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Chord zither ATC

2024-01-03T16:42:39Z

An ATC for Salamandea, who collects drawings of people playing musical instruments. Of course, I had to draw one of the things I play!

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Zither postcard!

2022-07-22T20:05:11Z

So, uh, who wants to receive a chord zither postcard? A pile of these just arrived from the print shop, and I'm perfectly happy to send them out to those who follow my ramblings about rather obscure musical instruments.

The picture itself is matte, but the strings and pegs are glossy! It’s very difficult to demonstrate this effect in a photo, but I tried:

Zither strings need to shimmer! :)

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Monochord

2022-06-15T12:19:19Z

For anyone who thought the Scheitholt looked a bit too complicated... This is a monochord, the simplest imaginable zither. Dad built that a few years ago.

I didn't even know about its existence because it was in Dad's collection of homemade musical instruments. (He said it was stored "right next to his selfmade xylophone", which is an instrument I don't touch. Ever.) Maybe, at some point, we should make a proper inventary within the family, considering I own some instruments that surprised Dad, and clearly, he didn't always inform me about his crafting projects... LOL. (Granted, we own a sh*tload of questionable instruments, most of which aren't considered instruments by civilized people in the first place, so, it's hard to keep track...)

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Scheitholt

2022-06-12T19:23:25Z

My 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.

( More pictures and explanations behind the cut. )

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!)

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Jugendstil zither?!?

2022-06-06T22:18:07Z

Ehhh. When I bought this one, I thought, okay, the design is some fake Jugendstil (art nouveau) thing?!? But, turns out, it may actually be the real deal. I couldn't find a date on the instrument, but I found the same model here, and the seller of that piece claims it's from around 1900, which would actually be the correct period for this art style.

Personal opinion: the design is very pretty, but, uh, I wouldn't put peacocks on a musical instrument. If you've ever heard a peacock, you'll know what I mean. This is a really stupid idea.

Gorgeous, though. XD

And it's a great instrument, too. Of all the zithers I've ever played on, this has to be the best! Despite the age, there's no warping at all, nothing rattles, no rust anywhere... This is like new, which means, it has been stored well! Also, the sound is very rich. It's AWESOME!!! I mean, this is a seriously good instrument. Almost too good for a chord zither. Also, it's a 5/21, which is exactly the thing I wanted. I'm very happy now!!!

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Fomen zither

2022-06-06T21:49:36Z

This "Fomen" 5/21 chord zither is, if I have to guess, from the '50s, maybe?!?

The design is inoffensive, but, as far as I can tell, meaningless - it's some flower thingy I can't identify. (Most likely, the designer tried to do something in the style of older zithers, but without having a solid grounding in folklore and folk art. Ah, city people... LOL. Anyway: Some Flower Thingy it is.)

This instrument needs some repairs, the lower part came a bit loose and rattles - I can fix that, it's just mildly annoying. (Also, the instrument was sold as decoration-only, so I can't really complain.) Otherwise, it's in okayish shape. Sounds a bit thin, but clear, which will make it an excellent practice instrument once it's fixed. (It's quiet enough, so it won't disturb the neighbors! Important consideration! LOL)

I wanted this one because it has the tuning I need! 10 tones per octave, which is how it's supposed to be! XD Like... No, okay, I know almost everyone considers this scale obsolete - but, I mean, it's the most useful for German folk music. And also, this is how I learned it. There's nothing wrong with chromatic-scale instruments, I just prefer this tuning...

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Inappropriate Zither Design

2022-06-06T21:14:23Z

Okay, guys, this one is weird.

It's a good instrument, no doubt. I will have to wait with tuning (for the same reason as mentioned in the previous post), but it's already obvious that this is an excellent chord zither. Nice, clear, and loud! :) I wasn't able to find out when the instrument was made, but, eh, it's seriously good. In good shape, too - just dirty, some superficial scratches, but not seriously damaged. (One string is missing, but I can replace that.) It's a 6-chord 'mandolin zither' (that is, the melody strings are doubled) with chromatic tuning - absolutely not what I'm used to, but, okay.

But... who the heck designed that?!?!?

This has to be the least appropriate zither art I've ever seen... Actually, that's the reason I bought this thing: exactly my kind of humor... (I burst out laughing when I saw it!) But there's no real doubt the design is also the reason this instrument was dirt cheap: the target group is... Uh, close to nonexistent. For several reasons:

a) Naked lady. German folk art -> nudity -> no-no. This is not an instrument you could display to guests in the living-room of your traditional-style household... (Even less so at the time this was built, actually.)
b) Naked lady on a product for an almost exclusively female target group (men don't play the chord zither! XD), which kind of limits the target group further.
c) Grossly inappropriate symbolism. Like... Water lilies, in German folklore, symbolize death by drowning. So, for that matter, do mermaids. Who on earth thought a death-by-drowning-themed instrument was a great idea?!?

