Aulophobia - fear of flutes(!)
abzorba
phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes". Such lists
were always ludicrously long and implausible, and under the reign of
the Internet, have become ever more so. But aulophobia DOES appear in
the fairly respected Collins Thesaurus, and it raised a couple of
(fairly idle) questions in the family neuron, even though I am not a
fan of this kind of collectivist genre. I did a little research, and
my preliminary investigations show that the flute is the ONLY
instrument to have an entire phobia devoted to it.
Not the big bass drum, or any other percussion, nor an electric guitar
with amp turned up to 11. No, Jimi Hendrix going berserk with his axe
does not a phobia make, nor does the most violent, drum-stick smashing
drum solo. Nope, totally wimpy. Gigantic Asiatic metal gongs, such as
the one the Rank man used to belt with the mallet at the beginning of
a film. Wimpy. Colossal church bells which could deafen you from a
hundred yards, and with Quasimodo swinging from the ropes? Nothing to
it. The bugle summoning us to a charge which will almost inevitably
lead to a painful death? Nope. No, what does get the shivers going up
our spines, makes us queasy with fear and start to sweat and feel an
immediate need to evacuate our bowels? Barry Manilow? Nope. The flute.
The most pacific, gentle, sweet, demure musical device there is, the
serene dulcimer of the woodwinds: that's the one that makes some of us
fear for our lives and sanity. Some evangelists of a previous time
would have plumped for a wild trumpet in a late-night jazz combo, but
this is not borne out by the intricate psychological studies that have
been undertaken to quantify these conditions. No, Satan is not found
in the sultry sax or the double bass, but he floats via the breath
down the length of this keyed corridor: yes, the flute.
Go on, gentle reader, trawl thru the Internet and see if any other
musical instrument engenders this kind of terror. Not even the bag
pipes, feared in war (but then rationally and only as a signal of it),
and reviled in peace generate its own phobia. Yes, I have heard
someone say of a piper; "Well, if he put that animal down, perhaps it
would stop screaming." But was he phobic about the pipes? No, he was
not.
True, there is a GENERAL fear of music: "melophobia" but among the
orchestra, the jazz combo, the German oompah oompah bands, the spittle-
dripping trombones, and all the others, there is not a single
instrument that evokes such horror that it requires the skills of the
trained psychologist to heal the sufferer - none but that engendered
by the flute. And we must note that such a sufferer is eclectic in his
fear: completely benign and harmless are the other members of the
woodwind family: the whistle (tin, bosun's or otherwise), the
gemshorn, flageolet, recorder, the tonette, fujara, and even the
ocarina. We are all supremely content with them. The aulophobic will
enjoy and dance happily with the music created by all these, and
including even that of the fipple flute. The piccolo, fife, danso,
shakuhachi, Anasazi instruments are admirable and welcomed, and as for
quenas , dizi, bansuri, and neys, xiaos, kavals? Why! Play on,
musician, and here's another coin for thy purse. But not the flute,
NEVER that instrument which is the dark raven of our unreasoning!
One site, whose authors have dubbed it wrongdiagnosis, for reasons
best known to themselves, devote themselves to the study of this (and
hundreds of other) debilitating mental illnesses: in which they have
copied and pasted hundreds of diagnostic and prognostic judgments,
automatically, and with no regard to any particular individual
epidemiological trait of one syndrome over another, and then proceed
to solicit the reader to have themselves cured by investing in a
variety of dodgy procedures. Is this ethical or even legal?
Another site includes the longest list of phobias, and similarly
proceeds to "analyse" each one with equivalent doses of psycho-babble
regardless of how absurd they might be. Consider this site:
http://listphobias.com/Aulophobia
Note that they say: ' "Aulophobia is defined as "a persistent,
abnormal, and unwarranted fear of flutes", each year this surprisingly
common phobia causes countless people needless distress." ' Yes, here
is a medical site that informs us that "countless people"(!) are
brought down by this disease. Each year! And what are we doing about
this epidemic? Of course, you can link from there to sites which will
take your money and cure you of this, and hundreds of other such
phobias. I note, in passing, that in a page there on another phobia:
http://listphobias.com/Algophobia (fear of pain) there is no mention
of how widespread this phobia is, although one would think that
anticipating the sensations of months of living with the agony of
cancer would be a fear more likely to afflict "countless people" over
that of flute music, but there you go, they are the experts. The
following text there might cause you to furrow your brow: "you know
your algophobia is illogical. But it has persisted because your
subconscious has attached the idea of garlic [sic] to all those
negative emotions"
Of course, there are other worthy sites in which we may learn more
about such conditions as aulophobia. Try this one:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aulophobia
In the meantime, I will remain mystified that roughly ten to fifteen
thousand years of musical culture have produced only ONE instrument
sufficiently venomous to cause the most potent dread in those who are
unfortunate enough to hear its sound: and that is the flute. You stand
warned.
Myles (a fife man myself) Paulsen
Harlan Messinger
> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes". Such lists
> were always ludicrously long and implausible, and under the reign of
> the Internet, have become ever more so. But aulophobia DOES appear in
> the fairly respected Collins Thesaurus, and it raised a couple of
> (fairly idle) questions in the family neuron, even though I am not a
> fan of this kind of collectivist genre. I did a little research, and
> my preliminary investigations show that the flute is the ONLY
> instrument to have an entire phobia devoted to it.
It can be produced by viewing of the "American Pie" series of films.
Arcadian Rises
> of how widespread this phobia is, although one would think that
> anticipating the sensations of months of living with the agony of
> cancer would be a fear more likely to afflict "countless people" over
> that of flute music, but there you go, they are the experts. The
> following text there might cause you to furrow your brow: "you know
> your algophobia is illogical. But it has persisted because your
> subconscious has attached the idea of garlic [sic] to all those
> negative emotions"
>
> Of course, there are other worthy sites in which we may learn more
> about such conditions as aulophobia. Try this one:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aulophobia
>
> In the meantime, I will remain mystified that roughly ten to fifteen
> thousand years of musical culture have produced only ONE instrument
> sufficiently venomous to cause the most potent dread in those who are
> unfortunate enough to hear its sound: and that is the flute. You stand
> warned.
>
> Myles (a fife man myself) Paulsen
Although I haven't been "blessed" with such phobia, I can understand
why some sensitive people might abhor the sound of the flute when it's
not played properly. It's a partticular type of screech that can
really get on one's nerves; similar to the sound of the nails scrubing
the wall.
tony cooper
<myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Peter T. Daniels
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
>
> >Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> >phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
Logorrheaphobia.
Fánaí Gaelach na nGleannta
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
>
> >Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> >phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
>
> --
> Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Franzophobia.
Jerry Friedman
> On Jan 5, 10:31 pm, abzorba <myles...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
[aulophobia]
> Although I haven't been "blessed" with such phobia, I can understand
> why some sensitive people might abhor the sound of the flute when it's
> not played properly. It's a partticular type of screech that can
> really get on one's nerves; similar to the sound of the nails scrubing
> the wall.
I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
bagpipes is incomparable.
--
Jerry Friedman
bigfl...@gmail.com
> of how widespread this phobia is, although one would think that
> anticipating the sensations of months of living with the agony of
> cancer would be a fear more likely to afflict "countless people" over
> that of flute music, but there you go, they are the experts. The
> following text there might cause you to furrow your brow: "you know
> your algophobia is illogical. But it has persisted because your
> subconscious has attached the idea of garlic [sic] to all those
> negative emotions"
>
> Of course, there are other worthy sites in which we may learn more
> about such conditions as aulophobia. Try this one:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aulophobia
>
> In the meantime, I will remain mystified that roughly ten to fifteen
> thousand years of musical culture have produced only ONE instrument
> sufficiently venomous to cause the most potent dread in those who are
> unfortunate enough to hear its sound: and that is the flute. You stand
> warned.
>
> Myles (a fife man myself) Paulsen
Excellent post.
Perhaps this emerged from Cosi Fan Tutti (The Magic Flute). Perhaps
the conspiracy theorists may have an explanation.
BOfL
bigfl...@gmail.com
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
>
> >Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> >phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
>
> --
> Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Muchadoaboutnothingia.
BOfL
MC
tony cooper <tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
> <myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
> >Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> >phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
bait
--
"If you can, tell me something happy."
