FIDDLE & PIPE TUNES I CREATED 40 YEARS AGO ON A RADIO SHACK COLOR COMPUTER USING MUSICA PROGRAM dennis havlena 2020-05-06 | 17 of my COCO (Color Computer) tunes using a program called "Musica":Some 40 years ago, while living in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, I passed the time by inputing, note-by-note, a bunch of Celtic fiddle & bagpipe tunes along with the accompaniment & drones to each tune.Each tune took many many hours to input & correct once input - generally a day or two of tinkering for each tune.Radio Shack's "Color Computer" was pretty primitive but even so, I could do some things on it that I cannot do on my modern PC.Just today I ran across my long lost recording of these tunes. Warning in advance: don't expect perfection or anything fancy, this stuff was at the time just a source of inventive experimenting fun. Also, tune backups etc may not be what one might expect.List of tunes showing the video locations for each: 0:06 - The Gravel Walk - reel 1:43 - Shenandoah Falls - old time American tune 3:27 - A bagpipe tune that I used to play but have forgotten the name of 6:34 - Troublemakers Aplenty - 9/8 jig my brother and I wrote long ago in Socorro, New Mexico 7:34 - Another bagpipe tune I forgot the name of 9:11 - The Munster Cloak - Irish tune10:41 - The Green Hills of Tyrol - bagpipe tune12:43 - Drops of Brandy - Irish 9/8 slip-jig13:41 - Hamburger Polka - Scandinavian tune14:48 - 42nd Highlanders March - bagpipe tune16:20 - Maid Behind the Bar - Irish Reel17:43 - Scotland the Brave - bagpipe tune18:58 - Guabi Guabi - African tune I heard Jim Kweskin Jug Band play long ago19:54 - Skye Boat Song - bagpipe tune21:18 - Yet another bagpipe tune I used to play but can't recall the name of22:53 - Maggie in the Woods - Irish polka24:24 - A tiny bit of Bonaparte's RetreatDennis Havlena dhavlena@gmail.comMy simple instrument-building webpage is atDennisHavlena.com
Uncle Mark teaching Emily how to play, “Waltzing Matilda” dennis havlena 2021-04-01 | Uncle Mark teaching Emily how to play, “Waltzing Matilda”
Last Chance - fCFCD tuning capoed 2 frets up to G. dennis havlena 2018-09-26 | Clawhammer Banjo - home-made from a cheap "First-Act" drum.
Wonderful fun with music in northern Michigan dennis havlena 2017-08-20 | At kind host Mary's, log cottage at the north end of Douglas Lake August 19, 2017 near, Pellston, MI Tunes: The Musical Priest followed by Mountain Road.Mary on Hammered Dulcimer and fiddlebrother Mark Havlena on fiddledistant Havlena relative Dale Scott on guitarDale's wife Maureen Scott on absolutely first-rate fiddleSusan Fawcett on fiddleProfessor Bob Pillsbury on Irish FluteBob's son Seamus on FiddleHis daughter Mina on cello converted into a bass( http://dennishavlena.com/cellobas.htm Bob -have Mina look this up on my webpage)Dennis on fiddleSuch a fun, beautiful night!Winters are very rugged here but Summers are glorious!!Dennis Havlena dhavlena@gmail.comhttp://DennisHavlena.com Look it up!
New idea: octave-higher Kora dennis havlena 2016-12-18 | Sounds one octave higher than a conventional Kora. It is half as tall & has same 21-string configuration, spacing etc as a big one. I will have building instructions (shortly) on my DennisHavlena (dot) com webpage. This video is only intended to demonstrate the sound & is by no stretch of anyone's imagination a performance. Pretty asy to build. Dennis Havlena
Climbing Precipice Trail in Acadia National Park, Maine dennis havlena 2016-09-25 | In Acadia National Park on the Atlantic Ocean in Maine last week. Very rough, precipitous dangerous trail but SUCH beautiful views.Video is very jerky - my entire concentration was on the next hand-hold, not the Go-Pro camera.
