Kantele #004

It has been quite a while since I have last posted about my kantele builds and endeavors. I finished kantele #004 last year towards the end of last summer, but instrument building has been on hiatus due to switching gears for crafting numerous birthday and Christmas presents for the past several months from September to December, and has been a very busy schedule. This newest kantele I must say though is my absolute favorite one to date, and was definitely a challenging but rewarding build.

Kantele #004 features probably the most exotic wood selection of my kanteles yet. The frame is made from bubinga, an extremely heavy and hard wood with excellent tonal qualities. The sides also feature a soft maple strip at the bottom for a bit of contrast. The backboard and headplate are made from wenge, another very hard and dense wood. It can be a bit tough to work with due to its hardness, but can carve quite nicely if done slowly and carefully, and takes an excellent polish. The soundboard is the same as the first three kantele, using 1/8" cypress. This piece of cypress was the most uniform and straightest grain of all the pieces I got, and specifically saved it for this instrument.

I am quite proud of the ponsi for this particular kantele. It is made from wenge with a thin strip of padauk at the bottom. The theme is definitely different from my previous kantele, with sharp, carved ridges and a center ridge protrusion in the arc where the varras is located. This ponsi was shaped entirely through file-work, and was very fun to design and work on.

If you also notice the back, there are four 1.5" sound holes instead of the normal one soundhole for most kantele. For this instrument I still wanted a backboard to help increase resonance, as well as liking the overall aesthetics of a backboard, but due to its narrow size and overall smaller vibrating area on the soundboard the volume might suffer. The extra holes allow for more volume while still retaining the qualities and aesthetics of a backboard, with a unique twist.

The overall theme of the kantele is more simple than my previous ones, but more elegant, with a juxtaposition of curves to sharp corners and ridges. The dark wenge stands out in beautiful contrast with the lighter woods, with the grain and figure really showing on the backboard. This instrument is also HEAVY. Its the smallest overall size of all my kantele, but by far the heaviest and densest due to the thick bubinga frame. I had designed it this way as I prefer heavy instruments, and wanted to explore the tonal qualities of using extremely heavy and dense woods for the frame. And I think I definitely achieved my goal. Tonally, it is my favorite of my kantele. The heavy dense woods really allow the overtones and harmonics to blend and ring inside the instrument, and has a rich, bright, and complex tone with exceptional resonance. You can actually hear a soundclip of this instrument at the top of The Kantele - Strings of Magic and Lore post.

Extra Sources and Info:

1.) Kantele #001 Info:  http://oertheeternalstrings.blogspot.com/2014/10/kantele-001.html

2.) Kantele #002 Info: http://oertheeternalstrings.blogspot.com/2014/11/kantele-002.html

3.) Kantele #003 Info: http://oertheeternalstrings.blogspot.com/2014/11/kantele-003.html