Guitars and other musical instruments

[WolfmansBrother]

Who else brings a guitar or other musical instrument on your canoe trips?

I have a Rainsong carbon fiber parlor guitar that I will bring on occasion, depending on the nature of the trip.

Most of my trips are 1-2 nights, without any portages, so adding a small guitar isn't a major burden. I also go to places where I generally don't have any close neighbors, so I won't be bothering other campers.

When the opportunity arises, it's nice making music out in nature.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

Carbon fiber!? I had no idea. The neck too? I guess that solves the drastic humidity changes that keep me from bringing anything of value.

When I am solo I bring an inexpensive half scale classical. I do make sure there are no other trippers within hearing distance. It drives me bonkers to listen to other’s music in the wilderness. I can only assume someone else wouldn’t want to hear mine. It is a nice way to pass some time.

Bob

 

[canoeao]

I started on drums and I tried stringed instruments but they never stuck. Alas, I can’t exactly bring a drum set with me while I’m tripping. In the past year or so I’ve picked up the harmonica though, and it’s been very nice to fiddle around with thanks to its small size and easy learning curve.

Carbon fiber, huh? Never thought of that, like Cheeseandbeans. Smart!

 

[WolfmansBrother]

Yes, carbon fiber body and neck. There are a number of manufacturers making carbon fiber guitars, but Rainsong is the most well known.

As Cheeseandbeans said, with it being carbon fiber you don’t have to worry about temperature or humidity changes.

And the carbon fiber guitars sound good. My parlor is a 12 fret guitar and it has plenty of punch and bottom end. When bringing it out on a trip I don't feel like it is a compromise in feel and tone, as opposed to bringing a "beater" guitar that may not have the best playability or tone.

 

[memaquay]

I've been looking at those carbon fiber guitars. I've got a cheap little ovation style one I bring. How many sheckles is one of those carbon ones worth?

 

[lowangle al]

I'd take a bugle if I thought it would get my wife out of the tent earlier.

 

[WolfmansBrother]

I've been looking at those carbon fiber guitars. I've got a cheap little ovation style one I bring. How many sheckles is one of those carbon ones worth?

Depends on the brand and model, but generally on the expensive side new. They can be found much cheaper used. I bought my Rainsong used for over 50% off the retail price.

 

[alsg]

I've been looking at those carbon fiber guitars. I've got a cheap little ovation style one I bring. How many sheckles is one of those carbon ones worth?

About as much or more than a new top end composite canoe.

 

[TXRiverRunner]

Who else brings a guitar or other musical instrument on your canoe trips?

I have a Rainsong carbon fiber parlor guitar that I will bring on occasion, depending on the nature of the trip.

Most of my trips are 1-2 nights, without any portages, so adding a small guitar isn't a major burden. I also go to places where I generally don't have any close neighbors, so I won't be bothering other campers.

When the opportunity arises, it's nice making music out in nature.

View attachment 131426

I take my little Martin Backpacker sometimes. I wrap it in a heavy duty trash bag and duct tape it closed. I take church groups so it is helpful to lead singing of hymns or church songs. I plan to do some playing on an upcoming video. My daughter is a voice major in college, so if I can take her along we might make some good music. https://youtube.com/channel/UCOb_BCCjB0iM-rZjhxtsNZQ

 

[memaquay]

Well, I just looked up the price......LOL. I'll have to wait for the lottery win for that one. I have a series of campfire guitars, in various states of destruction, but they all play well, and sound good, so I think I will concentrate on their complete destruction, which should take me to the end of my natural life span.

 

[Black_Fly]

I'd like to take one along, but the only thing I can remember how to play is Stairway to Heaven.

 

[Erica]

I used to bring a soprano recorder. I've thought about bringing my banjo, but then I experience pounding rain and think...maybe not. Then a portage. Really not.

 

[Woodpuppy]

An ukulele would be about perfect!

 

[Boatman53]

I’ve thought about a ukulele and I like a shakuhachi flute but in the end I know how easily sound travels over water and I never seem to be so isolated that no one would hear me.
Last September in the BWCA it was very crowded, we saw numerous parties every day, most campsites were occupied, so unfortunately we were not away from it all. One group paddled past our camp with a radio blaring away. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.
Jim

 

[memaquay]

We do noisy drunk/guitar/music trips in the summer, but it is always on a lake where we are the only people present. It's probably hard for some of you to imagine, but I can drive for 20 minutes to a huge lake with a beautiful campsite on a point, paddle for a half an hour and be the only people on the lake for days. We have resurrected our band and have our first show since covid on May 13, I'd like to get the whole band out this summer, make a couple of music videos in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Banjo, tom-tom/war drum or harmonica depending on what kind of group I want to creep out.
“Well, there it goes again. …Every night when we bed down, that confounded harmonica starts in.” Gary Larson 6/8/83

 

[jdeerfoot]

I knew a guy who used bring his Great Highland bagpipes. Some people liked them but many others didn’t. I don’t think he trips anymore but he has a friend with a large sailboat on Lake Michigan and often pipes them in and out of the yacht harbor to the cheers of others boaters.

 

[Woodpuppy]

I could tire of bag pipes on a trip, just as I could steel drums. But in a certain time and place, nothing else would do.

 

[Gamma1214]

I knew a guy who used bring his Great Highland bagpipes.

Sounds like a terrific reminder of why it's best to trip solo.

 

[memaquay]

The fella that lead the school trips before me was quite a character. He would bring a car battery with him to power his cassette player, and the only music he would play was bagpipe music. The thing is, it wasn't traditional bagpipe music, it was Muzac type covers of modern tunes. One miserable morning at about 5:AM, when the Pic had gone out and the mosquitos had filled up the canvas prospector tent for the 1000th time that night, the never ending bagpipe cassette caught my attention. The tune was very familiar, and although I couldn't place it at first, I finally figured out it was "Beat it" by Michael Jackson. Imagine that, camped out in the back of beyond, somewhere on the Little Current River, listening to Beat It, done in bagpipes, in a prospector tent. Life is stranger than fiction sometimes.

Bagpipe jokes.....what's the difference between bagpipes and onions? Nobody cries when you cut up bagpipes.

If you were lost in the woods, who would you trust for directions: an in-tune bagpiper, and out-of-tune bagpiper, or Santa Claus?
The out-of-tune bagpipe player. The other two indicate you have been hallucinating.

How do you make a chain saw sound like a bagpipe?
Add vibrato.

What's the difference between a dead snake in the road and a dead bagpiper in the road?
Skid marks in front of the snake.

What's the range of a bagpipe?
Twenty yards if you have a good arm.

Ok, I actually like the bagpipes, and even had a chanter once to see if I could learn it, but alas, my blowing was bad, but my fingering was worse.