- Marybones
MC
<66e0b062-720c-4dec...@z9g2000yqz.googlegroups.com>,
Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the bagpipes and doesn't.
k...@kymhorsell.com
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
> <myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>>Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>>phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
noenkeyphobia.
I glue mine down extra tight so I'll never get caught short.
--
You are now in the killfile.
[2 weeks later:]
Oh come on now. That little post should not have upset you so. I
only meant for you to ponder the future.
-- John Stafford <nh...@droffats.net> (AKA A Moose In Love
<parkstre...@gmail.com>), 21 Dec 2010 22:33:45 -0800
LFS
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
> <myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
>> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>> phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
>
You left out cross-posted.
[aue only]
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
Peter Moylan
>
> Although I haven't been "blessed" with such phobia, I can understand
> why some sensitive people might abhor the sound of the flute when it's
> not played properly. It's a partticular type of screech that can
> really get on one's nerves; similar to the sound of the nails scrubing
> the wall.
In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the flute while her
brother was learning violin. I can attest that the noise of a flute
played badly is as nothing compared with the noise of a violin played
badly. The flute never left me thinking that the cat was being tortured.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
LFS
> Arcadian Rises wrote:
>> Although I haven't been "blessed" with such phobia, I can understand
>> why some sensitive people might abhor the sound of the flute when it's
>> not played properly. It's a partticular type of screech that can
>> really get on one's nerves; similar to the sound of the nails scrubing
>> the wall.
>
> In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the flute while her
> brother was learning violin. I can attest that the noise of a flute
> played badly is as nothing compared with the noise of a violin played
> badly. The flute never left me thinking that the cat was being tortured.
>
Indeed. We suffered intensely until we were able to persuade Daughter to
give up the violin and take up the guitar and the clarinet. Son's jerky
practising of the trombone was rather like constantly waiting for the
other shoe to drop but that was also mercifully brief. I wouldn't let
him have a drum kit so that was the first thing be acquired when he left
for university. I'm told he's a good drummer.
James Hogg
The practice chanter is a fiendish invention.
--
James
James Hogg
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
> <myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
>> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>> phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
"normality"
--
James
abzorba
> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
>
> >Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> >phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
>
Well, I was quite surprised by this. I might remind you that I
initiated this thread, so it's a bit rough telling me it's off topic.
And the topic was concerning aulophobia, which neither of us had ever
heard of before. Moreover, I raised the question, in a humorous and
discursive way, as to why a morbid fear of flutes should take
precedence over any fear of thousands of other musical instruments,
many of which are potentially far more nerve-wracking than the flute.
I made some other marginal comments concerning just how such words
might make it into the language without the evidence of any trail of
medical or scientific documentation. Well, you're an old hat, I guess,
but allow me to say that I think that what I wrote there, or in just
about any of my threads, is EXACTLY on topic and precisely at the
centre of the provenance of this froup. I thought for a moment that
you might be some rather constipated pedant with a brace on his brain
stem, but then I had a good long look at your posting history. And,
like ALL of us, you veer off at any old time, on any and just about
every thread, so I am wondering where you get the hide to tell me that
my research into a relatively unknown word, which took me a couple of
hours, is off-topic.
Psst…have a look at one of your recent "pronouncements":
"Our two major fast food chains, McDonald's and Burger King, put
*both*
ketchup and mustard on hamburgers unless firmly told not to."
Well, gee Tony, this was a thread about the meaning of catsup, and you
volunteered this. Thanks for sharing. I mean, is it just a little off-
topic? It's not windy, that's for sure. Or long. Nothing you write
ever is. Unfortunately, while brevity may be the soul of wit, there
are many instances where the two simply never join hands. And in your
case, they live on different planets. None of your stuff is shocking
though, which is a good thing I guess, or thought-provoking, or even
original. It wouldn't offend anyone, raise an eyebrow, or give some
poor ADD sufferer the slightest cause for impatience. And it's really
interesting for anyone who just lives to hear about what the burger
chains squirt on the putrid shit you shove into your belly. That’s
what aue is all about, isn't it?
And you don't seem to initiate anything either. But that's OK. You can
jump puddles, alright, and we are all proud of you for that. You’re
modest, and that’s an excellent character trait for someone making two
line addendums and brief whines concerning material someone else has
thought about, researched, rewritten and revised, and provided with
links. But we’re all proud of you. Frankly, I'll stand by what I
write. Some of it is funny, a lot of it is original, and I could put
a collection of it together and make a small compendium of interesting
and witty reflections on life and writing. (My post previous to this
one was on the question of the meaning of "sonorous". Look that one up
just for the hell of it, and compare it with your output.)
And speaking of your “output”, what have you got to show? Sweet fuck
all, mate, sweet FUCK ALL. And if you don't like this, well, buddy,
why don't you just run up a few bon mots, Oscar Wilde fashion, to
really let me know what you are capable of? And if you can’t do that,
then well, just step aside. You can jump puddles (just), but that
doesn’t mean you are not a rude, jealous boor.
Myles (not suffering them quite as well as I should today) Paulsen
yangg
> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a
*** bagpipe*** band,
A
***
> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
> bagpipes is incomparable.
***
Is "bagpipe(s)" always plural or can it be singular?
A.
Cheryl
OK, OK, I realize that this is a difficult point to make - an
astonishing number of people dislike bagpipes - but really, they are
great. Or can be. I can quite see that a beginner would not be very nice
to listen to, but that is true of the beginners on a lot of instruments.
The violin comes to mind.
I still don't quite understand why so few of the people I told about a
concert being given some visiting bagpipe bands a few years back were
excited about the opportunity to go. It was a great concert.
--
Cheryl
Cheryl
Dictionaries say it can be used in singular or plural, but I think I've
usually heard 'bagpipes' for the instrument and 'bagpipe' for the
adjective.
So I'd say it's possibly more common to say 'She's learning to play the
bagpipes', but 'She's learning to play the bagpipe' wouldn't be incorrect.
'She plays in a bagpipe band' is correct, but 'She plays in a bagpipes
band' is incorrect.
--
Cheryl
Giga2
"abzorba" <myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:55da7c58-c2cf-4d12...@t8g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
Hard to see how this 'phobia' could cause much distress or problems. I can't
remember the last time a flute ran out of a hole in the skirting board or
was seen walking around the local park! In fact I suspect this phobia could
be carried by many people who do not even know they have it because they
have never seen or even heard of a flute (maybe 90% of the world population
I would guess). So this epidemic could be nearly an order of magnitude
bigger than people think. This is serious : )
LFS
> On Jan 6, 4:05 pm, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
>>
>> <myles...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>>> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>>> phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
>>
>
> Well, I was quite surprised by this. I might remind you that I
> initiated this thread, so it's a bit rough telling me it's off topic.
Just because *you* initiated it, it can't be off-topic? A bizarre sense
of self-importance, IMHO.
> And the topic was concerning aulophobia, which neither of us had ever
> heard of before.
How do you know that Mr Cooper hadn't heard of it before? He hasn't
indicated that.
Moreover, I raised the question, in a humorous and
> discursive way, as to why a morbid fear of flutes should take
> precedence over any fear of thousands of other musical instruments,
> many of which are potentially far more nerve-wracking than the flute.
That point is potentially interesting and not off topic but your post
was certainly long and windy and unnecessarily cross-posted.
(I am leaving the cross-postings for once as I don't know where you're
reading or posting from: I'm pretty sure it's not aue)
yangg
***
Hey idiot, did you not notice that all these compounds have -o- before
phobia ?
A.
***
Leslie Danks
> James Hogg wrote:
>> Jerry Friedman wrote:
[...]
>>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
>>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
>>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
>>> bagpipes is incomparable.
>>
>> The practice chanter is a fiendish invention.
>>
> But when they get it right, bagpipes are marvellous!
The greatest advantage of the bagpipes as a choice of instrument to learn is
that no-one can tell whether you can play them or not.
[...]
--
Les
(BrE)
James Hogg
Just like agoraphobia and toxiphobia.
OED even has an example of L.C.C.-phobia.
--
James
Zerkon
> "fear of flutes".
The answer here is obvious, it's fun to say and just as obvious, to me
anyway, it can be used by otherwise painfully boring people as a pick up
line.
