Re: OT: Chinese zither

--- Isidora Zamora <isidora@...> wrote:

> >I think bamboo can grow just about anywhere -
> but
> >it might have to be imported. It is not native
> to
> >Maryland (USA), for example, but it does grow
> >wild here now.
>
> I'll have to give some thought to where the
> bamboo grew originally and if
> they might not have brought it with them when
> they migrated into their previous homes.
That I suppose they could do. Especially if they
were given some time to gather supplies and move
out in an orderly fashion.

> > > butchering should be accomplished before
> the
> > > meal is served, not during the
> > > meal, in their opinion.
> >
> >Sounds reminiscent of many Daine, who prefer
> to
> >cut up meat before cooking it. This is not to
> say
> >they don't enjoy roasted joints, mind!
>
> Oh, Cwendaso would never touch a roasted joint
> (just one of those little
> cultural things) and so they never cook it that
> way.
Understandable! Daine as a rule don't touch organ
meats. Marrow and hearts are ok to many, though.

> >End blown, side blown, with or without a
> block?
>
> What's a block?  Side blown.
Like what you have on a recorder. Sort of moot
since they're side blown.

> >How many holes, if any? Or do they make
> >overblowing flutes?
>
> Overblowing sounds familiar, but I can't recall
> the meaning of the term.
It's not the term I had in mind. I was thinking
of an overtone flute, which is a holeless
recorder or whistle which is constructed in such
a way that all the notes can be attained by
overblowing to the high partials. They're
traditional to some Scandinavian country. I want
to say Sweden or Finland.

> >Turtle shell drums. Drums can also be made of
> >skulls.
>
> There's another good idea.
(: You know, for when you have a few extra skulls
lying about and just can't be having with more
soup bowls or soma cups!

Of course, there's plenty of room for sacred
drums made out of the skulls of beloved
ancestors.

> > > (I've actually been
> > > wondering what they *do* with
> > > all that leather.
> >
> >Make clothes, drums, fiddles, houses,
>
> Tent's at least, if not houses.
That's what I mean.

> >  travoises,
> >books (I know - they probably don't write!),
>
> They don't write yet, but they will.  And it
> will make the most sense for
> them to write on parchment, since they have so
> much leather available.  The
> Trehelish (southerners), on the other hand,
> don't have such a surplus of
> leather, and have learned to make paper.
Makes for a good export!

> >And free reed, to round out the basic types -
> >single reeds are divided into free and
> beating:
> >the former vibrates freely in a frame; the
> latter
> >slaps up against the frame.
>
> What's an example of a free reed?  A beating
> reed?
Clarinets, saxophones and bagpipe drones are all
beating reeds. Harmonicas, harmoniums / reed
organs, shengs and similar are free reed
instruments. It is possible to affix a free reed
into a tube, in the place of a flute's blow hole.

> I know that the horns either are hollow or can
> be hollowed.
There you go!

> Bison horns are fairly short, I think, but I
> have read of aurochs horns
> being up to 6 feet in length.
Cool. Mind you, you can stack pieces of horn end
to end, making for a much longer than natural
horn.

> (It's not actually an animal that you want
> to mess with.)
Daine hunters don't mind tackling such beasties
at times!

> >But of course! The Daine naturally consider
> >themselves far more cultured than their
> Mannish
> >neighbours. And in many respects, they are
> >correct.
>
> Are the Daine not human then?
No. Humanoid, but not human.

> I hadn't thought of that.  I was thiking more
> of getting the holes drilled
> in the right places so that you get a scale
> when you play it.
That would work too, of course! And is how tin
whistles and similar are made.

> >Any ideas on what arrangement of holes they
> >use?
> >Scales, tunings? Standard pitch? Has it varied
> >over time?
>
> No ideas.  I don't have a good idea of what
> their music sounds like.  I
> expect that the tunings have changed over time,
> since they have a 1500-3000
> year history.
Keep us posted!

Padraic.



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