Tips When Creating A Bowed Psaltery

By Eloise Hewitt


This process is deemed less involving as compared to other stringed instruments. A bowed psaltery is triangular in shape and made in such a way that it produces diatonic, sharp and flat notes. Its wooden sound box allows the strings attached to be individually played. They come in different designs though more or less the same format.

Developing this musical instrument will begin from the framework. Bits for the framework are generally sliced from plywood into triangular form as well as the edges trimmed using a band saw. The support frames are generally glued jointly right up until they hold up correctly. In order to get desired pressure within the triangle edges, a jig that may be padded using wax papers need to be employed. A clamp can also be used to help fit these frames tightly in place.

A small size hole is then drilled, just in the center of one side of the plywood. This ought to be at the back of the instrument and can either be left round in shape or made to any other desirable shape. On the triangular top, a pencil line is drawn to mark the straight lines meant for the strings. Pins are used to mark the clear cut locations and to differentiate the points for the notes that they correspond to.

Slots for the tuning pins and the hitch are drilled. The hitch pins need vertical slots at the rear front while turning pins made at the back. What subsequently comes after can be a finish for the instrument. It is advisable to note that perfect sound will result from a harder and brittle finish.

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 actually played out by using a bow which often is merely built from hardwood, with some opening on both ends and several fishing lines. A double knot is though needed to be tied in one hole. This specific bow obtains its final look after the fishing line is wrapped around it. A good wrap of the fishing line around the wood is what is required, though with some space left just around the centre of the wood.




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