Example:
[ soon into a he/she conversation ]
She: ... and what do you do?
He: I'm in IT
She (her eyes quickly glazing over): Oh, I see
He: No, I .... T!!!
[He laughs, she does not]
She: Excuse me, I am going to stand over here now
He: I have Flute Fear!
She: What?
He: I have a morbid fear of flutes.
She: What?!
He: Yes, I have forever feared flutes, a fucking phobia to this fat and
forty man who fancies flashy fleshy female fun.
She: How astoundingly interesting and yes, I will now go to bed with you!
LFS
London County Council?
[aue only]
the Omrud
Lancashire Cricket Club, Shirley.
--
David
James Hogg
No, Laura was right (as you suspected).
--
James
António Marques
Peter T. Daniels
wrote:
> Arcadian Rises wrote:
>
> > Although I haven't been "blessed" with such phobia, I can understand
> > why some sensitive people might abhor the sound of the flute when it's
> > not played properly. It's a partticular type of screech that can
> > really get on one's nerves; similar to the sound of the nails scrubing
> > the wall.
>
> In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the flute while her
> brother was learning violin. I can attest that the noise of a flute
> played badly is as nothing compared with the noise of a violin played
> badly. The flute never left me thinking that the cat was being tortured.
The strings aren't actually made of catgut ...
Peter T. Daniels
wrote:
Probably no one can explain what "Cosi Fan Tutti (The Magic Flute)"
means.
Especially from someone who praises logorrhea.
MC
"Giga2" <"Giga2" <just(removetheseandaddmatthe end)ho...@yahoo.co>
wrote:
I suspect it is a connected with fellatiophobia - fear of skin flutes.
MC
<3fa2537a-4330-46dc...@p7g2000prb.googlegroups.com>,
abzorba <myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> Well, you're an old hat, I guess,
> but allow me to say that I think that what I wrote there, or in just
> about any of my threads, is EXACTLY on topic and precisely at the
> centre of the provenance of this froup.
<SNIP>
I agree. I never thought it was off topic.
Arcadian Rises
wrote:
Different strokes for different folks.
I believe our audio preferences, like the ones regarding smell, or any
other sense, are influenced by our unique body chemistry. I can't
stand the smell of a perfume favored by someone which I admire.The
food savored by a loved one might be vomit-inducing for us, and so on.
I know professional musicians who can actually have a physical
reaction of disgust when they hear an off key note; I know other
professional musicians who find off key sounds very amusing, they even
take a great pleasure in playing, or singing, off key, which is not
very easy.
Plac
> On Jan 6, 2:23 am, Peter Moylan <inva...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid>
> wrote:
>
I can't stand the smell of a perfume favored by someone which I
admire.
Are you Norwegian by any chance?
Arcadian Rises
It was an illustrative example but poorly formulated.
I meant that sharing some values (ethical, political etc) with someone
is not a guarantee that we share all the sensory likes or dislikes.
You may admire some people's high standards, or erudition, but you may
abhor their perfume or the foods they enjoy.
In Latin sounds even better: "De gustibus...[hm] nil nisi bene"
bert
> In Latin sounds even better: "De gustibus...[hm] nil nisi bene"
It actually sounds incomprehensible, because
you've conflated two epigrams: "De gustibus non
disputandum est" and "De mortuis nil nisi bonum".
--
Katy Jennison
> On Jan 6, 4:05 pm, tony cooper<tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
>>
>> <myles...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>>> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>>> phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>>
>> What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
>>
>
> Well, I was quite surprised by this. I might remind you that I
> initiated this thread, so it's a bit rough telling me it's off topic.
> And the topic was concerning aulophobia, which neither of us had ever
>
IMO, you post interesting stuff but you do go on a bit. You're fairly
new here and so you're not cut as much slack as some. Stick around and
act polite for a while, and you'll be fine.
--
Katy Jennison
Mike Lyle
IIRC, the McCognoscenti say "bagpipe". As one of medium-peccable
Scottish descent, I'd point out that the Irish version is better, and
the English ones even nicer. I think the English ones are always
plural, too. Search Kathryn Tickell for a fine exponent.
One of my little memory treasures is an Italian gypsy bagpiper busking
in the city for Christmas: the Europeans preserve the mental
association of bagpipes with shepherds, and therefore Christmas. These
pipes still have the wool on --outside, of course. Christmas, haunting
music, a few flakes of snow... beautifully horripilatory stuff.
--
Mike.
Roland Hutchinson
> On Jan 5, 9:01 pm, Arcadian Rises <Arcadianri...@aol.com> wrote:
>> On Jan 5, 10:31 pm, abzorba <myles...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
> [aulophobia]
>
>> Although I haven't been "blessed" with such phobia, I can understand
>> why some sensitive people might abhor the sound of the flute when it's
>> not played properly. It's a partticular type of screech that can really
>> get on one's nerves; similar to the sound of the nails scrubing the
>> wall.
>
> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the bagpipes
> is incomparable.
Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
--
Roland Hutchinson
He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )
Arcadian Rises
And thank you for explaining my little joke.
Roland Hutchinson
Actually, they are (or at least some are; most were until the 1970s).
However, catgut isn't made from the guts of cats.
Adam Funk
> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the bagpipes
>> is incomparable.
>
> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole pages
of viola jokes & has never heard of the gamba-thingy.
http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?
Adam Funk
> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:57:48 -0800, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
>
>> On Jan 6, 2:23 am, Peter Moylan <inva...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>> In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the flute while her
>>> brother was learning violin. I can attest that the noise of a flute
>>> played badly is as nothing compared with the noise of a violin played
>>> badly. The flute never left me thinking that the cat was being
>>> tortured.
>>
>> The strings aren't actually made of catgut ...
>
> Actually, they are (or at least some are; most were until the 1970s).
> However, catgut isn't made from the guts of cats.
But it was made from guts, so partial credit is in order.
--
History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of
urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.
(Thurgood Marshall)
Peter Moylan
>
> IIRC, the McCognoscenti say "bagpipe". As one of medium-peccable
> Scottish descent, I'd point out that the Irish version is better, and
> the English ones even nicer. I think the English ones are always
> plural, too. Search Kathryn Tickell for a fine exponent.
The story I heard was that the Irish invented the bagpipes and then sold
them to the Scots. The Scots haven't yet got the joke.
Roland Hutchinson
> On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>
>>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
>>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
>>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
>>> bagpipes is incomparable.
>>
>> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
>
>
> Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole pages
> of viola jokes & has never heard of the gamba-thingy.
>
> http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
Say what you like about the viola da gamba, but it has never been
classified as a weapon of war (though the theorbo has).
Roland Hutchinson
> On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:57:48 -0800, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
>>
>>> On Jan 6, 2:23 am, Peter Moylan <inva...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid>
>>> wrote:
>
>>>> In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the flute while her
>>>> brother was learning violin. I can attest that the noise of a flute
>>>> played badly is as nothing compared with the noise of a violin played
>>>> badly. The flute never left me thinking that the cat was being
>>>> tortured.
>>>
>>> The strings aren't actually made of catgut ...
>>
>> Actually, they are (or at least some are; most were until the 1970s).
>> However, catgut isn't made from the guts of cats.
>
> But it was made from guts, so partial credit is in order.
Was, and is.
the Omrud
> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:04:15 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>
>> On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>>
>>>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
>>>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
>>>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
>>>> bagpipes is incomparable.
>>>
>>> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
>>
>> Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole pages
>>
>> http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
>
> Say what you like about the viola da gamba, but it has never been
> classified as a weapon of war (though the theorbo has).
I always keep well clear of theorbos (theorboes? theorben?). You can
never tell when one will go off.
--
David
Immortalist
> Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
> were always ludicrously long and implausible, and under the reign of
> the Internet, have become ever more so. But aulophobia DOES appear in
> the fairly respected Collins Thesaurus, and it raised a couple of
> (fairly idle) questions in the family neuron, even though I am not a
> fan of this kind of collectivist genre. I did a little research, and
> my preliminary investigations show that the flute is the ONLY
> instrument to have an entire phobia devoted to it.
