Favourite Instruments

Bagpipes are one of the oldest intruments known to man. theri origin probably lies in Turkey around the time cities were forming. In Europe they became the symbol of the peasantry. Breugel put them in many of his paintings depicting "happy" peasants.

The pipes WERE used to rouse the troops by the Scots but they didn't originate in Scotland. The Irish used them for the same thing hundreds of years before. (The pipes the Irish used were almost identical to the later "highland" pipes with the exception of having 2 drones instead of 3) A lot of parallels on the use of the pipes in both countries. Including them being made illegal by the English as an "instrument of war". That's how the "sit down" pipes in Ireland came about. (There is a name for them, but I can't spell it and it's too late for me to go searching the web for the info). Various forms of bagpipes have and do exist in many countries. The earliest record I know of a bagpipe use was in ancient Egypt.

Wow, great info Wilso. I never knew any of this before.

There used to be aguy outside Westlake Centre in Seattle (right by the glassed in SBC) every sumer who would play "Rock" on the bagpipes. It was sort of sad. i ususally gaev him spare change if I passed, mostly out of embarrasment for him. "Smoke on the Water" doesn't sound so great as "Screeeeeaaaaahhhhhheeeeeaaaahhhhheeeeee"

I often use my voice and handclapping as "instruments."

I am still enamoured of my 1979 Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul, made at the original Les Paul factory. Beautiful sound....my acoustic is a jumbo-belly Guild, very nice, but if I could afford it, I'd get a Taylor.

BAGPIPE HISTORY
This is what is so wonderful about A2K: a great education!

Had to check it out since we're Scots! The following is from http://www.visitscotland.com

The Bagpipes

It's perhaps a little ironic to feature bagpipes in this section since one thing that is certain about the early history of the instrument is that it was definitely not uniquely Scottish.

Early History

In fact, the earliest recorded reference to bagpipes is on a Hittite slab from Asia Minor which has been dated to1000 BC while by the 1st century AD, bagpipes existed in many countries from India to Spain and from France to Egypt. It's also clear that bagpipes were popular throughout the rest of the British isles prior to their documented appearance north of the border. When, and how, they did first appear in Scotland is a hotly contested topic with competing theories claiming they were either a Roman import or that the instrument came from Ireland. . . .

So we're pretty sure that they've been around for at least 3000 years in some form or another. That's one thing I do like about the pipes, in the space of ten minutes you can play tunes that were written 10 years ago, and 500 years ago.

A local music store is having a 60% off sale. I might have a new favorite soon.

Well, child...what did you get?

Sadly I forgot about the sale

How idiotic!

I do not play, either, and this has left a big hole in my life...

I would just like to put in a plug for the piano as one of the greatest instruments of all time. The range of music & emotion available to one player...from classical to ragtime, rock to pop, it's incredible what can come out of that box...

One of my favorite piano pieces is Gershwin's Prelude #2; I listen to it in the dark and it brings tears to my eyes...just the perfection of the notes in space.

for electric guitars I have a yamaha. Not the most expensive or necessarily the best, but its pretty good.

At last. Somewhere to tell my heartbreaking story of love and loss...

When I was in high school I got a Fender rhodes and an old Fender twin tube amp (don't know what kind; never big into details) from a guy who got them when they, uh, fell off the back of a truck. Anyway, we played a bit, I left town, I carted them around a bit. Eventually the piano was so beaten to hell that I just dumped it. Too many broken tines, I could never get the forks the right distance away from the pick-ups for an even one, the keys were sticking. A much abused instrument.

But the amp was killer, so I kept it around. Was really a guitar amp, anyway, but I didn't have a guitar to plug into it, so it just sat around. Well, time came I had to pack up and split for Chicago in a hurry, and I needed to unload the amp. A guy I knew expressed an interest, and he was an all right kind of guy, so I let it (and that nice vibrato, and that solid Fender tube sound, and lots of memories) go to him for a hundred bucks. I didn't figure it was worth much, you know? Very old and all.

I've seen replicas of the same amp -- replicas, damn it -- going for around a thousand bucks. Goddamnnit.

I am mad about the sound of the hurdy-gurdy. There's a fabulous percussionist here who plays hurdy-gurdy in a medieval consort. Breath-taking.

First post here!! How's everyone?

Anyhow, my favorite instrument is the French Horn. Especially when it's distant, but resonant (if that makes sense).

The muted trumpet is another one.

There's also nothing better than a well played, in the pocket bass line.

One of my fav sayings is "I don't play the guitar, I play the electricity".

... and this is true. So, my taste in instruments leans toward technical perfection rather than class or history. The best guitars money can buy, in my opinion, come from ESP's custom shop.

edit

I remember ESP's being more of a metal guitar as I was growing up. Have they changed?

Somewhat... Most fans of ESP guitars are the younger metalheads, but the company is starting to expand now and offers several different stylings that fit into almost anybody's hands. They are producing their standard series guitars again, to my delight... I am saving for one of the standard eclipses as we speak.