Re: OT: Chinese zither

--- Isidora Zamora <isidora@...> wrote:

> I learned
> just how excruciating some of the steps could
> be.
Standard western violins are particularly
excruciating, when made by hand, because the face
and back are slightly curved. Guitars and similar
are easy in comparison because they're flat.

> I don't remember what it
> was that they used for varnish, but I seem to
> remember that they had to
> keep it heated up and do the entire proceedure
> out of doors.  (Now that
> must have looked strange to passers-by.)
Probably some animal based, smelly concoction.
Traditional builders also use animal based glue,
which needs to be heated as well.

> >That shouldn't stop them from developping an
> >amazing array of string (and other!!) musical
> >instruments.
>
> Good!  They sing a lot, so I think that it
> would make sense if they played instruments.
Then see to it! ;)

> > > They do not have metalurgy.
> >
> >Not needed. Strings can very satisfactorily
> made
> >from hair (horse is a favourite,
>
> Well, they don't have horses.  I haven't made
> the final decision yet
> whether they keep donkeys.
That might work as well. Mostly it depends on
hair length. Small instruments, like small
psalteries and zithers, only require strings a
foot long or so. I should think even donkey hair
would be sufficient.

> It's a question of
> whether they could keep
> enough donkeys around to form a large enough
> breeding population for it to work.
Um. It's not like you kill the donkeys to harvest
the hair!!

> >  human would work)
>
> Well, they all wear their hair quite long :-)
Then there's no problem! [The Daine, who also
have long hair as a rule, judiciously clip bits
to make instrument strings. A young bard is
expected to string her first publicly performed
instrument with her own hair.]

> >, gut, tendons,
>
> I thought that these would work.
They sound pleasant, too. Warm and buzzy.

> >  plant fibres or bamboo
> > strips.
>
> This is new to me.
When you get the book, look up "tube zithers".
Idiochord bamboo tube zithers have "strings" made
from the outer layer of bamboo fibre, which is
raised up on bridges and bowed. Heterochord
zithers have some kind of string material
attached.

> Could you really make, for
> example, linen instrument
> strings?
Why not? They may not be loud, but such fibres
can be used. On the other hand, they may not háve
to be loud!

> They do have bamboo now, but 500
> years ago, I don't think they
> did.  (They were driven out of their previous
> lands.)  Or will bamboo grow
> in just any climate?
Well, naturally, if they didn't have bamboo 500
years ago and in another land, they would
naturally have used some other material!

I think bamboo can grow just about anywhere - but
it might have to be imported. It is not native to
Maryland (USA), for example, but it does grow
wild here now.

> >  Tuning pins will need to become larger
> >wooden tuning pegs. All of that could be made
> >with stone tools.
>
> Which is all that they had until they came in
> contact with other cultures
> who had metal, and that was probably 1000 years
> ago or more.  So they could
> have had stringed instruments in the period
> predating that.  That's good.
Quite.

> butchering should be accomplished before the
> meal is served, not during the
> meal, in their opinion.
Sounds reminiscent of many Daine, who prefer to
cut up meat before cooking it. This is not to say
they don't enjoy roasted joints, mind!

> There is not really a
> lack of metal implements,
> they just never bothered to learn to work metal
> themselves because they
> could obtain metal articles in trade.  For
> whatever reason, though, metal
> arrowheads have never caught on.  Metal
> spear-heads have only partially caught on.
>
> I do suspect that the culture to the south of
> them (same one that drove
> them out of their previous lands) has enough
> technical expertise to make
> metal strings.  (How do you make metal wire,
> anyway?)
I know it involves a block with a small hole
through which the metal is drawn. One chemical
property of metals is ductility, which means that
it can be drawn into wire. Wire drawing was
accomplished by ancient cultures.

> I hadn't thought of
> it until now, but metal strings should be well
> within their technical
> capabilities.
Probably. Almost certainly bronze, gold, silver
and copper wire. Lead isn't good, because it's
too weak.

> > > For musical instruments, I already know
> > > that they have flutes and drums.
> >
> >What kinds of flutes?
>
> Bamboo.
Duh! ;)

End blown, side blown, with or without a block?

How many holes, if any? Or do they make
overblowing flutes?

> Though if they didn't have access to
> bamboo 500 years ago, then it
> would have to have been some other material,
> perhaps bone. What else can
> you make them out of?
Bird's wing bones, being hollow, are good
material. I've got one in the works.

Mm. Any long bone will work (femur, tibia - hence
the Roman flute and organ stop of the same name).
Of course, metal flutes from the Southrons. Clay
and glass (perhaps from the south as well) are
also used. Animal horn as well - the gemshorn is
an ancient European flute made from cow horn.

> The flutes are made as
> either single instruments or in pairs or
> trios.
Reminiscent of the aulos (though it was a reed
pipe), and any number of double and triple
barreled instruments.

> The members of a pair or
> trio are carefully tuned to
> each other in order to be played in ensemble.
>
> Sorry, forgot to give the more pertintant
> details to your question of "what
> kind?"  Transverse flutes.  Not end-blown or
> pan-pipes.
Ah.

