# Hear Rare String Instruments



## Enthalpy

Hello dear friends!

I propose to link pictures, descriptions... and *hearing samples of unusual string instruments* in this thread.

Other threads exist already for double reeds, single reeds, brass, and more should come for percussions and whatever is desired.

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Let's start with *a piano almost 6m long*. This gives the lowest strings almost the proper length to propagate the sound as fast as air does. Listen especially the low notes here:
6PI8RYIeypM (prefer a headset or Hi-fi loudspeakers)​their attack and height are well-defined, better than on usual grand pianos and of course upright pianos.


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## Azol

Well, piano is not the first thing that comes to mind in association with "string instrument" 

Anyway, this is interesting theme, let me offer you the microtonal guitar:

*Handel's Passacaglia on Microtonal Guitar - Arr. David Russell*





*Microtonal Bach Experiment 1 - Which Tuning Sounds Better?*
*Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: II. Air*





You can research the rest. Looks (and sounds) mindbending!


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## erki

Long String Instrument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-string_instrument

Ellen Fullman





Alvin Lucier


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## Enthalpy

The *luthéal* is a less common instrument… A historical one is in Brussel's Musée des Instruments de Musique, one built more recently is in Paris' Musée Instrumental, one was built for Daniel Hope, and apparently that's all.

George Cloetens patented it in 1919 as extra hardware on a piano to change the timbre at will, plus controls available to the pianist.
wikipedia​And there are records of this instrument, even recently:
mim.be
GuiPX6BVSkg at 9:39 (the piece starts at 05:33)​Two (2) known pieces were written for the luthéal, both by Maurice Ravel, but are commonly played on a normal piano: _L'enfant et les sortilèges_ and _Tzigane_


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## SuperTonic

*A note to the OP*: Pianos and their variants would not typically be lumped in with stringed instruments. They should either be grouped with other keyboard instruments, or classified as percussion instruments.

*Arpeggione*
This is a fretted instrument with 6 strings that is similar in range and tone to the cello and is typically played with a bow. Many people will know of Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata, which is the only well know composition that was written for the instrument. It is typically played on the cello today. According to wiki there has been somewhat of a revival for the instrument in the 21st century with new works being composed for it as a solo instrument or as part of an ensemble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arpeggione

Here is the 1st movement of the Schubert sonata played on the actual instrument:





*Octobass*
This is an extremely large bowed instrument with 3 strings that was invented in the mid-19th century. It sounds an octave below a normal string bass. One version of the instrument is 3.5 meters, or almost 11 and a half feet tall. To play the instrument, the musician uses a series of levers and pedals to control metal bars that stop the strings at the appropriate point to produce each note. Berlioz was said to have supported the instrument's wide-spread adoption, but he never used it in any of his compositions. The only known work to include it is Gounod's _Messe solennelle de Sainte-Cecile_, in which it is used in the Benedictus and Agnus Dei sections. Today the instrument can mainly be found in museums, though the Montreal Symphony Orchestra does own one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octobass


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## Enthalpy

All Internet pages claim that the octo-basse sounds an octave below the bowed contrabass, but I doubt this was the initial intent. Authors contemporary to Vuillaume (was it Berlioz? I don't remember where I read it) report the same height as the contrabass.

This would be pretty logical. The contrabass is already low enough, as most people don't perceive its height properly. Strings less short would also sound better and react faster than on the usual contrabass (whose strings are exactly as short as on a bass guitar). Table, bottom and box less small would also sound better for the contrabass height.

Or instead of growing all dimensions of a contrabass, we would need a redesign, with smaller overall dimensions for the same string length, and a more efficient table.

==========

I'm pleased with the piano among the string instruments. It sounds less well without its strings.


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## erki

*Yaybahar by Görkem Şen*

This is one of my favourite experimental music instruments.


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## Guest

How about the viola organista? Designed by da Vinci, it looks like a keyboard instrument, but it bows the strings rather than hammering or plucking them.






Here's a recital/lecture on the instrument:






I have his CD and love it!


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## Enthalpy

You can hear the existing *Glockenklavier, Wagner's attempt to implement the Gralsglocken*, at
qUfo1szjPIc
pcpkp13juVA at 0:30 to 1:24, younger version with mallets, and
dF1zz6F4aIA an other with mallets
3mNMUNJIS3Q at 0:30, 1:00, 1:31 and 1:48 older version with keyboard.​Wagner failed to propose an instrument to fit the task (church bells lower than the Stephansdom) and so did the followers. All these string instruments with wooden table sound like a piano, not like a bell, and they aren't loud enough. Many other combinations were tried, some resemble a bell better, none is really loud behind a big orchestra.


