UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTS

A Cimbalom

Chromatic hammered dulcimer with a note distribution scheme designed by a sadist.

A Pontic Lyre

A bottle-shaped fiddle, introduced by the Greeks of Asia Minor, who copied the Turkish kemence (little fiddle).

Click here to add text.

A Byzantine psaltery

A lap or tabletop psaltery, otherwise known as canon. (Think of Pachelbel rather than artillery.) Traditionally played with finger picks. The bridge sits on a membrane of stretched rawhide. It has 24 nylon strings and sounds like a harp whose grandfather was a banjo.

Here are some instruments I have built over the years to combat boredom, satisfy my curiosity, and hone my luthiery chops.

A Kantele

AKA Nordic psaltery. Fifteen metal strings. One of the easiest instruments to play. Nice, bell-like tone.

Home

Here's my version of a bowed lap instrument. For lack of any other  name, I named it Bouzouki Da Gamba.  It has four nylon strings and is tuned ADad (from low to high).

The box is made of walnut with a mahogany neck, red cedar top and radiused purpleheart fretboard. It also has celluloid binding and friction tuners.

Bouzouki da Gamba

A Hurdy-Gurdy

The hurdy gurdy is mostly associated with French folk music but its bagpipe-like sound is well suited for any music written for bagpipes, fiddle or gaida. Its French name is  vielle a roue. (Vee-'el ah 'roo.)