Interesting Instruments Bingo - We have a winner!!

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jocellogirl
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Interesting Instruments Bingo - We have a winner!!

Post by jocellogirl »

I've decided on the theme at last and it has to be musically oriented.

I've chosen unusual musical instruments.

Here are the numbers
1. Balalaika
2. Banjo
3. Bodhran
4. Celesta
5. Cimbalom
6. Clavichord
7. Dholak
8. Didgeridoo
9. Flugel Horn
10. Glass Harp
11. Hardanger Fiddle
12. Hurdy Gurdy
13. Jew's Harp
14. Kobza
15. Mandocello
16. Marimba
17. Ocarina
18. Ophicleide
19. Piccolo Trumpet
20. Sackbut
21. Serpent
22. Shawm
23. Sitar
24. Sousaphone
25. Steel Drums
26. Tam-tam
27. Theremin
28. Viola da Gamba
29. Wagner Tuba
30. Zither


Sign up is until Sunday 28th April, so that gives you nearly 2 weeks to choose and pm me your numbers. I'll get my girls to each pick a number out of the hat starting on Monday 29th April. Please don't all try and pick the same numbers as you did last time!!!!!!!

The winner is the first to pm me with BINGO and they will win a voucher for the stitchy retailer of their choice to the value of £10 or equivalent currency of the retailer.

:shamrock: Best of luck to all :shamrock:
Last edited by jocellogirl on Wed May 22, 2013 9:24 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by geekishly »

This should be interesting. I will pick out my numbers and PM them soon. :applesauce:
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by rcperryls »

:applesauce: :applesauce: What fun. I will be sending you my list this week for sure!

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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by jocellogirl »

Just bumping this one up in case people haven't seen it :)
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by rcperryls »

Thanks for the reminder, Jo. PM sent!

Carole
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by Fizzbw »

Will do!

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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by jocellogirl »

Players so far are

Geekishly
rcperryls
Ketta
Squirrel

There's still another week ro sign up :D
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by Lizzieh »

Been here for several years but am only just finally getting round to joinng in a bingo.
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by elementaryteacher77 »

So glad I got my pc problems fixed before the sign up time was over! I will pm my numbers to you soon!!
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by debupnorth »

I'm in!
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by jocellogirl »

Updated list is

geekishly
rcperryls
Ketta
Squirrel
tiffstitch
Lizzieh
elementaryteacher77
Fizzbw
debupnorth
endersPrincess

You've got another few days to pm me your numbers if you want to play :)
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by jocellogirl »

Don't forget, sign up closes tomorrow. :)
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by jocellogirl »

Last chance to sign up for this one folks. Anyone who enters tonight gets in. The first numbers will be picked tomorrow evening. :)
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - sign up until 28th April

Post by jocellogirl »

Sorry for being so late with these. Yesterday was manic, but better late than never.
The first two numbers are

