Have you ever tried playing with four Hammers?

[Dick Glasgow]

Have you ever tried playing with four Hammers?

Four Hammers

[Nikita]

Well Barbara is a great player. Actually, she can do it mainly because of the notes system of her Mark Ramser hackbrett : it's made so that the space between different intervals is the same all along the courses : same space for thirds, same for fourths, and so on. And you can play the basses on either side of the instrument. I tried with my traditional tuning, but it's really too difficult for the head and the hands...

[Nikita]

of course that doesn't alter the huge qulaity of Barbara as an Hackbrett Player : she plays a lot of improvisation music, latin american, on both the Ramser and a traditional hackbrett, with traditional tuning... (but I saw her playing with four hammers only on the Ramser...)

[Dick Glasgow]

Ah so that's how she does it Nikita, very interesting.

I saw this technique used by an American Vibrophone player Joe Lock, at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago ... very impressive to watch.

P. S. By the way, that's our son Kevin, on Bass! ....... N.B. He's the real musician in our family!

[capa49]

Glenn McClure also plays (played) in four-hammer style. Haven't actually heard anything by him, but apparently he was the first to introduce this technique inspires by the four-mallet vibes player Gary Burton.

[jack]

Here's a quote from Andy Fagan being interviewed in 1986 -I'm not a player now compared to 50 years ago, and I'm not boasting when I say that, but I could play it in those days with two sticks in each hand, one stick harmony and one stick melody

Seems the idea has been about for a while.

You can read the full interview at http:\\www.jackbethel.co.nr

Jack

[yidneth]

oh my god, as a newbie i'm still messing with two