Anyone else carry an instrument in their kit?

FortyTwoBlades said:
Only if you haven't been practicing enough! :DActually, though, I'm reminded of a fun ocarina fact: they were based on traditional clay bird call whistles, which could only play a couple of tones. In the early 1800's Giuseppe Donati saw the potential to turn them into full-blown instruments with a wider tonal range. :)
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Amused :). There's an element of seriousness to what I'm saying though. Although it tends not to be an issue when you get properly off the trail I confess I do get peeved at the noises other people produce. It's bad enough with the visual noise when a bunch of brightly coloured and out of place popinjays stroll across a vista, and so much worse when they haven't trained their dogs / children to a whistle and have to resort to yelling. I have good reason to associate all that with litter and rubbish that I don't want to be there. Too much of that stresses me out like a Yerkes-Dodson monkey. I can find no reason to differentiate from someone strumming a guitar because they like it or a kiddie setting off an air horn because it amuses them. I can happily spend hours in the woods with other people and not share more than a few words all day. In fact, that's a requirement.
 
baldtaco-II said:
Amused :). There's an element of seriousness to what I'm saying though. Although it tends not to be an issue when you get properly off the trail I confess I do get peeved at the noises other people produce. It's bad enough with the visual noise when a bunch of brightly coloured and out of place popinjays stroll across a vista, and so much worse when they haven't trained their dogs / children to a whistle and have to resort to yelling. I have good reason to associate all that with litter and rubbish that I don't want to be there. Too much of that stresses me out like a Yerkes-Dodson monkey. I can find no reason to differentiate from someone strumming a guitar because they like it or a kiddie setting off an air horn because it amuses them. I can happily spend hours in the woods with other people and not share more than a few words all day. In fact, that's a requirement.
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Understood. I'm always in a remote spot whenever I play. I usually don't see anyone else at the places I frequent more than once every three years or so. I would respectfully refrain if I were someplace a little more frequently populated. It's that middle range between locale being a hotspot or totally remote where it's best to stay quiet out of respect for others who might be trying to get the same escape you are. :):thumbup:
 
I've brought an ocarina out with me a few times in the past. I have a bunch of them including a focalink single chamber alto and a double chamber alto too. All of mine are clay so they're not the best choice for a bring to the woods instrument though. More recently I've brought a harmonica, I'm not good at it but I try to play blues kinda music on it. :o

I'm kind of with baldtaco-II on it though, most of the time I just prefer peace and quiet in the woods. Still an intrument is better than a radio or an ipod or something.
 
Yeah I hear ya' on the clay. I'm mortified of the idea of dropping any of my Menaglio ocs. That's why I really appreciate the fact that nice plastic models are made!

I don't play music every time I'm out, but every now and then the moment strikes and it's nice to have with me. Much more fun than just carrying a plain old whistle, though I have one of those anyhow.

I've been working on learning Mozart's horn concertos (I play French horn as well, though I haven't had time to practice in a while) and they actually play on the ocarina quite well.
 
nickortizzle1035 said:
i never leave home without a jew's harp or 2
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I thought I would be the only one to say that! I carry mine everywhere, it is extremely odd that anybody has seen one played that it is easier to show them. My favorite memory of playing one was 800km away from the nearest community in the arctic, playing through the night in a valley while waiting for Eider ducks to fly into a mist net for banding. Awesome acoustics and guarantee that I'm the first person to play it there! Here are mine, however a couple need work as the tongue is loose.
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If you have any idea where to find more quality ones (not the red/green/blue painted ones) please let me know- I find one every 3 years or so, but end up using them till they break in the mean time- in the past year I've found 2 and feel very lucky!

Otherwise I have taken a bamboo flute out, but am not very good- just like to play around where I feel it won't bother anybody.
 
I guess with me it depends on how you look at it. I do a bit of hiking and will often take an acoustic guitar with me. On those days the extra pouch on the gig bag is my kit. So you could either say I have a kit in my guitar bag or I gave a guitar in my kit bag. :)
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
If you have any idea where to find more quality ones (not the red/green/blue painted ones) please let me know- I find one every 3 years or so, but end up using them till they break in the mean time- in the past year I've found 2 and feel very lucky!
.
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I usually find the old ones at flea markets. i have a couple of the little painted ones and you are right, they fall apart.
 
