#sympathetic strings

Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh : “Going to the Well for Water” (also called “The Kaiser Slide”)

One of my favorite Julia Clifford tunes and one of my favorite tunes to play. You can hear the Julia Clifford version here and the entire John & Julia Clifford album “The Humours of Lisheen” here.

Ellen Fullman has been one of my musical heroes for quite a long time. She has an installation at The Lab in San Francisco (at 16th and Capp) for the month of January and I found out about a workshop at the last minute. Drones? Overtones? Dissonance? A discussion of the mathematical basis of just intonation and tuning? I get to ask nerdy mechanical questions about how the ding dang thing works? I get to play said ding dang thing? I get to stand in front of the sound hole on the resonator box and listen until my ears ring and my balance gets all wonky?

Hell. Yes. So inspiring.

Organistrum

From the description: A little improvisation by Carles Viarnès to show the possibilities of this instrument, devised by violin player Pep Massana and built by luthier Ramon Elias. The chromatic and polyphonic organistrum is based on the mechanics of the hurdy gurdy but the strings are actuated by means of a keyboard. It was built in Altet (Urgell, Catalonia) from some drafts by Leonardo Da Vinci.