Travel Video to Seou, South Korea- 2016 dennis havlena 2016-07-22 | Travel Video to Seoul, South Korea 2016
Simple Cigar Box Fiddle dennis havlena 2016-06-28 | Intention here is obviously not a performance but rather to demonstrate this instrument. Used an existing neck. Shaved down half the thickness of the cigar box's top & bottom. Added simple bass-bar, end & heel blocks & a sound post. Fun.Dennis Havlena - got lots of such projects on my webpage:u.r.l. is dennishavlena(period)com
You Aint Going Nowhere dennis havlena 2016-04-29 | 1st time playing my new Hapi-Omni Drum with others.Key of G. First 'take' -- nothing 'professional' but a hell of a lot of fun!Musicians: Keith H on upright bass; Brett M on guitar; Chuck B on mandolin; Will B on banjo; Sam K on uke-banjo; Doug T on guitar; Laura O on banjo; Daniel B on electric bass; LeeAnn E on fiddle; Me Dennis H on Hapi-Omni Drum. At weekly Cheboygan, northern Michigan music get-together. Daughter Emily H taking video & Tessa-dog sorta listening. Such fun!
34 mile short-cut through Pigeon River State Wilderness in N. MI today dennis havlena 2016-02-28 | Saw one car in 34 miles.Love this country! Nice to have this place in the same county.
Nkora - Ten course, 2 strings per course, Kora to Nkora conversion dennis havlena 2016-02-24 | N'koraanother invention:Building instructions are at this URL on my webpage: http://DennisHavlena.com/N-kora.htmI got to thinking ------ as the much as I dearly love the kora & as much as I've quite seriously tried to learn how to play it for over three decades, I'd not feel comfortable performing my handful of kora tunes in public. Now, at age 68, I realize all the more clearly that I'll likely never be much of a kora player. Truth be known, I spend a lot more time diddling with making instruments than I do playing them.In the past I've built several Malian N'gonis as well as the closely related Goni from Burkina Faso. Their pentatonic, no-wrong-notes scale makes them leagues easier to play than the Kora, which, being chromatically tuned, has the potential for lots of "wrong notes" (in my hands at least!).With this in mind, I figured that it'd be fun to build an experimental ten-course N'goni with each note doubled (two same-pitched strings instead of the usual single string). Sorta like the difference between a regular six-string guitar vs a 12-string guitar - adds harmonics & interesting beat-notes.What I did was to take one of the bunch of Koras I've built, a simple rather small-bodied one, & converted it into a doubled-string, ten course N'goni while retaining the Kora configuration & appearance: hand-grips, bridge, bridge stabilization, skin bracing system etc - thus the silly name, N'kora.It plays exactly like a conventional N'goni - just with doubled strings(& an arbitrarily added single low, bass string).See http://DennisHavlena.com/n-kora.htm for converting info.
DIY Akonting - a Banjo ancestor from Senegal/Gambia Africa dennis havlena 2014-09-03 | This short video is intended to accompany a DIY article on mywebpage http://DennisHavlena.com detailing with Akonting building
Battle of New Orleans played on the actual battlefield dennis havlena 2014-04-07 | Sam King (banjo-uke) & Dennis Havlena (fiddle) playing "8th of January" / "Battle of New Orleans" while standing on the site of the battle, the Chalmette Plantation just south-east of New Orleans on March 31, 2014. Windy etc but here it is anyhow.
The Ballad of Saint Annes Reel - bunch of us friends having fun in northern Michigan dennis havlena 2013-08-02 | Chuck Burgtorf on mandolin, Mark Havlena on fiddle, Dennis Havlena on upright bass, Nate Wickey on 12 string guitar, Doug Trussell on guitar, Carol Havlena, Laura on banjo.Summer 2013 - cookout on the shores of Burt Lake, Cheboygan County northern Michigan
OUD made from a Guitar - sound sample to accompany my article about this conversion dennis havlena 2013-06-17 | Web article at: http://DennisHavlena.com/guitoud.htm This is a quite easy conversion & playing the resultant instrument whole lot of fun. The guitar I used was a real cheapie - $34. Full information on this conversion is on my webpage at this URL: http://DennisHavlena.com/guitoud.htm This short video is meant as an adjunct to my webpage article and is certainly not a performance. I obviously know very little about playing the Oud. This tune is a part of a beautiful piece I heard while in Senegal and later on youtube as well. Apologies for using a guitar pick - I haven't figured out how to use the unique Oud pick yet. Also - my broken finger doesn't help - but what the heck - it's just a sound sample. Also, the overall tuning of this instrument is a bit higher in pitch than is traditional - reason for this is that I have it "capoed" up to facilitate learning a tune I'm working on. I don't pretend that this sounds just like an Oud, but lacking the real thing, it's a fun alternative.
