Monday, April 28, 2014

Tips In Building A Bowed Psaltery

By Eloise Hewitt


This process is actually considered less involving if compared with other stringed musical instruments. A bowed psaltery is actually triangular in shape and made in such a way to produce diatonic, flat along with sharp notes. Its wooden box allows individual playing of the strings mounted to it. These instruments also come in different models although approximately in an identical structure.

Building this instrument starts from the frame. Pieces for the frame are cut from plywood into triangular shape and the edges trimmed using a band saw. The frames are then glued together until they hold up in the desired manner. In order to attain pressure on the triangle edges, a jig that is lined with wax paper should be used, before placing a clamp on the ends to help fit the frames tightly in position.

A smaller measurement opening is then drilled, merely in the middle of the plywood. This need to be at the back of the instrument and can either be left spherical or maybe designed to another attractive shape. On top of the triangle, a pencil can be used to mark direct traces for the purpose of the strings. Pins are then used to be able to mark the obvious cut locations which should differentiate the notes and their correspondences.

Slots regarding the hitch and tuning pins are also drilled. Those for the hitch pins need to be produced vertically in the front side, whilst for the turning pins must come on the back. What comes next is the instrument's finish. A harder and brittle finish enables the sound to come out in quite a perfect way.

The bridge then needs to be developed using a bit of hardwood which is grooved to the middle part of the instrument. The bridge need to be able to provide adequate room such that the shortest string also gets to vibrate and wind. The surfaces of the pins need to be roughed up so that they can be able to hold the strings properly.

Stringing the instrument is the next step whereby each string is threaded through every hitch pin. The strings are pulled over the pins and laid onto the bridge. These are then looped onto the tuning pins and tightened to give a firm grip.

An electronic tuner is next utilized to tune such an instrument and get perfect functioning notes. They are furthermore wind in a counter clockwise direction around the pins. The natural notes are intended to run on the right section in an upward manner as those that run on the left side are the sharps and flats ones.

This instrument is played using a bow which can simply be built from hardwood and some fishing line. The hardwood should have a small hole on both long end sides, though there should be a double knot tied in one of the holes. This bow gets its final look from fishing lines that are wrapped around the stick length. It would work better if a few inches of space are left at the centre of the stick.




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