Cell Perches & HVO

The 71st Ojai Music Festival was again an eclectic summer adventure this year. This was our third visit to the Californian cultural institution which featured classical, world, and experimental performances for faithful and enrapt audiences. A unique daybreak concert featured a one-woman opera in several Polynesian languages, through which a spectacular singer traced her mixed Asian heritage.  She was a multi-instrumentalist who skillfully played passages on a banjo-like Taiwanese moon lute while singing haunting melodies with a `high lonesome sound` reminiscent of Ozark mountain music. It was a cross-cultural experience for the attendees from Missouri.

During a lull in the concert schedule, the BRC founder`s wife toured an open house at a glass artist`s studio to find the sculptor quietly sitting in the corner playing a dobro.  They chatted, and he graciously invited her and her Bluegrass husband to a bimonthly jam session with his pickin` pals.  The California musicians were graciously receptive to the Show-Me State guests. Instruments, music, and fellowship were generously shared.

The jam session culminated in a  performance at the Oak View community center where the BRC founder was invited to play a vintage Gibson Model A mandolin with a patent date of 1909 on the pearloid pick guard.

The out-of-town twosome then returned to the outdoor Festival to enjoy a  stunning rendition of Igor Stravinski`s “Rite of Spring”. When asked how he felt after hearing the chamber orchestra`s uplifting performance, the BRC founder quipped, Oh, high!”

The Missouri couple are now making reservations for next year`s Festival in this friendly town that gently greets you with “Oh, hi” upon arrival. If you have an open calendar next June, consider putting Ojai on it. This yearly event is an open-air and sunny Fest filled with innovative musical diversity, so plan on keeping hydrated with some bottles of H2Ojai.

Six years ago last month, our workshop tentatively uploaded its Banjo Rehabilitation Center website on line, and curious visitors began to slowly  log-on and browse its pages. Our initial mission was to restore old banjos and sell these entry level instruments to fledgeling pickers at bargain basement prices on eBay. In the last couple of years, however, the BRC founder has been transitioning his acquired skills to building original banjos constructed from all brand new parts with elaborate mother of pearl themes. Using standardized parts (180 plus in an open back banjo…) allows for more predictability in tone, resonance, and playability of the instrument. Three of these banjos have been exhibited in art shows. These BRC designer 5-stringers are a joyful enterprise and sold very inexpensively on eBay. Hence, we continue our strong tradition of a deficit fiscal budget.

The cherry pots are fashioned by our mandolinist Ron (right), whose fees are met with a donation by the BRC banjo builder to the Children`s Hospital for each item received. Clifford, our old-time fiddler and a master woodcrafter (left), admires a pot under construction by Ron in the latter`s spectacular woodshop. Both musicians are members of our Hall of Fame.

The BRC website has now accrued three-quarters of a million hits. We have been blessed with a faithful readership and national and international correspondents who query our Vega Martin Banjo Banjo Info mailbox. To commemorate our 750K website search engine hits milestone,  the BRC founder has fashioned a unique and seafaring “Dueling Dolphins” 5-stringer. Look for the “open back Dueling Dolphins 5 string BRC banjo” on eBay May 7-14.

From the BRC: Thanks to all you good folks for your patronage! Be reassured that we  steadfastly remain,  in the most literal sense, a truly non profit organization.

At a recent desert art show in Indio, CA, the BRC founder came upon an artist who carved Native American flutes. The two musicians chatted, and the Indian craftsman reported that he tuned his flutes to A (440 cps) with an electronic tuner by cautiously trimming the length of the instrument. In comparison, the BRC founder offered that he balanced head tension with the wooden properties and diameter of his banjo pots by tapping the rim/head junction and tuning the assembled sound chamber by ear to G using a keyboard.

