Unusual Instrument at a Jam

[mrmando]

We call them lagerphones in Australia. They appeared here in the 1950s, so the Wikipedia info is correct and they appeared in Newfoundland in the 80s, they might have even been inspired by our lagerphones. Interesting that there is no Wikipedia entry for lagerphone!

Yep. The instrument someone tried to sell me in November is actually a "Stumpf fiddle," not a lagerphone, and it appears to go back even further. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...age-1792765573

[journeybear]

The women are apparently from Burma or India. This song is part of a wide tradition of rhythmic work songs, that includes sea shanties, chain gang-songs, waulking or milling songs, paddling, and rowing songs, all involving a group doing hard work with coordinated movements. These songs help everyone move together, stave off boredom, and move their concentration away from sore muscles. The Konyak women may be putting on a show of their traditional culture (see the microphones, film crew, ethnic costumes on adult women only) rather than doing a contemporary day's work, though I really don't know.

That's mostly true, generally. But since the video was presented here out of context, presumably for a humorous purpose, I thought it would be a good idea to find out what was really going on. I mean, in addition to the microphones, film crew, and clothing much fancier than work clothes, there are people in an audience. It seemed similar to historical reenactors at establishments such as colonial Williamsburg, demonstrating traditional customs from long ago. In the text of the video, there is a link to "Aoleang festival." This is an annual event for the Konyak Naga people of Nagaland, a state in northeastern India (indeed, bordering Myanmar), held during the first week of April, in which their traditional customs are celebrated and demonstrated. It's actually more than an event; it's a continuing celebration of their culture, performing rituals that have been done for a long, long time.

[mjbee]

What you call the 'ugly stick' is, I believe an Australian invention, properly known as a lagerphone. I first saw them at English folk festivals in the 1970s used as percussion by an Aussie band. The name comes from the metal beer bottle tops nailed or screwed to the pole. Australians then only drank lager; they may have evolved since then.

a/k/a here in the states: "stumpf fiddle" or devil's stick Here's how to make one: https://www.instructables.com/Stumpf...sh-Stomp-Fidd/ I believe devil's stick of Appalachian origin.

[Ranald]

a/k/a here in the states: "stumpf fiddle" or devil's stick Here's how to make one: https://www.instructables.com/Stumpf...sh-Stomp-Fidd/ I believe devil's stick of Appalachian origin.

See Post #51, two posts previous to yours. The stumpf fiddle is similar but not the same as the ugly stick -- nary a bottle cap. Still, one of the indications of something being "folk" is that it almost always exists in different variations, often with different names (think of folk songs -- real ones, not the ones labelled so then copyrighted by record promoters) -- and traditional tunes.

[Simon DS]

Largerphones at a really OldTime jam.

I was wondering, what do you guys think of the tempo? I’m thinking it’s too high.
To do this in a survival sense, you’d have to work at a rate that just keeps you warm, any faster then there’s probably a net energy loss - unless there is other work to do.
The music may also have defensive functions.

Here’s a link, and to add context this would probably make this the earliest OldTime instrument.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...ng-and-farming

[Bill Cameron]

i think it might be time to dust off my tuba and start practicing some bluegrass tunes.

I started off saying it as a joke, but now I kind of want to... bonus that I can actually read music on the thing.

There was a guy in Toronto, maybe still is, who would play tuba at Celtic sessions.

Good too.

[Eric Platt]

Have seen a hardanger at an old-time session. As well as a flute. Both were just fine. Even had one friend play hurdy gurdy in an old time jam a few times. And concertina doing old time can be fun in the right hands. Know two players who play it quite well.

[Ranald]

I was wondering, what do you guys think of the tempo? I’m thinking it’s too high.
To do this in a survival sense, you’d have to work at a rate that just keeps you warm, any faster then there’s probably a net energy loss - unless there is other work to do.
The music may also have defensive functions.

Here’s a link, and to add context this would probably make this the earliest OldTime instrument.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...ng-and-farming

Never having pounded grain, I can't answer that. However, a friend who went out on a tall ship after singing sea shanties for years told me that he had to slow the songs way down so that sailors could work to them. He said that they'd have to be doing "speed" to work at the folk-revival, shanty-singing pace. If -- and that's a big "if" -- the actual work of necessity has been separated from the singing and pounding, the Konyak women too may have increased the song's tempo for aesthetic reasons. But we don't know if they still carry out this traditional method of preparing grain or if they prefer to go down to the corner and buy some flour or even bread while listening to pop music on their cellphones.

[Toni Schula]

Last week we had a Nyckelharpa at the BBC (Beaver Brewing Company)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa

[journeybear]

... a friend who went out on a tall ship after singing sea shanties for years told me that he had to slow the songs way down so that sailors could work to them. He said that they'd have to be doing "speed" to work at the folk-revival, shanty-singing pace. If -- and that's a big "if" -- the actual work of necessity has been separated from the singing and pounding, the Konyak women too may have increased the song's tempo for aesthetic reasons. But we don't know if they still carry out this traditional method of preparing grain or if they prefer to go down to the corner and buy some flour or even bread while listening to pop music on their cellphones.

All good points. Times have changed since work songs existed primarily for work, and the music has been separated from its original use. People tend to prefer more sprightly tempos, both for playing and listening, most of the time, and thus here we are, as you've described. I expect the people in the video are more modern in their day-to-day lives than the activities they are portraying - note how little attention they pay to the process of filming and recording what they're doing - and engage in this only during the festival. But I can't be sure, having not found very much information about this culture on the web. I'm not an anthropologist, nor even that much of a musicologist, but it seems unlikely this sort of antiquated approach is in regular use. I understand there are still folks in Cajun country who grind/pound file powder in similar fashion - but by and large I don't think it's necessary, beyond exhibiting some sort of affinity to tradition.

[milli857]

Last week we had a Nyckelharpa at the BBC (Beaver Brewing Company)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa

Those things are so cool! I got introduced to them by Vasen:
https://open.spotify.com/track/5orFD...urce=copy-link

I've wanted to hear one played in person since I stumbled upon that record.