Playmakers 2009 Please Read.

[Kim]

Folks,

John suggested that this topic should be made a sticky and I had to agree. I think it's a very good idea to have any questions, answers and other discussion relating to Playmakers 2009 kept together in one thread until the event is done and dusted. Also in making the thread as sticky, we will be providing anyone planning a visit to Albany WA at the end of February 2009 an easy to locate resource containing all we have discussed about this great event here at the ANZLF.

As I know of no other way of making John's original post a sticky, I chose to restart his thread and I have copied all of the original content from John's topic quote for quote in the hope that we can move forward with continuity. To avoid confusion, I have also deleted John's original topic.

G'day All




The program for the next jam-packed Playmakers event in Albany Western Australia over the weekend of 27 February to 1 March has been officially launched as part of the 2009 Great Southern Perth International Arts Festival.

Instrument makers and players will mix and merge in a jamboree of craft and music making. Following the 2008 Festival’s highly successful event comes a celebration of the ‘underdog’ of stringed instruments, the ukulele. Enjoying a worldwide resurgence, the ‘uke’ is back in favour. Playmakers brings top ukesters from Hawaii and Australia together with local and international makers to revel in the happy sound of the Pacific’s ‘jumping flea’.

Featured Players & Makers will include:

Azo Bell (Australia)
With music in the American Ukulele Hall of Fame, film scores and even a dance score, Azo has taken the uke to places never seen before.

Jim Conway (Australia)
Co-founder of 70s jug band Captain Matchbox, Jim is a master harmonica player and Centenary Medal recipient for contribution to the arts.

Harry Fleishman (USA)
Harry runs Luthiers School International and designs instruments for the Fender Musical Instrument Corporation.

Neil Graham (Australia)
Recipient of a Churchill Fellowship, Neil provides high-quality harmonicas to international and local players.

David Hurd (USA)
Owner of Kawika Ukuleles, David’s Koa ukes are the epitome of technical precision, authentic sound and traditional beauty.

Craig Ogden (UK )
Grammy nominee Craig is at home in concert halls around the world and has performed with some of Britain’s most famous orchestras.

Linsey Pollak (Australia)
Using whatever takes his fancy, Linsey not only creates marvelous instruments but composes ingenious music.

Greg Smallman (Australia)
The power and grace of the Smallman guitar sound have provided inspiration for the world’s greatest classical guitarists.

Doug Tolentino (USA)
Fingerstyle ukulele, smooth falsetto vocals and passionate performance make Doug Tolentino a favourite in Hawaiian ukulele circles.

Andrew Winton (Australia)
An independent songwriter and consummate musician, Andrew is a regular on the festival circuit.

David Worthy (Australia)
Handmade Worthy guitars are state-of-the-art and feature unique wood selection, inlaying designs and immaculate finishing.


Following the official opening on Friday night, here's a scan of the weekend's full program:



Costs for the weekend are as follows:
- ALL Presentations on Saturday & Sunday are FREE
- The Saturday Night Concert is $35
(Concert Tickets available through the Albany Town Hall Box Office - 08 9844 2222)

I encourage all forum members who are able to make the trip to Albany that you will be MORE than welcome to participate in what is fast becoming an extraordinary annual event that brings some pretty rare talent together for a feast of all things Lutherie.

Robyn Johnston and David LeMay from ABC's Radio National will also be back to record yet another wonderful soundscape for their Into the Music program.


... to visit the the 2009 Great Southern PIAF website, where you can book for the Saturday Night Concert online, please click here.

... and to see a bit more about Albany click here.

Cheers for now!

Since most of the folks on this forum (at least those who post regularly) are steel string guitar makers, I would strongly encourage you to try to get to Albany and listen to/talk with Harry Fleishman. Harry is an extremely talented steel string maker, a creative jig builder, a great teacher and a warm and funny man. Very approachable and willing to share ideas, his being at the festival offers a rare treat for you.

aloha,

Dave Hurd

From Harry Fleishman's web diary comes this info:

February 2009: Playmakers Guitar Festival - Albany, Australia
I'll be presenting a talk on the evolution of one specific guitar ... the Asymmetric, Half & Half Topped, Double Hole, Tapered, Multi-Scale, Ported Acoustic Six String.

John

From Harry Fleishman's web diary comes this info:

February 2009: Playmakers Guitar Festival - Albany, Australia
I'll be presenting a talk on the evolution of one specific guitar ... the Asymmetric, Half & Half Topped, Double Hole, Tapered, Multi-Scale, Ported Acoustic Six String.

John

Hes giving a talk on the what???

Aaaahhhh, you are so not happening...

Its Okay David, I know the guitar in question.

I'm thinking it looks something like this:



John

The 7 string weissenborn style "Wintonbeast" guitar would be worth seeing in the flesh! Andrew is a fine musician and vocalist. Pitty WA is a little far away from me!

