A SERIOUS THANK YOU, and a bit of an explanation and a bit of self pity ;-)

Over the last 18 months my family has been dogged by bad health :-((

I spent the previous Christmas knocking on the "Pearly Gates" after suffering multiple blood clots in my lungs. After being rushed to hospital I spent several days there and then several months recovering. Whilst I was getting better Mrsthereallyniceman became more and more unwell and suffering frequent chest pains. She spent months backwards and forwards to hospital culminating, a few weeks ago, with her having quadruple heart by-pass surgery. The good news is that she has now almost fully recovered, back to ballroom dancing, and she says that she has never felt as well.

So we must get down to recording another banjo/piano video masterpiece. :-)

MrsTRNM says she would like to show you all the operation scars on her chest... but I thought it may put you off your practice!

During this time I have not really spent as much time as I should on the website so I would like to give personal thanks to all who have posted discussions and videos and give thanks to Steve who has looked after things while I have been otherwise occupied !  I should now be able to get more things going on the site...so keep your eyes peeled.

Now I have given you the sob story, there is one person who I would like to give very special thanks to. He made me so happy when I received a parcel out of the blue from him. I have only now got round to sharing it.. BUT what he sent me has become probably my most treasured set of Classic Banjo memorabilia and has prime place in my collection.

I won't publish his name.. but he knows who he is and I hope that he knows just how pleased (delighted) am.

Let's see how long it takes for someone to guess what I received that made me so happy!

He sent several documents:

Item 1.

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On the Gariepy brochure showing the FVE banjos with a resonator I have noticed an interesting feature.  On the resonator where it would rest against the ribcage and thigh it looks like there is some sort of padding or grippy material applied.

Has anyone seen (or own) one of these Gariepy FVE banjos?  I heard that there were not that many made and that of the ones that were most had rosewood necks and were gold plated.

There is also the possibility that those photos came from FVE and do not actually represent what he was building.  I heard that Gariepy stiffed a couple of ABF members over them.

Well how bout that? It looks like Velcro. I would have thought that anachronistic but quick research says that velcro was being made and sold in the 1950s.

 At any rate it does look like something grippy.... or ga-riep-y.

Did I ever see or play one?  I think I did a very long time ago. I don't remember gold plating but my memory about the occasion is poor. My best guess is that it wasn't a Van Eps model. 

Perhaps it was the hooky side of the velcro and you could stick it to your jumper while playing standing up... no neck strap required with a Van Eps banjo ???  ;-))

My thought was that it was some sort of rubber pad.

I do something similar that I picked up at an ABF rally and thought it was a good idea.  I get "rubber" hose/tubing from the hardware store.  I then cut a piece and mark the position of the nuts with an awl.  I then drill holes using a bit that is smaller than the largest part of the nuts.  They are held in place by friction and it works quite well to hold the banjo in position.  It also keeps the ball end nuts or hook ends from pressing into my ribs.

I had one of these Garieppy banjos some years ago and didn't realise that the Velcro was an original fixture so I peeled it off, this probably devalued the banjo by about £500 but I sold it in the 1970s so all I can do is apologise to whoever owns it now. My Garieppy banjo was not gold plated.

thereallyniceman said:

Perhaps it was the hooky side of the velcro and you could stick it to your jumper while playing standing up... no neck strap required with a Van Eps banjo ???  ;-))

Handbells are beautiful and I bet you all sound great! Good to see you doing so well. I played in a handbell choir many years ago and loved it. Great photo!

Thank you Jackie,

People don't believe just how nice handbells do sound until they hear them! Ours are Schulmerich bells, manufactured in the USA and they really do have a beautiful mellow sound.

Just for you here is a really poor video, made on a mobile phone, of us playing a few years ago.

There is a very fetching, yet wobbly view, of Mrsthreallyniceman's rear end.  I am the blurry person miles away :-)

How in the world are the bell ringers obtaining vibrato?  I *think* I see some of the players shaking the bells but surely that would cause more iterations of the same pitch (?)

thereallyniceman said:

Thank you Jackie,

People don't believe just how nice handbells do sound until they hear them! Ours are Schulmerich bells, manufactured in the USA and they really do have a beautiful mellow sound.

Just for you here is a really poor video, made on a mobile phone, of us playing a few years ago.

There is a very fetching, yet wobbly view, of Mrsthreallyniceman's rear end.  I am the blurry person miles away :-)

Hi Jody, for those who have not played the handbells it may come as a bit of a surprise that there are MANY handbell techniques used to produce different musical sounds and effects.

Look here: https://www.handbellworld.com/music/HandbellNotation.cfm

In this piece we use Martellato, martellato lifts, shake, echo, gyro, Let vibrate, table damp, thumb damp and vibrato.!!

To achieve the vib. effect, ring the handbell, gently move the handbell from side to side using the wrist, not the arm, to produce a wavering sound. (doppler effect!)

Oh what fun we have keeping in time! I think I once mentioned to you Jody the curse of handbell ringing... counting the beats every bar (hopefully invisibly) to keep in time with all the other ringers!

Every time I hear any piece of music I count the rhythm in my head   1 2+ 3 4+.......    :-((

How ironic that you use the Schulmerich bells, which are made in the USA and you are in the UK. The choir I was in back in the 1960s used White Chapel bells made in the UK and we're in the USA. How about that! You all sound great and the sound is beautiful.

thereallyniceman said:

Thank you Jackie,

People don't believe just how nice handbells do sound until they hear them! Ours are Schulmerich bells, manufactured in the USA and they really do have a beautiful mellow sound.

Just for you here is a really poor video, made on a mobile phone, of us playing a few years ago.

There is a very fetching, yet wobbly view, of Mrsthreallyniceman's rear end.  I am the blurry person miles away :-)

Yes I can see the vib effect being effected and I can hear the result but why does the clapper not strike the sides of the inside of the bell?  A gentle touch I guess.  Anyway I think the bell ensemble sounds great and...  now don't laugh.... not much anyway... and I really mean this....  I think bells and classic banjo would be a very good sound. Has that been tried?

Ahhh Jody,

Musical handbells are very sophisticated instruments. They are not just a bell and a floppy clapper like the old school bell! The clapper assembly only moves forwards and backwards and is adjusted to rest closer to the front edge of the bell (direction the bell is rung) than the back edge. This is to prevent the clapper bouncing back and making double hits when a note is struck, There is NO sideways movement of the clapper, so a side to side wobble imparts a Vibrato without hitting the bell. Also the volume of a bell can be adjusted or "voiced" to set the balance of sound volume across the set of bells. This is done by rotating the clapper head which has rubber of different densities around the striking edge!!!

Here is a question for you:  As far as I can see a "Handbell Choir" is the only instrument that requires a "team" of people to play a tune... think about it, can you think of any other?

I would like to try bells and banjo... perhaps a project for the upcoming months ?   :-)

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