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## Enthalpy

The cymbalum, or *cimbalom*, tsimbal and so on, is common in Romania, Hungary and more Central and Eastern European countries, but elsewhere it's not so usual
en.wiki and fr.wiki​Fortunately there are records on the Web.

Varied styles, pieces and composers there:
Daniel Skála on Youtube​
EflpsFjkzxU traditional role and music.​By the way, Victor Kopatchinsky is the father of Patricia, well known too, as a violinist.
6aoL0wp6RjE at 0:18 away from folklore.
OUr20-jDN5o different country
IPKIhnnhuTk jazz
WyWPdG2hSuY​called a (small) cimbalom too, while the santoor, yangqin and other hammered dulcimers are not.


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## Art Rock

Common in China, but rare for most of us: the erhu. Penderecki wrote substantial parts for this instrument in his sixth symphony.






Penderecki link.


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## Enthalpy

The *kora*, a fabulous plucked string instrument, isn't common where I live, but here are opportunities to hear one - or even two, as Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté play together.
-cLAwAOi-hA
K8nyjsDj-Is at 0:25​
The *kamélé n'goni* (also kamelen n'goni or just n'goni) resembles the kora, but its possibilities differ a bit, and the music played on it more so. Here a demonstration at a luthier:
Q4fbdVUzdRE at 0:10​and played by Lamine Koeta there
EO0bFp4wlkw​Vieux Kanté let the instrument's technique and style evolve
nhaWmfXeDNU at 0:16​


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## Azol

Art Rock said:


> Common in China, but rare for most of us: the erhu. Penderecki wrote substantial parts for this instrument in his sixth symphony.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Penderecki link.


This is amazing! Thanks for sharing


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## Azol

Just found this beauty, an ErHu concerto! So it's possible to perform both lyrical and highly virtuosic passages on this instrument. The two strings are basically suspended, there is no fretboard and you still have to support (however slightly) it with your "fretting" hand. Must be incredibly tough to play! (would be nice to try though - I played violin before but now switched to "easymode" for fun - guitar and banjo. Not a professional musician at any rate.)

Definitely a musical discovery of the year for me! :clap::clap::clap:


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## Enthalpy

Depending on where you have lived, you may not have heard a *qanun* up to now… The kind of zither is common from Armenia and Turkey to Iran and Syria and beyond.

Music:
NplUDKSwvQU The seven gates of Damascus
xL1QRZ1nfro Syrian dreams
e351z9H5MB8 Audition for a graduation​Allegedly the instrument was formerly played by men only… Maya Youssef is a fabulous composer, and to my ears (I don't play this instrument) she plays very well too.

Explanations about the instrument:
h81283r_cJ8 including the piece "Breakthrough"
wikipedia​


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## Enthalpy

The *horn violin, or Strohviolin*, or in other languages vioară cu goarnă and Stroh hegedű, isn't so common depending on where you live. I heard only one in real life.

The instrument replaces the soundbox by a metal membrane and a horn or two. The sound tends to be very tinny and narrow, but some instruments are less bad in this aspect, possibly the ones built by Stroh with a wider horn. Examples:
sU2MZseFzYs at 2:50 - Y82pYGUSMI8​and here also a cello and a bass
5yNqBES1yXc​
I wouldn't give up a true violin for that, but it's fun.


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## Enthalpy

Just in case someone doesn't know what a *tromba marina* is (ok, nearly everybody should ignore that, as the instrument was abandoned before the baroque era)...

The bowed string instrument has a special bridge called guidon, just in equilibrium so one foot hits the soundboard at each vibration cycle to produce a loud strident sound resembling a trumpet.
Tromba_marina and Schnarrsteg on Wiki​
Being a historic curiosity, it's mostly played by people who invested little time to learn it without a professor, but here are good audio records. Yes, that's a string instrument.
wlBolbo24Rc - LhS9u2f5hFE​


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## Enthalpy

The concert or pedal harp is too rare. But what about the *chromatic harp* then?

The concert harp is diatonic, with pedals to change the key. Pretty much inadequate for romantic and posterior music, and many scores are clumsy or impossible. While smaller chromatic harps were known, in 1894 Gustave Lyon invented a large concert chromatic harp at Pleyel. Alas, the new instrument couldn't play the existing scores with diatonic glissandi, it demanded new skills too, and didn't succeed. The big instruments are survivors built by Pleyel up to 1930. One is in Brussel's fabulous _Musée des Intruments de Musique_, a handful are played. We can say: rare.
en.wiki - fr.wiki - de.wiki (contents differs)
scholarlyrepository.miami.edu link to 10MB PhD thesis there​fr.wiki alleges that the last professor, Francette Bartholomée, retired in 2005, but Paola Chatelle teaches the harp in Brussels and plays the chromatic harp, and Vanessa Gerkens too teaches the chromatic harp in Belgium.


