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Location: Utah | My 9th grade son and I just got back from ten days in England. What a great trip! Among the many things we did was a visit to the Museum of Instruments at the Royal College of Music in London. If you get to London it is well worth a few hours to go over and see it. The RCM is located three blocks behind the Natural History Museum, across the street from the Royal Albert Hall. Check their webpage for events, too, as they often have student ensembles playing free mini concerts at lunchtime. The museum is only open during the school session.
Flysig Jr. being an avid violinist and classical music fan, we spent most of our time upstairs in the viol and guitar display. Downstairs has a number of very old harpsichords, pianos, and a variety of wind instruments. Most instruments in the museum are in pristine condition despite being hundreds of years old. The museum consists of one medium size room with a balcony, located in a maze of twisty hallways and stairways deep in the RCM building.
They keep the room at a controlled 30% humidity and around 68 degrees (guessing at the temp by feel).
Notice the older guitars with double courses of strings. Many of the instruments appear to have been modified over the centuries, some appear quite modern in configuration.
17th century by Voboam family from Paris
c. 1650 by Rene Voboam of Paris
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Bass viols are about the same size as a modern cello. Notice they are six stringed, and the interesting frets and headstock carvings (called scrolls). Some of the older violins have similar headstock carvings. These are late 17th century instruments.
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Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | A nice parlor guitar from 1809 Spain
Inspiration for modern travel instruments? From 1870
The oldest surviving stringed keyboard instrument in the world, from 1470. A harpsichord.
And somewhat off topic, Canterbury Strings made an appearance at the Roman Baths in Bath England. These are original baths built by the Romans in the early first century.
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Great place. Thanks for the tip. Looks like they were even experimenting with feedback busters back then. Then again, most 17th century composers wanted a lot of headroom. Love the bearded Alpep headstock, though he needs a tiny beret. He sure gets around. |
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Posts: 4236
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | VERY cool!
Thanks! |
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Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | No Ovations? |
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Posts: 4413
| My son's been attending the RCM monthly for the last 18 months. It's a wonderful place, although The Royal Academy of Music is much nicer inside and less like Hogwarts on the outside.
The standard of teaching at both places is amazing.
I'll be there on Sunday, I'll pass on your regards. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | SWMBO is planning a trip to England/Ireland/Scotland for next year. I may be the only one in the group interested in music, although no one in the group complained about the 4 hour jam session Karl and I had in Germany a couple years ago. I'm not sure if they could handle Schroeder or Temp, but if anyone across the pond has any suggestions for people or places to visit, please let me know. I hate to go a week without feeding my guitar fix. |
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Posts: 270
Location: Yorkshire, England | Ahhhh ! Brings back memories of when I used to teach there. |
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Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | I love looking at the fabulous craftmenship on these archaic instruments. I used to buy full-colour Sotheby's & Christie's auction catalogues (considerably after the fact, of course...) from a funky old bookstore in Toronto just to look at the instrument sections.
Thanks so much for the excellent pictures and the tour!! Much appreciated!!
:D |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I'm not sure if they could handle Schroeder or Temp, but if anyone across the pond has any suggestions for people or places to visit, please let me know. And I'm not sure if Clive and myself should be flattered or offended. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Next time you and Clive are in Boise Idaho, intentionally avoid Mark. |
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Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Mark, if you're into symphony music and near Birmingham, check out the Birmingham Symphony Hall. It is a relatively new building with incredible acoustics. We heard Joshua Bell on violin and Steven Isserlis on cello, backed by the chamber orchestra Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Incredible is the only description of the sound in that space.
What look like large double doors above the rear seating and to the sides of the organ pipes are adjustable sound ports, to change the acoustic tuning of the room. There are more of these doors around the top along the sides, not visible in this photo. The lighting system above the stage is in a module that can be lowered as needed to further tune the acoustics.
If you go to Stratford, be sure to take the pay tour of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (and watch a show while you're there). The new theater has amazing technology, yet it visually appears similar to the old theater it replaced.
For guitars to play in England I can't help you out at all. |
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Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
And I'm not sure if Clive and myself should be flattered or offended. Flattered. And lucky. They're lawyers.