Congratulations to you holding such an interesting and musical Play Makers event! It will be a hoot of a time!

Cheers

Alan

I'm going to make every effort to be there.

Sounds like an interesting weekend plus I'll get a chance to inflict some damage on Kim's liver

This was my part of the world before I moved to Canberra. I am very keen to go so any other ANZLF dudes, we should plan to meet up.
Cheers
Dom

And it's a looovely part of the world too, Dom!!

Can I say I'm very encouraged by the response to this post since putting it up yesterday.

Regarding Accommodation in Albany During Playmakers
I live on my own in a 3 bedroom place about 10 kms from the venue, and am offering the place up to ANZLFers who might want to crash here. Beyond the Fri-Sun Playmakers event David Hurd has organised to arrive a bit earlier with his family and will be running some "Left-Brained" workshops for interested makers ... details on that as they come to hand.

I can accommodate about 4 to 6 people on mattresses on the floor (byo sleeping bag or doona, nights can be a bit cool even in February). I can also provide space in the back yard for 3 to 4 tents if need be. There's even enough space to park the odd camper van or three if you want to.

I have a 2-seater ute for personal transport, and I'm also planning to be driving the PIAF hire bus (12 seater), but am sure we can organise logistics to & from venue fairly easily.

PM me if you want to take up the offer to stay here.

Regards
John

$159 flights each way are being offered by Jetstar at present.

I HATE Jetstar but that's really cheap Melbourne to Perth.

Skywest fly daily Perth-Albany (440kms, takes 55 minutes) but their prices can be a killer compared to east-west travel with Jetstar & Virgin; pays to book ahead of time to score early-bird discounts via their website. Albany airport is about 8 kms from the CBD so let me know ahead of time if you need a lift any where . There is also a daily Westrail road coach run from Perth, takes about 6 hours so pack a good book.
Cheers ... John

The better half says that I really need a holiday, and should go to Albany if I want too. So I've been checking out flights. None are direct, so it's a stop over and change plane in one of the southern capitals.

If any of you guys are going to head west, what day do you plan on leaving and returning?

I'd be leaving on the Friday and coming back on the Sunday evening or Monday morning Allen.

The Port Fairy Festival is on the next weekend March 6-9th. You should hang around for a week.

Do you think my liver would be up to it?

For the cost I'd be hiring a car in Perth and driving down. If you go the coast road you will pass some of the most beautiful forested areas in WA and it beats hanging around in airports.
Do yourselves a favour and see some of SW WA.
Dom

This is Boranup Karri forest, just south of Margaret River, I use to live within sight of this place. Not the best pic

Do you think my liver would be up to it?

That's totally up to you Allen.

With a generous offer from Tim S of a lift from Perth, and a place to bunk and John's, it looks like all that is left is to book the tickets.

I've never flown domestically, so I'm not biased yet. Checked out Jet Star, but it seems flights are few and far between from Cairns, so it looks like It's on to another airline.

Albany Climate info here ... can get a bit brisk at night even in February.

Albany Climate info here ... can get a bit brisk at night even in February.

Hmmm, 'spose I'll have to bring my down parka if it's getting down to 15C.

David

Good idea David ... can only describe Albany's climate as fickle and unpredictable; an often-heard expression here is "four seasons in one day". You'll be coming from Hilo, Hawaii at latitude 19.7 degrees North, to Albany being 35 degrees South. Late February is the end of our summer period, although we do get the occasional hot day or two into March. I can't recall the last time I slept without a doona at night .

Please feel free to pick the topic up from here.

Cheers

Kim

[Allen]

To get tickets to the concert, do we need to jump on them now, or just pick them up when we arrive?

[John Maddison]

CONCERT TICKETS
Thanks for the reminder Allen. I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone wanting a concert ticket (the only paid-entry event over the whole weekend) to get in early. The event is upstairs in the Museum's Eclipse Building; it's a suspended floor so there'll be a safety limit to how many can get in. The 2008 concert accommodated just over a hundred people (downstairs) and sold out very early.

Tickets are $35 available through the Albany Town Hall Box Office - 08 9844 2222, or go to the PIAF website link in previous post above.

[Allen]

Thanks for the link John. I got my ticket.

[Kim]

Thanks John,

I have booked for Bob (he is away ATM) and myself.

Cheers

Kim

[John Maddison]

Playmakers Venue Location
For those making the trip to Playmakers in February, the venue is the Eclipse Building at the Residency Museum on Residency Road immediately south of the railway line, for a map please click here.

[Localele]

Playmakers seems to be building up a head of steam and I am wondering about arrival dates and the possibilities of sharing a rental car for the trip from Perth to Albany.
To Hilo ,David ,Do you have an idea of when the workshops will be running in the week prior as I would like to attend and support them?
Tim, Are there any timbers you would like to see from the eastern states as far as soundboards or back and sides?
Any other ideas of how we can entertain ourselves after re-organising John's workshop and raiding his timber stash?

