The deeper issues. - Minstrel Banjo2024-03-28T16:34:10Zhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/the-deeper-issues?id=2477478%3ATopic%3A49060&feed=yes&xn_auth=noAn excellent book for anyone…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-13:2477478:Comment:508502011-09-13T22:53:05.356ZCarl Andertonhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CarlAnderton
<p>An excellent book for anyone interested in these issues is David W. Blight's <em><strong>Race and Reunion</strong></em> published by Belknap Press. Blights tells the story of how we as a country did not follow up the Union victory and abolition of slavery with equal rights and equal opportunity after the "waw." The myth of the "Lost Cause" is central to this story, as is Northern acquiescence to Southern racial tyranny. The author details how erstwhile well-meaning stories and…</p>
<p>An excellent book for anyone interested in these issues is David W. Blight's <em><strong>Race and Reunion</strong></em> published by Belknap Press. Blights tells the story of how we as a country did not follow up the Union victory and abolition of slavery with equal rights and equal opportunity after the "waw." The myth of the "Lost Cause" is central to this story, as is Northern acquiescence to Southern racial tyranny. The author details how erstwhile well-meaning stories and reminiscences of the Underground Railroad are intertwined with the ingrained conception of african-americans as minstrel show characters. Quote, "The theatrical darky was childlike, comic and pathetic; he could be duped into the most idiotic and foolish schemes; but like a child, too, innocence would protect him and turn the tables on the schemers."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> Strumelia,
It'd be great to k…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-10:2477478:Comment:501802011-09-10T01:44:20.196ZGreg Adamshttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/GregAdams
<p>Strumelia,</p>
<p>It'd be great to know what your daughter-in-law had to say about all this, if it is something you are willing to share here. I think that if we are all going to do a better job at representing our research, playing interests, and community involvement, it is so helpful to know where different people are coming from in their own experiences.</p>
<p>A second image like the one posted from the Harpers Weekly is in the prototype banjo database. A notable image indeed.</p>
<p>As…</p>
<p>Strumelia,</p>
<p>It'd be great to know what your daughter-in-law had to say about all this, if it is something you are willing to share here. I think that if we are all going to do a better job at representing our research, playing interests, and community involvement, it is so helpful to know where different people are coming from in their own experiences.</p>
<p>A second image like the one posted from the Harpers Weekly is in the prototype banjo database. A notable image indeed.</p>
<p>As related to this side conversation about bridge placement and the original intent of this thread, I'm currently playing a thinly sanded slightly modified Joel Hooks Baur style bridge placed slightly above center (towards the peghead) on my Hartel repro Ashborn. I actually just played it tonight at the University of Maryland School of Music in one of their smaller theaters. It filled the space! I was playing as part of a collaborative work with a friend in the dance department and a bunch of other dancer majors. One of the segments includes a series of early banjo pieces. We are not recreating a minstrel show, but using the banjo, its music, and choreography as way to explore, critique, and present historical and modern attitudes about race, ethnicity, and power. I've never experienced anything quite like it, especially as I came to this music through reenacting and am now in a university setting working with a diverse group of people who are willing to examine the deeper aspects of our shared histories in an open and dramatic way. </p>
<p>The arts are amazing,</p>
<p>Greg</p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/> <cite>Mark Weems said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/the-deeper-issues?xg_source=msg_com_forum&id=2477478%3ATopic%3A49060&page=2#2477478Comment50366"><div><p>HI Strumelia,</p>
<p>Interesting comment, as I've been thinking about bridge placement a lot recently. what would the right place be? I've been looking at the pictures we have of Joel Sweeney and his bridge is always pictured forward, almost to the neck, certainly not in the center of the head or back toward the tailpiece.</p>
<p><br/> <cite>Strumelia said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/the-deeper-issues?xg_source=activity&id=2477478%3ATopic%3A49060&page=2#2477478Comment50361"><div><p>Oh i get it now. <em>har har</em>. I thought it said posted, not postponed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I've had a few interesting conversations with my daughter-in-law, who is a Haitian playwright/poet/artist/lesbian-gayActivist. She asked me about the origins of some of the types of music i play/sing, and I was glad to be able to give her some information she had no idea about the banjo, and also concerning American old-time music's African influence. She in return helped me understand some of the current acceptable/unacceptable wordings (at least from her point of view) as a guide to help clear up some of my own uncertainties about how to approach the issue. There is a frustrating amount of contradiction these days, and apparently no one-size-fits-all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Someone should put that guy's bridge in the right place)</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote> Hi Mark,
A little off topic,…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-10:2477478:Comment:503682011-09-10T01:41:05.828ZStrumeliahttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/Strumelia
<p>Hi Mark,</p>
<p>A little off topic, but re: bridge placements-</p>
<p>as we all know, there can be only one 'right' place for the bridge on a fretted banjo. But speaking of fretless in this case, I myself have found the best sound from my fretless banjos to be with the bridge right near the middle or maybe a fraction towards the tail. I guess I can only speak for myself though. Maybe the gent in the cartoon liked his bridge up there, but I'm thinking the feel might be awfully stiff…</p>
<p>Hi Mark,</p>
<p>A little off topic, but re: bridge placements-</p>
<p>as we all know, there can be only one 'right' place for the bridge on a fretted banjo. But speaking of fretless in this case, I myself have found the best sound from my fretless banjos to be with the bridge right near the middle or maybe a fraction towards the tail. I guess I can only speak for myself though. Maybe the gent in the cartoon liked his bridge up there, but I'm thinking the feel might be awfully stiff unless he then played up over the neck.</p> The tubbiest sounding place t…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-10:2477478:Comment:505422011-09-10T01:23:35.967ZJohn Mascialehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/JohnMasciale
The tubbiest sounding place to put the bridge is right in the middle, so off center is desirable. Closer to the tailpiece will give you a little more volume, closer to the neck will raise the strings up more so that you have more clearance above the neck. Most of the time I see the bridge closer to the tailpiece.