Anyway... I think the design is brilliant in its weirdness, and of course I simply had to have this one! :D

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Musima chord zither

2022-06-06T20:46:21Z

I promised zither pics, didn't I?

This "Musima" 3-chord zither is a relatively new instrument, built in 1987 in the former GDR. (I'm calling it relatively new because, frankly, not many zithers are being built these days.) You may notice that 3 chords (C, F, G) are not very many. While this immediately invites all kinds of communism jokes (it's the GDR, they couldn't afford more chords... you know, you know), in this particular case it's not that they ran out of tones. Rather, it's an instrument intended for children. It's almost normal-sized (it has to be, considering the length of the strings demanded by physics) and - very unusually - has a full chromatic (!) scale. (Typical chord zithers tend to have ten tones per octave. This one actually has twelve. It's a bit weird, but, okay. I'll have to get used to it.)

Ahem.

Anyway - I got this one not because I expected to receive a good instrument (it's a GDR product, ffs!) but because I liked the design. The flower motif is a classic - this particular combination of flowers (poppy, cornflower, ...) isn't chosen randomly but represents the typical flowers you'd find growing on the edge of a grain field. As a whole, this design represents something like a good harvest or, more generally, prosperity. It's very common in German folk art. It's less common to put it on a bright orange background, though. XD I think the designer chose this a) to make the instrument more appealing to young girls, and b) because orange is associated with autumn and harvest, too, so it's strangely appropriate. I think it's a really cool design!

The sound quality is... Well. I wonder why-oh-why this sounds like a badly made plywood box with some wires. (It's bad plywood, too...) At least it's in good shape - no cracks in the wood, no rust on strings or pins. Of course, I wasn't able to tune it yet (you know how it is with wood instruments: they need to get used to the new room climate for a few weeks first; otherwise, they will be ruined), and actually playing it is going to be difficult because of the weird tuning, but it's a cute instrument for sure! :3

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Zither Shopping Happiness

2022-06-02T17:00:27Z

Bought a sh*tload of zithers! :D :D :D

That is: yeah, because chord zithers - especially bad chord zithers (and most chord zithers are, let's face it, pretty bad: we are talking about plywood boxes with some wire, after all) - are dirt cheap, I randomly ordered four of them on eBay. Going by the pictures, none of them are obviously trashed beyond repair (though one is missing a string), but that doesn't mean they're actually playable... If one of them is okay, I'll be happy. (They're different types of chord zithers, too - my only criterion was 'possibly okayish'.) One of them has wonderfully inappropriate zither art. (I will have to make a separate post about typical zither art when the things arrive!) Oh, and I also bought a 3-chord zither for children because, hey, it's cute, and I have small hands anyway, so I will be able to use it.

But, the thing I'm reeeeally happy about? I found a Scheitholt! A real one, in the old way of building these things. From Lower Saxony. (Coincidentally, it's from Bassum, the place my dad was born, but that's only an added bonus. LOL) It looks... Um... Hard to describe, but it looks pretty bad, because the construction of these things is a bit unfortunate. XD Anyway - someone found this in their attic (the usual fate of sh*tty old instruments) and wanted to be rid of it. That instrument should probably be in a regional museum or something, not in someone's home, but hey, at least it gets to stay within its original cultural context? ^^ I'll definitely post pictures when that one arrives!

Also, I found an American maker of "German-style" scheitholts on Etsy, which is amusing. There's nothing wrong with this instrument (and it has retained the old log shape, at least), but I'd like to point out I've never seen one like that in Germany. First issue: this thing is clearly intended to be played like a dulcimer. (I know the dulcimer has developed from the Scheitholt, too, but when compared to the instrument evolution in Northern Germany - which resulted in the smaller, box-shaped, multi-stringed chord zithers - it's not quite the same thing. Also, playing technique is not the same!) Second issue: This looks really well-made. Is it weird to criticize good craftsmanship? XD But, anyway, I listened to the sound sample (good service by the seller! ^^), and, because the maker got rid of all the original design flaws, it's an excellent instrument, no doubt... But not quite a log of firewood anymore. ;) Basically, I don't doubt the technical improvement, but it's squarely in the uncanny valley of German zithers. (I'd totally buy one anyway if I thought it could survive the transport...)