[Bob Connor]

Any other ideas of how we can entertain ourselves after re-organising John's workshop and raiding his timber stash?

There's always beer.

[Allen]

Don't forget the Scotch Bob. It might get a bit chilly at night.

I'm assuming that some of you are planning on bringing an instrument or two. Having never flown with a guitar, is it possible to take something like a Size 5 on as carry on, or does it need to be checked?

[Localele]

Just remembered Bob that beer is expensive in WA as there are no pokies in the pubs to subsidise the prices.Bugger.

[Bob Connor]

Suits me.

I hate Pokies.

[hilo_kawika]

To Hilo ,David ,Do you have an idea of when the workshops will be running in the week prior as I would like to attend and support them?
Tim, Are there any timbers you would like to see from the eastern states as far as soundboards or back and sides?

G'day Micheal,

Thanks very much for wanting to support the workshops. I suggest there are three areas wherein we could have workshops:

First, let's first set up the go-bar deck and fit the fiberglass rods I'm giving GSL. If you have a spring operated postal scale good to 5-6 kg, we can show what type of force the bent fiberglass rod will give. If anyone wants to do more we can look at the Euler formula and other materials.

Second, we could try a simple plate vibration experiment just to show the different vibrational patterns. We could also try a simple plate deflection experiment with a weight and dial micrometer. Both of these approaches are shown on my website.

http://www.ukuleles.com/Technology/statmeas1.html
http://www.ukuleles.com/Technology/dynmeas1.html

The size of the wooden framework for testing the samples will depend on the plate size, but it's pretty simple stuff to bang together some 1x2's and put PVC pipe on for legs.

It would be useful if we had several different woods all of the same dimensions but different stiffness to play with. Both hardwoods and softwoods would be nice. I'd be very surprised if the Forestry Division of CSIRO didn't already have a lot of wood property information available. Since most of the attendees are steel string guitar makers, the typical sizes and thickness's for tops after they're bookmatched and partially thicknessed but before the soundhole is cut or inlay put around it would be good. If all the plates are the same dimensions and thickness's, simple comparisons will be easier.

Perhaps I can bring some smaller plates also and leave them with you if that would be useful. There are simple equations that can be used but more importantly we need to understand how wood inherent properties and dimensions affect stiffness and vibrational frequencies.

Third, we should try the top deflection tests, both on finished instruments and on instruments in the midst of being built. No equations necessary here, just the demonstration of a useful technique. If there's time, we could talk about matching front and back first fundamental resonances.

My friend Doug Tolentino (ukulele player) and I arrive late Thursday afternoon and leave early the following Wednesday morning. So it would seem that Friday would be a good day to talk about a number of things, and perhaps Saturday morning. Monday & Tuesday are also possible but I suspect many folks will have left by that point.

aloha,

David

[John Maddison]

Don't forget the Scotch Bob. It might get a bit chilly at night. ... I'm assuming that some of you are planning on bringing an instrument or two. Having never flown with a guitar, is it possible to take something like a Size 5 on as carry on, or does it need to be checked?

We'll be setting up an exhibition of ukes at the Playmakers venue, so all visiting members are encouraged to bring a piece or two to display.

ps - have also recently stocked up on a 6-to-a-box of quality whiskey glasses!

Cheers

[John Maddison]

Just remembered Bob that beer is expensive in WA.

Dan Murphy's opened a new warehouse a few months back, a stone's throw from the venue

[Localele]

I just got back from a short holiday only to be greeted by the news that beer prices must have skyrocketed in Albany.We are in serious trouble if we have to drink beer out of "whisky" glasses John.

[Bob Connor]

Allen and I are just about to leave for the airport (via Australia Furniture Timbers and a few other supply places)

We got the instructions thanks John, so we'll see you folks later on today.

It's quite warm here so I guess I'll be thirsty by the time I get to Perth.

[John Maddison]

Goodo Bob

Call when you get to Kojonup or Mt barker, we have a few people arriving for Playmakers so I could be anywhere late today (Thursday).

FOR INFO - Most recent weather from BOM site this morning:

ALBANY:

A shower or two. Moderate to fresh W/SW winds easing and tending S'ly by evening.
Maximum temperature: 22

Outlook for:
Friday : Fine, partly cloudy. Min 12 Max: 24
Saturday : Few thundery showers. Min 15 Max: 24
Sunday : Few thundery showers. Min 17 Max: 26

Cheers

[Kim]

It's quite warm here so I guess I'll be thirsty by the time I get to Perth.

Bugger! Sorry to inform you Bob that due to the economic crisis and the subsequent job losses in the resources sector, the out of work miners have gone on a bender to drown their sorrows and have drunk the state dry.

However if your extra nice, my missus might let us finish off the dregs left in the sherry and stones green ginger wine bottles she keeps in the pantry.

Looking forward to catching up.

Cheers all

Kim