Archive for September, 2009
Flathead or Archtop?
Why are bluegrass banjos so heavy? That’s what everyone wants to know when they pick one up. The reason is that higher-end bluegrass banjos are equipped with a metal tone ring-a casting of a brass alloy weighing around three pounds. It rests between the wooden rim and the drum head. A quality tone ring can greatly increase the volume and power of a banjo.
Tone rings are available in two major configurations-an arch-top tone ring provides a somewhat smaller vibrating surface on the head (usually around 9 inches measured side-to-side) for a quicker, brighter sound. A flathead tone ring leaves the entire head (usually 11 inches) free to vibrate, generating more depth and richness of sound. Flathead tone rings are associated with the classic sound of such bluegrass greats as Sonny Osborne, J.D. Crowe, and Earl Scruggs; legendary players who have relied on the brighter sound of an arch-top tone ring include Ralph Stanley, Allen Shelton, Doug Dillard and Steve Martin.
We banjo players have a luxury unknown to players of other stringed instruments-the sounding board of our instrument is a drum head that can be replaced easily and inexpensively. That enables us to experiment with different sounds. Once upon a time, all banjo heads were made of animal hide (usually calfskin). The warm tone of a real calfskin head is hard to beat, but their susceptibility to changes in humidity makes them very high-maintenance.
Plastic or mylar heads have been the standard since their introduction in the early 1960s. They are available with a white frosted coating which gives a traditional appearance and sound for bluegrass banjo, or in a clear, uncoated version for extra brightness and response. Synthetic calfskin heads more closely mimic the look and sound of real animal hide and are especially popular with open-back (clawhammer) banjo players. Recent years have seen more options in banjo heads with eye-catching colors now available, and even heavy mesh heads for quiet practice.
While the precise origins of jazz music are still contested to this day, we can at least pinpoint the earliest jazz recordings, which came out of the burgeoning scene in New Orleans during the 1910s. This unique style, known as Dixieland, combined a number of popular genres of the day including ragtime, blues, and brass band dirges. Unlike most forms of jazz music, Dixieland incorporated 4 string banjo in addition to string bass, piano, drums and other more familiar instruments.
The tenor banjo, which is meant to be played with a thumb pick as opposed to finger picks or with bare fingers, maintained its popularity through the 1920s and ’30s, long after Dixieland had run its course. However, because musical styles are cyclical in nature, the instrument has seen a recent resurgence. Tenor banjos were once considered curios that fetched exorbitant prices, but no longer; they’re back in the mainstream now, and the prices reflect that fact.
There’s a lot of metal in a quality bluegrass banjo. Plating type should be a consideration when deciding what banjo is the right one for you. The most common type of plating is nickel. Nickel looks great when new and oxidizes as it ages, taking on a slightly softer, warmer look. Gold plating is common on high-end banjos and provides plenty of visual flash, but even the best gold plating will show wear after years of heavy use. Chrome plating is less common than nickel or gold and will stay looking new with practically no maintenance, but the super-bright “in your face” look of chrome is not for everyone.
What about differences in sound? That’s a question sure to set off endless debate among banjo folks. Some maintain that the amount of metal applied in plating banjo parts is so minimal that there is no impact on tone. Others claim they hear a difference. Since nickel is most popular, that is understood to be the baseline. The most common opinion being that gold plating imparts a somewhat warmer, mellower tone to the instrument. With so many other variables involved in the construction and setup of a bluegrass banjo, this question will probably never be answered for sure.
The choice of wood type for your banjo may seem to be solely a cosmetic consideration, but it can have a big impact on the sound of your instrument as well. While it may seem counterintuitive, wood choice can have the biggest effect on tone through the neck. While bluegrass banjo rims are almost always made of maple and the veneers on the resonator have little impact on tone, the neck of your banjo is usually a solid chunk of mahogany, walnut, or maple and represents a significant proportion of the banjo’s vibrating mass.
Conventional wisdom is that mahogany, being a less-dense wood, is the warmest of the three woods and tends to accentuate the bass response of a banjo. Maple, a very dense hardwood, is considered to be at the opposite end of the scale with more “bite” and “edge” and enhanced treble response. Walnut is generally thought to fall somewhere in between mahogany and maple tonally. Keep in mind, however, that variations in setup and in individual instruments can make for a brighter mahogany banjo or a deeper-sounding maple one.
Even though I grew up in the north, my family always admired musicians from the hill country of Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia. Not a weekend would go by when my dad didn’t bring out an Earl Scruggs or Bill Monroe record and encourage his kids to dance around the living room. As I got a bit older, I learned to appreciate the intricate finger-picking style that was such an inherent part of bluegrass.
It wasn’t long before I saved up enough money to go shopping for beginner banjos. In those days the pickings were slim in my part of the country, so I went to a secondhand store and found a beat-up but still functioning model. Kids today are lucky in that they can find a banjo for any skill level without even leaving the comfort of home. Luckily it’s not too late for me to indulge in a little online instrument shopping myself.
While it is commonly believed to be a specific instrument, fiddles can be any bowed string instrument. A violin, viola and cello, all a part of the violin family, may sometimes be referred to by their players as a fiddle.
Over the years, there have been a number of clichés used to describe the differences between a fiddle and a violin. Three of those clichés include: “When you are buying it, it’s a fiddle. When you are selling it, it’s a violin.” “What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle? About $10,000.” “A violin uses strings and a fiddle uses strangs.”