Posted on July 7, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Charango Plans Questions: Charango Plans by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #104, 2010 Gerald Mercer from Angels Camp, California asks: I am looking for plans for a South American charango. These are often 10-string, 5-course instruments and made using the shells of armadillos. C.F. Casey from Winnipeg Beach, Canada answers: The website below will get you going on building a charango. The title calls it a ronroco, but it’s the same thing. They even use the two terms interchangeably in the site. http://jlfeijooi.en.eresmas.com/Construccion_de_un_ronroco.htm Here we’re dealing with a charango that’s carved out of solid wood, rather than using an armadillo shell for the bowl. Most charangos I’ve seen lately have been the carved variety, and the last few times I’ve visited my friendly neighborhood wood-pusher, they’ve been fresh out of armadillos. The site is in Spanish, but Google’s translation is no more horrible than such things usually are. In any case, the sketches have the main dimensions, which is the most important thing. ◆
Posted on July 5, 2024May 15, 2025 by Dale Phillips Two Tuvan Instruments Two Tuvan Instruments by Thomas Johnson Originally published in American Lutherie #98, 2009 Originally, the igil and morin khuur (also spelled morin huur) were made by nomadic people with rudimentary tools. Instrument making in Tuva remains a cottage industry, and the master makers have mostly died off without leaving a trained younger generation. It can be difficult to find wood big enough for Tuvan instruments, and it is becoming common practice to build up the piece by gluing extra bits on. For example, the height of the horse’s head above the fingerboard of an igil is enough to significantly increase the block of wood required. A maker can easily use a smaller block and, using a piece cut from it, add to the height by gluing it to the top. As the wood is from the same block, it can be fairly invisible. This is also possible for the soundbox and the fingerboard; two equal-sized cheeks can be added to either side to enable the correct dimension to be achieved. 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 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Venezuelan Cuatro The Venezuelan Cuatro by Aquiles Torres Originally published in American Lutherie #94, 2008 The Venezuelan cuatro is descended directly from the Renaissance guitar, which was brought by Spanish conquerors and colonizers to Venezuela in 1498. Over the centuries the small guitar kept its four courses (“cuatro” means “four” in Spanish) but switched from double to single strings. The shape of the cuatro has progressively changed until today it is a perfect reduction of a classical guitar, but with fourteen frets on the neck and no frets over the soundboard. The cuatro is played in almost 100% of Venezuelan folkloric and popular music, and even academic music has been developed for the cuatro. Due to its history, there is a remarkable Spanish influence on Venezuelan music, and many “flamenco” sounds can be recognized, especially in the regional styles of the plains and the east coast. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 7, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips The Santur The Santur by Javád Náini Originally published in American Lutherie #92, 2007 Also see, Introducing Santur by Javád Náini The santur is a traditional Persian dulcimer which is played with two light wooden hammers. Its isosceles trapezoidal shape, tuning plan, and playing methods are similar to the American hammered dulcimer and East Indian santoor. Origins of the santur trace back to ancient Persians in the Middle East, India, and perhaps ancient China. Modern santur design, however, is most likely no more than two centuries old. In this article, we focus on the design that is most popular in contemporary Iran or Persia. The santur provides over three octaves of musical notes (e–f ´´´ or ≈164Hz–1396Hz), with eighteen unison courses of four strings. The strings in each course share the same chessman-style bridge. There are two columns of nine bridges; bass courses are on the right, treble courses on the left. Treble bridges divide each course into a higher and middle octave. This provides two consecutive octaves of notes, with one additional overlap note. The strings running to the right side of the bass bridge are not played. 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 6, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Building the Kamanché Building the Kamanché by Nasser Shirazi Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The word kamanché in the Persian language (Farsi) means “small bow.” This instrument, with varying shape, size, and material, is widely used in Middle Eastern countries. The kamanché described in this article is modeled after the Persian (Iranian) instrument. The kamanché is a very old instrument and possibly dates back as much as 1500–2000 years, being another form of the ancient Indian ravanstron. In 1418 A.D. Ben Abd-ul-Cadir wrote a treatise (the manuscript of which is in the University of Leyden) which shows that its existence today has changed little since that time. A 16th-century Iranian miniature painting in the Khamza of the poet Nizami shows a kamanché very similar to the one described below. Various early European travelers to Iran have described it also. Among these are Sir W. Ouseley in 1819,1 and Sir Percy M. Sykes.2 Sykes describes a kamanché in Khorasan, an eastern province of Iran, as follows: “...made of walnut wood. The total length is 37", with fingerboard 9" in length. The instrument is handled like a violoncello; but in shape resembles a mandolin with a long spike of worked iron. The belly is constructed from a pumpkin covered with parchment and mounted with stripes of bone radiating from a turquoise. The neck is pierced on each side with three holes, and with a hollow at the back, 3" in length; there are three wire strings and six pegs, three of which are dummies. The bow resembles our double-bass bows and is 22" in length; it is made of gypchin wood and has a strap and a loop with which to tighten the horsehair. To complete the equipment, a bit of beeswax is tied on to serve as rosin.” 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.
