Author Topic: What the heck was that? (Read 280 times)

richbass939 · « **on:** July 29, 2005, 11:01:13 AM »

Last night I saw a classical music concert on TV. There was a guy playing a REALLY different instrument. The body was an oval about 2+ feet long and 18 inches across. It appeared to have a rounded back. The sound hole was in the middle of the top and had a rosette kind of thing over it.
It had a neck that was about four feet long. It had cello-type tuning pegs. There was an 8-peg pegbox (4 on each side) halfway up the neck and another pegbox on the end. The longer portion of the neck looked like it had another four or so strings on it.
I didn't see the player fingering or picking the longer strings, just the shorter ones. The instrument looked a bit like a guitar fingerboard attached to a bass fingerboard. It appeared to have frets on the guitar part. I didn't see any frets on the longer part.
He held it on his lap,pretty upright, maybe 30 degrees off of vertical.
Any ideas what it is?
Rich

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 29, 2005, 11:08:14 AM »

Here's a completely wild guess. Could it have been a sitar - frets suspended in midair from a wooden frame with sypathetic strings running through the center of the neck and gourds on one or both ends to act as resonant chambers?
Mike

richbass939 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 29, 2005, 11:25:39 AM »

Mike it didn't look at all like a sitar. The frets looked like they were on the fingerboard. The drone strings were not under the other strings. It was like a bass fingerboard and a guitar fingerboard side by side. Bass EADG, then the 8-string guitar.
Oh, even crazier, I forgot to mention the sound. There was one part when this instrument and a cello were the only ones playing. You could hear it really well. It sounded like a BANJO!
Rich

joram · « **Reply #3 on:** July 29, 2005, 11:56:59 AM »

Maybe it was something like this? http://www.lute-gbos.nl/theorbo.html.en

george_wright · « **Reply #4 on:** July 29, 2005, 12:10:59 PM »

Joram's on the right track. The description sounds like an archlute or theorbo to me. (I think the terms are synonymous.) You can spend as much on and wait as long for one of these as for a custom Alembic!

richbass939 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 29, 2005, 02:05:59 PM »

Ding, ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Joram, the top picture, the theorbo, is what I saw. I guess I was wrong about the number of tuning pegs. I thought I saw 8 but I'm not sure.
George, when I started this thread I thought of you. I've seen your pictures of some pretty different-looking, old instruments.
Do you guys know how it is tuned? The strings don't look huge like deep bass strings. The site says the long strings are 60 or so.
I also wonder how a theorbo ends up sounding like a banjo. Have you guys heard one live? Does it really have a banjo-like sound? Pretty interesting.
Thanks,
Rich

george_wright · « **Reply #6 on:** July 29, 2005, 02:12:45 PM »

Rich, my #3 son Matt actually HAS an archlute! It was a graduation present from his parents when he completed a master's in early music from Longy Conservatory this past May.

As for the number of tuning pegs, well, these instruments vary, even in my limited experience.

Up close and personal, the archlute sounds much warmer than a banjo---the bass strings especially! I've heard my son play a continuo on the bass while playing a melody on the other strings. (He also plays an Epic five!)

joram · « **Reply #7 on:** July 29, 2005, 02:14:43 PM »

A friend of mine once told me about such lutes. Hes a luthier, who works in a shop along with a lute builder (wouldn't that really be called luthier?). The long strings have a piano-like tone, from what I've heard. My guess would be that such an instrument sounds most like a lute :-P

richbass939 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 29, 2005, 07:11:02 PM »

Thanks for all the info, guys. I have no idea what a lute sounds like. I have just assumed that it sounded kind-of like a guitar.
George, do you just play the bass strings open? I couldn't tell on the website pictures or on TV whether or not there are frets on the longer section. I don't see how you would be able to reach way up there anyway.
When the guy on TV played it with the cello he appeared to be playing only the short strings. Further, he was playing way high, almost at the end of the fingerboard.
Rich

george_wright · « **Reply #9 on:** July 29, 2005, 07:57:32 PM »

Rich, IIRC, you can fret the bass strings. I'll email my son about it. (I'll tell him to register and reply himself!) And yes, you can play as low as a piano keyboard.

As for the guy playing at the upper end of the fingerboard, well, I'd say he's just not clear on the concept. That's like playing altissimo fingerings on a baritone sax. Isn't that what those little instruments are for?

richbass939 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 29, 2005, 08:04:11 PM »

I'd love to hear more about it.
I do seem to remember his playing way up there. However maybe I'm the one who isn't clear about it.
Also, what does IIRC mean?
Rich

David Houck · « **Reply #11 on:** July 29, 2005, 09:12:12 PM »

If I remember correctly, IIRC means ...