Homemade Banjo Repair!
Recently we've been preparing an arrangement of the beautiful Irish folk song Maid of Culmore. The melody and lyrics makes this song perfect for the delicate and sensitive arrangements I like to have for Waves of Harmony.
The end result of a sensitively arranged ensemble is an immensely delicious and emotionally rich sonic experience, but when it comes to preparing an instrumental part, that means the line between tasteful and obnoxious is very thin, and especially so for the banjo!
It took quite a while, but I managed to compose a banjo part fitting of the song, only to find my homemade banjo (from a Goldtone kit I built at age 12) had severe intonation issues! I was reluctant to go through extensive repairs as I didn't even know exactly what was causing the issue (it wasn't the bridge placement). But after taking the lazy approach of renting a banjo only to find it had the same intonation issues, I finally accepted it was best to just put in the effort to get my original axe back to tip top shape. After all, we're in Year Five of this project with dozens of incredible artists involved, I should do all I can do to ensure my own instrument quality is as good as the rest!
So today, I'll be refreshing this 24 year old banjo with new parts, and will finish by recording it on Maid of Culmore. Just listen to how well the tone and melody matches with the koto!
