flossie suvara

Archie Fisher presents Radio Scotland's folk music programme, "Travelling Folk", on a Thursday evening (and has done for as long as I've been into folk music) http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/view/show.shtml?travelling And Archie Fisher's sister, Cilla, is one of the creators of "the best children's entertainment in the world" (according to Folk Roots magazine) - Scotland's own Singing Kettle. http://www.singingkettle.com/cilla_facts.html Regards Flossie

Jeannie Robertson and Lizzie Higgins, as mentioned already in this thread, are pretty definitive as singers in the traveller tradition - There's also Stanley Robertson (not sure of the exact relation), who is a storyteller and musician of sorts - not sure if he's recorded anything though. Also in this north-east musical dynasty is Carmen Higgins - fiddle player - haven't seen her about Aberdeen for ages though. Bothy Ballads - I've got an old book of Bothy Ballads (Kerr's Cornkisters, I think it's called) and I sing a couple of them myself at various scouting functions (Burn's Suppers, campfires, etc) - give me a PM if you're interested in borrowing it. Also check out: The Easy Club - I believe their CDs have just been re-issued - They described themselves as "Traditional rythmn and Swing" - a very pleasing mix of folk and jazz. There's also a spectacular bodhran solo on their first album "Chance and Design". Silly Wizard - Scottish band, featuring Phil Cunningham (who now regularly appears with Aly Bain) and his (now deceased) brother. Their two live albums "Live in America" and "Golden Golden" are very good. Battlefield Band - still on the go (I think), but have gone through an enormous number of (amicable) line up changes. A few folk have already mentioned Dick Gaughan and Dougie Maclean - I can recommend them too. Eric Bogle is a scottish songwriter who emigrated to Australia many years ago, and who wrote 2 of the most famous anti-war songs of recent years: "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" (covered by the Pogues on their second album "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash", and "The Green Fields of France". The Old Blind Dogs - I haven't heard them with their current lineup, but when their singer was Ian Benzies, they certainly did a couple of north-east ballads. Hope that helps Regards Flossie

You're completely correct - curse my lack of proof reading. Regards Flossie

I second my learned colleague Frosty Jack - avoid Cash Converters. Apparently, they will only pay a maximum of 40% of an items worth. So for a 200 guitar, that's a maximum of 80. And I'm sure they'd reduce that figure if it was used, slightly scratched, etc. Regards Flossie

An extremely interesting thread - especially in our increasingly secular times. Being an Explorer Scout Leader, I've had some excellent discussions/sessions with my unit regarding religion and spirituality, and it's interesting to see the general response from the users of aberdeen-music. I echo trippinoneastereggs view that "everyone is entitled to and should have a beleif of some sort." My personal beliefs are quite a mishmash. I was brought up Christian (ish) - church of Scotland (Both my parents are still regular church attenders), but they didn't force it down my throat. I had to go to church/sunday school until I was old enough to be in the house by myself then that was the end of that. I believe that there is a divine force in every living thing - the force of life. I am undecided however as to whether this force or energy has a consciousness or not. What I do object to is the opinion of the majority of organised religions that they alone hold the key to the truth, and that they are completely right and everyone else is wrong. I'm a great fan of "The Prophet", by Kahlil Gibran (a Lebanese mystic), and heartily recommmend it to anyone interested in profound and beautiful spiritual writing. (The text can be found at: http://www.columbia.edu/~gm84/gibtable.html) It's broken into passages regarding all aspects of life - love, children, death, beauty, etc. Here's what Gibran says on religion: And an old priest said, "Speak to us of Religion." And he said: Have I spoken this day of aught else? Is not religion all deeds and all reflection, And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom? Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations? Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself; This for my soul, and this other for my body?" All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked. The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin. And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage. The freest song comes not through bars and wires. And he to whom worshipping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn. Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all. Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute, The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight. For in revery you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures. And take with you all men: For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair. And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles. Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children. And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain. You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees. He also says elsewhere that "Do not say you have found a truth - rather say that you have found a truth" - I think that all organised religions contain aspects of the truth, or reflections of it. But that no one religion holds the monopoly. Regards Flossie