>
If aulophobia is an exaggerated or irrational fear of flutes and
since, aside from the voice, flutes are the earliest known musical
instruments, of all musical instruments then the flute would naturally
lend itself to a deeper analysis of psychological reactions than other
instruments would.
I imagine as a musical instrument is experienced for the first time it
could cause some strange reactions but maybe this aulophobia is
different than that.
A number of flutes dating to the European Upper Paleolithic have been
discovered. The undisputed claims are all products of the Aurignacian
archaeological culture, beginning about 40,000 to 35,000 years ago,
and have been found in the Swabian Alb region of Germany. These flutes
represent the earliest known musical instruments and provide valuable
evidence of prehistoric music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_flutes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_music
> Not the big bass drum, or any other percussion, nor an electric guitar
> with amp turned up to 11. No, Jimi Hendrix going berserk with his axe
> does not a phobia make, nor does the most violent, drum-stick smashing
> drum solo. Nope, totally wimpy. Gigantic Asiatic metal gongs, such as
> the one the Rank man used to belt with the mallet at the beginning of
> a film. Wimpy. Colossal church bells which could deafen you from a
> hundred yards, and with Quasimodo swinging from the ropes? Nothing to
> it. The bugle summoning us to a charge which will almost inevitably
> lead to a painful death? Nope. No, what does get the shivers going up
> our spines, makes us queasy with fear and start to sweat and feel an
> immediate need to evacuate our bowels? Barry Manilow? Nope. The flute.
> The most pacific, gentle, sweet, demure musical device there is, the
> serene dulcimer of the woodwinds: that's the one that makes some of us
> fear for our lives and sanity. Some evangelists of a previous time
> would have plumped for a wild trumpet in a late-night jazz combo, but
> this is not borne out by the intricate psychological studies that have
> been undertaken to quantify these conditions. No, Satan is not found
> in the sultry sax or the double bass, but he floats via the breath
> down the length of this keyed corridor: yes, the flute.
>
> Go on, gentle reader, trawl thru the Internet and see if any other
> musical instrument engenders this kind of terror. Not even the bag
> pipes, feared in war (but then rationally and only as a signal of it),
> and reviled in peace generate its own phobia. Yes, I have heard
> someone say of a piper; "Well, if he put that animal down, perhaps it
> would stop screaming." But was he phobic about the pipes? No, he was
> not.
>
> True, there is a GENERAL fear of music: "melophobia" but among the
> orchestra, the jazz combo, the German oompah oompah bands, the spittle-
> dripping trombones, and all the others, there is not a single
> instrument that evokes such horror that it requires the skills of the
> trained psychologist to heal the sufferer - none but that engendered
> by the flute. And we must note that such a sufferer is eclectic in his
> fear: completely benign and harmless are the other members of the
> woodwind family: the whistle (tin, bosun's or otherwise), the
> gemshorn, flageolet, recorder, the tonette, fujara, and even the
> ocarina. We are all supremely content with them. The aulophobic will
> enjoy and dance happily with the music created by all these, and
> including even that of the fipple flute. The piccolo, fife, danso,
> shakuhachi, Anasazi instruments are admirable and welcomed, and as for
> quenas , dizi, bansuri, and neys, xiaos, kavals? Why! Play on,
> musician, and here's another coin for thy purse. But not the flute,
> NEVER that instrument which is the dark raven of our unreasoning!
>
> One site, whose authors have dubbed it wrongdiagnosis, for reasons
> best known to themselves, devote themselves to the study of this (and
> hundreds of other) debilitating mental illnesses: in which they have
> copied and pasted hundreds of diagnostic and prognostic judgments,
> automatically, and with no regard to any particular individual
> epidemiological trait of one syndrome over another, and then proceed
> to solicit the reader to have themselves cured by investing in a
> variety of dodgy procedures. Is this ethical or even legal?
>
> Another site includes the longest list of phobias, and similarly
> proceeds to "analyse" each one with equivalent doses of psycho-babble
> regardless of how absurd they might be. Consider this site:http://listphobias.com/Aulophobia
>
> Note that they say: ' "Aulophobia is defined as "a persistent,
> abnormal, and unwarranted fear of flutes", each year this surprisingly
> common phobia causes countless people needless distress." ' Yes, here
> is a medical site that informs us that "countless people"(!) are
> brought down by this disease. Each year! And what are we doing about
> this epidemic? Of course, you can link from there to sites which will
> take your money and cure you of this, and hundreds of other such
> phobias. I note, in passing, that in a page there on another phobia:http://listphobias.com/Algophobia(fear of pain) there is no mention
> of how widespread this phobia is, although one would think that
> anticipating the sensations of months of living with the agony of
> cancer would be a fear more likely to afflict "countless people" over
> that of flute music, but there you go, they are the experts. The
> following text there might cause you to furrow your brow: "you know
> your algophobia is illogical. But it has persisted because your
> subconscious has attached the idea of garlic [sic] to all those
> negative emotions"
>
> Of course, there are other worthy sites in which we may learn more
> about such conditions as aulophobia. Try this one:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aulophobia
>
> In the meantime, I will remain mystified that roughly ten to fifteen
> thousand years of musical culture have produced only ONE instrument
> sufficiently venomous to cause the most potent dread in those who are
> unfortunate enough to hear its sound: and that is the flute. You stand
> warned.
>
> Myles (a fife man myself) Paulsen
Giga2
"MC" <cope...@mapca.inter.net> wrote in message
news:copespaz-BD6FF2...@reserved-multicast-range-not-delegated.example.com...
>
> I suspect it is a connected with fellatiophobia - fear of skin flutes.
>
I'm sure Freud would agree, I wonder if it is more common in women?
Brian M. Scott
<inv...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote in
<news:l5udnSEfmp-d87jQ...@westnet.com.au> in
alt.usage.english,sci.lang,alt.philosophy:
[...]
> In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the
> flute while her brother was learning violin. I can attest
> that the noise of a flute played badly is as nothing
> compared with the noise of a violin played badly. The
> flute never left me thinking that the cat was being
> tortured.
And breath tends to give out before arms.
Brian
Peter T. Daniels
> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:04:15 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
> > On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>
> >> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>
> >>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
> >>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
> >>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
> >>> bagpipes is incomparable.
>
> >> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
>
> > Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole pages
> > of viola jokes & has never heard of the gamba-thingy.
>
> >http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
>
> Say what you like about the viola da gamba, but it has never been
> classified as a weapon of war (though the theorbo has).
Did Ogden Nash ever rhyme "viola da gamba"?
Alan Munn
<42ba0f45-9498-481f...@r29g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
I've never seen a viola da gamba.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you any how,
I'd rather see than be one.
Alan
Peter T. Daniels
> In article
> <42ba0f45-9498-481f-8c0f-29805f00c...@r29g2000yqj.googlegroups.com>,
So that would be a no ...
Richard Bollard
>Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes". Such lists
>were always ludicrously long and implausible, and under the reign of
>the Internet, have become ever more so. But aulophobia DOES appear in
>the fairly respected Collins Thesaurus, and it raised a couple of
>(fairly idle) questions in the family neuron, even though I am not a
>fan of this kind of collectivist genre. I did a little research, and
>my preliminary investigations show that the flute is the ONLY
>instrument to have an entire phobia devoted to it.
>
...
My guess is that the prefix comes first and then the phobia. If "aulo"
means flute (which it may not; I think it covers the family of
instruments of which the flute is a well known example) then
aulophobia means flute-fear by definition. These word lists are
created a priori not a posteriori. In other words, I bet the word was
coined independently of any one presenting with a real phobia.
(I knew someone who summed up Jethro Tull as "that bloody flute all
the time" but I don't think he was scared of it.)
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia
To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT.
Richard Bollard
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 19:31:37 -0800 (PST), abzorba
><myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
>>Found this in my Collins Thesaurus (1995) page 715, under a list for
>>phobias: "aulophobia" which is the morbid "fear of flutes".
>
>What is the word for the fear of long, windy, off-topic posts?
Sisophobia?
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia
(ducking)
Richard Bollard
What she said. I like a lot of it but they are a wee bit long.
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia
To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT.
pauljk
"Brian M. Scott" <b.s...@csuohio.edu> wrote in message
news:ei6bn9cirgx3.f...@40tude.net...