2. Banjo
The banjo is a (usually) four-, five- or six-stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity as a resonator. The membrane is typically a piece of animal skin or plastic, and the frame is typically circular. Simpler forms of the instrument were fashioned by Africans in Colonial America, adapted from several African instruments of similar design.
The banjo is frequently associated with country, folk, Irish traditional and bluegrass music. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in African American traditional music, before becoming popular in the minstrel shows of the 19th century. In fact, slaves were both influenced by and influenced the early development of the music, which became country and bluegrass, particularly in regards to the innovation of musical techniques for both the banjo and fiddle. The banjo, with the fiddle, is a mainstay of American old-time music.
There are several hypotheses as to the origin of the instrument. One suggests that it descended from the kopuz, a string instrument still in use among the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and the Caspian region. The name itself derives from the Arabic tunbur, which in turn may have descended from the Sumerian pantur. There are several theories concerning the origin of the name banjo. It may derive from the Kimbundu term mbanza. Some etymologists believe it comes from a dialectal pronunciation of the Portuguese "bandore" or from an early anglicisation of the Spanish word bandurria, though other research suggests that it may come from a West African term for a bamboo stick formerly used for the instrument's neck.
Various instruments in Africa, chief among them the kora, feature a skin head and gourd (or similar shell) body. The African instruments differ from early African American banjos in that the necks do not possess a Western-style fingerboard and tuning pegs, instead having stick necks, with strings attached to the neck with loops for tuning. Banjos with fingerboards and tuning pegs are known from the Caribbean as early as the 17th century. 18th and early 19th century writers transcribed the name of these instruments variously as bangie, banza, banjer, and banjar. Instruments similar to the banjo (e.g., the Japanese shamisen, Persian tar, and Moroccan sintir) have been played in many countries. Another likely banjo ancestor is the akonting, a spike folk lute played by the Jola tribe of Senegambia, and the ubaw-akwala of the Igbo. Similar instruments include the xalam of Senegal and the ngoni of the Wassoulou region including parts of Mali, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire as well as a larger variation of the ngoni developed in Morocco by sub-Saharan Africans known as the Gimbri.
The modern banjo comes in a variety of forms, including four- and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similarly to a guitar, has gained popularity. In almost all of its forms, banjo playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, though there are many different playing styles.
The body, or pot, of a modern banjo typically consists of a circular rim (generally made of wood, though metal was also common on older banjos) and a tensioned head, similar to a drum head. Traditionally the head was made from animal skin, but today is often made of various synthetic materials. Most modern banjos also have a metal "tone ring" assembly that helps further clarify and project the sound, however many older banjos do not include a tone ring.
The banjo is usually tuned with friction tuning pegs or planetary gear tuners, rather than the worm gear machine head used on guitars. Frets have become standard since the late 19th century, though fretless banjos are still manufactured and played by those wishing to execute glissando or otherwise achieve the sound and feeling of early playing styles.
Modern banjos are typically strung with metal strings. Usually the fourth string is wound with either steel or bronze-phosphor alloy. Some players may string their banjos with nylon or gut strings to achieve a more mellow, old-time tone.
Some banjos have a separate resonator plate on the back of the pot, designed to project the sound forward and give the instrument more volume. This type of banjo is usually used in bluegrass music, though resonator banjos are played by players of all styles, and are also used in old-time as a substitute for electric amplification when playing in large venues.
Open-back banjos generally have a mellower tone and weigh less than resonator banjos. They usually have a different setup than a resonator banjo, often with a higher string action.
Image
See and hear the banjo being played.

