Posted on June 26, 2019March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips The Colombian Andean Bandola The Colombian Andean Bandola by Luis Alberto Paredes Rodríguez and Manuel Bernal Martínez previously published in American Lutherie #96, 2008 The Colombian Andean bandola is a transcultural product similar to plectrum-played antecedents from Asia and Europe. It is a 12-string, 6-course soprano instrument with “flat” top and back, and is the solo melodic instrument in the Colombian Andean quartet, which consists of two bandolas, a tiple (see Big Red Book Volume Seven, previously published in AL#82), and a classical guitar. The name “bandola” comes from the old Persian-Arabic word pandura. Derived from the name of the European lute, the word refers to a great variety of instruments of medium and high register with melodic functions. The direct ancestor of the bandola is the guitar through the Spanish bandurria and the soprano guitars, and which after taking its form in Colombia during the 19th and 20th centuries, continues to undergo transformations in its morphology and usage. The Colombian Andean bandola has two developmental lineages: on one hand, the denomination line which makes reference to its name, and on the other, the construction line which makes reference to its morphological features (Bernal, 2003). The name of the bandola comes from the pandura (known since the 10th century) following the European lute, and one of its families known as the “mandoras family.” These 4- to 6-course instruments with thin bodies had a variety of pitches (a mixture of perfect fourths and fifths) and scale lengths ranging between 37CM and 42CM. By the year 1700, the mandolines emerged in Italy when the size of the mandola was reduced, prevailing and persisting in Italy in two different models: the Milanese mandoline with a thin, slightly arched body, and six courses of either gut or metal strings tuned in perfect fourths; and the Neapolitan mandolin with a bowl back body, a cranked (bent) soundboard just where the bridge is placed, four courses of metal strings tuned like a violin, and strings fastened to the end of the body by way of a tailpiece. The scale for both models is about 32CM to 34CM. In the 18th century, mandolins began to be manufactured with flat or slightly arched sides and back, especially in France, Germany, and Portugal. 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 June 26, 2019March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips The Catgut Acoustical Society and the New Violin Family Association The Catgut Acoustical Society and the New Violin Family Association by Robert J. Spear previously published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 See also, Meet the Maker: Carleen Hutchins by Alan Carruth The New Violin Family by Alan Carruth The Catgut Acoustical Society (CAS) had been known for nearly fifty years for the creation of the violin octet, mainly through the research and development of Carleen Hutchins (with the assistance of over a hundred society members), but the society also undertook a number of acoustically related projects during this same period. As the 20th century ended, some members wanted to focus more on these areas. There was also a growing feeling among the octet developers that this magnificent set of instruments needed to leave the world of science and enter the world’s concert stages. At the end of 1999, the society split into two groups, with one retaining the original CAS name and research focus. The other, the New Violin Family Association (NVFA), was formed to take on the challenge of promoting the Violin Octet. The division produced advantages and disadvantages for all concerned. The CAS and NVFA were now free to focus more directly on their respective areas of interest. But both were considerably smaller and financially weaker after the membership divided, and each soon had to redefine itself. 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 June 24, 2019March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Three Short Articles by H.E. Huttig The Guitar & I by H.E. Huttig previously published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly 10 #2, 1982 See also, “Three Craftsmen” by H.E. Huttig “Woes of a Wood Merchant” by H.E. Huttig My introduction to the mystery and beauty of musical instruments took place in my grandmother’s hotel suite. Grandma had been to Europe, an experience reserved for a favored few in those days. Her suite in the old Hotel Lucerne was a cultural oasis in the otherwise arid surroundings of Kansas City, a town only recently emerged from frontier days and having a considerable preoccupation with cattle and lumbering. Her rooms were filled with bric-a-brac and antique furniture. In addition there was a grand piano and numerous small instruments including violins, mandolins and guitars. I was five years old at the time and my inquisitive fingers quickly found the strings of the instruments. I marveled at the sounds and appreciated the beauty of the polished rare woods. Later Grandma moved to Miami Beach and her guitar was damaged when a hurricane blew in the windows. The guitar was given to me all in ruins, and I managed to repair it. It is still in my possession. Years later I met Delfin Martinez and Ted McCully, both talented guitarists. Delfin had come from Key West and was familiar with all phases of Latin music. Though he plays guitar, his favorite instrument is the TRES, a three stringed Cuban folkloric instrument Ted was born in Russia and was adopted by Admiral McCully from the crowds of Russian orphans left homeless after World War I. 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 June 20, 2019March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Searching for Blue Significance Searching for Blue Significance by John Calkin previously published in American Lutherie #56, 1998 I guess I heard about Scott Chinery’s collection of blue guitars at the same time as everyone else. The photo of a necklace of sky-colored archtops lounging on the grass appeared in magazines well outside the field of music. And my reaction was probably the same as everyone else’s — where does this guy get his money? I was glad Chinery had dumped so much bread into the lutherie community, but otherwise I didn’t see the point. So when the staid Smithsonian Institution decided to house the collection for awhile, I was amused and confounded. What was going on here? I knew two things for sure. First, as a connoisseur of vintage instruments and a collector of wide renown, Scott Chinery was a man to be reckoned with. In the early ’90s he made a short video (available from Stew-Mac) which skimmed off some of the creamier bits of his collection for the home viewer, and let’s just say that any one piece would make any musician’s day turn golden. If the above question about his money seems rude, you should know that Chinery is very up-front about the subject on video and freely talks about what he paid for certain pieces and what sort of tempting offers he has refused for his vintage groovies. My friend and guitar teacher, Mitch Block, played a party at Chinery’s New Jersey home and came back stupefied by the shear quantity of fine (not to mention important) guitars he saw there. 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 June 20, 2019March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips The New Violin Family The New Violin Family by Alan Carruth previously published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 See also, Meet the Maker: Carleen Hutchins by Alan Carruth The Catgut Acoustical Society and the New Violin Family Association by Robert J. Spear These diagrams are intended to show the relative sizes of the octet instruments; dimensions shown are not definitive. Detailed full-scale plans are available from the New Violin Family Association. The neck of the small bass as shown here is longer than might be expected. This is to ease the transition between a standard bass viol and the octet small bass. Small basses have also been built successfully with necks that are more in scale with the instrument body. The largest five instruments are played on endpins. 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.