Bala-Pan: Balafon like, plays similar to Hand-Pan. Short video to accompany DIY article dennis havlena 2013-05-10 | This is a pentatonically tuned African Balafon-like instrument that has the tone bars arranged in a right-left-right-left manner similar to a Hand-Pan (Halo, Hang etc).It can be built easily using any available hardwood for the tone bars.This video is obviously is not a performance, but rather just a short sound sample showing how the thing sounds. Full building instructions are on my webpage at: http://DennisHavlena.com/bala-pan.htmDennis Havlenanorthern Michigan
STABILIZED VERSION of our bounce down SHAFER CANYON in Utah dennis havlena 2013-04-06 | Stabilized by youtube's very impressive video stabilizer!Drop-dead beautiful (no pun intended). With a street auto, we really had NO business driving this. It was the highlight of our 2007 visit to Canyonlands National Park out of Moab, Utah. Shafer Canyon is in Canyonlands' "Island in the Sky" (northern-most) district. Another incredible spot is nearby Mesa Arch.
$60 DIY Kora - short sound sample. See my note below. dennis havlena 2013-04-06 | This short, quite unprofessional video is meant to be a quick sound sample to accompany the Kora construction article I recently added to my webpage at: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/kora-lite.htmIt's a lot of fun and is quite easy to build. It has the same string-length, string gauge & spacing etc as my Gambian-made Kora. I used a $20 Ikea 11" bamboo salad bowl for a "calabash" ("gourd") - works fine! Let me know if you build one Dennis Havlena - W8MI dhavlena@gmail.com
Cello to Guitar conversion - Sam King playing Duncan Idaho on guitello dennis havlena 2013-01-06 | Recently I converted an old half-sized cello into a guitar. Here's friend Sam King playing a song he wrote on the "guitello".There's more of Sam's music is at: youtube.com/user/sammking55Thanks Sam!My web-page is at DennisHavlena.com It contains info & instructions for making a bunch of musical instruments often out of unusual materials & on the cheap.
Flying over the area I live in near Cheboygan, Michigan dennis havlena 2012-11-05 | An airplane ride around our house near Cheboygan, Michigan Nov 4, 2012 0:00 Ready for takeoff at PBEAAY grass-strip airport that I live right next to 1:01 Our house, in dead center 1:30 Mullett Lake 4:10 Heading to Bois Blanc Island, just south-west of the Mackinac Bridge 8:13 Heading over Lake Huron to Bois Blanc Island10:24 Over Bois Blanc ISland13:50 Bois Blanc Island airport17:00 Heading west, back to mainland18:10 Duncan Bay of Lake Huron. Cheboygan State Park on left19:36 Flying over downtown Cheboygan, Michigan20:18 Cheboygan River (part of the Inland Waterway)20:26 Black River (on left) entering the Cheboygan River2042: We used to live on the point just to the right of dead center22:08 Cheboygan River entering Mullett Lake24:50 PBEAAYE Airport24:55 Our house in dead center (brown roof)25:45 Mullett Creek26:10 Sharp banking into PBEAAYE airport
GONI -PAN SIMULATES HAND-PAN (Halo, Hang etc.) CAN BE TUNED TO ANY HAND-PAN SCALE dennis havlena 2012-07-27 | I combined the basic idea of an ancient, simple & beautiful African instrument called the "Goni" with the notes and alternating "right-left-right-left" playing patterns of the hand-pan (Halo, Hang etc) and came up with a most enjoyable and easy to build 9-stringed instrument that lends itself beautifully to the same kind of wandering improvisation that is the hallmark of metal Hand-Pans playing. Cost to build is on the order of twenty dollars, all new parts.The traditional African Goni can perhaps be thought of as a kind of basic, less complicated 8-string, pentatonically tuned Kora. It is played by the Dioula People of Burkina Faso but is far less well known than it's cousin, the Kora. Continued on my webpage ---------Access http://www.DennisHavlena.com/goni-pan.htm for full building instructions.Dennis Havlena - Cheboygan, northern Michigan