The older triple-raw chromatic harp is well alive in Wales
I_ImURf8KUE from 19:12 to 26:55​while the crossed chromatic instrument gets rare in Spain
I_ImURf8KUE from 27:64 to 30:26​the whole Bbc documentary is fascinating.
The big Pleyel instruments sound a bit dry and narrow to my ears. Maybe pedal harps sounded that way too and got a wider body meanwhile. Also, the additional strings knowingly demand a stronger table, heavier and stiffer, and the eccentric implantation lets the strings feel a stronger resistance.
More recent harps, also cross-strung with 7+5 strings per octave for natural notes and accidentals. They are smaller up to now, like 5 octaves instead of 7, and sound even dryer. What's the string material?
Recent small harps with 6+6 strings per octave regularly spaced. These too sound dry. Their proponents give playing arguments for the 6+6 against the 7+5. My impression (I don't play any harp!): the 6+6 instrument hasn't still developed the mean virtuosity of the 7+5 but is played by a wider group:
Website - Forum​
Recent small harps with 12 strings per octave in one row.

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To promote the instrument, Pleyel commissioned Debussy the _Danse sacrée et danse profane_ for chromatic harp and orchestra. These pieces are presently played on the pedal harp, reportedly with difficult pedal movements. Here Francette Bartholomée plays them
Danse sacrée - Danse profane​I suppose she plays on the chromatic instrument, because I don't hear the usual parasitic noises and unnecessary caesurae, for instance at 1:15 and 3:27 in the Danse sacrée. To my ears it's nicer.

Still by Francette Bartholomée on the grand Pleyel chromatic harp, pieces with quickly varying key signature if any - I have no idea how difficult they would be on a pedal harp
Ballade sur un vieux Noël wallon oublié, composed by Joseph Jongen
Nocturne 2 - Nocturne 3 - Pastorale composed by Pierre Bartholomée​These same pieces would sound abstruse and aggressive on a violin. Composers should write more often for the harp.

Paola Chatelle learned from Francette Bartholomée, she plays a grand Pleyel chromatic harp here
Improvisation composed by Auguste de Boeck
Gigue - Double composed by J.S.Bach​her website paolachatelle.be contains hearing samples paolachatelle.be/shop.html and more information.

Vanessa Gerkens too learned from Francette Bartholomée, playing here a grand Pleyel chromatic harp
L'écume des âmes - Avalon - La Phoenix, own compositions​She has a website too harponomie.be with infomation about the instrument harponomie.be/...renaissance
She wants new instruments to reproduce the Pleyel model. Marc Brulé already makes a 5 octaves one.

Here you can compare with an excellent pedal harp. The sound is deeper
Salvi factory tour​different manufacturer, different age, wider body - and fewer strings that are located at the table's centre.

Mirjam Rietberg plays a 6+6 chromatic harp made by Zangerle
Debussy - Dowland (Around 1600!)​Her website mirjamharp.com and her Youtube channel mirjamrietbergharp

Émilie Chevillard plays jazz on a single-row chromatic harp, here in the group Colunia jazz
gk2pqW2tIqg - tjDf9COt4Es at 5:12​a chromatic instrument seems the obvious choice for jazz, but others play the pedal instrument.


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## Enthalpy

Soundboards of *graphite fibre composite* seem to use no sandwich up to now and have a distinctive sound.

Here a *guitar*:
MJ6iyWSEzIs comparisons with wood at 3:06 vs 3:38, 4:14 vs 4:52​
Here are *pianos*:
EBvrQlZYS-o at 0:11 - rCqgpt3KGEc at 0:07​
And this is a *cello*:
5SRDj9xGAoM​


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## Enthalpy

The ancient *Chinese Konghou harp* has soundboards parallel to the strings. I believed to have invented that. The string pull less on the table(s) which can be thinner, lighter, louder. Elsewhere, I described such a concert harp. Maybe I paste the description at talkclassical too.

How loud is the Konghou? It seems to work very well. Hear the exquisite sound
XqT7nfXTp5c at t=15​I like immediately this music from the opposite side of Earth. Because a harp carries it?

The low notes sound deep, better than the Erard-style harp
Pc2mD5vAhww at t=14 - 04oWysYCN0o - Gv0DOFkhFm4 at t=21 - UbYA_K9QoWc​that's what I expected from the bigger and more flexible soundboard.

Introduction: the instrument abandoned for centuries was revived and modernized around 1980
QReFNf4RzAM​7 notes × 5 octaves, right and left identical. Double-movement pedals identical to the Erard design.

Erard-system harpists can play the Konghou immediately
1oCAlWxM - ZuUrtGTfWoM​
The Konghou has a smaller range than the Erard-style harp. Two sets of strings certainly don't help the frame.


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