Recently I saw a short video recording of a chamber music wind quartet
playing one of the most beautiful Vivaldi's adagios (if I remember correctly
it was La Caccia) after having filled their lungs with helium.
What a terrible, terrible, and barbaric sacrilege I thought to myself while
writhing with laughter on the floor.
pjk
Roland Hutchinson
> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:07:33 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>
>> On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:57:48 -0800, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Jan 6, 2:23 am, Peter Moylan <inva...@peter.pmoylan.org.invalid>
>>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>> In days gone by I had a daughter who was learning the flute while
>>>>> her brother was learning violin. I can attest that the noise of a
>>>>> flute played badly is as nothing compared with the noise of a violin
>>>>> played badly. The flute never left me thinking that the cat was
>>>>> being tortured.
>>>>
>>>> The strings aren't actually made of catgut ...
>>>
>>> Actually, they are (or at least some are; most were until the 1970s).
>>> However, catgut isn't made from the guts of cats.
>>
>> But it was made from guts, so partial credit is in order.
>
> Was, and is.
For those who enjoy watching laws and sausages being made (gut string
manufacture is more like the latter):
http://www.daniellarson.com/article.htm
http://www.aquilacorde.com/en/faq/our-gut-string-making/pictures.html
Roland Hutchinson
The deal with "aulos" is that it is the name of a classical Greek wind
instrument that is actually a reed instrument rather than a flute as such
-- most often, in fact, it's a pair of reed instruments ("double double
reeds"). However, "aulos" has been conventionally translated as "flute"
for many centuries, to the confusion of all (except for the classically
learnèd, who simply became used to the idea that their Greeks played
really, really strange -- and loud -- flutes.)
tony cooper
Too few uses of the "enter" key. Long blocks of copy unbroken into
paragraphs cause the eye and mind - at least my eye and mind - to
wander...and then to lose interest.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Brian M. Scott
<paul....@clear.net.nz> wrote in
<news:ig61ri$ieg$1...@news.eternal-september.org> in
alt.usage.english,sci.lang,alt.philosophy:
[...]
> Recently I saw a short video recording of a chamber music
> wind quartet playing one of the most beautiful Vivaldi's
> adagios (if I remember correctly it was La Caccia) after
> having filled their lungs with helium.
> What a terrible, terrible, and barbaric sacrilege I
> thought to myself while writhing with laughter on the
> floor.
Now *that* I'd like to hear. That even beats the Dolmetsch
Ensemble doing the 1812 Overture. With cap pistols.
Brian
Cheryl
> Mike Lyle wrote:
>>
>> IIRC, the McCognoscenti say "bagpipe". As one of medium-peccable
>> Scottish descent, I'd point out that the Irish version is better, and
>> the English ones even nicer. I think the English ones are always
>> plural, too. Search Kathryn Tickell for a fine exponent.
>
> The story I heard was that the Irish invented the bagpipes and then sold
> them to the Scots. The Scots haven't yet got the joke.
>
I once tried to convince my choir director about the good qualities of
the bagpipes. He has an interest in folk music, and agreed that they
were certainly an ancient instrument, found originally in almost all
cultures, and surviving in quite a few. But when it really came down to
it, he turned out to subscribe to the old theory that the bagpipes are
an instrument played outdoors, on a hillside far away.
--
Cheryl
James Hogg
Shaun Davey managed to combine a pipe band with a choir and orchestra,
plus soloists and rock musicians:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=205nlcJFppc
--
James
Don Stockbauer
Aulorectumphobia - the fear of having a flute jammed up your.......you
know.
Cheryl
Wow.
--
Cheryl
John Dunlop
> I once tried to convince my choir director about the good qualities of
> the bagpipes. He has an interest in folk music, and agreed that they
> were certainly an ancient instrument, found originally in almost all
> cultures, and surviving in quite a few. But when it really came down to
> it, he turned out to subscribe to the old theory that the bagpipes are
> an instrument played outdoors, on a hillside far away.
You could introduce him to the Red Hot Chilli Pipers:
http://www.redhotchillipipers.co.uk/
--
John
R H Draney
>
>Cheryl wrote:
>>
>> I once tried to convince my choir director about the good qualities of
>> the bagpipes. He has an interest in folk music, and agreed that they
>> were certainly an ancient instrument, found originally in almost all
>> cultures, and surviving in quite a few. But when it really came down to
>> it, he turned out to subscribe to the old theory that the bagpipes are
>> an instrument played outdoors, on a hillside far away.
>
>Shaun Davey managed to combine a pipe band with a choir and orchestra,
>plus soloists and rock musicians:
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=205nlcJFppc
Didn't PDQ Bach include bagpipes in the "really big orchestra" for his 1712
Overture?...r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
John Varela
I am just _this_ far from tossing him in the twit filter for
cross-posting to sci.lang if nothing else.
--
John Varela
Dr Peter Young
And Peter Maxwell Davies has a bagpiper process from the back of the
hall into the orchestra to symbolise the sunrise in his "Orkney
Wedding, with Sunrise".
Peter.
--
Peter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004.
(US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist)
Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired.
http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk
Jerry Friedman
> On Jan 6, 5:46 pm, Roland Hutchinson <my.spamt...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:04:15 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
> > > On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>
> > >> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>
> > >>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
> > >>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
> > >>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
> > >>> bagpipes is incomparable.
>
> > >> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
>
> > > Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole pages
> > > of viola jokes & has never heard of the gamba-thingy.
>
> > >http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
>
> > Say what you like about the viola da gamba,
Oh boy!
> > but it has never been
> > classified as a weapon of war (though the theorbo has).
>
> Did Ogden Nash ever rhyme "viola da gamba"?
Yes, in one of his lesser-known poems.
Viol Sound
I started practicing the viola da gamba
Because I wanted to play a rhumba or a samba.
Do you ask why anyone would play it for dances where maracas are
shaken?
Well, reader, I was mistaken.
So I turned my attention to playing continuo,
But it sounded as harsh as one of those letters that begin, "You
owe..."
By request of my wife, my children, and all the fellows,
I plan to change to a more mellow instrument, like the 'cellos,
Or the bellows.
--
Jerry Friedman
Peter T. Daniels
Aaaahhhh ....
Strand once had something like four uniform little volumes of
collected verse of his, but they were $10 each. The Library of
America could do the world a great service by putting out several big
volumes of all of it.
abzorba
> >>IMO, you post interesting stuff but you do go on a bit. You're fairly
> >>new here and so you're not cut as much slack as some. Stick around and
> >>act polite for a while, and you'll be fine.
>
> >What she said. I like a lot of it but they are a wee bit long.
>
> Too few uses of the "enter" key. Long blocks of copy unbroken into
> paragraphs cause the eye and mind - at least my eye and mind - to
> wander...and then to lose interest.
>
I used to write manuals for the Public Service in NSW, and I am a
published author. I compose my paragraphs carefully. They are
generally about the same length as those you find in any modern book
written for a general audience. The paragraphs look longer in
newsgroup format because the lines there are shorter than they are on
a printed A4 (or foolscap) page. Tony, I don't know how you would go
reading Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, written in times when a reader
was expected to comprehend sentences far longer than would now be
acceptable, and full of subjunctive clauses, with parenthetical
asides, and in paragraphs which could run for pages. Take a sentence
such as:
He knew then, as those about had known for a considerable time,
excepting those few who had shut their ears to the rumours that moved
like a miasma in the taverns at night, that the time had come, if the
governor should deign to submit to the will of the times, that the
boastful newcomers who had made such a handsome profit at the expense
of the indigenous community must perforce leave these provinces, as if
in exile, and remain so for the duration of the hostilities of the
present time."
People didn’t just WRITE like that, they TALKED like that. This kind
of construction would NOT have taxed the mind of an ordinary reader 50
years ago, but today would need to broken up into small pieces and
spoon-fed to a readership who have trouble entertaining anything more
complex than the simplest "subject - verb - object" construction in
small paragraphs and brief articles. I think this is a consequence of
an entire generation becoming effectively Attention Deficit Disorder
victims because of a culture that is built on the notion of immediate
and constant barrages of sensation, pitched at the broadest level,
lest the customer's mind "wander off". If you compare such Disney
films as the animated "Lady and the Tramp" with any of their
contemporary counterparts, you might note just how fast and loud and
vulgar the latter are, and how lacking in anything reflective,
whimsical, or charming.
