At a recent desert art show in Indio, CA, the BRC founder came upon an artist who carved Native American flutes. The two musicians chatted, and the Indian craftsman reported that he tuned his flutes to A (440 cps) with an electronic tuner by cautiously trimming the length of the instrument. In comparison, the BRC founder offered that he balanced head tension with the wooden properties and diameter of his banjo pots by tapping the rim/head junction and tuning the assembled sound chamber by ear to G using a keyboard.
Stepping momentarily from his basement workshop, where the ambient temperature is 62 degrees with a humidity of 43%, he utilizes a piano residing at the top of the stairs in his wife`s busy “Tiny But Mighty” multi-media studio. (Editor`s note: the `TBM` moniker is derived from a press clipping describing one of her paintings at a juried community art show). The BRC banjo tuning technique was adapted decades ago in the pre-electronic tuner days from watching a band director tune tympani drums by ear prior to a concert.
Upon returning home to Missouri from the western desert, the BRC founder cross-checked his ear vs. piano banjo tuning technique with an electronic tuner in his cozy acoustic instrument room where the ambient temperature is 72 degrees with humidity of 55%. The tapped wooden ash banjo pot with its plastic head registered a G sharp on the tuner.
The BRC founder plans to continue this tradition of tuning banjo pots by ear on the keyboard, but what do you think? Check-out the 5 string “SunFlower” open back BRC banjo on eBay February 12-19. The ash wood pot was tuned by ear to G.
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