HARP-KORA 2 - Sound Sample for my webpage construction article dennis havlena 2012-02-23 | This is certainly not a "performance" but just a quick sound sample meant to accompany an article on building this thing - on my webpage at: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/harp-kora-2.htm This instrument is the most recent version of my "harp-Kora" invention, built in three days of tinkering this week. It has a bit larger soundbox and $2/apiece guitar-type tuners, which make tuning the 21 steel music-wire strings much easier than with zither pins. Although it looks absolutely nothing like the traditional west African Kora, it' string's layout, scale, tuning, playing handles and overall playability is just like the real thing. I took my original Harp-Kora over to Africa with me a few months ago and am honored that it is now owned by Brother Boris who is the Head Kora Builder at Senegal's Keur Moussa Monastery east of Dakar who took a fancy to it. Kora Master, Prince Cissokho, in Dakar also played it & seemingly liked it - or at very least thought it an amusing curiosity. Years ago here in Michigan, Cissokho's cousin, Madi Kouyate also played my Harp-Kora and likewise seemed to enjoy playing it. Apologies for butchering this honored old African Kora song "Mamadu Masina" --- I am a rank novice Kora player as can be seen. Dennis Havlena Mackinac Straits northern Michigan dhavlena@gmail.com my complete webpage is at: www.DennisHavlena.com
Senegal Videos: Mali Blues, Keur Moussa, Baye Fall Instrument Making Workshop etc. dennis havlena 2012-01-27 | HI - I took a lot of photos and videos my on trip to Africa Oct & Nov 2011. A number of friends asked if I could post a video showing some of the music I heard & was involved with. Admittedly long video, but easy to jump around. Be forewarned - these are quite non-professional quality videos - taken on a simple point & shoot Canon camera. Dennis Havlena dhavlena@gmail.com I also have a number of still photos from the trip at this URL: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/senegalpics.htm http://www.DennisHavlena.com
EXPERIMENT - Balafon/Marimba keys set up in Hand Pan scale & vaguely similar configuration dennis havlena 2012-01-25 | I was given a bunch of old Balafon keys while in Senegal recently. The best of them I'm slowly rebuilding into a west African Balafon but having some "extras", I came up with this experiment. The notes are tuned in a common, favorite Hand Pan minor-pentatonic scale and the back-and-forth (right-left-right-left etc) of it's scale, as well as the horizontal low note approximating the "ding" on a Hand Pan, makes something like this immediately familiar & playable by any Hang, Halo or Hand Pan player. All I can tell you is that the thing is fun to play, sounds good & is not too quiet - even for hand whapping altho simple mallets make it a bit louder & clearer. As can be seen, this thing is certainly nothing fancy nor is the sound sample, which is intended only to show some possibilities along these line & perhaps spark some ideas. Balafon & Marimba keys are quite easy to make and tune. The resonator for this instrument is just the hollow box the keys are sitting atop which at least doubles the volume. I'll whip up some construction details if I get any interest. Dennis Havlena - dhavlena@gmail.com My simple musical instrument making webpage is at http://www.DennisHavlena.com
Kalifa Jengi (Mali Blues) - at Vounda-Bar Goethe Institut Dakar, Senegal dennis havlena 2011-11-14 | Excellent stuff I recorded a bit of (with a simple digital camera that no way does this group justice) on the 5th floor of the Goethe Institut's building - at the Vounda-Bar in Dakar, Senegal . Beautiful evening. If you ever get the chance to see these fellows - do so! The percussive instrument on the left consists of two calabash halves. The instrument on the right is a N'goni - the grand-daddy of the American 5-string banjo. URLs: ( http://www.goethe.de/ins/sn/dak/frindex.htm?wt_sc=dakar ) ( http://www.vounda-bar.com )
Spontaneous music at my workshop in Dakar, Senegal - Modou Gaye on left dennis havlena 2011-11-13 | The Goethe Institut in Dakar invited me to put on a workshop about building the musical instruments described in my webpage, mainly my "hank-drums", made from propane tanks. See http://www.DennisHavlena.com . What an excellent, wonderful time I had there. Here's a short video from the workshop, at the Baye Fall village along the ocean in Dakar. Top-notch hang player Modou Gaye (left) was in the workshop & he and I were making a 5-note "bass hank-drum" from a propane tank. We'd just tuned the highest note to the proper pitch in order to play bass along with the 8 other normally-pitched hank-drums built & to our surprise, the remaining 4 notes sang nicely in tune with the first one AS IS! We have no idea what scale this bass hank-drum is tuned to, but it sounds good, so we left it alone. More videos coming. I just returned home yesterday, Nov 12, 1011 after three incredibly fun & interesting weeks in Senegal.PS: please try to ignore the hand-sander you can hear in this video -- fellow next to us was making ebony tuning pegs for the cookie-tin kora he was making.
