the Appalachians, the name of that ancient instrument was given to this newer one.
- "What is that?" (noticing any pattern here?)
It's called a bodhran (pronounced 'bow´-ran'). It's an Irish frame drum, played with a double-headed wooden stick called a tipper. The word "bodhran" in Gaelic means "dull" or "deadened," and should refer to the playing style rather than to the player - the drum is played with one hand resting against the back of the skin to muffle the sound. Historically, it was mostly used as a grain sifter, its musical application being limited to warfare or as a primitive noisemaker used during festivals and by mummers and wren-boys in their processions. It was introduced to modern traditional music in the 1960s.
- "Is that the kind of guitar they had back then?"
Well, no, this is not the kind of guitar they had back then. The guitars of the 18th century were more like what you would call a mandolin today - smaller body, with 8 or 9 strings in double courses. This is a modern Spanish style guitar, a design dating from the mid-19th century. None of us own an 18th century style guitar, but even if we did, you wouldn't be able to hear it unless you were sitting up real close.
- "Is that a violin or a fiddle?"
Yes.
Longer answer:
The violin and the fiddle are the same instrument, though there may be some distinction in the way they're played, with the term 'violin' referring to classical playing and the term 'fiddle' referring to folk or traditional music. Though as Paul says: "If Itzhak Perlman can call his 1714 Stradivarius a fiddle, I can call this a violin." By the way, Paul's fiddle was hand-made for him by his brother Jimmy in 1984, and features a unique scroll carving of a man that from some angles looks a lot like Paul.
- "That's a clarinet, right?"
No, it's a flute. It's made of an African blackwood (ebony, cocus, or grenadilla) which is the same wood that is used to make modern clarinets and oboes. However, those instruments are held vertically and have reeds, whereas the flute is held horizontally and cross-blown. One rule of thumb here is that if you see someone playing an instrument sideways, it's generally a flute.
- "Is that bamboo?" (another flute question)
No, it's boxwood. Like the hedges (often when this question is asked, we're in a location that actually has boxwood hedges). It takes two to three hundred years for boxwood to grow thick enough to make a flute out of, so while this flute is a modern reproduction, the wood is actually over 200 years old.
- "I thought women didn't play the flute in the 18th century."
(All right, so technically that's not a question, but it generally demands an answer).
Some 18th century etiquette book made the admonition that it was unseemly for ladies to play the flute. There was some notion that the distortion of the mouth and heavy breathing that is required was very unattractive and would have ruined any young lady's chances at attracting suitable husband material. This has been assumed to mean that no woman ever played the flute. However, rules of etiquette, like laws, are generally reactive, so obviously some women must have been playing the flute or it would never have occurred to anyone that it wasn't a good idea.
- "Did women play music in public back then?" (A less frequent, but more accurate question than the previous one)
Well, respectable women didn't. Music was considered an essential part of a lady's training, learning to sing and to play the harpsichord or English guitar. Women and girls often provided musical entertainment at home for family members and guests in the evenings. However, with the exception of those singers and actresses who appeared in formal stage productions, women generally did not perform in public. Certainly any women who played in the sorts of venues that we do wouldn't have had much reputation left to worry about, but we're not too concerned about it.
- "Where do you get your clothes?" (generally, though not always, asked when we're in period costume)
We make some of them ourselves and purchase the rest at the 18th century shopping mall. Really. Most of us take part in historical reenactments from the Colonial and early American periods (about 1740-1830). There is an extensive sub-culture of people involved in that hobby and consequently there are many businesses that market to them. At most events there are sutlers (merchants) selling clothing, patterns, fabrics, etc. and at some larger events it's possible to buy an entire 18th century household, from clothing to tools to housewares to farm animals. Here are a few links to sutlers who can help you make just as much of a fashion statement as we do.
Smoke and Fire
Jas. Townsend & Son
Panther Primitive
The Silly Sisters
Wooded Hamlet Designs
Bradley Company of the Fox
Past Patterns
Kannick's Korner
Barkertown Sutlers
- "Is this music Celtic?"
Sort of. The music of colonial America was the music that the people of Europe brought here with them. So we're playing tunes that had originated in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, etc... Very often the tunes gained new titles after they emigrated, and over time the tunes from the British Isles turned into what we now call Old-time and Bluegrass music. By the way, that word is pronounced 'keltic,' with a hard 'c.' It's only pronounced 'seltic' when you're referring to basketball, which the original Celts did not play.
- "Do you write your own music?"
Sometimes. We figure that as long as we're portraying 18th century musicians, we might as well portray 18th century composers. Fortunately the tunes we write tend to be pretty much in the style of the period tunes that we play, so we can usually sneak them in without anyone being the wiser. Our first album, Jefferson and Liberty, features an air that Paul wrote called Glen Affric, which we paired up with O! Say Bonnie Lass. The Road Out of Town has three "neo-traditional" tunes - The Eighth of August, which Susan wrote, and two of Bob's compositions, the title cut and McPherson's Farewell to Craig Dubh. Actually, Bob has been turning out new tunes at such a rate that we had to impose a two tune limit per album.
- "Aren't you hot in those clothes?"
Yes.
Other one-time questions that still have us wondering...
"That looks like a hammered dulcimer, but it isn't, is it?"
(Well, we thought it was hammered dulcimer. We don't know what he thought it was.)
"You all just have perfect faces for this kind of music."
(We think this was a compliment, but we're not sure. It could mean that we all look like we're
200 years old.)
"What are those strings for?"
This one stumped us for several minutes as we kept explaining to the six year old enquirer how the various strings on the fiddle, guitar, dulcimers, etc. were played, but those weren't the strings she wanted to know about. Finally, we asked her to come up and point to the strings in question. Turns out she was interested in the knit garters that Paul was using to hold his stockings up.
"What kind of forks are those?"
This one stumped us too, until we figured out that the person asking was referring to Bob's dulcimer hammers. He makes his own, and uses layers of different coloured woods on the handles. Apparently from a distance the interspersed dark and light wood appeared to be fork tines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) The biblical mention of the dulcimer is actually a mistranslation.
In the original texts, the greek word symphonia (a type of bagpipe) appears
twice in the psalms. It is unlikely that the clerks who were translating for
King James would have known what a symphonia was; however, they would have been familiar
with the hammered dulcimer, and would have known that it came from the biblcal lands, and so probably substituted the
name of that instrument instead.
Smith, Ralph Lee Appalachian dulcimer traditions. Lanham, MD : Scarecrow press, 1997.
Updated: 25 November 2005 - Susan Lawlor
|