Rishas and mizraps

Could forum members please tell me of the sort of rishas/mizraps they use - what materials you prefer and wether they are hard, soft, flexible, rigid, rounded end or sharp etc. Also why you like your preferred choice.

It would be really interesting to know

Cheers

Leon

Rishas, rishas and more rishas

I've used just about every conceivable type of risha and I'm still exploring. Right now I use about 4 different types of materials and I keep trading off . One day I'll use one thing and the next I'll switch... its really crazy but I think I get better every time I switch and rapidly adapt to something new. My risha technique is still evolving and each different risha enables me to emphasize something different in my technique. I really think that you could use almost anything with the appropriate technique so... at this point, I've stopped trying to find the ultimate risha and just enjoy using different ones for different things.

I use Jameel's new tortis rishas but I've thinned them down considerably so they are extremely flexible – this makes them very fragile however so I have to be very careful with them. I also use Delrin plastic strips – these are a material prepared for use in Harpsichord plectrum. Almost a nylon-like material they are virtually indestructible. Flexible but slightly soft and I use them a bit thicker. They have a rounder tone with less "click" but require a harder attack to produce sharp articulation between notes. I also use fairly stiff horn rishas from Ronny Andersson – these are not like the usual horn rishas, they are thicker, a light creme color with a kind of punch to the tone that feels more "old school" to me. They are also a bit more difficult to use with rapid tremolos. I've also managed to make a few feather rishas out of turkey quills, prepared acording to the instructions on Ronny's web site (I'm not sure they are still there). These are perhaps the most difficult to use properly and they produce the sharpest tone, in fact the chief difficulty is in gettting a softer sound out if them. I must admit though that turkey risha are not like eagle risha and are quite a bit stiffer – they are also fairly fragile and wear down a bit after extended use. They were such a pain to make that I am trying to preserve them as much as possible so I don't use them too often.I'll wait until my technique is a bit more refined before I strart using them a lot.

In the end, though the risha does contribute a lot to the tone, I think almost anything can be used effectively. I've gradually been using more and more flexible risha – refining the right hand technique to control the angle and depth of attack, modulating the amount of exposed tip in the grip, etc... I'm attempting to gain control over a variety of sounds and aim for the ability to seamlessly blend these sound while playing. I believe that experimenting with different risha has helped me to develop a better, more varied risha technique.

Can of worms