Fiddle Sticks
Joel
>Please excuse my ignorance but someone tell me what Fiddle Sticks are?
Somebody's going to tell you that fiddlesticks are light pieces of wood
(or broomstraws) that a co-conspirator can beat rhythmicly on the strings
as you play.
Others will tell you that a fiddlestick is a bow.
Pay yer money and take yer cherce.
Joel Shimberg
--
(Joel)shim...@poboxes.com
Insanity is hereditary.
You get it from your kids.
Roger Gall
On clarinet was the marmoset,
On oboe the baboon.
The gibbon played,
The cor-anglais,
With the gorilla on bassoon.
(Roger Gall 1998)
Sail On:
Neil Rossi
chopsticks) or straws that are beaten rhythmically on the fiddle strings by
Person A while Person B fiddles and bows normally. It's sometimes called
"beating straws". The sticks are usually struck in the area between the
bow and the fingers. It's a trick to do it without getting in the way of
the fiddler's fingers or bow.
Sounds almost like the fiddle is being accompanied by a dulcimer or banjo.
Sounds best when the fiddle is cross-tuned so there are lots of open
strings to resonate.
Carl Baron
>
> Fiddlesticks are two small sticks (I've used knitting needles and
> chopsticks)
Actually, we (i.e. Barbara Johnson and I) have found that shishkabob
skewers (lighter than chopsticks) are excellent as fiddle sticks.
Carl
Lyle Lofgren
Before The Sharper Image gets the idea of putting a fiddlestick set in
their catalog for $45, I should point out that you can go out in a
marsh and get cattail stalks, or go out in the woods and pick up some
light sticks from dead branches. You can even get several sets and
try them out to see which works best. Chopsticks are great for
stir-fry, but I find that rosin doesn't taste good when mixed with
pickled ginger or Mushroom Soy. As for shishkabob skewers, don't the
green pepper remnants interfere with the resonances of the bass
strings? And you could probably start a whole thread on unauthorized
uses for knitting needles ...
Carl Baron
>As for shishkabob skewers, don't the
> green pepper remnants interfere with the resonances of the bass
> strings?
I should have specified "new, unused", wooden shishkabob skewrs. They
pretty cheap.
Carl
Cool Breeze
the expression "Aww..fiddle sticks" when he thought someone was trying
to pull his leg about something.
Breezie
tysupancic
cockpit transcripts reported the fighter pilot swearing "fiddle
sticks!" The press went ballistic questioning why the Pentagon would
edit the more offensive oath and replace it with something the pilot
surely didn't say. In fact, it was later revealed that the pilot had
in fact used an expression in Russian that translates to "small sticks
of wood."
Tyger Brand Banjos -- http://www.loop.com/~tysupancic
New pictures in the testimony section
Steve Senderoff & Trish Vierling
> Curiously, when the Soviets fired on that airliner a few years ago, the
> cockpit transcripts reported the fighter pilot swearing "fiddle
> sticks!"
In fact, it was later revealed that the pilot had
> in fact used an expression in Russian that translates to "small sticks
> of wood."
is there a fiddle sticks tradition in Russian folk music?...in
karleian/Finnish music, the sound of the voices, kantele, and odd fiddle
instrument (like a welsh crwth) is eerily like appalachian music, to my
ears...
steve
ps: mr supanic...how do you construct your neck/dowel stick
assemblies...do you key in a dowel, or construct a mortise joint between
the stick and neck??
regards,s.
--
Steve Senderoff and Trish Vierling
st...@ssnet.com
Oh, ya run your E string down, I don't know, about three frets,
anyway, it corresponds to the third note on the A string...
here's ya tuning...
Tommy Jarrell
tysupancic
> assemblies...do you key in a dowel, or construct a mortise joint between the stick and neck??
> --
> Steve Senderoff and Trish Vierling
> st...@ssnet.com
I bore a 1 1/8" hole into the heel and a finished 1 1/8" dowel fits
well enough to allow a little adjustment for action before I glue it
in. The hole is deep enough (approx. 2") and the glue strong enough to
make for a really sturdy joint.