24. Sousaphone
The sousaphone is a brass instrument, related to the tuba and helicon. It is widely employed in marching band and tanjidor. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried. The instrument is named after American bandmaster and composer John Philip Sousa, who popularized its use in his band. The sousaphone was developed in the 1890s at the request of John Philip Sousa, who was grumpy with the hélicons used at that time by the United States Marine Band. The first sousaphone was either developed by J.W. Pepper, in 1893, or by C.G. Conn, in 1898. The hélicon is an instrument that is wrapped in a helical shape and can thus be worn around the player's upper body, facilitating marching activities. Most tuba-sized hélicons have a bell which points between straight up and to the player's left, and the bell is similar in size to that of a common European-style upright tuba. Sousa wanted a tuba that would send sound upward and over the band with a full warm tone, much like a concert (upright) tuba, an effect which could not be achieved with the more directional hélicon bell position. The new hélicon requested by Sousa would have an oversized bell pointing straight up, but otherwise would be like a normal hélicon. Contrary to popular belief, the sousaphone was not initially developed as a marching instrument, as the professional band Sousa started after leaving the Marines (for which he wanted this new instrument) marched only once in its existence. Rather, Sousa wanted a concert instrument which would be easier to hold and play, while retaining a full, rich sound. The tone he sought was achieved by widening the bore and throat of the instrument significantly, as well as pointing it straight upward in a similar manner to concert instruments, a feature which led to the instrument being dubbed a "rain-catcher". Some versions of this design allowed the bell to also rotate forward, projecting the sound to the front of the band. This bell configuration remained the standard for several decades. Versions with the characteristic extra 90° bend making a forward-facing bell were developed in the early 1900s. Early sousaphones had 22-inch-diameter (560 mm) bells, with 24-inch (610 mm) bells popular in the 1920s. From the mid-1930s onward, sousaphone bells have been standardized at a diameter of 26 inches (660 mm). Some larger sousaphones (Monster, Grand, Jumbo, or Giant, depending on brand) were produced in limited quantities.
The sousaphone is a valved brass instrument with the same tube length and musical range as other tubas. The sousaphone's shape is such that the bell is above the tubist's head and projecting forward. The valves are situated directly in front of the musician slightly above the waist and most of the weight rests on one shoulder. The bell is normally detachable from the instrument body to facilitate transportation and storage. Excepting the instrument's general shape and appearance, the sousaphone is technically very similar to a standard (upright) tuba.
Most sousaphones are manufactured from sheet brass, usually yellow or silver, with silver, lacquer, and gold plating options, much like many brass instruments. However, the sousaphone (uniquely) is also commonly seen manufactured from fibreglass, due to its lower cost, greater durability, and significantly lighter weight. Today, the fibreglass versions are mainly used for marching, with brass instruments being used for all other situations. In schools that cannot afford two kinds of tuba for each player, having only the sousaphone type is common. Depending on the model, the fibreglass version normally does not have as dark and rich a tone as the brass. Regardless, fiberglass sousaphones are lighter than their brass counterparts and work well for smaller players who could not otherwise play the heavy brass instruments in a marching band. Although the tone of fiberglass models tends to be thinner and less "warm" (earning them the nicknames "Plastic Bugle", "White Trash", "Toilet Bowels", and "Tupperware" among players in some ensembles), it is considered acceptable by the high schools in which the instrument is most common due to the trade-off in durability, cost, and weight. Despite the disdain of sousaphones held by most serious tuba players, a quality modern sousaphone is often a better choice for the high school or semi-pro player due to more stable intonation and less breath effort needed to generate tone.
In large marching bands of the United States, the bell is often covered with a tight fitting cloth, called a sock, which enables the sousaphone section to spell out the school's name, initials, or mascot. The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band Tööbz! have a tradition of painting the front surface of their Sousaphone bells with a variety of images.
Sousaphone players are also known to perform the 'flaming tubas' in which flash paper is ignited in the bell, thus making it appear as if the musician is breathing fire. David Silverman (AKA Tubatron ) developed a propane powered flaming Sousaphone with a trigger valve to control an array of flame jets across the top of the bell of his horn. The Yale Precision Marching Band has made a tradition of setting fire to the tops of the bells of their sousaphones, including in the autumn of 1992 when sousaphones served as the "candles" of a "wedding cake" formed by the band when two band alumni were married during a halftime show. They also utilize what they refer to as the "Ãœberphone", a sousaphone that was disassembled from its coiled format and welded back together on a twelve-foot frame to extend straight up from the player's shoulders.
Image
See and hear the Sousaphone being played.
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - First numbers up 30th Ap

Post by elementaryteacher77 »

Well, this is a first! I am off and running at 2/10! Yeah :dance: :dance: :dance:
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - First numbers up 30th Ap

Post by rcperryls »

:tantrum: (Yay, I've been wanting to use that icon all morning.) Bad start with 0/10, but interesting reading. Like the addition of being able to listen to the instruments. Looking forward especially to listening to the ones I have never heard of.

Carole
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - First numbers up 30th Ap

Post by Fizzbw »

None for me either. Yes the listening bit is great!