Very basic Celtic harp using a Mountain Dulcimer body dennis havlena 2011-06-16 | Hi - The intention of this short video is just to illustrate the sound of this simple 22 string Celtic harp shown in my construction article at: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/harp-dulcimer.htmAs is readily obvious, I can't play the harp (only been at it for a bit over a week), but this should serve as an example of what the instrument sounds like. Pretty bright and louder than I thought it would be!I built this thing around a never-finished mountain dulcimer body but my article also details how to make a very simple cardboard body for it as well.Whereas most harps today use nylon strings, it seems that earlier Celticjobbies used wire. This one is strung with metal guitar strings & cost me under $40 to build, taking just a few days of spare time to do so. Dennis Havlena, Mackinac Straits, northern Michigan http://www.DennisHavlena.com
Simple Kalimba with notes configured same as a Hang Drum dennis havlena 2011-05-16 | This is a sort of kalimba with the notes configured like a hang drum. It is a simple little "play-thing" made by glueing two disks of 1/8" plywood (from an old door) onto either side of a quickly sawn out "O" of 3/4" thick plywood (all but the perimeter 3/8" sawn away, leaving just a wooden "O"). It's easy to see how the twangers are made from bobby-pins and a bit of steel filed out of the innards of a Chevy windshield-wiper blade. I initially put a small soundhole in the top but was rather puzzled to see that the thing sounded better without a soundhole (thus the glued-on, smashed-flat Pilsner-Urquell bottle cap blocking the soundhole. This video is obviously not meant to be any sort of musical performance, but rather just to illustrate how this simple but fun instrument is made. Dennis Havlena http://www.DennisHavlena.com PS: I'm temporarily allowing comments here. Don't mean to be difficult but over the years nasty comments have irked the bejabbers out of me. I'm in this "game" for the sheer fun of it -- not to have to deal with nastiness.
our bounce down impressive SHAFER CANYON in Utah dennis havlena 2011-02-10 | SEE youtube.com/watch?v=TBncjGx7WKUFOR A STABILIZED (NOT SO BOUNCY) VERSION OF THIS SAME VIDEO.Drop-dead beautiful (no pun intended). With a street car, we really had NO business driving this. It was the highlight of our 2007 visit to Canyonlands National Park out of Moab, Utah. Shafer Canyon is in Canyonlands' "Island in the Sky" (northern-most) district. Another incredible spot is nearby Mesa Arch.
Catfish John northern Michigan version dennis havlena 2010-07-01 | Spontaneous recording of a bunch of us locals playing up here near the Mackinac Straits on a fine Summer evening.From left to right: Mark Havlena (fiddle); Jim Bancroft (guitar);Chuck Burgtorf (mandolin); Doug Trussell (guitar); Dennis Havlena (upright bass); Nate Wickey (guitar)
Tennis Racquet Banjo - tune: Georgia Railroad dennis havlena 2010-06-27 | HI Silly to be sure, but fun ? You bet. Loud too! This is my 2nd take on turning a tennis racquet into a banjo. This one sounds better than the first. Salvation Army 50 cent tennis racket & a few hours of time were all that was required. The neck/fingerboard is made by sanding one side of the racquet handle flat. The head is printing-shop thrown-away mylar super-glued & stapled to racquet rim. Head is tensioned by a very simple ring of 1/8" plywood from an old door, pushed tight with ten small blocks of wood. This tensions the mylar so nicely that it doesn't come anywhere near hitting the racquet's cross-strings. Playing Strings are simply two gauges of fishing line. 5th string is accomplished by "shorting-out" the string with a couple of brads. This is a three-string banjo. All 3 tuning gears won't fit on the peghead end, so I put two of them at the opposite end (near the bridge) Works fine. I have posted an article detailing how I built this thing - on my webpage at this URL: http://www.dennishavlena.com/ten-raq-banjo.htm
Home-made Cello Banjo sound sample - Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine dennis havlena 2009-12-15 | Hello - I've been asked for another sample of my $41.50 home made Cello Banjo. Here's a fine tune, Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine which I learned from the jaw-dropping playing of a fellow on banjohangout.org It's still there - just input these three keywords bonaparte crossing low (for low banjo). My playing here can't begin to hold a candle to the banjohangout fellow's, but maybe someday - if real old-age doesn't catch up to me first! Full instructions for building one of these most fun Cello Banjos (I use a cut-down rock snare drum that I bought for $1.50 at the local Salvation Army store) can be found on my webpage at http://www.DennisHavlena.com which also has a bunch of other articles on building a variety ofmusical instruments simply and inexpensively. Tuning here corresponds to "double C" used a lot in old time, but I purposely made the neck a tad shorter so it would sing in the key of D instead of C. It's roughly tuned now to a-D-A-D-E By the way -- the black on the fingerboard isn't really "dirt". It's a reaction of my fingers on the bronzish strings. Good advertisement for dark fingerboards, but I think I'll leave it as is.