Well, I don't know if you are such a victim of the times, but I
imagined that aue would have been something of a haven for those still
literate to the extent that they can take the time to peruse and
reflect on text that is more than a series of one or two line
addendums. I don't apologise for the way I write, and if your mind
“wanders off” at the sight of a normally sized paragraph, that is
more properly a reflection of your education and mental wattage than
it is of any linguistic deficiency on my part. Apply yourself, my
friend, to the task of comprehending my work, follow the lines with a
finger on the screen, read each word aloud, and you will profit from
it, and learn to love it, and yearn for more; for when a wise man
receives instruction, he will become ever wiser.
Btw, the preceding paragraphs may be taken as examples of what I
believe (and teach) to be ones properly formed, and of suitable
lengths. Still, I am prepared to cut them down to accommodate the new
paradigms, and I will do so in the future. I do notice however, that
there are many posters who deliver only short contributions, but then
they do so hundreds of times. I would rather divest myself of what I
have to say in a comprehensive treatise, rather than a barrage of
small, disconnected “text-bites”. Call me an old fuddy duddy.
Myles (Did you just call me an old “fuddy duddy”?!) Paulsen
abzorba
About 20 years ago, I saw a man sitting down at Circular Quay, near
the Opera House, playing a wonderful instrument I had never seen
before. He told me they were Irish bagpipes, and I was entranced at
the sweetness and the intricacy of the harmonies, which I thought far
superior to the Scottish version. It sounded like a cross between the
more familiar bagpipes and an organ. I looked it up in Wikipedia
today, and yes, what I had seen played were uillean pipes. They are
played sitting down, and the piper that day told me the instrument is
far harder to master than the Scottish version. That might be the
reason they are seldom heard, or heard of, compared to the Scottish
bagpipes. (MS Word spellchecker red underlines “uillean”.) I’ve never
heard one since, but I always remember the wonderful impression it
made on me so long ago.
Myles (reels for a uillean pipe)
tony cooper
<myle...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>On Jan 7, 4:00 pm, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> >>IMO, you post interesting stuff but you do go on a bit. You're fairly
>> >>new here and so you're not cut as much slack as some. Stick around and
>> >>act polite for a while, and you'll be fine.
>>
>> >What she said. I like a lot of it but they are a wee bit long.
>>
>> Too few uses of the "enter" key. Long blocks of copy unbroken into
>> paragraphs cause the eye and mind - at least my eye and mind - to
>> wander...and then to lose interest.
>>
>I used to write manuals for the Public Service in NSW, and I am a
>published author. I compose my paragraphs carefully. They are
>generally about the same length as those you find in any modern book
>written for a general audience. The paragraphs look longer in
>newsgroup format because the lines there are shorter than they are on
>a printed A4 (or foolscap) page.
This is where I would have inserted a paragraph.
>Tony, I don't know how you would go reading Jane Austen or Charles Dickens
I manage to follow what interests me. Interpret that any way you want
in regard to your prose.
>
>People didn’t just WRITE like that, they TALKED like that. This kind
>of construction would NOT have taxed the mind of an ordinary reader 50
>years ago, but today would need to broken up into small pieces and
>spoon-fed to a readership who have trouble entertaining anything more
>complex than the simplest "subject - verb - object" construction in
>small paragraphs and brief articles. I think this is a consequence of
>an entire generation becoming effectively Attention Deficit Disorder
>victims because of a culture that is built on the notion of immediate
>and constant barrages of sensation, pitched at the broadest level,
>lest the customer's mind "wander off". If you compare such Disney
>films as the animated "Lady and the Tramp" with any of their
>contemporary counterparts, you might note just how fast and loud and
>vulgar the latter are, and how lacking in anything reflective,
>whimsical, or charming.
Somewhere in the middle of the above is where I lost interest in your
post.
A newsgroup is not a book, but there are similarities. Often, we open
a book, start to read, and decide in the first few pages if we do or
do not want to finish the book. The same is true for a post, but we
make that decision in the first few lines. Just the appearance of a
massive, unbroken, block of text can put us off. There can be as many
as 100 other posts, and perhaps other newsgroups to read, so we may
not be willing to plow through what you consider to be carefully
constructed important reading.
BTW, I *was* a reader 50 years ago. In fact, though not ready for
Dickens or Austen, I was a reader when John Curtin was Australia's
Prime Minister.
Jerry Friedman
If that was pleasure, I'm glad you liked it. If it was pain, I admit
the second-last line in particular needs work.
> Strand once had something like four uniform little volumes of
> collected verse of his, but they were $10 each. The Library of
> America could do the world a great service by putting out several big
> volumes of all of it.
"His is inevitably The Golden Trashery of Ogden Nashery."
--Louis Untermeyer
--
Jerry Friedman
tony cooper
The uilleann (two "n"s) pipes are commonly part of Irish trad groups.
As a fan of that genre, I have CDs with Paddy Moloney, Paddy Keenan,
Liam O'Flynn and Davy Spillane playing them. (Probably others, but
those come to mind.)
Here's a video of Davy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr4IQNn3AsA
The lighting is such that you can't really see the bag, but it is
strapped to his arm and pumped between body and elbow. The word
"uileann" is Gaelic for "elbow".
yangg
> Aulorectumphobia - the fear of having a flute jammed up your.......you
> know.-
***
Sounds more like the predicament of having one's rectum functioning
like bagpipes,
like in the case of Fánaí Gaelach na nGleannta
Auloproctodystopia.
A.
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
>On Jan 7, 10:34 pm, Cheryl <cperk...@mun.ca> wrote:
From the website of a British ASrmy regiment, the Royal Irish Rangers:
http://www.royalirishrangers.co.uk/uniform.html
Irish Pipers in the British Army
Originally brought from the Mediterranean by Celtic migrants, the
bagpipe was common in Medieval Britain. By the nineteenth century,
it had died out except in Scotland, Ireland and Northumbria. Irish
pipes come in two forms , the mouth blown war pipe, and the
bellows-blown union or 'Uilleann' pipe . The war pipe was the
outdoor instrument, while the 'Uilleann' or 'parlour' pipe was
played seated and indoors. Little is known of the old war pipe. It
is chronicled as being used during the Border Wars of 1540-1550 ,
described as a mouth blown instrument with two drones of unequal
length with a long chanter .
....
....
http://www.dirkcampbell.co.uk/Uilleann_pipes.html
The world's most evolved bagpipe, the uilleann pipes are known for
the uniquely expressive and haunting sound of the chanter. It is
used as a top line in any soundtrack connected with the Celtic
world. Known until relatively recently by the name Union pipes, the
'uilleann' (gaelic for 'elbow') pipes are of fairly new provenance,
probably an evolution of the English 18th century pastoral pipe
imported into Ireland and developed there, though this is
contentious.
Whatever the truth of the instrument's history, it is undoubtedly
the Irish who have produced the greatest virtuosi on the instrument.
The uilleann pipes were in danger of disappearing altogether as the
last great exponents died and the practice of traditional music in
Ireland slumped during the 1960s and 1970s (to be largely replaced
by American country and western!). Fortunately a few younger pipers
such as Liam Óg Ó Floinn, Paddy Keenan and Davy Spillane took the
instrument to new heights in their solo work and with bands such as
Planxty, the Bothy Band and Moving Hearts.
The popularity of the uilleann pipes has never been greater. There
are players in all countries throughout the world. However it is one
of the most difficult instruments in the world to master, having a
total of seven pipes to be sounded for the instrument to be played
to its full capacity. According to Seamus Ennis, one of the most
celebrated pipers of the last century, it takes 21 years of
preparation 'and then you can start.'
I believe that means I have completed my apprenticeship.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>British ASrmy regiment
Finger trouble. The a and s key are adjacent.
British Army regiment
James Silverton
Thanks, an interesting history. I was interested in the comment about
the spread of bagpipes from the Mediterranean since, in the 19th
century, bagpipes were quite widespread in the European countryside and
particularly in Italy. I don't know the Italian name for the 'pipes but
I have always liked the German Dudelsack. I wonder if anyone knows the
current situation about bagpipe playing outside the British Isles? Their
use was quite widespread earlier and there is a painting of a gentleman
of the court of Louis XIV playing them. (Was that a "musette"?)
