My name is Wayland Harman, the new executive director of the Jew's Harp Guild. I want to express my appreciation for the faith the membership has placed in me, and the enthusiasm of all the new and returning board members. We have a wonderful opportunity to take this organization to the next level just as soon as we figure out what we want that to be. While we work on that one there is the job of getting back on track and putting on another festival. I have inherited a few significant concerns which require, and are receiving, my immediate attention, first and foremost, this very publication. It is a blessing that our members have been so patient with us and we do apologize for not publishing the Pluck-N-Post regularly. That shortcoming is being rectified and you may look forward to finding it in your mailbox consistently, each issue filled with relevant articles and serving the needs of this fine organization in every way that we can. The PNP is your place to share what you know about the Jew's Harp. Your input and submissions are encouraged.

Another obvious concern is the festival. While we may be a little behind in our planning this year, all necessary preparations are being made and falling into place quite nicely. Our appreciation for the Bay City Arts Council cannot be overstated. To have this facility at our disposal, and the wonderful folks who take care of us there, has made the physical chore of presentation much easier. This still leaves a lot for us to do and additional volunteers are always welcome. Look for an exciting new Guild T-shirt  to be available this year and of course the 15th annual commemorative shirt. Our workshops will include a few surprises and a special session on how the instruments are made. Come join us and make a popsicle stick Jew's Harp. It won't sound great but sure will be fun and will help you see why good Jew's Harps sound good. Have you ever wanted to play more than one harp at a time, we can show you how. Interested in some of the related instruments? Would you like to learn to circular breath your Didgeridu, or build a mouthbow that really rocks? This is the Jew's Harp Festival and anything is possible. It is all happening on the weekend of August 4th. This would be a good year to join us, if you haven't yet; and for all of our returning friends, see you there!  Also I want to say thank you to those of you I have already spoken with. The way you all have stepped up to the plate again this year is very impressive and the reason why this festival is going to be great. 

As you may know the Jew's Harp Guild was established as a not for profit entity in 1996. We have successfully maintained our 503C status since that time, and have every intention of continuing the Guild ad infinitum. Though we have never secured the grant money we hoped this organizational move would bring, we have none the less established ourselves as an important part of the world Jew's Harp community. Our website is the most often cited source on the web for information about this instrument. One benefit of our non profit status allowed us the .org classification which has enhanced our credibility and thus our responsibility. We take our online presence very seriously and hope to increase the data base we are hosting in the near future. The two CDs of festival recordings stand as our most, shall I say, vocal accomplishment. An amazing array of talent has graced the festival stage through its fourteen years. I am so glad we have this sample preserved; the spirit of the festival is well captured here. The incredible amount of work that has gone into this organization, and years of dedication by what has sometimes been far too few individuals doing it all, deserves more recognition than I can begin to express here. What has been created is a strong group, with lofty goals and the common sense to take care of the business at hand while graciously reaching to a bright future. Each of us should be proud to have come so far, accomplished so much; and if at times that has been only to keep us alive until the next growth spurt then we have done well. We are after all a teenager and our growing pains have made us strong.  - Wayland  

SOUNDINGS

UNIQUE JEW'S HARP CD FOR SALE NOW

(from http://www.muziekgebouw.nl/uk/actueel_detail.asp?id=120)
December 12 2006
Fifth International Jew's Harp Festival 2006
The remarkably varied sounds of the Jew's harp, that could be heard throughout the fifth International Jew's Harp Festival in July 2006 in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, have been captured on a beautiful double CD

Jew's Harp players from all over the world were invited by Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ and the International Jew's Harp Society to perform at the festival. For centuries, the Jew's harp has been one of the most widely spread musical intstuments of the world appearing in all shapes and sizes

You can now listen to the surprising and mysterious sounds of Jew's harps from countries ranging from India to the the United States and from China to South-Africa.

The CD is for sale at the Box Office of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ for € 25,00. People from outside the Netherlands can order the CD by phone
using a credit card.
The box office can be reached from 12.05 pm - 7 pm (CET)
at T +31 20 788 2000.
Please keep your credit card number and expiry date ready.
(price € 25,00 including administration and postal charges).
 

SHOW-N-TELL

These are two new ones from Steven Stoop, a long time maker and contributor from Holland. The one on top is in the key of E. The other is adjustable

Creating a Jewsaphone

Harm J. Linsen

Good Friday 2006

Here we are, a holy weekend and I have the time to write an article on creating a jewsaphone. The idea to write this article came to me as I was reading the article Etats Unis/Clayton Bailey in February 2006 on the French site http://www.guimbardage.net/. In the last paragraph of his article the author mentions (and I quote) ‘Pour ma part je vais me mettre à la recherche d’un klaxon en cuivre dans les brocantes’. (For my part I find myself a brass horn in a lumber shop). A few weeks earlier near the new year I made two jewsaphones out of two brass horns that were collecting dust in a box.

