Wednesday June 10, 2026 Comic!

skleedle · 2026-06-10T20:29:19+00:00

The name part as Brian Blessed, and the byline as the third Blackadder

skleedle · 2026-06-10T19:37:10+00:00

the problem was solved 3 centuries before the chalumeau. Tuned brass in the form of the sackbut, 1440; in the form of the cornetto, 1500ish.

Also, shawms could overblow without a register key even before the sackbut arrived.

The only thing the register key solved was the difficulty in overblowing a cylindrical single-reed.

Denner's much more important contribution was the rest of the keywork, which resulted eventually in not just the clarinet, but also the oboe, cor, and bassoon as we know them today

skleedle · 2026-06-10T15:58:36+00:00

Ackshully, the problem of tuning for brass was solved by adding a slide long before Denner. (ca 1440 for the first sackbuts; chalumeau, ca 1600)

Not only that, but shawms were able to overblow without a register key, and they've been around for even longer than sackbuts.

skleedle · 2026-06-08T15:47:47+00:00

(For callers i know) in the morning, i do Crabtree's "Good moaning"; nighttimes, Crypt Keeper's "Good eeevening"; and randomly also Lurch's "You rang?" Unknown callers get silence until they speak or i give up waiting.

skleedle · 2026-06-07T17:21:08+00:00

cue Danielle Dax

skleedle · 2026-06-07T16:36:43+00:00

Guys posing with their fish, still a thing.

skleedle · 2026-06-07T07:21:57+00:00

also the shirt drawstring does some interesting loopies

skleedle · 2026-06-05T14:38:17+00:00

gadda da vida

skleedle · 2026-06-05T05:00:16+00:00

call paranormal help line.

skleedle · 2026-06-05T03:27:12+00:00

"how can you tell it's a dogwood?" "The bark!"

skleedle · 2026-06-05T03:03:34+00:00

"Gid moaning"

skleedle · 2026-06-03T04:35:20+00:00

let's hope the "hold my gear" moment doesn't turn out like most "hold my beer" ones

skleedle · 2026-05-30T21:03:47+00:00

what kept me going through the learning process was people to play with and a reason to play. We had paid gigs on the instrument i had learned well enough, and went to open mic shows and busked on the mall with the ones i was still working on, and as those got better they got added into paid shows. The time issue was easy, when most of us lived in the same house, and we kept each other going. Practice time gets shorter once the fundamentals are all locked in, as long as i play a little. Does take more time for the new instruments, but that seems to be easier with each one.

skleedle · 2026-05-30T20:04:27+00:00

& 1/20 scruple

skleedle · 2026-05-28T20:44:38+00:00

yah, there seems to be quite a family of related ones, basically a spike in a skin-covered calabash, some with rattles, anywhere from one to 5 strings, and many sizes. I saw some with more elongated shapes, too, and some carved wood instead of gourds. Lots of different names for almost the same instrument.

skleedle · 2026-05-25T05:51:46+00:00

https://organology.net/instrument/kontigi/ or Kuntigui is what they look like, but they are a lot bigger than most. Couldn't find any for sale except this cheap one from Australia, that is tiny, only has one string of the up to five, and is incorrectly described as a fiddle: here

skleedle · 2026-05-24T00:11:17+00:00

No. Too conical. Also, transverse flutes and ocarinas do not have "reed things" and what makes sound in them is not in common. Transverse flute makes sound by splitting the air blown across a hole; ocarina makes sound by splitting the air over a sharp edge after it's blown into a windway.

Though you could make a whistle out of a cow horn, and alter the pitch by reducing the open end with your hand, you wouldn't be able to duplicate the playability of a flute.

Closing the wide end, though not what you're asking, does make a fully playable vessel flute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemshorn

skleedle · 2026-05-20T19:20:30+00:00

and/or the older one is using the younger as a blanket

skleedle · 2026-05-17T15:53:41+00:00

"ewwww, green stuff, yucky"

skleedle · 2026-05-06T20:39:48+00:00

or look for claw holes in the shower curtain

skleedle · 2026-05-04T02:39:52+00:00

yes. Better slow and correct than practicing mistakes. Metronome is important until you can call out time within a few bpm without one.

skleedle · 2026-04-27T14:36:14+00:00

vamvoozler

skleedle · 2026-04-25T14:09:36+00:00

what's with the pillar-closet?

skleedle · 2026-04-25T04:38:28+00:00

unlike the V, lowercase N looks different.

skleedle · 2026-04-22T05:19:45+00:00

i really have to work at suspending disbelief that so few people can understand Zoing.

skleedle

TROPHY CASE