Posted on July 1, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips An Experimental Tenor Violin An Experimental Tenor Violin by Frederick C. Lyman, Jr. Originally published in American Lutherie #18, 1989 Building a musical instrument always involves making decisions. Even if the instrument is a familiar model that has been built many times before, the actual pieces of wood are unique, and require unique treatment. Obtaining predictable results, even such as might appear to be instances of mere routine uniformity, usually requires a surprising degree of conscious, intelligent control. In respect to quality of sound, the more an instrument is produced by an invariable automated process, the more variable and inconsistent may be the result. That is because we are dealing with subtle differences which add up. The more intelligence that can be applied to the many decisions that have to be made, the better the cumulative result can be. Of course, wrong decisions can also be made. This can happen easily when the project being undertaken is one-of-a-kind, where the lessons of past mistakes cannot be applied to the problems. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on July 1, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Questions: Fingerboard of Orpharion Questions: Fingerboard of Orpharion by Chris Goodwin Originally published in American Lutherie #93, 2008 Wayne S. from the Internet asks: Can someone tell me what the idea behind the layout of the fingerboard of the orpharion is? Chris Goodwin from the Internet responds: The explanation lies in the limitations of metallurgy in the Renaissance. The basic problem of lute family instruments is that you are looking for strings which are all the same length to make a musical sound with open tunings ranging over two octaves. If you have a reasonably fine bass string that makes a good musical note and provides reasonable intonation when fretted, then the top string has to be very thin and under very high tension to sound two octaves higher. They couldn’t make wires strong enough in those days. Orpharion, copy after Francis Palmer, made by Peter Forrester. Photo by Peter Forrester. The sloping frets partially resolve this problem by making the bass strings longer than the treble. The treble string could be shorter, and so didn’t have to be at such high tension to sound at a high note, and the bass strings didn’t have to be fat and chunky (and produce a dull unmusical thud, instead of a clear note) because they were longer. This is explained very well by Ian Harwood in an (English) Lute Society booklet on the Helmingham bandora. Purchase the booklet from the Lute Society: Lutesoc@aol.com.
Posted on July 1, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Some Traditional Vietnamese Instruments Some Traditional Vietnamese Instruments by Andy DePaule Originally published in American Lutherie #74, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015 Most of the traditional Vietnamese instruments are like other instruments found all over Asia. For instance, the dan tran is like a Japanese koto but has sixteen steel strings and is smaller. The dan ty ba is similar to the Chinese pipa. The dan nguyet, or moon lute, looks a bit like a banjo, but has a wood top and sounds like a nylon string guitar. They bend the strings between the high frets. And the dan tam thap luc is their version of a hammered dulcimer. But the dan bau, my favorite instrument, is unique to Vietnam. Its one steel string is tuned slack and runs from the small bridge at the lower portion of the face to a bell-shaped piece of rosewood (hollow and turned on a lathe) attached to a “whammy bar” made from black buffalo horn. It is played by palming the harmonic points of the string while picking, then bending up or down to achieve desired notes, as well as to get special effects. The best players also use the whammy bar to raise or lower the note to another pitch prior to picking the string. The resulting music is much like the sound of our pedal steel guitar, my favorite American instrument. In the past, the dan bau was an acoustic instrument, but now it is available with an electric pickup, a simple spool over a magnet that has been wound with fine copper wire. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 4, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips The Piccolo Bass The Piccolo Bass by Frederick C. Lyman, Jr. Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 8 ,#1, 1980 In the last ten or fifteen years there has been a virtual explosion of interest in the string bass. Many bassists now use their instruments in ways that were hardly thought of just a few years ago. Especially, solo playing employing the extreme upper register of the bass is a prominent technique among soloists in the classical and jazz fields. Modern string technology permits a brilliance, solidity, and assurance of sound in this register that was hard to obtain previously. Electronic means of recording and amplification have brought the sounds closer to the consciousness of a large audience. Most existing basses, build in other eras for other not necessarily good( reasons, are not much help to the skilled and ambitious player of today. They are hard to play and hard to hear, except in the limited roles they were designed to fulfill. This situation suggested a new instrument which would fill the large gap between the bass and the ‘cello’ and which could be used in the melodic register but with the tonal density of the bass rather than the thinner sound of the ‘cello. I think many people had this idea, and of course we know of Mr. Hutchins’ work which approached the problem from a scientific direction. However, I had never seen a small bass that had the musical properties which were needed. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 4, 2022March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Harpsichords: Reconstructing an Era Harpsichords: Reconstructing an Era by Byron Will Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 5 ,#4, 1977 The music of the renaissance and baroque has undergone a rebirth in the twentieth century, with musicians and makers attempting to rediscover the high level of the art which was reached. A great deal of work has been done in the enormous process of making a musical era live again, with the scholar having to be cautious of falling into preconceptions and making personal assumptions which may be quite false. This long an difficult process has many times changed the musicians and makers outlook on the “correct” approach. Although there are not and never were absolutes, much more is known than twenty years ago and the modern maker has a better idea of what is required of the musician interpreting the great compositions of the past. The most logical approach the modern harpsichord maker may take is to carefully study the old instruments and attempt to understand the old makers methods. There are many antiques that have been restored, although not all with the greatest of care. Many old instruments have been altered, perhaps many times, so not much of the original remains. What can we tell from the antiques which are two or three hundred years old? The antiques play music with the clarity, growth, and beauty that a great instrument has, having a strong character that works with the music and performer to give a completely satisfying performance. The antiques sometimes have a certain ugliness or crudeness to their tone adding charm and incisive character. The modern maker must determine what he hears in the antiques, study how they were constructed and incorporate this information in his work in order to properly approach the old makers’ art. Their need for caution is as important as the scholars’. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
