Music in caves

K

Kenilworth

New member
Some caves have acoustically glorious places in them, and I wonder if there is any tradition of playing music in such?
I have taken a guitar caving a few times, and it was pleasing to sit in the dark and play, but this is a big hassle and unhealthy for the instrument besides. So I tried a harmonica, but the sort of stuff I know for that doesn't match the mood of a cave very well. All I've got left lying around the house is an ocarina, which might sound nice if only I knew how to play it. I want to try a pennywhistle too.

Are there any recordings/videos out there?
 
David Rose

David Rose

Active member
I have been playing blues harmonica in caves for years, especially when waiting to climb big pitches. It can sound great and playing the thing keeps me warm.
 
notdavidgilmour

notdavidgilmour

Member
Dudley Tunnels are famous for hosting concerts, although they are mainly man-made, there are lots of natural chambers down there

Kenilworth said:
Are there any recordings/videos out there?
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I feel a challenge coming on, Any volunteers to carry equipment?  :blink:
 
mrodoc

mrodoc

Well-known member
There is the famous Stalacpipe Organ in Luray Caverns in Virginia https://youtu.be/Af2jt4VhWbA. A great US invention  ;)
 
paul

paul

Moderator
The show caves Caves of Drach in Majorca and also Postonja Cave in Slovenia have musical concerts.
 
Alex

Alex

Well-known member
I sometimes sing in barrowtones in caves, I get real good acoustics for that. My favourite song is the "Dungeons deep" song the dwarfs sing in at the beginning of the first Hobbit film.
 
Mark

Mark

Well-known member
mrodoc said:
There is the famous Stalacpipe Organ in Luray Caverns in Virginia https://youtu.be/Af2jt4VhWbA. A great US invention  ;)
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This should give Kenilworth something to write about
 
cooleycr

cooleycr

Active member
Fingal's cave, Isle of Staffa, has a piece by Mendelssohn affectionately known as the Fingal's cave overture that is from time to time played in there by an orchestra...
 
wormster

wormster

Active member
SRT'd out of Rhino Rift a few years back with Brockers, as I went up the 2nd pitch the Icanhaztunesbox broke into AC/DC Highway to hell!!  - EPIC trip!
 
K

Kenilworth

New member
grahams said:
Kenilworth said:
RichardB1983 said:
Peak Cavern has an annual Christmas carol service/concert with a brass band - and has hosted a number of performances.
e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1wdp6_rzgA
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How very tawdry
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You don't know the place, you don't know the people involved and you don't know how the service is conducted and yet you post a negative and very arrogant comment. Troll elsewhere please.
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Sorry about that. I see most everything to do with Christmas as pretty garish, so probably should have kept quiet.

Luray's organ is/was interesting, and certainly people have been whacking musical draperies for a long while. I haven't been on their commercial tours, so I don't know if they address this, but they probably ought to discourage bashing formations to their groups.

Thanks for the links to concerts and so on. I feel like the music that would be most fitting in a cave might be a solo acoustic instrument, or as Alex mentions, singing. Alas I cannot! Though I do remember a very long improvised version of Dylan's "One of Us Must Know" "sung" by myself and my brother during a long hike through a noisy stream passage.
 
Les W

Les W

Active member
Not long after I started caving the Gaping Gill system was joined up with Ingleborough Cave (at least for divers).
Sid Perou made a film of the event, which was shown on the BBC.
A bit of the film where the cavers were all leaving the cave, after getting the divers through has stayed in my memory ever since, an impromptu rendition of Jerusalem, as the group walked along a stream passage.
With superb acoustics the male voices work really well, I am surprised there isn't a tradition of Male voice choirs within the caving community like there was within the mining communities...

Here is a link to that moment (although the whole film is worth a watch).

https://youtu.be/OFEI1NRrs80?t=1600
 
AR

AR

Well-known member
Les W said:
With superb acoustics the male voices work really well, I am surprised there isn't a tradition of Male voice choirs within the caving community like there was within the mining communities...
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Some of us keep up the Derbyshire miners' underground carol-singing tradition -  see my Christmas trip report!
 
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