I've got one kicking around somewhere. Not even sure when I got it or how--I think maybe for Christmas one year when I was a kid? At any rate, it's built like a tank! :thumbup: I've seen those painted ones around and they always looked so cheap and fragile. Guess I was right about them! :p
 
The rounded keys on mine are the good ones- the flattened ones are the cheapies. I giver hard on them, and usually the older ones last a bit longer. I have 3-4 that need replacing, but will have to figure out how some time, and what material to use for the broken "twangers". I've watched a few videos on YouTube, but I play with a different technique being self taught. I found an eBay seller, in Germany i believe, a few years ago that had some incredible specimens. I just want louder ones so I can compete with drunk guitarists when I get a chance to jam.

How much do you usually pay when you find them. I get mine from $8-15.

Small and light, but confuses some border/customs agents at times!

I used to play oboe, so interesting hearing about the other double reed instruments- ill have to look them up- cant have too many instruments around a home.
 
I usualy like only quiet, but when we hiked our first 14'er, one guy was carrying a long case ahead of us. It was a bagpipe, and he was making a video for his bagpipe band, and as we approached the top, he started playing "Amazing Grace", and he was really good. It was wonderful!

I was impresed that he had the lung capacity to play at over 14,000 ft! :D
 
Dude, I just blew off the first video, but after this one and your subsequent comments, I am a bit worried about you.:eek: Mozart is rolling over in his common grave and the other corpses are getting irritated. :D
FortyTwoBlades said:
Like many others who have posted in this thread, I'm hopeless with a harmonica. That's one use for it that even I can manage though! :p

I grew up listening to my folks' Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel albums, which is where I originally learned about ocarinas. Nancy Rumbel plays a very nice double-chamber harmony model made from wood, as well as English horn (a reed instrument similar to an oboe.)

[video=youtube_share;rBXlTTkoKVY]http://youtu.be/rBXlTTkoKVY[/video]
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She just happens to be the best known modern ocarinist, and illustrates the way that a double chamber ocarina can play harmony with itself. ;)

The ocarina is a very old instrument, though not so old as Mozart (at least in its modern form) and like I said the quality plastic ones are light and packable so they're a good travel instrument. I play the French horn and tin whistle as well, but the French horn is in no way as portable and the tin whistle is incapable of incidentals without half covering holes, which is difficult and inaccurate.

The ocarina is also an interesting instrument distinct from other woodwinds in that the sound is created by resonation within the chamber, and the note played is determined by the surface area of the exposed holes, meaning that cross-fingerings are used which wouldn't work on normal woodwinds. :)

No need to worry about me, though--I've always been an odd duck and don't mind it a bit. I do what makes me happy, so why would I mind if it makes me stick out from the crowd a little? :D
 
I usually carry a Hohner Special 20 in C with me. I have played in various blues and rock bands over the years - and play that when bored.

TF
 
I just could never figure out how to block off chambers to isolate notes. I always just sounded like an accordion with all the buttons held down. :D:D:D
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
My favorite memory of playing one was 800km away from the nearest community in the arctic, playing through the night in a valley while waiting for Eider ducks to fly into a mist net for banding. Awesome acoustics and guarantee that I'm the first person to play it there!
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Maybe yes, maybe no, about being the first to use a jaw harp there. The British carried them all over the world hundreds of years ago and we find them at isolated Fur Trade sites today. I play mine when needing a rest in the bush as much out of tradition as entertainment. For me it's a tip of the hat to the traders that laughed, cried and died plying the mighty rivers to open up North America.
 
I've got a pocket trumpet, harmon mute and pencil case containing a spare mouthpiece, valve oil and slide cream.
I take it to work in my karrimor Sabre 45 and teach one of the guys I care for.
 
I used to play trumpet until I switched to French horn. Pocket trumpets are pretty darn cool, but by the time that I learned about them I was already making the switch.
 
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