Stepping momentarily from his basement workshop, where the ambient temperature is 62 degrees with a humidity of 43%, he utilizes a piano residing at the top of the stairs in his wife`s  busy “Tiny But Mighty” multi-media studio. (Editor`s note: the `TBM` moniker is derived from a press clipping describing one of her paintings at a juried community art show).  The BRC  banjo tuning technique was adapted decades ago in the pre-electronic tuner days from watching a band director tune tympani drums by ear prior to a concert.

Upon returning home to Missouri from the western desert, the BRC founder cross-checked his ear vs. piano banjo tuning technique with an electronic tuner in his cozy acoustic instrument room where the ambient temperature is 72 degrees with humidity of 55%. The tapped wooden ash banjo pot with its plastic head registered a G sharp on the tuner.

The BRC founder plans to continue this tradition of tuning banjo pots by ear on the keyboard, but what do you think? Check-out the 5 string  “SunFlower” open back BRC banjo on eBay February 12-19.  The  ash wood pot was tuned by ear to G.

Although most Canada geese in Missouri migrate to cool northern climes in late springtime, a handful of these substantive birds linger in the Show-Me State for the summer months. During a recent performance by the BRC founder at a marina on the Missouri River, a pair of these honking waterfowl boldly waddled up to and onto the stage, much to the amusement of the audience.

Undeterred by banjo music, the feathered interlopers were attracted to the red bandana wrapped around the tip jar and elected to investigate it. The inquisitive birds patiently lingered on stage to accommodate onlookers with video cameras. The honking flyers then contently ambled on their way and suddenly took to the sky on powerful wings as if on a wild goose chase.  Such is show biz in the outback, but where did this phrase `wild goose chase` originate?

Answer: ” Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five,” spake Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 4.

P.S. A uniquely featured open back “Dolphin” 5 string BRC banjo sold on eBay last month, and the new owner`s feedback opined, “Gorgeous tone and quality workmanship at an unbeatable price! A pleasure!”

Check-out the open back “RamblinRose” 5 string BRC banjo on eBay from Sept. 4- Sept. 11.

For Our Readership: Below is a curious letter received in the BRC mailbox recently. Check it out.  – Editor

Dear BRC: The 5 string picker and instrument have been the target of less than charitable banjo jokes for years. Websites catalogue the cavalcade of these mirthful question/answer quips and gags. Heard any humorous one-liners about the French horn or bassoon lately? Probably not. Jokesters do not realize the precious secret of the banjo: it is the only implement that will turn back the zombie apocalypse. When a ragged horde hollow-eyed lurching undead are exposed to banjo music, they are atomized into a feathery mist. When the zombie apocalypse comes, and let us hope never, there will be a run on local music shops by communities scrambling to procure home security with 4 or 5 stringers. Brass and woodwind instruments will be left behind on the shelves to collect dust. It will not be pretty, so be safe and take care of your neighbor….Name Withheld.

Editor`s Note: Well folks, there you have it. Anyway, here is our favorite banjo joke at the BRC workshop-

Question: How long does it take to tune a banjo?

Answer: No one knows….

P.S. Have restful end of summer days.

The Basis for Bases of Basses 

In a Bluegrass band, versatility is a valued commodity among musicians. Accustomed to the thin strings of a banjo, a 5 string picker will be challenged by the ropey cables on an acoustic bass – the heartbeat of the band. On display at the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City is a double bass banjo which is so rare that patrons can only admire it.

The Museum of Music Makers in Carlsbad, CA, features a hands-on exhibit which encourages musicians to cross over to the bass- the tonal metronome of the band.

Although the bass establishes the time signature and tempo of the music, the bassist is usually relegated to the back row of the ensemble when on stage. Hence, Shakespeare intoned.

“I have sounded the very bass string of humility.”  Henry IV Part I: Act 2, Scene 4

Nonetheless, with the acoustic or electric bass, there are no chords or arpeggio rolls. You are only responsible for one note at a time. Try it sometime.

N.B. Check out the open back “Dolphin” 5 string BRC banjo on eBay August 7-14.