01. September 2009

"It's a Bandura" (Summer 2009)

September 1, 2009 at 2:20pm

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“It’s a Bandura” (Summer 2009)

Riding the TTC doesn’t have to be all that bad and the chances of meeting new and interesting people are high, if you can be open minded. This exactly why I am writing this story…riding the Rocket was a musical learning experience for me on this day. It’s not everyday you meet a new person and have them tell you about their personal passions.

I was dragging my feet on the TTC Subway on my way home after a long day with my family, when I had an enlightening moment. I was stopped by a kind lady asking for directions to Dundas subway station, I told her that it is in the same direction I am going in. She mentioned that she is from Germany and back packing, and at that moment on her way to Poland. As we waited for the slow Sunday subway train, I noticed a bag she had. At first looked it like a guitar case, so I asked her about it. Her face lit up and laughs at me saying: “this is not a guitar, it’s a Bandura”.

She started to tell me all about the instrument of her personal choice and the mission she had to go on in order to purchase it. She said that Bandura’s are made in the Ukraine and it has been discontinued. Making it really hard to track one down to buy, and expensive at that. She recently traveled from her home Germany to buy it in the Ukraine for $1500 CAN (approximately).

This lady admits that she cannot play that well, but she just had to have it. She explained the Bandura to have a beautiful sound (G minor), and appearance (wood work)! Adding in that she has been teaching her self to play and just got it tuned. Since we were talking about the instrument for so long she happily showed me the Bandura (picture above) when we walked onto the train. Even sharing her worry of it getting broken on her travels especially with airlines, because it is an irreplaceable instrument. She says: “if it gets cracked that’s it- it cannot be fixed”!

I had only one question for her after hearing about her story:

Out of all the instruments available why did you pick this pacific one to play?
She simply answered-
“Because I liked the way it looked”!

*Below is a link to an informal snippet I got of her leaving the train we were on (she does say her name but, im sorry I couldn’t make it out ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1obnHpn9pxc

This was an enlightening encounter because if I didn’t meet her, I wouldn’t know about this extinct instrument (Bandura) and some of the facts that come with it- all thanks to this fluke meeting on the TTC. I feel privileged!

I told her I write about underground music on the Internet, and asked her if I could post our meeting, and she said yes!

*Want to lean more about the Bandura; here is a good starting place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandura

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