A few weeks earlier

Collecting all the information I could find concerning the Jewsaphone I discovered the site of Clayton Bailey and his Jawsaphones (the subject of the article mentioned above). When I saw the photographs of his ‘universal Jawsaphones’ I said to myself ‘I can do that myself’. The idea was born and I found myself in a hardware store to study the materials and ways to construct a device that could hold the jew’s harp.

Fabrication plan

I take two brass plates which I cut with a jig-saw, in the desired form. On one plate I mount a T-shaped coupling for water conduits. The long side of the T-coupling is cut to form an opening in which the tongue can move freely. On the other plate bolts will be attached with which the two sides can be fixed together and hold a jew’s harp. All the pieces are finally fixed by soldering.

Cutting the brass \/

Fabrication

Not as easily done as said, obtaining brass plates is not simple. It looks like it doesn’t exist. In the Dutch hobbyshops they don’t sell it. Finally I obtained the brass at a metal wholesale dealer. Cutting the brass is not very difficult although you need some patience and some quality sawblades. The quality of the blades is an important factor for your patience. One plate needs two to three blades in the ideal case but that could be a much larger number.

After cutting, the holes for the bolts are made. Very important is the position of the holes, the jew’s harp will go together with the two plates. The trick is to position the centre of the sounding part of the tongue or embouchure (mouthpiece) opposite to the hole in the short arm of the T-coupling. If that is not the case the horn will not or very poorly amplify the sound of the jew’s harp. The holes in which the bolts are placed need to be of a slightly smaller diameter as the diameter of the bolt. That way you can cut the thread where the bolts are to be screwed in. The holes in the other plate should be slightly bigger for an easy assembly.

 These photo's were taken by Robb Storar at the 5th international jew's harp festival, Amsterdam This article was published earlier on the French site www.guimbardage.net although in the French language ( http://www.guimbardage.net.spip.php/?article33 ).

For easy assembly I have used winged nuts \/

Experimenting

After the success of making my first two jewsaphones I started to search for other horns to experiment with. And in a secondhand shop I found a bottle in the shape of a clarinet and with a clasped capsule. Using the clasp of the capsule I made a glass jewsaphone.

 
Now I have six jewsaphones of different shapes and I have ideas for some others.

Playing

After construction and assembly I was very curious to know how the instrument sounded. The first time I tried it with the instrument against my lips (not the teeth). Whoa, what a sound I was truly surprised by its clairity. It’s a bit hard to define in what fashion the sound is changed. I haven’t made any recordings of the sound. I have the impression that the sound is richer or more full.

Playing the jew’s harp pressed against the lips, there is a clear sound in contrast to playing without the jewsaphone where the sound is smothered by the lips. Playing with the instrument pressed against the teeth gives a hard sound inside your head and it’s a little harder to reduce the vibrations of the instrument to prevent it slapping against your teeth. This caused a cramp in my jaws as if I ate chewing gum for a long time. After some time that is reduced (by training I guess). One cause of that cramp is the form of the plate of my first jewsaphone which requires more effort to keep the instrument still. Nevertheless playing with more efforts to control the instrument is something you quickly get accustomed to.

So yes, the sound is really amplified but I have no clue to what extend.. It ’s also dependant on what kind of jew’s harp is amplified, the larger ones with a more rigid tongue are better amplified than the smaller jew’s harps with a less rigid tongue. That has probably its origin in the length of the horn, but also the position of the jew’s harp in front of the hole in the T-shaped coupling which is maybe less tolerant for the position of the smaller jew’s harps. The sound is certainly amplified but in comparison with other musical instruments maybe not enough.

And take care! You’ll experience that playing a jewsaphone is addictive! Cordially Harm J. Linsen

THE JEW'S HARP GUILD
RECORDINGS

Summary:

Highlights 1998 - 2000

The North American Jew’s Harp Festival is . . .
musicians from Australia, Austria, Hungary,
the Netherlands, and the United States
playing traditional, original, improvisational,
and uncategorizable music on Jew’s harp,
dumbek, bhodran, Clackamore, cigar box
fiddle, mandolin, harmonica, random
pieces of wood, and more.

There’s nothing else like the
North American Jew’s Harp Festival.

North American Jew's Harp Festival
1998 - 2000 Highlights CD

US$12.⁰⁰ each + US$ 3.⁰⁰ S & H in USA (US$ 5.⁰⁰ international).
Allow 4-8 weeks for delivery. Sorry no CODs.