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[playandteach]

This evening - after several weeks of tidying up the garden, I took a melodeon out there and played a few tunes to the birds... and whichever neighbours hadn't shut their windows (I live in a terrace).
It felt like the melodeon equivalent of skinny dipping. And I feel refreshed and a little bolder for it.
I don't think anyone else was in their gardens, and I was not going full pelt by any stretch, but I feel like doing it again.
Does anyone else regularly do this, have opinions on the anti social status, or have other secret playing pleasures?

[Theo]

Yes, I love playing in the garden when the weather is fine. I've had no complaints and even an occasional positive comment.

[busbox]

Perfectly good way to play anything. I have had no complaints from chooks or sheep.
Neighbours (we are on 3 acres) can hear the whistle rather than melodeon.
No sympathetic howling from dogs.
Birds come by and investigate. The eastern spinebill is particularly inquisitive.
AND I have NOT been sent 'down the back' because the melodeon upsets her indoors!

[Steve_freereeder]

This evening - after several weeks of tidying up the garden, I took a melodeon out there and played a few tunes to the birds... and whichever neighbours hadn't shut their windows (I live in a terrace).
It felt like the melodeon equivalent of skinny dipping. And I feel refreshed and a little bolder for it.
I don't think anyone else was in their gardens, and I was not going full pelt by any stretch, but I feel like doing it again.
Does anyone else regularly do this, have opinions on the anti social status, or have other secret playing pleasures?

I can see you'll be busking in Hexham market square next... 

[Nick Collis Bird]

Playing outside is rather fun, ask any Morris musician. But not everyone loves the Box. When in Cornwall at our campsite we used to go out early to beat the crowds and then back in the afternoon.
 It was a lovely day and I started playing outside the van. Oh oh up comes the warden and mrs warden.I'm done for .... not a bit of it. I played Camptown races and they both sang along with it.
  I think wherever you play among others, keep it short and sweet not drone along all day.
I did have one complaint though. A fellow from another pitch came over and said " I'm glad you only play for about ten minutes, I'm worried about the caravan floor. When you play my missus starts leaping up and down."

[Winston Smith]

"I can see you'll be busking in Hexham market square next...  "

He'd have to fit in between the other two melodeon players who are already there!

[baz parkes]

" When you play my missus starts leaping up and down."

And there, m'lud, rests the case for the defence... 

[malcolmbebb]

There is a practical side to playing outside.
If you are used to playing in a room or a hall it can be a dreadful shock when you first play outside - your box has suddenly got much quieter, it sounds different, you can't so easily hear yourself playing.
Also, as P&T points out, there may be an audience - or maybe not (bit like some Morris gigs) and you have to get past being self conscious.

And, on rare occasions, there may be some pleasant sunshine to enjoy while you're doing it.

[911377brian]

I play out in my yard quite a lot. Tall Victorian buildings and wide quiet street make even my playing sound a bit special. Lent a chap a 1040 ( a Lester Bailey rebuild) and showed him what the buttons more or less did and we 'play' outside our local coffee shop every now and then. He is a multi instrumentalist and got his head round the melodeon in no time. He has often remarked on how much nicer the box sounds out of doors....

[Matthew B]

I play outside on the stoop most evenings from Patriot's Day through until at least Memorial Day as long as it's not raining  I have neighbors on every side, but no-one seems to mind.  Passers by will stop for a chat, and sometimes some of the local kids come by and dance around.  A chap stopped by a few weeks ago and in heavily accented English expressed delight and amazement to see my "Garmoshka".  He was a Russian tourist and didn't know button accordions existed in the US.  Thanks to a few threads here I was able to chat to him about the differences between the instruments, and I played my entire Russian repertoire for him ("Kalinka-- thank you very much!").  There are quite a few other musicians in the neighborhood, and people seem to regard it as "local color", rather than a nuisance. 