Hope that answers your question.
Ty
Tom Smart
needles, skewers, sticks, or whatever is a great way to deaden the strings well
before they've reached their useful life span. I'm not saying don't do it, but
considering how expensive strings are you might want to avoid damaging them in
this way. Perhaps there's some kind of "stick" made of softer material that
would avoid this problem.
-- Tom Smart
Roger Gall
Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge on fiddle sticks, I am
now a lot wiser.... Do you know of any good recordings of them being
played?
Sarah Bryan
I think there's some nice fiddle sticks recordings on one of the old
Hammons Family collections...probably on that new reissue. My very
favorites, though, are three LC-recorded tunes of Horace Foreman.
I don't believe they're comercially available, unfortunately.
Sarah
Lyle Lofgren
wrote:
>
>Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge on fiddle sticks, I am
>now a lot wiser.... Do you know of any good recordings of them being
>played?
>--
"Mardi Gras Jig" on a fine album, "Les Quatre Vieux Garcons,"
consisting of Dewey Balfa (fiddle), Tony Balfa (sticks) , Tracy
Schwarz (accordion) and Peter Schwarz (guitar). It's Folkways
FA-2626, and, as usual, I don't know if it was ever re-released on CD.
Smithsonian-Folkways reportedly makes cassettes of LP's that have not
been re-released. The Balfa / Schwarz collaboration was a fruitful
one.
Lyle Lofgren
John Beland
> played?
> --
Check out the Bogtrotters CD
"Old Time String Band with Vocal Accompaniment" Merimac9067D
track 10 Lost Indian
to hear knitting needles in action.
Joel
wrote:
>
>Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge on fiddle sticks, I am
>played?
The best that I know of is Digging Yam Potatoes, Mississippi field
recordings from the 30s. there's quite a bit of beating straws on that
one.
Joel
Kerry Blech
>
> On Wed, 28 Oct 1998 19:05:00 +0000, Roger Gall <roger...@virgin.net>
> wrote:
> >
> >Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge on fiddle sticks, I am
> >now a lot wiser.... Do you know of any good recordings of them being
> >played?
>
> The best that I know of is Digging Yam Potatoes, Mississippi field
> recordings from the 30s. there's quite a bit of beating straws on that
> one.
Joel, make that "Great Big Yam Potatoes," from Herbert Halpert's
1939 field trip on behalf of the Archive of Folk Song, Library
of Congress. It is a great collection. I think it only came out on
vinyl, and I have no idea if anyone is considering reissuing it
on CD. It should be.
Regards,
kerry
--
Blec...@WolfeNet.com
"When you get above the clouds, you can do just as you choose."
- The Rector Trio, Asheville, NC 1930
Heath Curdts
Lyle Lofgren wrote:
>I should point out that you can go out in a
>marsh and get cattail stalks, or go out in the woods and pick up some
>light sticks from dead branches...
I've tried knitting needles, broomstraw, dead branch chopped sticks,
chopsticks and skewers, and the skewers were my favorites. But even I found
them little a bit too short, and with those pointy ends flying around, an OSHA
inspector at one of our
concerts required everybody in the room to wear goggles when I played.
Believe it or not, the best fiddlesticks (in my HO) can be found at your
locally-owned and -operated hardware store (forget the big box stores--don't
even bother looking there). Usually made from straight-grain ash and costing
less than 50 cents, fiddlesticks come in 3 or 4 foot lengths and can be cut in
two and
trimmed to size with pocket knife, toenail clippers or Cuisinart (use
caution). If they haven't heard of fiddlesticks at your store, just ask for a
1/8" dowel.
Good luck,
Heath
(delete NOSPAM for direct reply)
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TIBBYH
Risk's fiddle. While she was fiddling, he was hitting the strings she wasn't
with knitting needles (the bamboo double pointed kinds). Peter is their
percussionist, and he was doing percussive things on the strings Laura wasn't
using. It's really cool. Barbara