A short improvisation with my 8 stringed, deeper-tuned mahogany-frame Kantele #003. This little improv was inspired by the pentatonic scale, of which major and minor versions make up the large core of tuning for Asian instruments and music.
As usual, I always have my eyes and ears open for new instruments to peak my interest. A couple of years ago I had started construction on a Chinese guzheng, a large stringed zither from China. Most commonly consisting of 21 strings and spanning several octaves, this instrument was an ambitious project. I had become fascinated with the sound and tone of the instrument, and already having a strong interest in Asian instruments and music, and having built several already, it seemed like an excellent addition to my collection. Two years later it still stands incomplete. I have most of the wood, but never got around to finishing it. It did however begin my fascination with zithers.
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| Above: Chinese gugheng. Picture source and credit: Gurumandarin, http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guzheng |
Despite having a beautiful sound and repertoire, with an extensive note range, it does have the drawback of being a huge instrument. Like over a foot wide by almost six feet long, and rather heavy. Not very portable. I wanted a zither, (or at least some stringed instrument), that played 1 note per string (not including overtones), was very resonant, and small enough to travel with.
Enter Star Trek. Quite random, yes, but it will tie all together eventually. Over the past year I have grown to be quite a Star Trek fan, having been convinced by my girlfriend to start watching the Original Series, being a Trekkie herself. One noticeable thing during the series that quite caught my attention was Spock's famed Vulcan Lyre/Harp/Lute (its commonly referred to as all three.) Though just a prop in the show, with some planning and modification, it could be brought to life as a fully functioning acoustic instrument. There have been several people who have made functioning electric and acoustic versions of the instrument (this is another project I do plan on attempting sometime in the future.) Not having access to many tools at the time, and due to its rather unusual shape, I decided to do some research into simpler, historic lyres and harps. Lyres were portable and easy enough to build, but just did not have the tone I was looking for, often times flat and dull sounding with little resonance. Harps had the resonance, but were still too large and/or difficult to make with my limited tools. While browsing for more information I stumbled upon the website of Michael J. King, a luthier from the UK.While browsing through the large selection of beautifully crafted instruments he makes, I came across the kantele. It was exactly what I was looking for. Small, simple, portable, and very resonant. One thing led to another, and I was on my way to building my own.
I highly recommend checking out Michael J. King's website for information on the kantele, excellent building instructions, and introductory playing videos. Michael J. King is a very well known kantele maker, and is extremely nice and helpful. Not only does he build kanteles, but many other instruments as well, and offers plans for each. I originally bought his 5 string and 12 string kantele building guides (they are very cheap and I recommend them as excellent reference guides, well worth the price.) I didn't have the right sized woods to make them like in the instructions, and decided to build my own style, but they nevertheless were valuable guides and references. I think its quite awesome that such an excellent instrument craftsman is willing to give plans on all the instruments he builds and is so willing to share his knowledge of his craft.
Michael J. King's Website: http://www.michaeljking.com/
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| Above: Chinese guqin. Picture source and credit: CharlieHuang, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guqin |
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