Propane-tank Hank drum with pitch & scale the same as a Pantheon-Steel Halo dennis havlena 2009-10-29 | HI Thought I'd make one of my hank drums the same pitch and scale as my PantheonSteel Halo -- C ("ding") / F, G#, B-flat, C, E-flat, F, G ("minor pentatonic 9" scale). I quite like the results. Being pitched a tone lower than my other hanks, fewer "small-size" tongues had to be used for the higher notes, and this helps make the whole thing sound better. This instrument is made from a new, stock 20 pound propane tank. Information on building this instrumentis is at this URL: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/halohank.htm PS: Laptops make these instruments sound terrible -- try to listen to this on a desktop system instead.
Zen Tambour descendant of hank drum dennis havlena 2009-09-17 | I recently obtained this beautiful little "hank drum" created in California at "Exotic Vessels". It's called a "Zen Tambour". Not only is it exceptionally beautiful to look at (a real work of art, especially when compared to the steel-butchering of the propane-tank hank drums I developed) but sounds really gorgeous as well. Check out Spike's web-site at http://www.exoticvessels.com Spike has more videos on his web-site and here on youtube. My own web-page, detailing construction of a variety of mostly simple musical instruments is at: http://www.DennisHavlena.com
Hank Drum (made from a propane-tank) Ake Bono scale Dennis Havlena dennis havlena 2009-07-08 | (Note: Halo video forthcoming - I have to get more familiar with the scale first.) NOTE: I just listened to this video on a laptop --- DO NOT listen to it on a laptop -- sounds terrible!! NOTHING like the real thing!! Listen to it on a good desk-top setup. I built this hank drum over the 7/4/09 holiday weekend. Despite the 8 note ring, it turned out a lot nicer than I'd imagined. Scale is "Ake Bono". Overall tuning is a bit higher-pitched than "normal" (the "ding" is at about D#). Reason for this is because the thing is not yet fine-tuned. Again, this is merely a short video to illustrate how this particular scale sounds on the hank drum & is not intended to be a "performance". My webpage contains a number of articles about turning propane tanks into "hank drums" -- http://www.DennisHavlena.com The "Ake Bono" note layout is the same as on a Hang and Halo drum.
3 instruments from 1 converted guitar - 5-string banjo, bazoukey & 8-string tenor guitar dennis havlena 2009-06-19 | This very easy two-hour conversion, of a $5 "garage-sale special" guitar, creates an instrument that simulates three seperate instruments, totally depending on how it's tuned & how it's played: 1) a 5-string banjo (actually 9-string ---- being doubled) 2) an 8-string (four sets of doubled strings) tenor guitar. 3) a cittern, bazoukey or octave mandolin This conversion has four sets of doubled-up strings, each pair tuned in unison & a single banjo-like "5th string". Not to beat a notice to death, but this video is not for "performance" sake, but rather just to give you an idea of what this instrument's "3-phases" sound like. Full conversion details are on my webpage at this URL: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/3-instruments-in-one.htm Real fun to play & a heck of a conversation piece!
HOW TO MAKE A CELLO BANJO (sound-sample) dennis havlena 2009-05-19 | 5 days of spare-time work & $41.50 later, I made this 5-string CELLO-BANJO & am having a lot of fun with it. Body is cut down from an old $1.50 rock-n-roll drum from Salvation Army This video is part of an instructional article on my webpage detailing how to build one of these things. As such (& as usual) this video is not presented as any sort of refined musical performance - as can be readily seen. Full construction details of this cello-banjo are on my webpage at: http://www.DennisHavlena.com/how-build-cello-banjo.htm The tune played here has a great name, "Old Yellow Dog Come a Trottin' Through the Meeting House" -- well, after I recorded this video, I noticed that our old yellow dog (our golden retriever) indeed came a trottin' cross the living room and onto the lower left corner of the video - ball in mouth, ready to play. The banjo here is tuned in double D tuning, one octave below a normal banjo.
