On 14/06/2011 20:08, Nancy Carlin wrote:
I think it is now common knowledge among the few people who build
orpharions and bandoras that the bridges should be tapered higher
off the belly on the bass side. Here is a link to some details on
the Palmer orphario (the 9 course instrument in Denmark).
[1]http://www.darryl-martin.co.uk/palmer.htm
Unfortunately the bridge is a replacement. If you read the pamphlet
on wire strings that the Lute Society (England) puts out you will
see that the Rose orpharion also has a replacement bridge.
About the tension on my 2 orpharions - my 6 course Rose (built by
Peter Biffin in 1984) feels like it has a bit more tension, and I am
very happy with the intonation. My 9 course Palmer (built by Bruce
Brook in 2009) has lots more strings and the tension feels lighter.
During the year + I have had it, the intonation problems have
improved with a combination of string changes and my improved skill
in getting my left hand fingers where they needed to be for this
instrument, plus I got a better tuner. On the Palmer, I had
initially tried an octave on the 6th course, but if the 2 different
strings were pulled slightly off, the intonation was much more
offensive than with unison strings. Both instruments have a tastini
to help intonation, but they are in different places.
About the string clashing and other assorted buzzes and nasty noises
- If you hit a string too hard it can buzz on the metal frets -
something that lute players don't need to worry about. With my 2
instruments the feel of the frets is quite different. The Rose has
lower scallops between each fret, so it's harder to get a good clear
sound for bar chords. The Palmer has a lovely low action and the bar
chords are a dream, unless you are pulling a string a bit to the
side. The Rose has the string in the pairs closer together, which
works well with that bit more tension. The Palmer has the string
further apart and it has taken a while to get used to the spacing
One more thing about the tension and playability - my borrowed
bandora, which is old and seems quite high tension, has no scallops
between the frets, but works well for intonation and bar chords.
It's biggest problem is that it is quite loud, especially when
combined with lutes.
Nancy
Another interesting bandora issue is that there were (or may have been)
smaller bandoras. Peter Forrester and Donald Gill (and others?) have
suggested that bandoras in D, a fourth higher, existed. There are some
very difficult stretches in some of the bandora solos (but not in the
existing bandora consort parts, I think). For example, this chord:
third course, second fret + second course, first fret + first course,
fifth fret. On an instrument with the first course at about 72cms
that's an enormous stretch. (Of course, this might just be an anomaly)
Stuart
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References
1. http://www.darryl-martin.co.uk/palmer.htm
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