Scheitholt
Jun. 12th, 2022 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellerMy scheitholt arrived - and it's truly deserving of its name! Isn't this a lovely log of firewood?
I mean - whatever else can be said about this instrument, it's certainly authentic. A true masterpiece of Nether-Saxon craftsmanship! It's from Bassum, where someone found it in an attic and, incomprehensibly, decided they didn't want to keep it. If you ask me, that's a shame: at the very least, it's culturally valuable, and I'd view it as a true tragedy if it were ripped out of its context! I mean, that's clearly a family-heirloom level instrument, hand-crafted, hand-painted, and everything! Who the heck wouldn't want this???
The wood and all the other materials were carefully chosen for their acoustic proper... oh, JUST KIDDING.
It's not a bug, it's a feature!
Well, technically, at least the woodworms are bugs, but, whatever.
Maybe I'll have to do something about the string placement. Generally speaking, I don't like to mess with historical instruments, but if I want to play this one seriously, this doesn't just look like a bad idea, it's also a safety hazard.
While we're at the topic: the tuning is 1-1-5-1 with the last 1 being one octave higher than the first two strings. This is suuuuper fun because playing all those 1's together results in a sound that seems to go simultaneously up and down and clearly enriches any song that's being played! :D (It's supposed to do that. The weird buzzing is also the reason this instrument type is nicknamed 'bumblebee' in some regions.)
Frets - this is how you do them!
I mean, I'm still not entirely sure what kind of scale that's supposed to be, but, no worries, I'll figure it out.
Also: soundholes. This instrument is very advanced, so, it has them. With nice decorations, even - what else could you wish for?!?
The maker's initials, I suppose. Unfortunately, I have no idea what they stand for.
Right angles are somewhat overrated. Lovely folk art, though! (My mom said she recognizes the circle shape with the crisscross lines in the middle. She didn't remember what it stands for, though. I have no clue, either. We're too modern, I guess... This is somewhat embarassing... But, anyway, the motif is not random. Where are the ethnologists when you need them?!?)
Uhm. Yeah.
Anyway: I LOVE this instrument! I'm sooooo happy that I have it! :D
(I suppose the surprising thing is that it actually sounds good. But, hey, the design has been around virtually unchanged since at least the 1400's, without anyone feeling the need to do anything about it, so... Success!)
I mean - whatever else can be said about this instrument, it's certainly authentic. A true masterpiece of Nether-Saxon craftsmanship! It's from Bassum, where someone found it in an attic and, incomprehensibly, decided they didn't want to keep it. If you ask me, that's a shame: at the very least, it's culturally valuable, and I'd view it as a true tragedy if it were ripped out of its context! I mean, that's clearly a family-heirloom level instrument, hand-crafted, hand-painted, and everything! Who the heck wouldn't want this???
The wood and all the other materials were carefully chosen for their acoustic proper... oh, JUST KIDDING.
It's not a bug, it's a feature!
Well, technically, at least the woodworms are bugs, but, whatever.
Maybe I'll have to do something about the string placement. Generally speaking, I don't like to mess with historical instruments, but if I want to play this one seriously, this doesn't just look like a bad idea, it's also a safety hazard.
While we're at the topic: the tuning is 1-1-5-1 with the last 1 being one octave higher than the first two strings. This is suuuuper fun because playing all those 1's together results in a sound that seems to go simultaneously up and down and clearly enriches any song that's being played! :D (It's supposed to do that. The weird buzzing is also the reason this instrument type is nicknamed 'bumblebee' in some regions.)
Frets - this is how you do them!
I mean, I'm still not entirely sure what kind of scale that's supposed to be, but, no worries, I'll figure it out.
Also: soundholes. This instrument is very advanced, so, it has them. With nice decorations, even - what else could you wish for?!?
The maker's initials, I suppose. Unfortunately, I have no idea what they stand for.
Right angles are somewhat overrated. Lovely folk art, though! (My mom said she recognizes the circle shape with the crisscross lines in the middle. She didn't remember what it stands for, though. I have no clue, either. We're too modern, I guess... This is somewhat embarassing... But, anyway, the motif is not random. Where are the ethnologists when you need them?!?)
Uhm. Yeah.
Anyway: I LOVE this instrument! I'm sooooo happy that I have it! :D
(I suppose the surprising thing is that it actually sounds good. But, hey, the design has been around virtually unchanged since at least the 1400's, without anyone feeling the need to do anything about it, so... Success!)
no subject
Date: 2022-06-12 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-13 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-13 11:50 am (UTC)Sounds...encouraging. ;)
no subject
Date: 2022-06-13 01:50 pm (UTC)(Does this approach result in a large collection of awful musical instruments? Yes. Yes, it does.)
no subject
Date: 2022-06-13 05:41 pm (UTC)That's understandable!
(Does this approach result in a large collection of awful musical instruments? Yes. Yes, it does.)
LOL. Are you the proud owner of such a collection?
no subject
Date: 2022-06-13 07:15 pm (UTC)I don't admit anything! XDD
There may be an almost unplayable piano from the 1800s around...no subject
Date: 2022-06-14 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-14 03:42 pm (UTC)I mean - my family ended up with four pianos, but, you don't have to emulate that... Limiting yourself to one is perfectly fine. XD
no subject
Date: 2022-06-14 04:03 pm (UTC)badinfluence(r). ;)no subject
Date: 2022-06-14 04:16 pm (UTC)