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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - First numbers up 30th Ap

Post by tiffstitch »

woohoo! I'm at 2/10 as well.
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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - First numbers up 30th Ap

Post by Squirrel »

None for me either but most interesting reading. Thanks for the info Jo. :D
Sally in Brisbane Australia

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Re: Interesting Instruments Bingo - First numbers up 30th Ap

Post by jocellogirl »

Today's numbers are

8. Didgeridoo

The didgeridoo (also known as a didjeridu) is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread use today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". Musicologists classify it as a brass aerophone.
There are no reliable sources stating the didgeridoo's exact age. Archaeological studies of rock art in Northern Australia suggest that the people of the Kakadu region of the Northern Territory have been using the didgeridoo for less than 1,000 years, based on the dating of paintings on cave walls and shelters from this period. A clear rock painting in Ginga Wardelirrhmeng, on the northern edge of the Arnhem Land plateau, from the freshwater period shows a didgeridoo player and two songmen participating in an Ubarr Ceremony.
A modern didgeridoo is usually cylindrical or conical, and can measure anywhere from 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) long. Most are around 1.2 m (4 ft) long. Generally, the longer the instrument, the lower the pitch or key of the instrument. However, flared instruments play a higher pitch than unflared instruments of the same length.
There are numerous names for the instrument among the Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia, none of which closely resemble the word "didgeridoo". Many didgeridoo enthusiasts and some scholars advocate reserving local names for traditional instruments, and this practice has been endorsed by some Aboriginal community organisations. However, in everyday conversation, bilingual Aboriginal people will often use the word "didgeridoo" interchangeably with the instrument's name in their own language.
"Didgeridoo" is considered to be an onomatopoetic word of Western invention. The earliest occurrences of the word in print include a 1919 issue of Smith's Weekly where it was referred to as an "infernal didjerry" which "produced but one sound – (phonic) didjerry, didjerry, didjerry and so on ad infinitum", the 1919 Australian National Dictionary, The Bulletin in 1924 and the writings of Herbert Basedow in 1926.
Authentic Aboriginal didgeridoos are produced in traditionally oriented communities in Northern Australia or by makers who travel to Central and Northern Australia to collect the raw materials. They are usually made from hardwoods, especially the various eucalyptus species that are endemic to the region. Generally the main trunk of the tree is harvested, though a substantial branch may be used instead. Aboriginal didgeridoo craftsmen hunt for suitably hollow live trees in areas with obvious termite activity. Termites attack these living eucalyptus trees, removing only the dead heartwood of the tree, as the living sapwood contains a chemical that repels the insects. Various techniques are employed to find trees with a suitable hollow, including knowledge of landscape and termite activity patterns, and a kind of tap or knock test, in which the bark of the tree is peeled back, and a fingernail or the blunt end of a tool, such as an axe is knocked against the wood to determine if the hollow produces the right resonance.
Once a suitably hollow tree is found, it is cut down and cleaned out, the bark is taken off, the ends trimmed, and the exterior is shaped; this results in a finished instrument. This instrument may be painted or left undecorated. A rim of beeswax may be applied to the mouthpiece end. Traditional instruments made by Aboriginal craftsmen in Arnhem Land are sometimes fitted with a 'sugarbag' mouthpiece. This black beeswax comes from wild bees and has a distinctive aroma.
Non-traditional didgeridoos can also be made from PVC piping, non-native hard woods (typically split, hollowed and rejoined), glass, fiberglass, metal, agave, clay, hemp (in the form of a bioplastic named zelfo), and even carbon fibre. These didges typically have an upper inside diameter of around 1.25" down to a bell end of anywhere between two to eight inches and have a length corresponding to the desired key. The mouthpiece can be constructed of beeswax, hardwood or simply sanded and sized by the craftsman. In PVC, an appropriately sized rubber stopper with a hole cut into it is equally acceptable, or to finely sand and buff the end of the pipe to create a comfortable mouthpiece.
The didgeridoo is played with continuously vibrating lips to produce the drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. This requires breathing in through the nose whilst simultaneously expelling stored air out of the mouth using the tongue and cheeks. By use of this technique, a skilled player can replenish the air in their lungs, and with practice can sustain a note for as long as desired. Recordings exist of modern didgeridoo players playing continuously for more than 40 minutes; Mark Atkins on Didgeridoo Concerto (1994) plays for over 50 minutes continuously.
Many didgeridoos are painted using traditional or modern paints by either their maker or a dedicated artist, however it is not essential that the instrument be decorated. It is also common to retain the natural wood grain with minimal or no decoration. Some modern makers deliberately avoid decoration if they are not of Indigenous Australian descent, or leave the instrument blank for an Indigenous Australian artist to decorate it at a later stage.
Traditionally and originally, the didgeridoo was primarily played as an accompaniment to ceremonial dancing and singing. However, it was also common for didgeridoos to be played for solo or recreational purposes outside of ceremonial gatherings. For surviving Aboriginal groups of northern Australia, the didgeridoo is still an integral part of ceremonial life, as it accompanies singers and dancers in cultural ceremonies that continue. Today, the majority of didgeridoo playing is for recreational purposes in both Indigenous Australian communities and elsewhere around the world.
Pair sticks, sometimes called clapsticks or bilma, establish the beat for the songs during ceremonies. The rhythm of the didgeridoo and the beat of the clapsticks are precise, and these patterns have been handed down for many generations.
Traditionally, only men play the didgeridoo and sing during ceremonial occasions, although both men and women may dance. Female didgeridoo players do exist, but their playing takes place in an informal context and is not specifically encouraged by Aboriginal elders.