In my opinion, the term "special needs" is a much overused and pretty blanket term, which could probably apply to every user of these boards. I have to wear glasses when using a computer, and I am allergic to zinc oxide plasters, so have to use micropore surgical tape for any cuts, etc. Therefore, I have special needs. I work in further education and my wife works in a school for children with Emotional and Behavioural difficulties, and in both our workplaces, integration into the mainstream is the current educational trend. And it doesn't work (again, in my opinion). Try and integrate someone with Emotional and Behavioural difficulties into a mainstream class (either at school or college), and in the vast majority of cases they will quickly be excluded. Whilst they are in a mainstream class, their behaviour will cause the teacher to spend more time dealing with them, allowing less time to spend on the rest of the (already massive, but that's a different topic) class. However, put them in a different environment with much smaller classes, and additional staff support and (in some cases) they do much better - i.e, they leave school with at least a couple of standard grades. Integrating someone with specific learning difficulties into a mainstream class is equally hard. If the person has mild learning difficulties, then they may be able to cope with the class work, but often only with a lot of additional help - back to the point about less time for the rest of the class. If the person has severe learning difficulties then they most probably couldn't cope with the subject matter and the speed which the rest of the class progress. The whole point of camphill is that (as far as I understand it) it is a COMMUNITY - that means people living together - some with mild learning difficulties, some with severe learning difficulties, some with autism and some with no "special needs". People working together. Camphill isn't a prison - the residents of camphill are free to leave and travel into town, just the same as you and I. However, there are those who are not able to do so unaccompanied, because they are unable to remember how to get back home. There are also those who would never want to go into a busier environment because they wouldn't be able to cope. In the other thread about the bypass which sparked this particular thread, Cloud asked (in his first post) " Why couldn't Camphill move out into the country, up in the mountains where the land is utterly worthless and where their quality of life is likely to be far higher than in the city centre?" A centre such as Camphill does require staff, and being where it is makes it an attractive place to work. Move to somewhere "up in the mountains where the land is utterly worthless" would make it virtually impossible to recruit and/or retain staff. And if the land was worthless then they wouldn't be able to run a farm, as they do at the moment. In my view, Camphill (and many other such organisations and establishments) isn't about integration or isolation - it's simply a different way for different people to live and learn. A bit of a long-winded ramble, but my tuppenceworth. Regards Flossie

Here's some links that I've collected over the years (I've checked them and they all still work) - they mainly have a traditional folk bias, but there are links for other genre's too. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Realm/5747/thelinks.html http://www.geocities.com/nacornett/tune.htm http://www.musicaviva.com/index.html http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/ http://www.blackflute.com/music/tunes.html http://www.cpmusic.com/tradmus.html http://www.abacci.com/music/ If you find anything listed in "abc" notation, then this webpage http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html has a facility where you can copy and paste the abc and it will generate standard notation. Hope that's of use. Regards Flossie

In general (as someone else said) - everything I've ever heard and liked from the earliest age onwards. Examples: The Corries. Gilbert and Sullivan. Spike Milligan. Some strange cypriot instrumental single (it was cool - see through turquise vinyl). Abba. Iron Maiden. (early) Runrig. The Chieftains. Silly Wizard. Led Zeppelin. Alan Stivell. (Fish era) Marillion. Meatloaf. Thin Lizzy. Mozart. A major influence on my musical style was the singer/rhythm guitarist in my first band - Martin Watson (now known as shambles - often frequents The Moorings I believe, and is mostly drunk) - fantastic songwriter. I'd even go so far as to say that everyone is influenced by EVERYTHING they hear - not just the stuff they like, but even the stuff they don't has some influence. Regards Flossie

"Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read." Frank Zappa Every review is one person's opinion. However, it's not the opinion of the person that matters - namely yourself. You can't really trust any review or interview to tell you what you're really going to think when you actually hear an artist for the first time. I'm quite into folk music, and for a number of years was aware that "The Incredible String Band" were regarded as extremely influential in the folk/rock genre. I'd seen Robin Williamson (one of the founder members) perform solo and was very impressed. I'd read a lot of articles and reviews, all of which said that the album "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" was a seminal work of brilliance, so when I saw said album in Fopp reduced to a bargain 5 I bought it straight away and hurried home to enjoy it. It was probably the worst album I have ever had the misfortune to hear. I just didn't get it - I was really really looking forward to it, based on what I'd heard about it and the band, and it was really disappointing. In fact, the experience was so bad that I've never had the courage to give it a second listen. Maybe one day soon. Regards Flossie

See also http://www.tv.cream.org/ for heaps of nostalgia based stuff (lots of old tv programmes, but so much more as well) Regards Flossie

