My newest american bulldog has been eying my mandolin case lately, I think he wants to play.
My newest american bulldog has been eying my mandolin case lately, I think he wants to play.
2012 Weber Bitterroot F5.
I wouldn't worry until the cat comes back with a banjo and wants to jam.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
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Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
I think I'm going to the California Coast Music Camp. I can pitch a tent there and I'll bring both a guitar and a mandolin. I figure Tristan Scroggins can teach me a thing or three. I had to keep early Summer free due to pending grandchild birth. Got to be home minding the dogs while Grandma helps out. I ruled one out due to heat and humidity, and another due to 10,000 ft elevation, and another in Saskatchewan. Really wanted a road trip but not that far, so staying close to home. They aren't signing up yet.
Didn't want a College campus. CCMC gives you a choice of accommodations, three squares a day, and a pretty huge selection of classes.They've been doing it a while too.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
Nice. I hope you enjoy and get a lot out of this! Are you going to wish you still had your MK to bounce around?
We have been going a week early to Grass Valley for the last few years, where they have a week of workshops for many instruments. Looks like fun, although we go early for the jamming and visiting with friends. And yup, this is the old "driving 500 miles to be with friends that live 50 miles away" type of thing.
Are you going to Grass Valley this year?
-- Don
"Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
"It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."
2002 Gibson F-9
2016 MK LFSTB
1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
[About how I tune my mandolins]
[Our recent arrival]
I had a couple of cats that either didn't care or loved. Banjo, fiddle or mandolin they stuck around. The cat I have now is out the cat door once I pull it out of the case.
'95 Gibson F-5V
2017 Collings MF5
2017 Martin OOO-28
2002 Martin D-18GE
You know, I think I've decided life is too short to not to play your best fiddle, but I might have mandolin build #2 done. Very bare bones a la an F 9. I haven't missed the MK, though I enjoyed it.
Silverangel A
Arches F style kit
1913 Gibson A-1
Just keep the case closed. I had a cat that thought my banjo case would make a great litter box. Cat pee smells bad. So I called Geoff Stelling and he said "put some baking soda in the case and put the case outside in the sun for a day. Then close the case, put it in your car, drive to the dump and throw the case as far down the hill as you can because that stink is never coming out".
We few, we happy few.
My white cat loves my playing,just loves it,she sits there and watches in fascination at my playing...oh by the way,did I mention shes totally deaf,,
One cat sits in my case while I play, one leaves the room, and the other two don't care one way or the other. The dogs also could not care less. I don't know whether to be flattered or not, or if my animals really don't care what I do as long as they are fed regularly (that's REALLY what I think their opinion is! LOL!!)
In addition to the positive reaction of my cats, I thought I'd mention my dog experience, too. My wife and I don't have any dogs; we are devoted cat people. But my duo partner (guitar/classical guitar) has three dogs. He has two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and one Pappion. All three are really nice dogs, and the two Cavaliers are sweet enough to make a cat person like me want one.
We were practicing at his house this morning and all three dogs settled in the room with us and went off to sleep as we played. This often happens when we practice there, just as my cats settle down and listen when we practice here.
This leads me to question whether pets' like or dislike has to do with genre and style of play rather than the instrument. We play Renaissance-era music, and folk from various cultures. It is instrumental, mostly fairly quiet and soothing. I mainly play melody line on mandolin, piccolo mandolin and OM. He mainly plays harmony and fill on Classical guitar with some steel-stringed guitar as well. No chop chords anywhere. Our music is background for wine tastings and similar functions, rather than main-stage entertainment.
So, I'd be curious to know, if your pet likes your playing, what genre or style is it that you are playing? If your pet reacts negatively, again, what are you playing? I am looking for a pattern, as plainly some like it and others don't. Maybe it is the style rather than the instruments. Then again, maybe it is the individual pets.
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
I play Classical/Folk and soft rock. See animal reaction above. And my dogs are a long-haired mini-dashchund, and a Jack Russell terrier
Using my example of Stella/Mandolin Hating Dog - I played Irish trad music exclusively on the fiddle, mandolin, tenor banjo and tenor guitar:
She DESPISED the fiddle
She hated the mandolin
She tolerated the tenor banjo
She quite liked the tenor guitar and punk rock, to the point of blissfully napping while they played
My wee terrier guy Wilson dozes off when I play the tenor banjo, he seems to find it quite relaxing!
My long gone Pit Bull Timmy would lay between two friends of mine as they played Irish trad music on the button accordion and tin whistle, sleeping peacefully.
My long gone Pit Bull Chubby used to stand in front of the stereo and bark at it when one of my roommates would put classical music on - much like Stella, he too would sleep blissfully through punk rock records.
2018 Girouard Concert oval A
2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
1969 Martin 00-18
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Nope, I love it every time a cat leaves the room. That whole breathing thing gets easier
Not all the clams are at the beach
Arrow Manouche
Arrow Jazzbo
Arrow G
Clark 2 point
Gibson F5L
Gibson A-4
Ratliff CountryBoy A
I had a good chuckle from your various dogs' reactions. Why do I find it reassuring that your Pit Bull Chubby relaxed with Punk? Somehow that seems exactly as it should be.
We really won't see any correlation between music style and pets' tastes in music for a variety of reasons, not the least being our very small sample size, but it is fun to think about, anyway. I enjoyed your reply.
Oh, and @ LadysSolo, long-haired mini Daschunds are really cool dogs! I've never met one who didn't have an interesting personality, sometimes in a quirky way. If I ever think of getting another dog, they would be very high on my list!
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
Purr more, hiss less. Barn Cat Mandolins Photo Album
Your attention is divided the wrong way.. away from pet centered, from the pet's perspective..
writing about music
is like dancing,
about architecture
I have many cats, and have had many more over the years, and the only certain thing is that each one is different. They may prefer one type of instrument timbre over another, or enjoy none at all. I've had ones that come up close while I play, ones that want to climb up on something high to try and swat the moving bow, ones that preferred single note melodies over chords (and vice versa), ones that wanted to contact and physically feel the vibrations through the instrument, and, yes, ones that would leave the room. Very diverse reactions, just like people in that regard.
bratsche
"There are two refuges from the miseries of life: music and cats." - Albert Schweitzer
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My two dogs seem to enjoy me on the mandolin. They'll sit in the kitchen at my feet and snooze away. But I've just started violin lessons and minute it comes out of the case, the room clears. Can't say I blame them.
Joe
The mandolin is another pet that is not cozy for the cat to snuggle up to, and it monopolizes your lap. It is the cat that is insulted. Don't worry though, she will adapt to reality, and clamor for your attention some other time.
My Jack Russell Terrier is not a fan of my playing. He gets up and leaves. The Boxer and Bulldog don't seem to mind so much. Perhaps they can't hear as well.
It ain't gotta be perfect, as long as it's perfect enough!
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