Dexter N. Muir, Irish Band
Here are the members of our band (we don't have a name for the band as such):
* Johnny Fleming, our Percussionist (drum
kit / bodhran), and Male singer.
Johnny is Irish, and has a very wide repertoire including '50s-'60s Rock'n'roll
and some contemporary American Folk (we sometimes play a few of these in our
performances).
* AnneMarie Horn, our Female singer and
second percussionist (bodhran / lagerphone).
AnneMarie is of Irish parentage, with a mellow contralto voice and repertoire
range similar to Johnny's.
* Ian Wishart, our Accordionist and
whistler (tin whistle).
Ian, like myself, is a New Zealander, with a long history of Bush Band and
Caledonian Society music.
* Dexter Muir
(myself), guitars and occasional vocals.
These shots were all taken from the video of my feature night at Levin Folk Club 4/19/1996. It was a fun evening, I did my solo stuff in the first half, then the band in the second half (including a few WWII songs from the wife of the chap who did the video). The lighting was not good - Ian was only just in enough light to get a frame, I was only dimly glimpsed by the occasional flash of reflection from the guitar. My frame had to be from my solo section, and then had to be cropped: the video operator didn't do any close-ups then, and there was a fellow sitting right in the front making a better door than window... (he leaned to the left for about 10 seconds, that's his shoulder bottom-left).
p.s. A Lagerphone is a broomstick with bottle-tops attached. It is played by
bouncing on the floor, and hitting or scraping with a notched stick.
Our lagerphone (hand-crafted by mysef) is a little more sophisticated: the
bottle-tops (authentically all beer-bottle-tops, it is a 'Lager'phone after
all!) are screwed on rather than nailed, for easy replacement (they wear out
and fall off), and there is a rubber crutch-foot on the bottom - from long
experimentation, this gave best bounce/sound/longevity combination). The area
just above the bottle-tops, where it is hit/scraped, is taped with electrical
tape to prevent wear, and this has not affected the sound as far as I can
tell...
Our hitting stick (I have yet to find a proper - or suitable - noun for it) is
once again a little more sophisticated. I made two in 3/4" marine ply (for
longevity), each with two pitches of notch, sine curves jig-sawed, both +/- 4mm
amplitude, one 40mm pitch, the other 26mm. They both have form-fitted handles
(a long night of using one of these *will* give you blisters!). They are of
different weights - one is 34mm peak-to-peak, the other 48mm. Each weight/pitch
has its own sound and feel, and is used for different items!
Our group (probably a better term, as a Band needs a name!) play mostly at Folk Clubs, and the occasional private function. We have other members who play as needed or as they can - a couple of Bass players, one of whom also plays banjo and guitar. While he's on guitar, I play Bass (I'm still a beginner, but learning and having fun!).
Follow the link by my frame, or this one back to my Home
Page..., or go back to my Folk Music page.
This page last modified 26 Mar 1997.
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|)exy@ihug.co.nz