Greetings Everyone!
The third Theme Round of Challenge VIII is now up for your viewing pleasure!
This fortnight's theme is 'Music/Musician' and we have 34 participants who have submitted entries for your enjoyment. In the theme gallery you will see every assortment of lute, drum and horn (plus a few other instruments thrown in between the registers).
Please click here, or on the 'Bonus Theme' link in the navigation bar above to take in the efforts of the participants. Again, once you're there, please use the links on the right sidebar to navigate through the entries. As I mentioned before, there is a bug in Blogger in how it displays multiple entries over several pages on a single day, so use the links in the sidebar so you are sure to see everyone's entries.
Finally, remember to take time to vote for your favourite submissions. You can vote for as many as you like. The top three in votes will get additional points added on to their total for the round.
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It was a bit of a scramble for me this week, but for my entry I've come up with a vignette that I've been wanting to do since I began my Italian Wars project a few years ago: a Swiss alphorn player calling out to his reisläufer camarades.
A very unique instrument, the alphorn has its roots extending back to antiquity, with theories believing that it originated with the lituus war horn from the Etruscan period. Early medieval alpine myths frequently refer to the horn being used as a signalling device between mountain villages, while the first documented reference of the word 'alphorn' is in a 1527 account book of a Cistercian abby, where an alphorn player was paid two Batzen for his playing.
So with this in mind, I've extrapolated that if the alphorn was a fairly common instrument amongst the Swiss from at least the early medieval period, one could conjecture that they would have used them in their military campaigns, for signalling purposes and, like the highland pipes, to raise the morale of their fighting men.
As there are no alphorn figures in the market (a shocking oversight, I know) I made my own by bisecting the torso of a Perry Swiss musician, removed his existing instrument, and reposed him (aided with a liberal amount of wire and green stuff) to accept his 10 foot alphorn.
The alphorn itself was made from a length of plastic rod with greenstuff wrapped around it and then sanded to shape.
For a bit of fun, I've accompanied the alpshornist in a somewhat mismatched duet with a Landsknecht flautist, while a few onlookers are taking in the concert, enjoying a refreshment.
A very unique instrument, the alphorn has its roots extending back to antiquity, with theories believing that it originated with the lituus war horn from the Etruscan period. Early medieval alpine myths frequently refer to the horn being used as a signalling device between mountain villages, while the first documented reference of the word 'alphorn' is in a 1527 account book of a Cistercian abby, where an alphorn player was paid two Batzen for his playing.
So with this in mind, I've extrapolated that if the alphorn was a fairly common instrument amongst the Swiss from at least the early medieval period, one could conjecture that they would have used them in their military campaigns, for signalling purposes and, like the highland pipes, to raise the morale of their fighting men.
As there are no alphorn figures in the market (a shocking oversight, I know) I made my own by bisecting the torso of a Perry Swiss musician, removed his existing instrument, and reposed him (aided with a liberal amount of wire and green stuff) to accept his 10 foot alphorn.
The alphorn itself was made from a length of plastic rod with greenstuff wrapped around it and then sanded to shape.
For a bit of fun, I've accompanied the alpshornist in a somewhat mismatched duet with a Landsknecht flautist, while a few onlookers are taking in the concert, enjoying a refreshment.
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Now, please visit the theme gallery and enjoy the wonderful entries for 'Music/Musician' and remember to vote for your favourite submissions (voting closes next Saturday at 11:45pm).
Take it away!
Song: 'Heart of Cairo' (2013)
Artist: Eliana Burki
Fantastic hornist (and accompaniment) Curt :)
ReplyDeletereally love the alpine horn. fantastic work. saw one on action once, not very tuneful
ReplyDeleteThe alphorn player was paid two Balzen TO GO AWAY.
ReplyDelete; )
Funny, when I was writing this my fingers wanted to say the very same thing. :)
DeleteAwesome. A very nice and original piece. Cheers
ReplyDeleteFantastic work, Curt!! A terrifying instrument, I'm sure.... and no doubt the secret of any Swiss army's success! I love the way you've completely re-jigged a slightly more sensible musician to create the main alpine hornist, and the flautist adds a brilliant touch. Great work!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea. Brilliant execution. I want one!
ReplyDeleteLovely conversion, great idea, what are the Perrys thinking of not offering this? Bet they'd sell as many as their Swiss bear! Delightful vignette, great painting.
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Let's skip the item of the difficulties in using this thing practically in real life and just agree with all the members above who have rightly stated that A) your vignette is stunning and B) The Perrys should consider taking this up in their line!
ReplyDeleteThat looks fantastic Curt!!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
That is absolutely the best type of Bonkers I've seen in a long time - genius!
ReplyDeleteRi-co-la!!! Why do I feel like painting some Jagers???
ReplyDeleteGreat job dude.
That is just brilliant, in an absurdly splendid kind of way.
ReplyDeleteGreat piece Curt - love the DIY alphorn. I'm in a very Alphorn friendly mode right now - I'm down with the man flu and surviving on ginger tea and Ricolas.
ReplyDeleteWell that was unexpected!
ReplyDeleteNice conversion!
Thanks for the kind words folks!
ReplyDeleteThat is very cool!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful conversion! Perfect basing as well!
ReplyDelete