When it comes to log-shaped zithers, incidentally, I've just finished reading Mo Dao Zu Shi and started watching the series. (The one with real actors - It's super funny because, hey, magical zither! XDD Sure, it's a guqin, not a Scheitholt, but the general idea it's based on seems to be the same: take a log of wood and put some strings on it. There's a bit of a cultural difference, though: the guqin is taken very seriously indeed. It seems to be a proper, socially acceptable, musical instrument in China! I verified this by looking at the English-language homepages of some guqin makers. (I don't covet an instrument like that, I was just curious about the construction.) And, yeah, they're discussing everything, down to the acoustic properties of different types of varnish. I don't think Northern Germans ever cared about details like that... We're just not civilized enough. :D :D :D Also, I don't doubt the guqin is the better construction. I respect that! Still: my inner troll kind of wants to walk into the workshop of a guqin maker, ask for a log of firewood, and watch the reaction... (No worries. I won't.)

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Zither Shopping Frustrations, Part II

2022-05-31T13:08:22Z

Oooookay, shopping for zithers is annoying. Yes: zithers, plural. At this point, I'm unwilling to spend the €€€ on a new or professionally restored instrument. So, what I did was to order several cheap, old zithers on eBay. I firmly stuck to the "old" that means it's too old to be considered useable, but not old enough to be considered a valuable antique. Chord zithers in that category are, of course, dirt cheap. I bought more than one because, hey, you can expect most used instruments (which were not very good in the first place) to be somehow damaged, so, if I buy four, maybe one of them may be somewhat playable. And this approach is still much cheaper than actually buying a decent instrument. I guess I'll just see what arrives in the mail. Surprise zithers, yay! XD

...and what I'm still desperately searching for is an actual Scheitholt in its original form, which is that of a large drone zither. Ideally one from Lower Saxony because, hey, local culture. I'd be willing to pay any price for that.

The thing is: no one ever manufactured those professionally. There's a reason. (Most likely, professional instrument builders took one look at the design and said no thanks.) The most detailed description of a Scheitholt (although it has been documented even earlier) is from around 1600: Praetorius described the instrument. He was... not entirely convinced, either.

"
Although this instrument should be referred to among the rag instruments, I have nevertheless included it in here, because it is known to few, and is not at all unlike a firewood log or piece of wood, for it is almost like a small monochord made of three or four thin boards, badly joined together, with a small collar at the top, in which three or four pegs are stuck, and covered with three or four brass strings. Three are unisono but one is forced down in the middle with a chopper, so that it must resonate a fifth higher: And if one wishes, the fourth string can be added an octave higher. Over all of these strings, however, the right thumb is always used to move over the bottom of the string, and a small smooth stick in the left hand is used to press back and forth on the first string, so that the melody of the chant is brought about over the frets that are struck as brass wires.
"
(Michael Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum II De Organographia, Wolfenbüttel 1619, translated by me)

Basically, yeah, the instrument design was shitty by the standards of 1619, and - because we're talking about a remarkably unbroken musical tradition (as in, newer instruments look exactly like the figure in Praetorius' book, although the overall size and the number of strings can vary) - it's still shitty by the standards of today. Objectively speaking, it may be the world's worst zither. I still want one, please! ;_;

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Zither Shopping Frustrations

2022-05-28T15:02:24Z

So. I'm looking for a zither. A proper zither, that is. The search is proving quite frustrating.

The thing is: most zithers on the market are concert zithers. The things with an actual fret-board. Unfortunately, while there is - obviously - nothing intrinsically wrong with that kind of instrument, I can't play it. ;___; I mean, at some point I could learn, but, uh, what I really want is a traditional chord zither based on the Scheitholt concept. I can play chord zither, it's idiot-safe. (It's designed to be idiot-safe, seeing how it's a folk instrument for people without any kind of musical education! You can learn it in half an hour, and playing styles are super flexible. It's awesome!)

Cultural comment: While Wikipedia lists 'chord zither' and 'Scheitholt' as different instruments (with one as the ancestor of the other), in Platt-speaking areas, a chord zither is also still commonly referred to as Scheitholt.

Language comment: Yes, my culture may be the only one that ever produced a musical instrument literally called log of firewood. I'm not sure whether that refers to the shape, the way of making one (that is: draw some log out ouf your pile of firewood, put some strings on it, paint a nice picture - done!), or the general sound quality (BURN IT! JUST BURN IT!)... But... Anyway... Draw your own conclusions about whether you're likely to see or hear this thing in a 'polite', high-class concert setting. LOL

Unfortunately, because the chord zither is not considered a proper musical instrument (where I'm from, it's only played by women, and only in a home/family setting, never in public!), it's kind of difficult to find one. I mean, getting an old chord zither on eBay is easy - but the really old instruments are purely decorative. (The real folk zithers are usually made from cheap wood that warps and/or cracks after some time, so they'll sound horrible. Firewood, literally! People just keep them for the traditional zither art!) And while there are newer models, they all lack the traditional paintings (how horrible!!! I'd never buy one that's not painted!) or they have a modern tuning that's unsuitable for playing traditional music.

I'll keep searching!

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