Hello All
I was wondering if one could use an ostrich feather as a pick and if so what does one need to do to it before it can be used.
I got a couple yesterday from the zoo keeper when I took the kids to the zoo.
I played with one last night without any modifications save for little sanding but it was too hard and I found it difficult to do the up strok.
Season's greeting to you all
Jaafar
Aymara - 12-22-2009 at 08:09 AM
Hi Jaafar,
I tried playing with a Turkey flight feather. The first tries were horrible ... I found it to be too hard ... no chance to get tremolo working.
But because it sounded good I sanded the quill's top and practiced further ... now I'm satisfied. If the quill's top is sanded perfectly round and the
angle to the strings is low enough, even a fast tremolo works fine.
But as I said before ... it needs a lot of practice ... several days.
I don't know, if an ostrich feather is a better or a worse choice ... maybe the quill is too thick? joklany - 12-22-2009 at 10:48 AM
Thanks Chris. Yes the quill is too thick. I will have a go at sanding it to see if it improves.
Best regards
Jaafar Aymara - 12-22-2009 at 11:17 AM
I will have a go at sanding it to see if it improves.
Important is, that the quill's top is perfectly rounded and the angle between quill and string is not more than 30° ... this way I was able to
improve my technique and tremolo worked.
If you don't succeed, try a Turkey or goose feather for comparison.
BTW ... here's a photo of my feather, which I posted in another thread already ... maybe that helps.
[file]12952[/file]
The scale below is in centimeter.Aymara - 12-23-2009 at 12:52 AM
Hi again,
you also might be interested in THIS and THAT thread, where feathers were discussed too.