WIth the tin whistle, it is quite hard to get the correct amount of breath to start with. However, the fingering is remarkably easy - as tin whistles are key specific (as far as I'm aware), the same fingering is transferarable to all keys. One of the difficult things to learn is the difference in the breath required to play at the higher octave - you use virtually the same fingering, but just blow a little harder. It is slightly harder to play sharps and flats, as this requires half covering finger holes (harder at least than the recorder). There's some useful info at http://www.hobgoblin.com/faqwhistle.htm It depends what you want to play, but I'm guessing you'll try to play Scottish/Irish folk tunes. The best bet in my opinion is to get some recordings and listen/play along - if you don't want to shell out. SCAT (Scottish Culture and Traditions) organise a whole raft of instrument classes (see their website at http://www.scottishculture.org/ - they also have a session in the Globe (North Silver Street) every Tuesday evening. There's also a session in the Prince of Wales on a Sunday (as far as I know - I haven't been for a long time) where heaps of folky types play - it certainly used to be the case that all musicians got a free pint if they turned up before 9pm, but with the Prince being up for sale I don't know if that still applies. Hope that helps Regards Flossie

I was taught violin for 8 years, but never put the work required into practicing, so I don't consider myself to be a particularly good player. If you are serious about learning how to play the violin, I would definately recommend getting lessons - if you already play the guitar, then the actual physics of the sounds and how the fingers relate to producing the required notes shouldn't be too hard to pick up. However, posture and the correct method of holding the violin and the bow is crucial to learn correctly straight off - I had two violin teachers and the second one had to make me unlearn all the bad habits and poor posture that the first one had taught me. Today, when I play the violin, I find the fingers of both hands stiffening and cramping fairly quickly - partly due to lack of practice, but mainly I'm sure to poor posture and technique. And I'm sure that you want to keep your fingers supple for playing the guitar as well. Hope that helps Regards Flossie

I too have encountered such a sight - I work at Aberdeen College, and had popped in to one of the student toilets to be met with a (very fresh looking) jobby in a sink. Of course, I did what any consciencious employee would do - I went and found the cleaning superviser and told her. So some unlucky cleaner would have had the lovely job of disposing of the turd. What got me was the sheer logistics of going about laying cable in a sink - it was the middle one of three sinks, so unless the person who did the deed was about seven feet tall, then I just dont know how they did it. Mind you, I've worked at Aberdeen College for a long time, and seeing that made me realise that I really have seen it all now. Regards Flossie

I've got 2 banjos, so here's my tuppence worth. 5 string banjo (as described above) is completely different to guitar - mainly used in bluegrass music, to play it really well you do need to put in a fair amount of time and effort practising - 3 finger picking is the norm for bluegrass style, with thumb and fingerpicks. There are various tunings - normally to an open chord (mine is in G). (My 5 string banjo does indeed sit in a corner gathering dust most of the time) 4 string banjo (also known as tenor banjo) - tuned in fifths - normally CDDA, but often tuned up to GDAE for irish/scottish folk music - It was quite a common instrument in jazz bands, and if you listen to early jazz recordings, you can hear the banjo sound quite clearly. 6 string banjo - essentaily a guitar with a banjo body - tuning and chord shapes are exactly the same as a standard guitar. Other banjos - mandolin banjos (I've got one of these, but have only got 4 instead of 8 strings on it, as it tends to go out of tune when fully strung), banjoleles (ukelele with banjo body - as played by George Formby) As you can probably work out, the sound of the banjo doesn't come from the tuning, but from the construction of the beast - the parchment skin gives a very distincitive tone, which is loud and cuts through effectively, but which gives almost no sustain. I would probably go for a 6 string banjo if you're just looking to get a banjo sound - it would allow you to play straight away, but you'd have to adapt your playing style to cope with the lack of sustain. It would depend on what style of music you're into if you fancied another type: Bluegrass - 5 string Irish/Scottish Folk - Tenor or mandolin banjo A banjolele is probably the cheapest option (via ebay) - the 4 strings of the ukelele are separeted by the same intervals as the top 4 strings of a guitar, so chord shapes are pretty easy to pick up (but obviously they wouldn't be the same chords) There's plenty of banjo sites on the web - www.frets.com has got heaps of good stuff, useful to all acoustic musicians. www.mugwumps.com is more banjo orientated but from a historical point of view. And always remember - "Welcome to heaven, here's your harp. Welcome to hell, here's your banjo" Hope that helps Flossie (poofbat player and occasional banjo plucker)

Geneva were from Aberdeen (or the hinterland) and were orignally called Sunfish. Got snapped up in what was rumoured to be a fantastic deal. Only heard their first single which didn't do exceptionally well (at least, according to record company standards), but thought it was pretty good. My old band played with them at The Palace (or Ritzy's, or Bonkers, or whatever it's called now) a looong time ago (must be over 10 years). Regards Flossie

Advert blatently lifted from http://www.framleyexaminer.com Regards Flossie

I've never really been into the whole moshpit thing (especially know I'm a grizzled old man), but I did get a couple of injuries whilst playing with the Lorelei. 1) Stung by a wasp whilst busking in Inverness (while the rest of the band scattered like flower sniffing girls) and 2) The crowd at a gig in carrbridge pulled one of the rafters from the false ceiling down, which landed on my head. Regards Flossie

