Musical instruments at sea

Graham_Wright said:
With ears like mine, you don't notice!
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:D

As it happens, my 32 base Sorrento (lovely little box) is very slightly sharp across the board if played in company with instruments tuned to the usual A440 "concert" pitch. I never noticed myself and nor did anybody else until I was in a jam session with a fellah who has perfect pitch and he picked it up right away. Of course, once it had been pointed out I couldn't help but hear the difference every time I played it from then on :mad:
 
We have a couple of Penny Whistles on board, great for Celtic stuff.
Main instrument is a small usb controller keyboard which plugs into the ipad via a usb camera adapter, provides virtually unlimited sounds with the amazing collection of apps. Ipad plugs into aux input of boat CD/Radio, quality is surprisingly good. GarageBand is great for piano/organ/Rhodes sounds & rhythm backing if required!

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC531ZM/A/apple-ipad-camera-connection-kit
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD821ZM/A/lightning-to-usb-camera-adapter (for newer iPads)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/M-Audio-Keystation-Ultra-Portable-Keyboard-Controller/dp/B005F3H6QI
You can of course get larger keyboards which can still be powered from the ipad.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-UMX490-U-Control-Controller-Interface/dp/B003D0DJ9I
 
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What you need is.....

One of these:

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/350469164528?var=lv&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y&lpid=66&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=66&ff19=0

If I ever have the spare cash I'll definitely have one, then no issue with humidity etc..... :)

Plus you could use it as an emergency paddle with no ill-effects!

Also (unless you find an amazing deal) a cheap instrument is just that .... and there's definitely no pleasure in attempting to play one .... because they just don't!

But if you are lucky you can occasionally find reasonably playable secondhand instruments for little-ish money.
 
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So if the voice is a good alternative to a wind instrument, but you've never gone public with it, where do yuou start? a choir is probably out of the question on Pontoon 2, Marina X, so where to start? I am quite happy to believe that with excercise the throat can deliver amazing and satisfying sounds but what to do to begin with?.......and I do mean this seriously as i've tried for years to play the guitar but the old fingers just will not do what I want them to and I am really frustrated. Perhaps singing is a sensible alternative to an instrument after a ceratin age???? And then again perhaps this ain't the right forum....I should find one for grizzled alto tenors!
 
as for the squeezbox being slightly sharp, i think some accordions and melodeons are tuned slightly sharp anyway to cut through the other instuments (same way a strat does as opposed to a Les Paul - oh dear...........anorak mode..........)

and some with two reeds per note have the reeds slightly differently tuned to give the beat/tremelo effect
 
Burnham Bob said:
as for the squeezbox being slightly sharp, i think some accordions and melodeons are tuned slightly sharp anyway to cut through the other instuments (same way a strat does as opposed to a Les Paul - oh dear...........anorak mode..........)

and some with two reeds per note have the reeds slightly differently tuned to give the beat/tremelo effect
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I shall join you in anorak mode and confirm that your are absolutely correct on the second point but that I am of the opinion that the first point is a bit of a myth mainly 'cos accordions and melodeons generally don't have much trouble cutting through the mix!

However, A440 hasn't always (and indeed isn't always although it's more so today) been the standard tuning. A442 is common today in classical circles (I'm led to believe, don't circulate there myself) and A444 upwards as high, at one point in the 19th century, as A552 and a bit might all be encountered on older instruments

Tuning sharp to cut through is, I think, a jazz guitar thing from the days when an acoustic guitar couldn't compete with the brass instruments. I can't imagine what it would have sounded like with one instrument out of tune with the rest of the band but hey, it's jazz so anything goes!
 
I have been tuning pianos to A440 for about 30 years and nobody has noticed yet. Dont let on about the A442 thing, especially as I have one of the Lloyd-Webbers next month!
I woud suggest to OP to go with the fad of the uke. Small,fun, easy and popular (and cheap to replace if throw eastwards). Surely you dont want to have your company going for a spontainous swim/beer. Personally I have yelled through the moorings at a barking dog but also sang the 'Songs of the Sea' with guitar (inc Rule Britannia) in a grumpy German harbour, sat, hippy-style in Hoorn on quayside singing Donovan but....try to keep myself to myself these days. A little (instrument) but often is my advice. ( I was driven to pub too often by ex who thought it fun to have a recorder group practice in the living room, these days I would just jump....)
 
Brigantia said:
However, A440 hasn't always (and indeed isn't always although it's more so today) been the standard tuning. A442 is common today in classical circles (I'm led to believe, don't circulate there myself) and A444 upwards as high, at one point in the 19th century, as A552 and a bit might all be encountered on older instruments
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A lot of early music is played, authentically, at A415, and I read somewhere that Japanese orchestras use A444. Which leads me to wonder how people with perfect pitch cope with different tunings. Can they adjust?
 
Always take a playable / reasonable quality Guitar .... with ....

Some of these fitted:

Adagio AntiRust GUARD Technology

Adagio Premium Series Guitar strings with "GUARD Anti-Rust and Lubrication Protection". The GUARD compound forms a clear, thin film that lubricates and protects against wear and corrosion, lubricates, protects, displaces moisture, and cleans all in one. Adagio Premium Series strings survived the harshest temperature, sea water and corrosion testing in a chemical laboratory with no sign of rust of corrosion..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=+Have+one+to+sell%3F+Sell+it+yourself+AntiRust+Acoustic+Guitar+Strings+Gauge+12+by+Adagio+4+SETS+%26+1+FREE&_sacat=0&_from=R40
 
Surprised we have got this far down the thread without anyone quoting Uffa Fox on yacht design. Upon learning of the invention of a gimballed piano which would also serve as a saloon table, he is supposed to have remarked (I paraphrase) "This piano is a great weight saving device as it means that no separate second piano need be carried."

I would love to carry an electric piano aboard, but at 27ft it doesn't seem likely, unless we evict the dogs. We have carried a 76 key kbd but that was because I was stopping in at a wedding and had been asked to do some tunes- I never tried setting it up aboard.

These days we carry a 3/4 size acoustic guitar. I was tricked into buying it because the salesman initially quoted a very tempting price, and then reneged on it. Unfortunately having played it alongside a £100 travel guitar there was no going back. Grrr. I do not regret it, of course :D
 
I think I'll end up with a keyboard of some sort but being used to two manuals and a pedal board (Technics - before computer meddling) it will seem a bit tame.

However, if the electrics suffer form the environment, I can bin it and buy another. Amazing how prices have plummeted over the years.

Any recommendations?
 
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