The tubbiest sounding place to put the bridge is right in the middle, so off center is desirable. Closer to the tailpiece will give you a little more volume, closer to the neck will raise the strings up more so that you have more clearance above the neck. Most of the time I see the bridge closer to the tailpiece. HI Strumelia,
Interesting com…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-10:2477478:Comment:503662011-09-10T00:43:35.416ZMark Weemshttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/MarkKellyWeems
<p>HI Strumelia,</p>
<p>Interesting comment, as I've been thinking about bridge placement a lot recently. what would the right place be? I've been looking at the pictures we have of Joel Sweeney and his bridge is always pictured forward, almost to the neck, certainly not in the center of the head or back toward the tailpiece.</p>
<p><br></br> <cite>Strumelia said:…</cite></p>
<p>HI Strumelia,</p>
<p>Interesting comment, as I've been thinking about bridge placement a lot recently. what would the right place be? I've been looking at the pictures we have of Joel Sweeney and his bridge is always pictured forward, almost to the neck, certainly not in the center of the head or back toward the tailpiece.</p>
<p><br/>
<cite>Strumelia said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/forum/topics/the-deeper-issues?xg_source=activity&id=2477478%3ATopic%3A49060&page=2#2477478Comment50361"><div><p>Oh i get it now. <em>har har</em>. I thought it said posted, not postponed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I've had a few interesting conversations with my daughter-in-law, who is a Haitian playwright/poet/artist/lesbian-gayActivist. She asked me about the origins of some of the types of music i play/sing, and I was glad to be able to give her some information she had no idea about the banjo, and also concerning American old-time music's African influence. She in return helped me understand some of the current acceptable/unacceptable wordings (at least from her point of view) as a guide to help clear up some of my own uncertainties about how to approach the issue. There is a frustrating amount of contradiction these days, and apparently no one-size-fits-all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Someone should put that guy's bridge in the right place)</p>
</div>
</blockquote> Ok. Thanks. I will change i…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-09:2477478:Comment:503642011-09-09T23:15:46.345ZAl Smitleyhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/AlSmitley
Ok. Thanks. I will change it.
Ok. Thanks. I will change it. I would think that "pickaninn…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-09:2477478:Comment:503632011-09-09T22:43:40.434ZCarl Andertonhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/CarlAnderton
I would think that "pickaninny" is commonly regarded to be in the same catagory as "darkey," i.e. an offensive term. It commonly accompanies the "watermelon" class of artwork and depictions.
I would think that "pickaninny" is commonly regarded to be in the same catagory as "darkey," i.e. an offensive term. It commonly accompanies the "watermelon" class of artwork and depictions. I'm doing a program on Antebe…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-09:2477478:Comment:503622011-09-09T22:13:42.284ZAl Smitleyhttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/AlSmitley
<p>I'm doing a program on Antebellum America. There are some quotes and attitudes which might be distasteful but no derogatory words will be included. I want to do a verse of "Aunt Harriet Beechee Stowe", however.</p>
<p>Does anyone view "picanin" (picaninny) as derogatory?</p>
<p>I'm doing a program on Antebellum America. There are some quotes and attitudes which might be distasteful but no derogatory words will be included. I want to do a verse of "Aunt Harriet Beechee Stowe", however.</p>
<p>Does anyone view "picanin" (picaninny) as derogatory?</p> Oh i get it now. har har. …tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-09:2477478:Comment:503612011-09-09T21:32:40.168ZStrumeliahttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/Strumelia
<p>Oh i get it now. <em>har har</em>. I thought it said posted, not postponed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I've had a few interesting conversations with my daughter-in-law, who is a Haitian playwright/poet/artist/lesbian-gayActivist. She asked me about the origins of some of the types of music i play/sing, and I was glad to be able to give her some information she had no idea about the banjo, and also concerning American old-time music's African influence. She in return helped me understand some of…</p>
<p>Oh i get it now. <em>har har</em>. I thought it said posted, not postponed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I've had a few interesting conversations with my daughter-in-law, who is a Haitian playwright/poet/artist/lesbian-gayActivist. She asked me about the origins of some of the types of music i play/sing, and I was glad to be able to give her some information she had no idea about the banjo, and also concerning American old-time music's African influence. She in return helped me understand some of the current acceptable/unacceptable wordings (at least from her point of view) as a guide to help clear up some of my own uncertainties about how to approach the issue. There is a frustrating amount of contradiction these days, and apparently no one-size-fits-all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Someone should put that guy's bridge in the right place)</p> It says care of HG, probably…tag:minstrelbanjo.ning.com,2011-09-09:2477478:Comment:501782011-09-09T21:27:48.675ZJohn Mascialehttp://minstrelbanjo.ning.com/profile/JohnMasciale
<p>It says care of HG, probably Horace Greeley, founder of the New York Tribune, and war critic/abolitionist. I would say that you have a variety of classes represented in the picture. I would guess that the man with his back to us is literate.</p>
<p>It says care of HG, probably Horace Greeley, founder of the New York Tribune, and war critic/abolitionist. I would say that you have a variety of classes represented in the picture. I would guess that the man with his back to us is literate.</p>