PVC tubing instrument configured like a Halo (or Hang) drum - in Ake Bono scale dennis havlena 2009-03-31 | HI - this is intended to accompany an article on my webpage ( www.DennisHavlena.com/PVC-hang-ake-bono.htm ) describing how to build this invention of mine. A point or two: - I am very unfamiliar with this Ake Bono scale - apologies in advance! - This thing is obviously not a Hang or Halo drum. I built it simply to noodle around and hopefully become familiar with Ake Bono scale. - A note or two here still needs finer tuning - It took about 3 days of spare time and about $60 to build - Anyone can build one - Yes -- I'm playing it with dollar-store beach flip-flops - they work great - I have an earlier version of this thing, in a different scale, on youtube - input the keywords PVC & havlena to find this video Dennis Havlena My webpage, describing the simple construction of 3 dozen or so folk instruments is at www.DennisHavlena.com
Gourd Banjo samples Old Maui & New Railroad in clawhammer style dennis havlena 2009-03-25 | This is to demonstrate the sound of the gourd banjo whose construction is described on my web-page at http://www.DennisHavlena.com/gourd-banjo.htm . The first tune is called, "Going Down to Old Maui" & it's my adaption of an old sea song. The second tune is called, "New Railroad" or "Been All Around this World" The tuning for both is the same: aDADE (I built this banjo two frets shorter than a normal banjo so this aDADE tuning corresponds to "double-C" tuning - gCGCD - on a regularly fretted instrument.) The first tune uses mostly "drop-thumb" clawhammer banjo style whereas the second tune uses primarily a clawhammer "hammer-on/pull-off style" (as opposed to "drop-thumb") which I rather prefer. PS: The instrument overdrove the microphone a bit, causing some distortion - especially on the 2nd tune. PS2: if you really want to hear the 2nd tune played like it should be, look for Jim Pankey's absolutely drop-dead beautiful version here on YouTube. Input his name plus "new railroad".
pup-to-pooch-in-8-seconds dennis havlena 2009-02-27 | Our year-old Golden Retreiver grew up fast -- well, maybe not THIS fast
Home-made Esraj (read more info, on right) dennis havlena 2008-10-16 | From Dennis Havlena. This is my version of a beautiful Indian instrument called the Esraj -- kind of a "bowed-Sitar". It has 2 playing strings and 13 sympathetic strings which run underneath the curved metal frets. I have additional info as well as a version of this instrument with Tamboura accompaniment (& have started adding construction details details) on my webpage at www.DennisHavlena.com As with videos of all my instruments, my intention here is certainly not "musical performance" but rather just to show how these instruments sound. This video was recorded about an hour after the instrument was completed & I have no idea of the proper way to play it.
Thoughts on playing Hang Drum scales on Stringed-Kalimba etc dennis havlena 2008-06-26 | Note: This video is likely only of interest to those into the Hang Drum, Halo Drum or other unusual instruments. This isn't intended to be smooth music -- just wanted to illustrate that a lot of the fun and inventiveness of the Hang Drum can be much more easily had on some other, simpler and more available instruments. Not being tuned chromatically makes it far easier to improvise. The scale here is Ake Bono: D-G-A-Bflat-D-Eflat-G-A-Bflat but either instrument can easily be retuned to whatever Hang scale you might want -- a great way to determing just what Hang or Halo Drum scale you'd like. My webpage (how to make a bunch of fun instruments)is at: http://DennisHavlena.com Planning to include building instructions for my stringed-kalimba shortly. Dennis Havlena
Worlds Biggest Rain-stick dennis havlena 2007-11-07 | : A Long carpet tube : A pound of nails pounded in randomly : A Bunch of rocks = World's biggest rainstick (?)
2nd Tune - Original Propane Tank Hank Drum by Dennis Havlena dennis havlena 2007-10-30 | This particular instrument is the world's first hank-drum. NEWS: THE 1ST PANTHEON STEEL "HALO" HAS BEEN RELEASED & A VIDEO OF IT CAN BE SEEN AT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuotnkspEo ................................................................. Just noodling around on an invention of mine, the propane-tank hank drum, which is in the scale of D minor pentatonic (D/ACDFGac). This is not a hang drum, but is in the tongue-drum family. It's notes are arranged very much like a real hang drum & it's a terribly fun instrument to play. I have another short video clip of this instrument on YouTube as well at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bpMS15kJyOY Full information on building one of these is on my webpage at: http://DennisHavlena.com/for-webpage-lp-hang.htm Dennis Havlena - northern Michigan GREAT NEWS: although a real, Swiss-made hang drum is extremely difficult to obtain these days, Pantheon Steel, a maker of beautiful steel drums ("steel pans") is just starting to sell their version of the Hang drum called the HALO hand-pan. See halo.pantheonsteel.com for details. They have a demo video & the Halo sounds beautiful! Later note: also see this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuotnkspEo
Bass Hank-Drum Made from Propane Tank - Dennis Havlena dennis havlena 2007-10-13 | This is a lower-pitched version of my invention - the propane-tank hank drum, which is on YouTube at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bpMS15kJyOY Notes here are A(ding),E,G,A,C,D,E,G which makes it A-minor Pentatonic scale. I built it mostly out of curiosity to see what a lower pitched instrument would sound like. As might be expected, it isn't as bright as my conventionally-pitched drum -- not quite as loud either. Still, it's fun to play and pretty mellow sounding. Again, my intent here is not a slick "performance" but rather just diddling "out loud". Dennis Havlena PS: I apologize for the brevity of most of my videos -- we have only dial-up internet out here in the sticks of northern Michigan, with little chance of high-speed ever coming. Youtube times out if I try to upload larger videos.