Pretty amazing place and interesting instruments. But I just can't help thinking that had there been a visit to that place by certain people in about 1976, we could be looking at Beal's likeness on the top of every Adamas I. |
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Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
we could be looking at Beal's likeness on the top of every Adamas I. Or we could have the next Alpep specials: An Adamas I where the carved scroll is Al with his beret. C'mon Al, you know you want to organise this one. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | SWMBO and I aren't much into symphonies, but the oldest couple in our group are into classical music. I like it more than SWMBO does, but neither of us can handle opera. We went to the Vienna Opera house and lasted just long enough at an opera to get a good view of the inside from the standing room only section.
I can only guess, since I've never met either of them, that Clive and Temp don't fit the American stereotype of British gentlemen. I'm not sure I could keep up with Temp in a jam, but I would enjoy listening to him. I rather doubt that I could say anything that would either flatter or insult him. I've only seen Clive play part of a song and it fit my tastes.
The "they" I was referring to in our group aren't lawyers. I generally don't socialize with lawyers. "They" are our Porsche friends we went to Germany with. Karl had a song book of 60s and 70s songs that most of the group knew well enough to sing along with. That would be tough to replicate, but it would be fun to try. |
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October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | If you want to play guitar, there are a lot of buskers playing in the London Underground system. Great natural reverb, too. I bet for a couple of pounds tossed their way you could take a turn on their guitar. ;) |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally by FlySig:
I bet for a couple of pounds tossed their way you could take a turn on their guitar. ;) :mad: Not Bloody Likely! :mad:
Would you let a total stranger play your favorite guitar for $5?
The fact that you offered me money to play my guitar would make me Less likely to let you play it!
Just how cheap of a whore do you think I am? You obviously think that the busker is a whore, offering their services for a pittance, we are just haggling over the Price.
No insult meant... That would be (and has been) my response.
OH! And when the offer is raised from $5 to $20, the I get real suspicious and belligerent. |
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Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
Just how cheap of a whore do you think I am? You obviously think that the busker is a whore, offering their services for a pittance, we are just haggling over the Price.
[/QB] Maybe THAT'S why John Lennon never gave you any money....he KNEW you'd think of it as an insult. |
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Location: closely held secret | Not the same thing at all. You actually have to request a whore's services before she starts making noise. |
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Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | OMA, sorry if I touched a raw nerve. The little winky face was supposed to indicate it was not a serious suggestion. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I want one of those Feedback Busters...
FlySig, no insult taken. I just have to tell one-or-three people "NO" per week.
And then they get insulted and offer me money. Then I really say "NO!" |
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Location: East Tennessee | Now I know why it's called a "headstock".
Looks like a really neat place to visit. |
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Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Very cool...would make a nice calender.... |
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Location: Newington, CT | Wow! What a great place to spend a bunch of hours! |
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April 2008
Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Captain Black:
Ahhhh ! Brings back memories of when I used to teach there. Hey, Cap't! where did you go, what did you do after teaching there? |
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Posts: 270
Location: Yorkshire, England | Local Government, Alan. There is no call for musical talent here in Barnsley anymore. Anyway, all wooden instruments were burnt on the fires to keep us warm during the coal miners strike of the 80's. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Temp, Clive, English Gentleman, all in the same sentence.
Anyone else spot what's wrong with that? |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| Originally posted by Beal:
Temp, Clive, English Gentleman, all in the same sentence.
Anyone else spot what's wrong with that? On behalf of myself and the former OFC Man Of The Year I resent that.
I always take my hat off before hitting a lady and I have seen with my own eyes Temp use cutlery when he didn't strictly need to.
That's close enough to gentlemanly behaviour for me. |
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Location: Scotland | In Scotland a gentleman is someone who knows how to play the bagpipes but refuses to, |
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April 2009
Posts: 130
Location: London, UK | SWMBO is planning a trip to England/Ireland/Scotland for next year. I may be the only one in the group interested in music, although no one in the group complained about the 4 hour jam session Karl and I had in Germany a couple years ago. I'm not sure if they could handle Schroeder or Temp, but if anyone across the pond has any suggestions for people or places to visit, please let me know. I hate to go a week without feeding my guitar fix. Well, the best London can offer if you're wanting to browse guitars and so on is the many small specialist music stores in Denmark Street, AKA Tin Pan Alley, just behind the redevelopment site near Tottenham Court Road tube station. But be warned, since the Fender takeover, Ovations seem to have all but disappeared.
Denmark Street joins Charing Cross Road, where you'll find some of the oldest (and one of the largest) bookstores in the world, if that's any interest to you. |
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Royal College of Music's Museum of Instruments, and lots of pics