--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
<not.jim....@verizon.net> wrote:
>Thanks, an interesting history. I was interested in the comment about
>the spread of bagpipes from the Mediterranean since, in the 19th
>century, bagpipes were quite widespread in the European countryside and
>particularly in Italy. I don't know the Italian name for the 'pipes but
>I have always liked the German Dudelsack. I wonder if anyone knows the
>current situation about bagpipe playing outside the British Isles? Their
>use was quite widespread earlier and there is a painting of a gentleman
>of the court of Louis XIV playing them. (Was that a "musette"?)
A Google search for >international bagpipe< yields results from
surprising (to me) places.
For instance:
http://dudar.info/index_eng.html
Bagpipe Festival in Belarus
Dudarsky Fest 2010
Belarus is the centre of Eastern European bagpipe culture.
Together with the Belarusan bagpipes, Belarusan masters also
create the Swedish “sakspipas” and the German “dudelzaks”.
The Bagpipe Club (Dudarski Klub) is working actively in Minsk.
Belarusan traditional bagpipers are united into St. Basil
Bagpipe Fraternal Society. The first issue of the Dudar
(Bagpiper) almanac is getting ready to be published.
Since 1992, Dudarski Fest, the International Bagpipe Festival,
has been taking place in Minsk (since 2006 - annually). This
Festival is the only event in Eastern Europe, dedicated to the
bagpipe. Producer - Zmicer Sasnouski
More about that at:
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t664593/
Since 1992, Dudarski Fest, the International Bagpipe Festival,
has been taking place in Minsk (since 2006 - annually). This
Festival is the only event in Eastern Europe, dedicated to the
bagpipe. During the Festival, the Belarusan, Galician, Scottish,
Swedish, German, Lithuanian and Latvian bagpipes are presented
on stage. The Festival presents bagpipe music of all styles, i.e.
from traditional folklore to rock music. Even though the basic
public is youth, the Festival does attract people of all ages and
origins. The Festival is carried out thanks to a private initiative,
but it does attract the attention and support of the state
structures, including ensembles and masters from State University
of Culture. The Festival traditionally attracts the attention of
mass media, including foreign ones.
The Festival takes place in April, being dedicated to Easter
holidays – when, according to the unique Belarusan rite of
“valacobnictva”, paschal singers with their bagpipes go from house
to house, playing and signing for everyone. Within the framework of
the Festival, there are scientific conferences under the general
name of The Bagpipe Tradition Preservation In Belarus And The Baltic
Region Of Europe, which materials are published in popular and
scientific mass media. The conferences usually take place in the
hamlet of the oldest bagpipe master Ales Los (Valozyn District,
Minsk Region).
Bagpipers from Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and New Zealand
participated in the 2008 Bagpipe Festival. The specially invited
guests were the bagpiper of the renowned band Auli, Liane Barbo
(Estonia), Eduards Klints (Latvia) and Vitautas Linkiavichus
(Lithuania).
James Silverton
> A Google search for >international bagpipe< yields results
> from surprising (to me) places.
> For instance:
> http://dudar.info/index_eng.html
Again, very interesting, thanks!
I'm no musician but I wonder if the bagpipes used outside Scotland can
play the notes for "God Save the Queen", which the Scottish pipes
cannot?
Hans Aberg
>> From the website of a British ASrmy regiment, the Royal Irish
>> Rangers: http://www.royalirishrangers.co.uk/uniform.html
>
>> Irish Pipers in the British Army
>
>> Originally brought from the Mediterranean by Celtic
>> migrants, the
>> bagpipe was common in Medieval Britain. By the nineteenth
>> century,
>> it had died out except in Scotland, Ireland and
>> Northumbria.
> Thanks, an interesting history. I was interested in the comment about
> the spread of bagpipes from the Mediterranean since, in the 19th
> century, bagpipes were quite widespread in the European countryside and
> particularly in Italy. I don't know the Italian name for the 'pipes but
> I have always liked the German Dudelsack. I wonder if anyone knows the
> current situation about bagpipe playing outside the British Isles?
It is fairly common on the Balkans, called the gaida. A famous
Macedonian bagpiper is Pece Atanasovski (look say for the tune Berance).
From Bulgaria, there is a gaida interlude on this track:
http://www.dunav.org.il/balkan_music_index.html#bulgaria
http://www.dunav.org.il/music/072_Kopanica_Gankino.mp3
Hans Aberg
> A Google search for>international bagpipe< yields results from
> surprising (to me) places.
> For instance:
> http://dudar.info/index_eng.html
>
> Bagpipe Festival in Belarus
> Dudarsky Fest 2010
>
> Belarus is the centre of Eastern European bagpipe culture.
> Together with the Belarusan bagpipes, Belarusan masters also
> create the Swedish “sakspipas” and the German “dudelzaks”.
It is "säckpipa" in Swedish. It is not so common today, more in a past,
but there seems to be revival attempts.
R H Draney
>
>Aulorectumphobia - the fear of having a flute jammed up your.......you
>know.
Okay, so one time?...in band camp?...r
Helmut Wollmersdorfer
> Thanks, an interesting history. I was interested in the comment about
> the spread of bagpipes from the Mediterranean since, in the 19th
> century, bagpipes were quite widespread in the European countryside and
> particularly in Italy. I don't know the Italian name for the 'pipes but
> I have always liked the German Dudelsack.
Also Sackpfeife (technical term).
The monument of "Lieber Augustin" (Markus Augustin; 1643-1685) in
Vienna, Austria, shows him with a bagpipe.
Italian: cornamusa
Depending on region and type:
piva, müsa, baghèt, zampogna
> I wonder if anyone knows the
> current situation about bagpipe playing outside the British Isles? Their
> use was quite widespread earlier and there is a painting of a gentleman
> of the court of Louis XIV playing them. (Was that a "musette"?)
Yes - and many other names.
Helmut Wollmersdorfer
Leslie Danks
[...]
> Thanks, an interesting history. I was interested in the comment about
> the spread of bagpipes from the Mediterranean since, in the 19th
> century, bagpipes were quite widespread in the European countryside and
> particularly in Italy. I don't know the Italian name for the 'pipes but
> I have always liked the German Dudelsack. I wonder if anyone knows the
> current situation about bagpipe playing outside the British Isles?
This looks like one place to start looking:
<http://www.hotpipes.com/album.html>
> Their
> use was quite widespread earlier and there is a painting of a gentleman
> of the court of Louis XIV playing them. (Was that a "musette"?)
>
--
Les
(BrE)
Trond Engen
> James Silverton wrote:
>
>> Thanks, an interesting history. I was interested in the comment about
>> the spread of bagpipes from the Mediterranean since, in the 19th
>> century, bagpipes were quite widespread in the European countryside
>> and particularly in Italy. I don't know the Italian name for the
>> 'pipes but I have always liked the German Dudelsack.
>
> Also Sackpfeife (technical term).
>
> The monument of "Lieber Augustin" (Markus Augustin; 1643-1685) in
> Vienna, Austria, shows him with a bagpipe.
>
> Italian: cornamusa
>
> Depending on region and type:
> piva, müsa, baghèt, zampogna
Is the baguette called a baguette for looking like bagpipe when being
carried under the elbow?
--
Trond Engen
Trond Engen
I looked up Ogden Nash at (English) Wikipedia. That article could take a
little editing. (Actually, it looked like it had seen too much editing
of tidbits to prominence.)
--
Trond Engen
Brian M. Scott
<tron...@engen.priv.no> wrote in
<news:igaanr$48v$1...@news.eternal-september.org> in
alt.usage.english,sci.lang,alt.philosophy:
> Is the baguette called a baguette for looking like bagpipe when being
> carried under the elbow?
Not according to
<http://atilf.atilf.fr/dendien/scripts/tlfiv4/showps.exe?p=combi.htm;java=no>:
Empr. à l'ital. bacchetta (KOHLM., p. 30; WIND, p. 192;
BRUNOT t. 2, p. 209; NYROP t. 1, § 43) « petit bâton »
attesté dep. 1348-53 (BOCCACE, Décaméron, 3-2 ds BATT.).
