Many of today’s finest clawhammer banjoists still prefer resonator banjos due to various reasons.
Resonator banjos produce an entirely different sound than open-back banjos due to the way they’re constructed; this distinction lies in how they resonate when plucked. A resonator can also produce louder tones than its open-back counterpart.
Bluegrass
Bluegrass music originated during the 1940s and 1950s from elements of old-time country music and musical traditions from Appalachia, including vocal and instrumental performances that emphasize stringed instruments like guitar. Bluegrass first gained recognition through Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys which included Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Chubby Wise.
Bluegrass songs typically follow what is known as “Music Kind.” A typical Bluegrass tune contains an Introduction, several vocal verses, solo breaks and an expository coda.
Bluegrass music is widely respected for its virtuosic talent and has attracted crossover artists like Sam Bush on banjo and mandolinist Peter Rowan on mandolin. Grammy Award-winning Punch Brothers with Chris Thile on guitar and Gabe Witcher on bass have set an ambitious standard for progressive bluegrass – they even featured prominently in Coen Brothers movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? as one of its major contributors.
Ragtime
Ragtime was an energetic form of American dance music and entertainment popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, serving as the precursor to Jazz music.
Piano rags are instrumental pieces composed to be performed on solo piano (a popular feature at most honkytonk bars and saloons), with the Right Hand playing syncopated melodies over regular left Hand bass notes that are in duple-meter rhythm; these syncopations create “short-long-short” rhythms which give off-center melodies when performed correctly.
Ragtime’s hallmark feature is its rhythmic pattern combined with the Right Hand’s distinctive melodic and harmonic styles; furthermore, its “middle eight,” an extended four-bar musical passage used as an introduction or bridge leading into or preceding an ending or penultimate section, is also something unique to this genre of music.
Three events initiated a ragtime revival in the 1970s: Pianist Joshua Rifkin recorded a compilation of Scott Joplin rags for Nonesuch Records, reinstating it into mainstream audiences; while 1974 movie The Sting featured numerous Joplin songs to further increase popularity of ragtime music.
Old Time
Resonators (closed backs) increase banjo volume and help it stand out among a group. They can be especially useful when playing without an amplifier.
Old Time was inspired by Irish music and is very similar to jazz in that all instruments play melodies in unison before taking solo turns – banjo players must be able to break through this dense mixture with clear chords or melodies that cut through it all.
Ragtime musicians were driven by a desire for louder playing; this led them to modify five-string banjos into four-string instruments with plectrum instead of fingerpick. This development enabled banjo players to stand out against brass and reed instruments used in dance music.
Country
Country banjo music often favors closed back (or resonator) banjos for increased volume and to cut through bands without distorting its tone. Gold Tone offers both open and closed back models featuring resonators for your consideration.
The banjo has long held a prominent place in American rural folk culture, most frequently associated with bluegrass and old time music genres such as bluegrass. Additionally, however, its use can also be found in ragtime, Dixieland jazz, Caribbean genres like biguine calypso mento etc.
The banjo has long been used in musical theater, such as Hello, Dolly!, Annie, Cabaret and Monty Python’s Spamalot. Additionally it has been featured in classical works like Frederick Delius’ opera Koanga or Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny as well as popular contemporary genres such as rock or pop music – even featuring prominent banjoists such as Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe or Earl Scruggs who all employed it regularly.