Minstrel Banjo

For enthusiasts of early banjo

Took my daughter to our local Titanic exhibit today.  Really enjoyed it.  I want to talk about the "musak."  Ever notice how omnipitent musak is today?  You can't go anywhere, it seems, without being bombarded with entertainment.  The ballpark, for instance.  I love baseball because it's a thinking game.  You have time to think.  Between innings is a time to think about who's coming up, etc.  Here at Royals stadium they have a  "Jumbotron" that bombards you with disco-rap music between each inning.  Makes it hard to do my thinking.

Anyway, to the point, the musak at the Titanic exhibition was, to my ears, new-age Irish music.  Made me think about what we do.  It may not be perfect (no living witnesses), but we spend almost as much time researching as we do practicing.

Not that "new age" music doesn't have it's place or purpose, but doesn't researched music belong...at a museum??  At a historical exhibit??

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, so I'll end my rant.  All for the AEBG!!

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Synthesizers and pennywhistles, or sythesized pennywhistles. Like Charlie Brown said, "AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!"

Preach/rant away!  I could write a page on my thoughts on society today and communication via music and media.  My wife and I are 30, but still rant about it weekly! haha  Tough not to with a 6 month old who has a world ahead of him! 

 

Silence, for some reason, seems feared nowadays.  And when the air must be filled, it's not always thought through well enough before being blasted over a soundsystem.  I cringed when I see people driving with earbuds in.  However, amny times musak is chosen to be loud, fast and attention getting.  Sadly, I think that sort of thing can roll into museums and histort-based TV and movies. 

 

Indeed, of all the palces to "get-it-right" museum SHOULD BE it.  We rarely have musak in exhibitions at the museum I work at.  I'll walk through exhibtions and think many times how well-researched musak would fit in perfectly, and more importantly help complete or make the exhibtion well-rounded. 

 

Onward banjo-soldiers!

       

Oh how many times I've bummed out a fellow reenactor by breaking the news that "Ashokan Farewell" ISN'T a period piece, beautiful as it may be.  

Just a reminder, Matthew, I think you would really, really dig what we do at Antietam.  See if you can possibly join us!!

Hey Carl,  Yeah I think I'll try as hard as I can to make it to Antietem, sounds way to cool to miss!  I'd love to learn from you guys.  

At Savannah Landing, we steamboaters were treated to a CW melody played by Wayne Jerrolds on his fiddolin.  (The instrument he invented, or at least patented, is a fiddle on the top and a mandolin on the other side.  Pretty funky, but I digress.)  He owns the land where we embarked on the paddlewheeler to Pittsburg Landing for the Shiloh reenactment.  For allowing us to use his land overnight, he was presented with a swell, officer's Hardee hat with all the trimmings.  In thanks, he played us that haunting melody, Ashokan Farewell.  He was really good, but his choice of songs was a real doggy downer.  

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