Image

See and hear the didgeridoo being played.

14. Kobza
The kobza (Ukrainian: кобза) is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family, a relative of the Central European mandora. The term kobza however, has also been applied to a number of other Eastern European instruments distinct from the Ukrainian kobza.
The Ukrainian kobza was traditionally gut-strung, with a body hewn from a single block of wood. The kobza has a medium length neck which may or may not have tied-on frets, which were usually made of gut. It was single-strung (sometimes also double-strung) and the strings were played with fingertips or occasionally with a plectrum threaded through a ring placed on the middle finger.
The term kobza is of Turkic origin and is related to the terms kobyz and komuz, thought to have been introduced into the Ukrainian language in the 13th century with the migration of a sizable group of Turkic people from Abkhazia settling in the Poltava region. It was usually played by a bard or minstrel known as a kobzar (occasionally in earlier times a kobeznik), who accompanies his recitation of epic poetry called duma in Ukrainian.
The Kobza acquired widespread popularity in the 16th century, with the advent of the Hetmanate (Cossack state). From the 17th century the term bandura was often used as a synonym for the kobza. The term bandura has a Latin pedigree and reflects the growing contacts the Ukrainian people had with Western Europe, particularly in the courts of Polish gentry. Ukrainian musicians that found employment at various German courts in the 18th century were called "pandoristen". One of these musicians, Timofiy Bilohradsky, was a lute student of Sylvius Leopold Weiss and later became a noted lute virtuoso, a court lutenist, active in Königsberg and St.Petersburg.
In the 18th century the kobza's upper range was extended with an addition of several unstopped treble strings, known as "prystrunky", meaning: strings on the side, in a psaltery-like set-up. In the early in the 20th century the kobza went into disuse. Currently there is a revival of authentic folk kobza playing in Ukraine, due to the efforts of the "Kobzar Guild" in Kiev and Kharkiv. The kobza revival however, is impeded by the absence of museum specimens: with the exceptions of a unique surviving 17th century kobza at the Muzeum Narodowe in Kraków and a 19th century kobza, which has been refurbished as a bandura, at the Museum of Theater and Cinematography, in Kiev; almost all evidence is entirely iconographic and some photos from the 19th century.
A fretted version of the kobza was used by Paul Konoplenko-Zaporozhetz, who recorded a disc of kobza music for Folkways. Konoplenko first picked up the fretted kobza before the Revolution in 1917 in Kiev from Vasyl' Potapenko and played on this instrument after emigrating to Winnipeg, Canada. Konoplenko's instrument had eight strings strung along the neck and four treble strings strung on the soundboard. The tuning used was reminiscent to that of the seven-string Russian guitar tuning (open G tuning).
Image
See and hear the kobza being played
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