Doc, First let me say that the bowed psaltery is probably not an ancient instrument. I've been back and forth with a number of players and our consensus is that it was a recent invention by a German music teacher as an instruction tool (probably late 19th century or early 20th). We have looked at the old paintings and lithographs where a bow is used and found that they all involve a "stopped" string like the viol.
Having said that, the bowed psaltery is a lovely instrument to play. The bow on wire gives a sound that might easily be mistaken for an ancient sound. It fits well in a medieval ensemble. I don't know the Hora instruments, but mine is made from a Music Makers (Stillwater, Minnesota) kit. It is 2 1/2 octaves (rather than the normal 2) and sings throughout the range. I have taken it to the Somerset Harp Festival (where many play several instruments) and it has passed the review by players quite well. The bowed psaltery probably gets the name "psaltery" as is is a small instrument. The old psaltery, going back over three thousand years, is the ancestor of the zither - an instrument that is "bridged" and has a single course of strings with each string fixed to a pitch. The bowed psaltery is the same, but has a chromatic scale by bowing at a different angle. That chromatic scale is relatively modern. I have copied this to the lute list and the harp list intentionally. The harp is the descendant of the lyre, a set of individual strings each tuned to a note, and each freely resonating from a sound board to a pin block. The kithera (of classical times) is in that family. The psaltery is another thing, the strings are individual and each tuned to a note, but they are indirectly sounded in the sense that they cross a bridge and transmit the vibrations to a "sounding box" through the pressure of that bridge. Then we have the family of the lute (which includes the samisen and the violin). In this family the change of pitch is made by "stopping" the strings. Sometimes against frets, and sometimes freely (as in the violin). If one stretches the origins to the bowstring of the hunter then one could say that once upon a time sevaral hunters liked the "twang" of the bow string. One wanted more pitches and added strings, one wanted more pitches and put a piece of wood behing the string and "stopped" it. And another said "we don't need no stinkin' bow" and stretched the strings across a box. However it happened, we ended up with three basic stringed instruments. And at some point in history someone discovered one could get a different sound by vibrating the string with a bow, and that worked for the "stopped strings" as there weren't too many of them, and by then I would guess that the "stopped" stringers had gone to the "box". And there was also the "hammer". So we yet have three instruments; the "open string" lyre/harp, the "bridged" box of the psaltery and the "bridged" box with "stopped strings". We also have three ways of playing them; the pluck, the hammer and the bow. Then we have another differentiation, and it applies to all of them. Where does the resonance come from. The harp basically sounds the strings directly, but it has an amplification of the vibrations from the sound box. In the South American harp that is greatly from the relatively thin and resonant "lute shaped" back, in the European it is more a fixed back and the soundboard with the direct pull is the resonator. On the bridged instruments I'm less aware, as I understand it the violin is of similar thickness and resonation in all parts of the box. And from what I have read of the lute it is more like the SA harp with a thin resonating back. The wire stringing of the classic psaltery requires little resonation from sympathetic vibrations, just an echo chamber. But I leave that to the experts, I merely raise "talking points". Now back to the bowed psaltery Doc, it is a bastard of these. An individual string for each pitch, a bridged box, and a bow to activate it. The chromatic nature of the stringing indicates modern invention, only the lute/violin/etc. family have historically had the chromatics. (Harpists, I'm leaving out the levers and pedals). The bowed psaltery has the "black and white" keys of the piano, is played with a bow, and has a sized and sound of an old instrument. I recommend you to it, but for enjoyment rather than historical accuracy. Many of the bowed psaltery makers honestly think it is an ancient instrument because of the name - it isn't. But it plays that way. And if this diatribe convinces some on the lute list that the attempt to perfect the duplication of a particular period (and a short one at that) isn't the only way to use an instrument - or to enjoy the music of the past - then it is worth the effort. The bowed "psaltery" is a unique instrument. Grace notes and ornamentation is practically impossibe as on must lift the bow to play a new note (can be done, but more difficult than the "hammer on/pick off" of stopped instruments or the quick fingering of the harp or psaltery). It is at its best on melody, and the ability to use the bow for tone gives the ability to "sing a song" with meaning. You asked if I make plucked psalteries (which should be just called psalteries). I'm designing one of more capacity than the traditional. But given the strictures of the lute list I'll have to call it something else. Best, Jon ----- Original Message ----- From: "doc rossi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Jon Murphy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2003 2:46 AM Subject: Re: String tension and sound quality. > Hi Jon, > > I've only been vaguely following this thread about your "lute" kit, but > I did read your last message for some reason and notice you mention the > psaltry. I've been wanting to get one myself for some time. I've seen > the bowed psaltries that Hora make, and eventually will get one or two > of those, but I would very much like to have a plucked one, too. Do > you know where I could find one, or do you make them yourself? > > Thanks a lot, > > Doc Rossi > > >
