Getting HIP.

[Carl Anderton]

Rob MacKillop calls it Historically Informed Performance, or HIP. Since no one alive ever heard the original banjo style, the old stroke style, we can't claim to know exactly what it sounded like, although personally I believe that standard musical notation tells us a hell of a lot of what it sounded like. However, it has been pointed out that so much time has passed since then, and musical styles have evolved in so many ways, that we can't truly recapture the original sound.

BIG DIFFERENCE IN CLASSIC BANJO...thanks to the Wizard of Menlo Park, we can actually hear what the Classic banjo sounded like.

So what do we think of the recorded stylings of Ossman, Van Epps, et al.? Do people try and incorporate the masters' sound and style into their own playing?

I must confess I don't think I sound much like the original recordings. Just getting the notes right and memorizing takes up most of my time, and I don't spend much time refining my "phrasing."

The Vess Ossman recordings I just uploaded here seem to me, for lack of a better word, seem to have a sort of "choppy" sound to them. Do we think this is because of the primitive recording and reproduction devices?

And I know many people play and enjoy this style without trying to imitate or reproduce an historical artifact. I just thought it might be food for discussion...

[Joel Hooks]

One observation I have made is that it sounds like he plays so hard that the strings slap or "clang" against the fingerboard. I also have wondered if this is just the recording process.

I do know that when I first got into living history and inquired about where to learn "period" banjo I was directed to modern sources. Not satisfied with that answer and setting out on my own, I quickly discovered some Ossman and Epps recordings. The first time I heard them the hair on my neck stood on edge, and I got goose-bumps. That was the "sound" I wanted.

[thereallyniceman]

I was fortunate enough to meet and watch Tarrant Bailey Junior play many times. Bailey played at the time of the "Greats" and even played with Joe Morley. His Classic Banjo picking style is very different to many I have seen today. Many modern players have "migrated" from classical guitar and use an arched right hand style with fairly straight fingers, picking with the fingers tips. The sound seems lighter and more "melodic" as you hear with classical guitar, but Tarrant Bailey,. Morley, followed by Chris Sands et al have a very flat hand, almost parallel to the vellum. The fingers are held in line with the back of the hand with then firmly bent at the centre joint. The strings are picked using very small movements of the fingers ends only. This produces a very sharp "choppy" sound as described. I was taught this style and use heavy gauge nylon strings. With heavy gauge strings and this style of firm picking you get quite a volume...exactly what was required at the time of these early recordings. It is amazing to hear the attack and volume produced by Van Eps on gut strings on these early recordings!

[thereallyniceman]

Hi Rob,
As an old chap who lives in the technological "Dark Ages" I have no idea how to make a video to post. I don't have video camera or a webcam either...any advice or recommendations on where I can find "how to" or what equipment is needed?

[Trapdoor2]

Geez, I hate to self advertise...but I use the "flat hand" method (or reasonably close), you can see it in my videos. I have always strived for economy of motion. What I don't do is use my fingertips...I use the "combination-tip-nail" stroke...and my thumbnail directly (which is a no-no in Classic circles). See David Wade's Zither Banjo site for period discussion regarding the use of nails vs fingertips.

Vess Ossman's sound was often characterized as "muscular". He never seemed to want much of a legato sound...as Van Eps did. Van Eps taught himself to play using Ossman's recordings; probably the very first banjo player ever to do so.

Having tried to make one recording on an Edison machine, I can tell you that for solo work, the banjo produces more than enough volume to make a very clear recording. I ended up about a foot from the horn, playing 'normally'. I wish I had a clip from that session but after missing a few crucial notes, I completely fell apart. We played it back though and it sounded very much like any of the early cylinder recordings...sans age (very little extraneous noise).

The early recording process for "production" cylinders did indeed require some additional volume. Prior to about 1902 cylinders were made 1:1. That is, there was no mass production, you cut one cylinder and sold it. Orchestral cylinders (where the orchestra could make a lot of noise) could be made with about 15 machines at a time but vocals and other softer stuff might just get two at a time. Ossman probably would have been playing into an array of machines, maybe as many as 5 or 6 at a time...and then would have been doing the same tune over and over and over...all day. No wonder his style sounds 'muscular'!

Ian, I'm very jealous that you got to sit in with Tarrant Bailey Jr. and take lessons from Chris Sands. I have the Neophone set of "home recordings" that Mr. Bailey did of his father, Joe Morley, J.P. Cunningham, et al and they are truly a window into the style of the period. It is amazing to hear that stuff!