Tin Sandwiches & Jew's Harps
I had a very kind present from a reader in Ecclefechan who sent me some porridge after reading my bit on the porridge-free zone in Glasgow the other day.
I was very touched at the present, less so the postman because the Jiffy bag had leaked and it was all over his bag.
But this kindness prompted me to wonder if there are any blogettes or blogistas out there who know where I can get a in the key of D?
As some of you will know, I am a great fan of small and cheap instruments - they seem to me to be the ultimate in folk music.
Jew's harps, mouthorgans, tin whistles, tambourines and bodhrans were cheap and fairly easy to get hold of so for many people in these islands, making music on them came naturally and some of the musicians were quite amazing: listen to the Northumbrian mouthorgan player, the Newcastle/Irish piccolo player and John Wright the master Jew's harp player; listen to the Murphy family's record Trip To Cullenstown and then check out 's The Irish Harmonica or have a look at the video of him below and you'll see what a great little instrument the tin sandwich is.
So to recap if anybody does know where I can get a proper Jew's harp tuned to D then please post a message here or email me through the website - but no more porridge through the post please.
Comment number 1.
At 24th Feb 2009, cumberlandreel wrote:Hi. If you want a D geegaw. try the "Dan Moi" internet shop, which is actually in Germany. The tuned Austrian and German ones are pretty good, but I prefer the Hungarian 'Black fire' models. Happy twanging!
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