Batteaux and Banjos
Music Guidelines
Musically inclined participants of all proficiency levels are invited to bring their banjos, fiddles, bones, guitars and other period instruments. As with all other aspects of an impression, musical instruments, repertoire, and playing style must meet authenticity standards. Please read the following carefully.
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1. CONSTRUCTION
Reproduction instruments should be fashioned in the style of documented originals utilizing period-correct materials and construction methods. Modern and non-period guitars, banjos, and other instruments will not be allowed. Fiddlers are strongly encouraged to remove fine tuners, chin rests, and modern shoulder rests from their instruments.
2.. STRINGS
Gut strings are strongly encouraged for banjos, fiddles, and guitars. Nylon strings may serve as an acceptable alternative for banjos and guitars. Fiddlers not using gut strings may opt for one of several varieties of synthetic core violin strings currently on the market which mimic the tone of gut.
3. INSTRUMENT CASES
Original or reproduction cases are preferred. For violins, most late nineteenth/early twentieth century wooden coffin cases featuring hook and eye fasteners will pass for mid-nineteenth century. Cases using other latch mechanisms which post-date our period should be avoided. Modern instrument cases should be stored out of sight.
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4. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
All instruments used as part of an impression must be documented to antebellum Buckingham County or the surrounding region. Given the important role of Buckingham County and the James River in the history and development of the banjo, a special welcome is extended to all period banjo players. Alongside the banjo, history testifies to the longstanding preeminence of the fiddle in the Old Dominion. Sources indicate a variety of primitive percussion instruments used to accompany banjo and fiddle music in antebellum Virginia. These include, but are not limited to, the bones, jawbone, and tambourine. Other instruments which would have been available in antebellum Virginia include guitars, flutes, fifes, and accordions. Along with violins and banjos, these instruments complete the list of portable instruments typically found in merchants' listings from Lynchburg and Richmond newspapers during the 1840s-50s.
Daily Richmond Times, May 4, 1850.
Lynchburg Virginian, April 8, 1852.
Richomnd Daily Dispatch, July 30, 1852
Please be aware that not all historical instruments are appropriate for the specific time and place we are portraying. Instruments in this category include, but are not limited to, hammered dulcimer, harmonica, and mandolin. We respectfully ask that you leave these instruments at home. While popular among reenactors and enthusiasts of American folk music today, historical sources offer no evidence that these instruments were available or known in antebellum Buckingham County or the broader region. If you would like to bring one of these instruments or any other instrument which may fall into this category, please contact the event organizers in advance. Primary source documentation for an instrument's use in or near antebellum Buckingham County must be provided in order for any appeal to be considered.
Period correct mountain dulcimers featuring wooden tuning pegs, diatonic fretboard, and traditional design, materials, and construction, are acceptable in limited numbers. While we have no record of mountain dulcimers in antebellum Buckingham County, the instrument appears upriver in Bedford County and other locales near the headwaters of the James by the 1820s or 30s.
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5. STYLE AND REPERTOIRE
Repertoire and playing style must be documented to the period. Regional emphasis is strongly encouraged. Key sources for music traceable to antebellum Buckingham County include the songs of Buckingham native, Joel Walker Sweeney, "father of the five string banjo," and George P. Knauff'sVirginia Reels.