Behold the power of filk!

It looks like we sucked another musician into filk over the weekend. One of the gang invited him to come to the housefilk to see what sort of music we did. The first really filky thing he heard was me singing Anne Harlan Prather’s “Star Pilot’s Hymn.” He like it and said he’d heard there were people singing “Galactic Folk.” “That’s us!” He’s written some lovely songs, is quite the skillful guitarist, had a great time and plans to be back for our next gathering.

flute

Just to see what it would be like to play the old Armstrong 104 after being thoroughly spoiled by my Muramatsu Ex, I took the old flute out of the case for the first time in a long time—about six months—and played it.

Well, I do remember why I spent so much money on the Muramatsu. The worn mechanism clatters loudly, and it simply does not sound so nice nor is it as easy to play, especially at the bottom of the range. It felt odd and unfamiliar in my hands, with the closed holes and some other, smaller differences.

It is interesting to think back to the last time I played it. I’ve spent a lot of hours with my new toy, and I am clearly, obviously, much more skillful than I was back just a half a year ago. It is fun to be reminded why I fell in love with the new toy. I switched back and the great sound came back, and the lovely easy drop down to a clear low D. There are no substitutes either for practice and skill nor for a good instrument.