It's probably all he can remember, if you were discussing what I think you were discussing. I can certainly remember the good Frosty and Jonny the bass player sitting in a parked hire car, making broom broom noises and thoroughly enjoying their (stationary) road trip. I'm not going to say any more about Highlander's rallies though, as I might get into trouble myself. Doing a browse, there does seem to be one this year, but it's no longer held at Mundole Regards Flossie

I find it interesting that what started out as a simple statement questioning the merits of playing live against recording, with no mention of genre, eventually came round to focus specifically on one style of music, namely "rock". I think that in the majority of styles of music, be it classical, folk, country, jazz or rock, it's not the interaction with the crowd that is the most important, but the interaction with the other people with whom you are playing. Regardless of whether or not you have an audience, playing with other people is still playing live. An excellent example of this is the many folk sessions which occur in various pubs in Aberdeen (Globe, Prince of Wales, Blue Lamp) - all the people there are playing live. Some are beginners, some are extremely talented, some are inbetween and the majority have little or no interest in recording anything. They play live because they enjoy the whole experience of interacting and sharing with other musicians to create an end result. This isn't to say that the same interaction cannot be done in the studio, but a studio is a completely different environment - you normally have limited time (due to budgetary constraints) and you tend to have already a fixed idea about what has to be done. Playing live in front of an audience when your band is fully rehearsed, your songs are good and the crowd are really enjoying themselves is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of musical enjoyment - again because of the sharing element. Everyone in the venue is part of the experience. The crowd are excited, the band feed off this excitement, producing adrenalin, which fuels their own playing and creativitiy, which in turn restokes the crowd and so on. So I don't feel that playing live can ever be described as "selfish" - people may have put selfish reasons for wanting to do it, but it still boils down to a shared experience. Individual artists - be they singer/songwriters, solo instrumentalists or electronic/computer aided musicians do have the ultimate control over what they ultimately produce, and can spend vast amounts of time honing and polishing their finished work. Once complete, the work is truly theirs - no-one else has had any input and when it is released/played they can sit back and say "That's mine - no-one elses". A band of whatever genre who record something have to sit back and say "That's ours"..... Which is more selfish? Regards Flossie

Not quite - it refers to the fact that the next day, November the 1st, is All Saint's day, which was also known as All Hallows day - the night before being All Hallows Evening - which eventually became shortened to All Hallows E'en, and then to Halloween. All Saint's day is the feast day for all the saints of the catholic church who don't get one to themselves (I believe) Regards Flossie

There's contact details for Hallyrackit (and heaps of other ceilidh bands) on this website http://www.scotfolk.org/ceilidhbands.html I can personally recommend Galik Bred, who played at my wedding - their website is: http://www.galikbred.org/ Regards Flossie

Never having seen Deadloss I can't comment from experience, but - Wendy Frenzy - It's only 3 chords (and the same 3 chords all the way through)- and the fiddle/viola line would sound very nice played on a cello.... Regards Flossie

You all may be interested in the view of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's last official hangman, who executed an estimated 433 men and 17 women. From his 1974 autobiography, Executioner: Pierrepoint "I have come to the conclusion that executions solve nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for revenge which takes the easy way and hands over the responsibility for revenge to other people...The trouble with the death penalty has always been that nobody wanted it for everybody, but everybody differed about who should get off." Regards Flossie

I would indeed - thanks for the kind words. Mind you, I was hardly a "lad", even then - the band started when I was 21 and imploded due to alcoholic differences when I was 26. I would wholeheartedly support your previous comment "Music is there to be enjoyed and life doesn't end at 21 so why should your musical ambitions." Youth - it's wasted on the young. Regards Flossie

It's a bit of a sweeping generalisation to dismiss "older" people as being unable to start a band - and as for the "demand" bit - surely you start a band first and foremost for your own musical enjoyment, not to fulfill some perceived gap in the market. Possibly within certain genres, fans may look at older folk in bands as being past it - certainly it seems a bit silly for a 35 year old to be singing songs of teenage angst. However, musical talent undoubtably increases with age, practice and experience, so to write off people as being unable to start bands or play music over a certain age seems foolhardy. I'm 35 and unable to play in a band at the moment due to the demands of my job and young daughter - once my circumstances change, I'll be hopefully back into the band saddle, as I miss it hugely. At the same time however, I won't be spending all my time and money on a band and I won't be travelling up and down the country in a stinking van (never again). I'll play for my own enjoyment (and hopefully that of the audience) Anyway, what do you young pups know about bands, when I was a lad....... Regards Flossie