[george garside]

albeit at a folk festival I was playing  outside my caravan which was near the stewards HQ.  I started with some well known old time waltz tunes  and to my utter surprise some of the older stewards started waltzing. I stopped after what I considered to be time to shut up but was asked to continue. The upshot was a  large ad hoc  'waltz' workshop by the older stewards for the younger stewards  and every time I stopped I was asked to continue - it fair made my day!

george

[fc diato]

Outside is my favorite place to play!  I also find it sounds so much better (perhaps because the sound is not bouncing off walls?)

No complaints from my city neighbours, even assurances all around that they like it when I ask whether they prefer I abstain (there are occasional trumpet noises that waft from somewhere to the left, and violin from somewhere to the right, so I may be lucky with a musical neighborhood). And the occasional applause coming out from who knows where is soooo immensely gratifying - though then makes me too self conscious to continue. By doing the heavy practice indoors, and limiting outdoor playing to a half hour, I have managed to maintain neighbourly goodwill - so far.

Also love the cardinal who seems to think that the box is some kind of competition (that's my completely uninformed theory). He arrives within 5 minutes, sets up on a nearby branch to sing his brains out.  People don't quite believe me when I tell them, until I demonstrate.
Enjoy!

[911377brian]

Ref the chap I lent the 1040 to, I suggested he join Melnet and he will no doubt appear here soon under the moniker of James Taylor. Poor chap doesn't own a box yet but is showing all the early signs of MAD. Just to keep this on thread he's very keen on alfresco playing..

[rees]

I have a rehearsal room (not soundproofed in any way) situated next to the road through our estate, where several loud bands rehearse.
The only complaint from the neighbours is that we don't play often enough.

[playandteach]

"I can see you'll be busking in Hexham market square next...  "

He'd have to fit in between the other two melodeon players who are already there!

And they're both in a different league to me.

[Nick Collis Bird]

 ;

" When you play my missus starts leaping up and down."

And there, m'lud, rests the case for the defence... 

 

[Grape Ape]

I love playing outside, but alas for better or for worse no one can hear me as the neighbors aren't close.  I like to think they hear a distant tune playing and that they might even enjoy it, but this is pure speculation. I did once hear bagpipes in the distance, but it has never repeated itself.

Several posts have mentioned birds.  I am also of the opinion that the birds enjoy it.  As well as chipmunks and squirrels, and I even had a deer stare at me in apparent marvel (no doubt at how terrible my playing was) for a surprisingly long time before running off.

Unfortunately my playing also seems to attract mosquitoes.  At least that is what happened tonight.

[Angienever]

I live in an apartment situated around a courtyard.  To prepare for some upcoming outdoor gigs, I took my accordion outside and set up on the steps and played there for about an hour.  No one said anything until a few days later, when my old timey neighbor (I call him that because he collects antiques and has his apartment set up like a 1930s farmhouse) told ran into me on the street and told me it had been the perfect way to drink his morning coffee.

I also tried playing out in the park near my house.  A kid came by, probably about 13 or 14, and sat down next to me and told me how great I was.  Then he asked if he could try and I totally froze.  I only have the one box and I was petrified thinking about what kind of damage a kid could do to it.  Against my better judgment, I let him play.  He played a few notes and acted really disappointed that he didn't sound like me.  Then he took off.

[Maggie]

We live in a village and I often play in the garden or back courtyard.  The neighbours seem to enjoy the music. I do keep the serious practice indoors, when I am repeating the same phrase or ornament over and over and over ....

I am married to a keen fisherman, so we often spend two or three days at campsites by promising rivers.  He fishes, I play my diato.  Often gather a wee audience and was recently asked to play a mini concert by the owner of a campsite.  My husband joined me with his French bagpipes and we entertained the diners!

Unfortunately my playing also seems to attract mosquitoes.  At least that is what happened tonight.

The biting insects can be a problem - don't notice them while playing, but my hands and arms do get bitten.  I guess they don't appreciate my music!

Maggie

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

With a name like Al Fresco, I assume you play Italian stuff?


SJ