> >  Drums?
>
> Wood body, skin head.  They hunt just about
> anything that moves, so they
> have no lack of skins.
Turtle shell drums. Drums can also be made of
skulls.

> (I've actually been
> wondering what they *do* with
> all that leather.
Make clothes, drums, fiddles, houses, travoises,
books (I know - they probably don't write!),
banners, bags, cooking pots, ornaments, etc. Hey
- why not flutes! :)

> Most of their meat comes
> from hunting, but most of their
> clothing is make of wool from the sheep they
> keep.)  I don't know many
> details on the drums, really.  I don't think
> that they make giant ones for
> musical purposes.  OTOH, perhaps they do make
> giant ones for non-musical
> purposes, such as summoning people together,
> much as we would use a bell.
Like the talking drums of Africa. Such could be
hollowed out logs or large clay pots. Or large
metal tubes from those pesky southerners!

> That sort of drum would have a body made
> out of a section of the
> trunk of a large tree, hollowed out, with the
> skin of a large animal
> (aurochs, perhaps) stretched over the top of
> it.
Most talking drums are actually fairly narrow,
because the player supports it in the crook of
his elbow so he can squeeze on the tuning ropes
to make it sing different tones. Of couse, your
people may have opted for the large and
thunderous strategy!

> Musical drums would be
> much smaller.  Perhaps they pitch their drums,
> or have the drumhead
> attatched in such a way that the pitch can be
> altered at will; I know that's possible.
By squeezing on the tension ropes.

> >  Any reed instruments?
>
> Never thought about it until you asked.  How
> difficult is a reed instrument.
It's a flute with a reed stuck in the end. Reeds
are made from cane, slips of wood or bamboo. Also
out of slips of metal.

> I know very little about them,
> other than that there are
> single-reed and double-reed, and I understand
> the method of sound production.
And free reed, to round out the basic types -
single reeds are divided into free and beating:
the former vibrates freely in a frame; the latter
slaps up against the frame.

> I suppose that the book you
> mentioned would show me types of
> primitive reed instruments.
Absolutely!

> > > What is the minimum amount of technology
> > > needed
> >Practically none. They can make stone tools -
> >that's really all the technology that's
> >required.
>
> Ok, great.  This would mean that they could
> have had stringed instruments
> since the beginning of their history.
OK - how about the brass family!? You don't even
need brass for them. Of course, horns can be made
from horn or wood; as well as ivory, clay and
bone.

> > > What sort of stringed
> > > instrument(s) would be likely in a
> > > culure like this?
> >
> >Turtle shell harps? Skull resonator harps. Any
> >number of lyres and zithers. Fiddles. Just
> >about
> >anything. They could make a fine bumbass.
>
> What's a bumbass?
It's a flat drum resonator attatched to a long
stick with a single sting stretched over the
drum. It's played by either plucking or bowing
with a notched stick. Yet another instrument that
I'm planning on making!

If I recall correctly, and I haven't gone back to
check, the fancy party scene in Amadeus where
Salieri first meets up with his nemesis contains
a bumbass in the background orchestra.

> These people have access to bison and aurochs
> horns.  What can be done with
> these musically?
I'm not sure, specifically. If the horns are
hollow, or can be hollowed, then naturally, they
can be used individually or connected end to end
to make cornet-like horns. Also, small bits of
hollowed out horn can be used as resonators and
endcaps - check out the Welsh pibcorn for an
example.

> I know that you ought to be
> able to turn them into war
> horns (as well as drinking vessels), but how
> musical can you get with
> something like this.
Making it longer will increase the available
tones. They can also be made into digeridus, and
thus a more magical instrument. Certainly horns
can be made into gemshorns as I mentioned
earlier.

> I think that I would like these people to have
> more instrumental music than
> I have given them so far.  They are fairly low
> in materal culture, but in
> spite of all appearances, they are not really a
> primitive people.  *They*
> consider themselves to be more civilized than
> their southern neighbors who
> have all the technology.
But of course! The Daine naturally consider
themselves far more cultured than their Mannish
neighbours. And in many respects, they are
correct.

> Cool.  I have a bamboo flute (of domestic
> make), a gourd-resonator marimba
> (also of domestic make), and a clay ocarina
> that I bought in Prague.  And I
> dearly wish that I had bought those (obviously
> ethnic) pan-pipes that I saw
> in a store window in Roskilde, Denmark.
Excellent!

> BTW, PVC piping, found at any plumbing store,
> actually makes a homemade
> flute or panpipes with decent sound quality;
> tuning's the problem with the flute.
Yep. A small section of thin walled brass pipe
glued to one piece of pvc could be used as a
tuning section.

You could also do it the old fashioned way and
create a unique "matched set" of such flutes. All
would play in tune with each other, because they
were made by the same craftsman to the same specs
- but may or may not play in tune with anyone
else's instruments.

Any ideas on what arrangement of holes they use?
Scales, tunings? Standard pitch? Has it varied
over time?

Padraic.


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