Tambiro made from a small camping type LP tank dennis havlena 2007-07-04 | Simple tongues cut into an empty camping type propane cylinder. Because of the chance of explosion or fire, I suggest no one try to duplicate this instrument. For an eye-opening example of what an exploding propane tank can do, access: http://youtube.com/watch?v=I0u-dgueN8k These tongues do not respond when struck or tapped like with my propane tank "hang drum" -- they must be plucked, kalimba style. http://DennisHavlena.com
The Original Propane Tank Hank Drum - by Dennis Havlena dennis havlena 2007-06-29 | This particular instrument is the world's first hank-drum. The propane-tank hank drum is an invention of mine & the results of lots of experimentation. Although it certainly is not a hang drum, it's scale, pitch & manner of playing using one's hands is similar to a hang drum. Both instruments encourage the same musical inventiveness. The bungee cord reduces the tank's ample ring. This video is just to document the steps in my experimentation & like my other videos, is not intended to be slick entertainment. As in my 2 previous hank drum related videos, the scale here is a favorite - D minor pentatonic (low to high): Low D (ding); A; C; D; F; G; A; C The thing is setup just like a Swiss Hang Drum but the Low D note (ding) is not central, but is positioned between the two highest notes (the only way I could get it to work). Nonetheless, it's as easy to hit as if it were a central ding. Building information & a to-scale template can be found on my webpage at: http://DennisHavlena.com Building one is an easy weekend project. GREAT NEWS: although a real, Swiss-made hang drum is extremely difficult to obtain these days, Pantheon Steel, a maker of beautiful steel drums ("steel pans") is just starting to sell their version of the Hang drum called the HALO hand-pan. See halo.pantheonsteel.com for details. They have a demo video & the Halo sounds beautiful! Later note (5-5-09): also see this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuotnkspEo LATER NOTE: 10-30-07 - I just uploaded another video of this instrument in action - - on YouTube at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6LYgxb5J9SI
Stringed Instrument that plays like a hang drum dennis havlena 2007-06-19 | Hi - Another invention: Just got this thing figured out and built -- a four-day project with a number of challenges, but am happy with the results. This thing's scale, tuning and fingering layout is the same as a metal hang drum, obviously with a lot different tone/sound. It uses bronze-wound guitar strings -- with same tension as on a guitar. Seven strings run down the instrument's side and the central "ding" runs down the middle. I've just put basic building information on my webpage at: http://DennisHavlena.com should anyone want to duplicate this beast. One advantage over a metal hang drum is that the strings can be tuned any way you want. The tuning here is D minor pentatonic (same as in my PVC tubing instrument YouTube video). Despite the gawky appearance, the action/mechanism works quickly and is quite responsive, with no "bounce" and very little wood clatter. GREAT NEWS: although a real, Swiss-made hang drum is extremely difficult to obtain these days, Pantheon Steel, a maker of beautiful steel drums ("steel pans") is just starting to sell their version of the Hang drum called the HALO hand-pan. See halo.pantheonsteel.com for details. They have a demo video & the Halo sounds beautiful! Later note: also see this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuotnkspEo
DIY PVC Pipe Instrument plays like a hang drum dennis havlena 2007-06-12 | Hello- Here's last week's invention: a Blue Man Group type PVC tubing affair with the notes arranged exactly like a hang drum. Complete dimensions and con- struction info is on my page: http://DennisHavlena.com It's played with dollar-store flip-flops, or with fingers (quieter). Scale is D minor, pentatonic, but the thing could be made in any key. Tune is Irish: "Star of the County Down". I realize that metal hang drums have a very beautiful and unique sound, but so do PVC tube instruments. By no means am I belittling anything here -- just experimenting and having a world of fun in the process. Please take a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLhRtV1xKiM which is a longer video showing a number of my other instruments. By the way - the flat low note has been fixed. GREAT NEWS: although a real, Swiss-made hang drum is extremely difficult to obtain these days, Pantheon Steel, a maker of beautiful steel drums ("steel pans") is just starting to sell their version of the Hang drum called the HALO hand-pan. See halo.pantheonsteel.com for details. They have a demo video & the Halo sounds beautiful! Later note: also see this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuotnkspEo PS My motorboat died dead, so I buried it -- thus the frog-pond.
