#shawms

Week 1 prompt- Who has the weirdest secret collection, and what do they collect?

@stormieweather_ on twitter - “Tsu has a collection of those mini porcelain dolls. Like the 3 inch tall ones. She keeps them in a display case and once a week takes them out to clean them !” 🧸🏆🧼

we've had this capped shawm* for over 40 years, bought it in an amazing ethnomusic shop in london called Ray Man (sadly gone now) and believe it or not, it still plays, though the reed is also over 40 years old now

we'd really like to find out what the local name of the instrument is and where it's from (we guess either the indian subcontinent, central asia, or se asia), which will put us on the path to finding new reeds for it

if any of you know please let us know, or if you know ethnomusicologists or musicians from these regions who might know what it is, please share this around, thanks

Courtye Musick spent a wonderful weekend away at a magnificent 15th century Great Hall, playing our range of lovely instruments and eating tudor food. Gareth had fun playing on his new shawm and we took the opportunity to try out some new repertoire.