L'ital. lui-même se rattache prob. au lat. baculum «
bâton » par l'intermédiaire d'un lat. vulg. *baccus issu
de *bacculus (DEI. DEVOTO).
Brian
Roland Hutchinson
> On Jan 6, 8:09 pm, "Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> On Jan 6, 5:46 pm, Roland Hutchinson <my.spamt...@verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:04:15 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>> > > On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>>
>> > >> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>>
>> > >>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that
>> > >>> she went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a
>> > >>> bagpipe band, and hence she can report that the sound of people
>> > >>> learning the bagpipes is incomparable.
>>
>> > >> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
>>
>> > > Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole
>> > > pages of viola jokes & has never heard of the gamba-thingy.
>>
>> > >http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
>>
>> > Say what you like about the viola da gamba,
>
> Oh boy!
Woodwinds are two doors down, to the left. Walk this way...
>> > but it has never been
>> > classified as a weapon of war (though the theorbo has).
>>
>> Did Ogden Nash ever rhyme "viola da gamba"?
>
> Yes, in one of his lesser-known poems.
>
> Viol Sound
>
> I started practicing the viola da gamba Because I wanted to play a
> rhumba or a samba. Do you ask why anyone would play it for dances where
> maracas are shaken?
> Well, reader, I was mistaken.
> So I turned my attention to playing continuo, But it sounded as harsh as
> one of those letters that begin, "You owe..."
> By request of my wife, my children, and all the fellows, I plan to
> change to a more mellow instrument, like the 'cellos, Or the bellows.
Very nice.
--
Roland Hutchinson
He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )
Adam Funk
> On Jan 7, 6:48 pm, "Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> On Jan 7, 5:21 pm, Jerry Friedman <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> > On Jan 6, 8:09 pm, "Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> > > Did Ogden Nash ever rhyme "viola da gamba"?
>>
>> > Yes, in one of his lesser-known poems.
>>
>> > Viol Sound
>>
>> > I started practicing the viola da gamba
>> > Because I wanted to play a rhumba or a samba.
>> > Do you ask why anyone would play it for dances where maracas are
>> > shaken?
>> > Well, reader, I was mistaken.
>> > So I turned my attention to playing continuo,
>> > But it sounded as harsh as one of those letters that begin, "You
>> > owe..."
>> > By request of my wife, my children, and all the fellows,
>> > I plan to change to a more mellow instrument, like the 'cellos,
>> > Or the bellows.
>>
>> Aaaahhhh ....
>
> If that was pleasure, I'm glad you liked it. If it was pain, I admit
> the second-last line in particular needs work.
Nash's poetry is supposed to make you grimace occasionally. (That's
not a complaint, BTW.)
--
It is probable that television drama of high caliber and produced by
first-rate artists will materially raise the level of dramatic taste
of the nation. (David Sarnoff, CEO of RCA, 1939; in Stoll 1995)
Trond Engen
> Trond Engen:
>
>> Is the baguette called a baguette for looking like bagpipe when being
>> carried under the elbow?
>
> Not according to
> <http://atilf.atilf.fr/dendien/scripts/tlfiv4/showps.exe?p=combi.htm;java=no>:
>
> Empr. à l'ital. bacchetta (KOHLM., p. 30; WIND, p. 192;
> BRUNOT t. 2, p. 209; NYROP t. 1, § 43) « petit bâton »
> attesté dep. 1348-53 (BOCCACE, Décaméron, 3-2 ds BATT.).
> L'ital. lui-même se rattache prob. au lat. baculum «
> bâton » par l'intermédiaire d'un lat. vulg. *baccus issu
> de *bacculus (DEI. DEVOTO).
Thanks. I wrote my reply faster than I remembered to look it up myself.
And for a moment there I thought the 'bag' of 'bagpipe' might be a folk
etymology. Now I'll have to ask where Helmut's Italian (Piemontese?)
<baghèt> comes from. I can't seem to find any good match at
<http://www.etimo.it/>.
--
Trond Engen
António Marques
> On Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:35:06 +0100, Trond Engen
> <news:igaanr$48v$1...@news.eternal-september.org> in
> alt.usage.english,sci.lang,alt.philosophy:
>
> > Is the baguette called a baguette for looking like bagpipe when being
> > carried under the elbow?
>
> Not according to
>
> Empr. à l'ital. bacchetta (KOHLM., p. 30; WIND, p. 192;
> BRUNOT t. 2, p. 209; NYROP t. 1, § 43) « petit bâton »
> attesté dep. 1348-53 (BOCCACE, Décaméron, 3-2 ds BATT.).
> L'ital. lui-même se rattache prob. au lat. baculum «
> bâton » par l'intermédiaire d'un lat. vulg. *baccus issu
> de *bacculus (DEI. DEVOTO).
Shouldn't it be 'baquette', then? A -g- is neither italian (-k-) or
french (-j-), though of course it can be occitan or northern italian.
Mike Lyle
<gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
>On Jan 6, 5:46 pm, Roland Hutchinson <my.spamt...@verizon.net> wrote:
>> On Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:04:15 +0000, Adam Funk wrote:
>> > On 2011-01-06, Roland Hutchinson wrote:
>>
>> >> On Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:51:05 -0800, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>>
>> >>> I believe you, but my mother would certainly like me to add that she
>> >>> went to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon), which has a bagpipe band,
>> >>> and hence she can report that the sound of people learning the
>> >>> bagpipes is incomparable.
>>
>> >> Yes, but we were speaking of _musical_ instruments.
>>
>> > Uh-huh. You're just happy that the guy at MIT who has two whole pages
>> > of viola jokes & has never heard of the gamba-thingy.
>>
>> >http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.html
>>
>> Say what you like about the viola da gamba, but it has never been
>> classified as a weapon of war (though the theorbo has).
>
>Did Ogden Nash ever rhyme "viola da gamba"?
Not to my knowledge. The question is nonetheless an interesting
one...I can't do better than a bizarre song which used to be popular
among British holidaymakers, and whose first words seem to be
"Ablalalalalaladabamba!" Get an ingenious lyricist to throw in an
African snake, some Brazilian dance with referees' whistles, and a few
other things, and we have a song triumphantly straddling cultures in
the most politically correct of styles.
--
Mike.
Mike Lyle
<my.sp...@verizon.net> wrote:
[...]
>
>The deal with "aulos" is that it is the name of a classical Greek wind
>instrument that is actually a reed instrument rather than a flute as such
>-- most often, in fact, it's a pair of reed instruments ("double double
>reeds"). However, "aulos" has been conventionally translated as "flute"
>for many centuries, to the confusion of all (except for the classically
>learnèd, who simply became used to the idea that their Greeks played
>really, really strange -- and loud -- flutes.)
What should I know of oaten stop? I think these double-barreled
squeakers came in varying sizes. There's the famous statue in which a
naked chap is dexterously blowing two great long ones set at a quite
divergent angle, and then there's the pocket-sized parallel job still
made around the place -- I have a very simple reed one I got in Libya.
I find it hard to imagine this piccolo version wasn't in the kit of
many a pastoralist two or three thousand years ago.
(Bill Bailey briefly played a Japanese bamboo flute in Wyndham's
Theatre last night.)
--
Mike.
Mike Lyle
>On 2011-01-06 7:16 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:
>> Mike Lyle wrote:
>>>
>>> IIRC, the McCognoscenti say "bagpipe". As one of medium-peccable
>>> Scottish descent, I'd point out that the Irish version is better, and
>>> the English ones even nicer. I think the English ones are always
>>> plural, too. Search Kathryn Tickell for a fine exponent.
>>
>> The story I heard was that the Irish invented the bagpipes and then sold
>> them to the Scots. The Scots haven't yet got the joke.
>>
>
>I once tried to convince my choir director about the good qualities of
>the bagpipes. He has an interest in folk music, and agreed that they
>were certainly an ancient instrument, found originally in almost all
>cultures, and surviving in quite a few. But when it really came down to
>it, he turned out to subscribe to the old theory that the bagpipes are
>an instrument played outdoors, on a hillside far away.
Perhaps he just isn't a bagpipe man (no harm in that); or perhaps he
hasn't really heard much of this kind of folk music. The screechy
highland bagpipe most people know about is a military band instrument,
and not really comparable with the others.
--
Mike.