Zurna, reed instrument (1989)
Related to the oboe; this is the annoying sound in folk dance music. Never got to grips with this, which should be appreciated by my surroundings. But the wood feels nice to the touch.
I have three Jew’s harps. One from the musical museum in Stockholm, one from Bryggen in Bergen, and the third’s origins elude me. The Jew’s harp is the reason my long suite Parallel Ride (nineteen minutes plus) is mainly in c minor. The harp is tuned, but the sound of melody is more of a wah wah effect than an actual scale.
The Hohner harmonica is in C. I get passable sounds out of it; I once sat on a small hill above the grazing horses after the day’s stretch across Hardangervidda, playing to the setting sun. They raised their heads, whinnied back at me, and danced.
The violin wasn’t mine, but resided on my wall for some time. I include it here as a tribute to my good friend Einar Bang who sadly died in January 2021. He lent it to me with a vague plan to give me some lessons, but we never got round to it, and at home I was asked not to practice with people in the house. He got it back in the same condition, no more wear.
The flute was on sale at MusicYo. My ambition of being an early Peter Gabriel never got under way, but it’s there if I want to try.
Tour
Let’s get to the paraphernalia required to make these instruments sound. Don your earplugs and go to step 14.