Sheep Music and The Ellisaphone

[Jody Stecher]

I've been reading through the Player Biographies and in each case discovered things I did not know. I got curious about what "exotic instruments" Herbert J Ellis might have played. According to a wikipedia article :  after 1888  " The demand for his compositions and methods grew and thousands of copies sold, as well as sheep music."  I guess this was a baaad typo but it did challenge my imagination. There exist (sort of) the genres of "bug music", "mouse music" and "bluebelly music" for which I could mentally associate particular acoustic characteristics but "sheep music" invoked nothing, except a vague association with the herd mentality in which people "like" a vapid song  *because* it is popular. The wikipedia article included a photo of Ellis holding what looks to be a cross between a German waldzither and a  Portuguese guitarra. Is this one of the exotic instruments?  Until I get more reliable information I am mentally classifying this as an Ellisaphone, the principle instrument of Sheep Music. 

[Joel Hooks]

Clearly they meant to write...

"The demand for his compositions and methods grew and thousands of copies sold, as well as stolen music."

As in the SSS publications he published under his own name.

 

[thereallyniceman]

Perhaps they meant the sheet music of classical compositions by composers such as Baa..ch?

 :-)

[Jody Stecher]

You bleat me to the punch. 

thereallyniceman said:

Perhaps they meant the sheet music of classical compositions by composers such as Baa..ch?

 :-)

[thereallyniceman]

That's 'cos I am smart... I went to eweniversity you know!

[Jody Stecher]

So did Ewe Hannes b-RAM-s but scholars wool not be admutton that.  Let's not extend the conversation to Cow Music or we would have to mention De Bossy, Moo-zart, and MooRees Ravel. That would be more than I can Handel.