veganbikes

I usually try and take one of my ukuleles on tour. I also have a small thumb piano that I can take if I am concerned about space. I want to find or build a lighter thinner smaller packaged uke for touring but haven't bothered to really look into it. I saw a few years ago that were close but not quite the cigar.

I at one point had a harmonica but that got lost somewhere near home at home and I cannot find it.

Since I now have an iPad and some various instrument apps I might even bring that on my next tour but it all depends on if I want to be that plugged in!

fietsbob

Im Buying new tuners for My rebuilt May Belle Banjo Uke , Gotoh 4:1 planetary..
and trying the Aquila mandolin set I got from the Italian company..
They have a New synthetic to work at the higher tension of a GDAE (Violin) pitch set ..

I had been using 1:1 friction pegs.. and a Mix of various Classical guitar and Baritone and Soprano Uke Strings



Hohner's Melodica is a wind - keyboard you blow into it and its got keys like a piano .. if you play piano/accordion already ..

Enjoy Music - Play Hohner - Melodica

saw a talented Pro, Jazz pianist playing one on Colbert last night ... what you get out of it depends on the input.

arfer1

For touring, I bought a 3/4 sized Yamaha folk guitar (steel strings) with gig bag. It was cheaper than a Martin Backpacker and easier to play, as I could rest it on my lap and play it without a strap. I stowed it on top of my BOB trailer, and used a garbage bag to keep it dry in case of rain. I took it on several short tours, but decided I preferred reading and other activities to lugging around a guitar. Nevertheless, it's great for car camping.

antokelly

i would imagine you could get a lot of hassle in campsites playing musici play guitar not very good i might add more a strummer, would not like to take the chance of playing in a campsite.
anyway tin whistle or mouth organ would be best easy to carry.

Machka 

The only musical things I've carried and played are a very small radio and an even smaller MP3 player.

Rob_E

This thread mentioned a banjolele, which I found intriguing, and, when I looked into it, I found out about the Mandolin Banjon, which sounded even more appealing. But then there's the problem where I don't actually have any musical ability, so shelling out money for a relatively obscure instrument that I can't actually play may not be the best idea. And then there's the conversation in which I told my wife that I was considering acquiring and learning to play a mandolin banjo, depending on whether or not I could find one reasonably priced, and she told me that she was considering acquiring a new husband, depending on whether or not the current one took up the mandolin banjo.

So mostly I just play music on my phone.

SkippyX

Yeah - but climbing is a bear when you're towing a Steinway.....

JoeyBike

That or a flute. Otherwise, I'll pass on the extra burden.

fietsbob

Pints from the Pub for the musicians playing, at sessions [ its more rural Ireland than US.]

Hugh Morris

...this seems outlandish, and I don't know if I could always find a suitable place to play without annoying anyone, but I'm considering ways to schlep a trombone.

Lanovran

I'll typically take one or two harmonicas along (I prefer Hohner's Special 20). I also play a variety of world flutes, so I may take along one or two smaller ones.

AntonioCM

I used to carry a guitar during the first year on my world tour. I even built a rear rack for it. I ended up leaving it behind though...

arfer1

It does sound outlandish, but I say go for it! Hearing a nice mellow trombone solo as the sun was setting would be a great way to end the day.

curbtender

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47eEevgvGYE

arfer1

That's great music to listen to at a campsite.

rhm

I realize this thread has moved on, since you posed this question, and I haven't read the next two pages. And I will. But for now:

Really can't beat a Hohner Marine Band or similar, in key of G. The G has the sweetest range. If you don't know how to play, it's going to take you a little while to get used to the thing, where to find the notes, to learn what melodies are in it and what melodies are not. The first step is to learn that. When you are ready to advance, you have a more complicated decision: do you find the missing notes by buying a chromatic harmonica, or learn to alternate between two (or more!) harmonicas? When I was 12, I thought the chromatic was the way to go. Since then I have met really good harmonica players, and the way they play is with two harmonicas. I used to play with a guy who would repeatedly switch back between two harmonicas in a single 12 bar solo. I wish I had learned to do that, but I'm set in my ways now.

staehpj1

Thanks. The fact that I play other instruments (travel size dulcimers and stick dulcimers) that are diatonic and in G will hopefully help with some of that. I had not yet bought one, but was thinking of springing for a Marine Band 10 hole diatonic. I was thinking of getting one in C, but may get one in G instead.

tcs

Spare time this winter?

Penny whistles.

In North America, it would be hard to go wrong with a Native American style Plains flute in near nuke-proof ABS. Fascinating history, soft, mellow sound, easy to get started with, great conversation starter.

Ocarinas have a lot to recommend them as cycle touring instruments. Hmm. Perhaps a plastic twelve hole for touring.

Recorders are fully chromatic over two octaves and have a long, rich body of classical work composed for them plus the ability to tackle any genre. Soprano and alto, if you're touring with a partner. The school system music programs in Taiwan, Korea and Japan have taken up the recorder in a big way. Oh, if it's not Baroque, the intonation can't be fixed.

Yamaha's little YRF-21 Fife is feather-light, robust, breathtakingly cheap, has it's own primer and can be a gateway to serious music. It's - how shall I put this? - less penetrating than a penny whistle, too. Master this and you can move up to cycle touring with a Boehm-system Nuvo jFlute.

Alternatively there are the simple system flutes, or, for more of a walk on the wild side, bawu.

So you have an organ performance degree from Julliard and absolutely must take a keyboard cycle touring? Yeah, yeah, okay, schmarty pants: here.

Gotta serious titanium jones? Gotcha covered.

String instruments. Cycle touring. Hmm. Humidity and temperature swings, knocks and bumps, sheer physical size. Well, there's the Strumstick C-24.

Pbone Mini.

Looking forward to jamming with y'all at some out of the way campground some day!

(No connection with any retailer mentioned.)

djb

thou art a goof.

made me laugh out loud though, so you are forgiven.

heck, didnt realize this was a really old thread....

tcs

~14 months.

Hey, we all know how it goes on bike forums: start a new thread, somebody complains you didn't search the archives instead. Pick up an 'old' thread, somebody complains you resurrected a zombie.

Speaking of goofs: piano for cycle touring.

jamawani 

Really old - -
And I am a pianist, too.

Back in the 1980s, I could stop and play in lots of churches.
I even was asked to play one Sunday at the Methodist Church in Nebraska City
on my first cross-country ride.

But times have changed as has liability insurance.
Churches are often locked and hesitant to let a stranger in.
Hmmmmm -

mantelclock

On a 1200 mile ride last year, I took my violin, just in case I felt the urge...

TheLibrarian

I bought a harmonica for just such a thing but haven't used it much. There is the jaw harp as well. And garage band on ipad which has guitar and piano.

sotramk

I'd get a key of A, goes well played in 2nd position with a guitar in E. The Honer Special 20 is nice, easy to service.
Have fun!

gregjones

Best place to buy harps in this universe:

Rockin' Rons Music

I have a few marine bands, but they need a bit of work---usually a little and a lot does wonders.

Stock out of the box I would suggest the lower end Suzuki or Seydels for beginners. I do have, and love, Hohner Golden Melodies although the all have custom combs and have been gapped and tuned. You might try Blue Moon Harmonicas----Tom sometimes has mildly massaged harps when he has time to make them and they a great deal.

My favorite is the Seydel 1847. Super out of the box..but you want to make sure you really want a harp before you invest in one of those puppies. I only have two, in my favorite keys.