Someone called 911, but this man’s instrument wasn’t a gun. It was a bassoon

[gvopedz]

A 22-year-old bassoonist was in a church parking lot in the town of Springfield sitting on his trunk and playing scales while waiting for a rehearsal to start, when he was slowly approached by police wearing bulletproof vests.  It seems a nearby citizen, worried by mass shootings in the news and unfamiliar with large double-reed instruments, had called 911.  Said the young man, "In the right kind of light, it looks like a bazooka, but I don't think it was the right kind of light."  Fortunately, the police giggled, and did not throw the bassoonist to the ground or worse. 

https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/someone-called-911-but-this-man-maple-instrument-wasn-gun-was-bassoon/c9275VpPesPWZoNPNydoZL/

[JSngry]

I drove past a park one day while a guy was practicing bagpipes. Did not call the police, but did get very concerned.

[erwbol]

Lucky for the bassoonist he wasn't African American.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

7 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I drove past a park one day while a guy was practicing bagpipes. Did not call the police, but did get very concerned.

When I was at UMass/Amherst in the mid-80's, there was a guy that used to play his bagpipes in the parking garage at dusk. It reverberated in there just right and you could hear it almost everywhere on campus. It was almost like taps. Sun goes down - bagpipes play.

[Clunky]

Quit all this hating on bagpipes.......Scotland's national instrument (of sorts)..... and remember if they were good enough for Albert Ayler or Tiny Grimes , then they're good enough for you.....

[JSngry]

Not hating on bagpipes, just the notion of people playing them in a public place.

[Clunky]

Just now, JSngry said:

Not hating on bagpipes, just the notion of people playing them in a public place.

er.....that's the whole point ............to play them in a public place.....if played in doors everyone especially the player goes deaf. They were for marching soldiers to war .... which happen mostly outdoors.

 

all kidding aside they are difficult instrument to practice and not send somebody wild about the noise. As I sit here on my patio finishing a late lunch as on most days  i can hear the sound of the pipes being played. Better still pipes and drums..

[JSngry]

and all kidding aside, I do appreciate the unique qualities of the instrument, and enjoy hearing it in contexts both traditional and otherwise. Add Rufus Harley to the list!

I would, however, advocate for war being transitioned to becoming an indoor event. Seems to me that might settle down some of this shit.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, Clunky said:

Quit all this hating on bagpipes.......Scotland's national instrument (of sorts)..... and remember if they were good enough for Albert Ayler or Tiny Grimes , then they're good enough for you.....

I really dug those bagpipes back in the day. I used to sit in the quad and listen to the guy play. The combination of the sun setting and the dirge-like nature of the guy's playing just made it feel like a funeral for the day. Call me weird, but I liked it.

[clifford_thornton]

Got a number of highland piping LPs, really great stuff imo.

[David Ayers]

 

[clifford_thornton]

oh yeah, I was there. pretty good.

[sidewinder]

‘Profound Sound Trio’? Remember seeing them at Cheltenham, must have been around 2008/9. Dunmall did a couple of numbers on bagpipes.

[sgcim]

Back in college, I was warned not to go down to the first floor by my teacher; she said there was a student who freaked out, and was attacking students with his trombone.