String Instrument
Nyckelharpa
Today we are going to have a look at a special musical instrument, Nyckelharpa. Not many of us would have heard of it. Nyckelharpa is a Swedish musical instrument and it is the National Instrument of Sweden. It can be called as a “Keyed Fiddle” or a “Key Harp”. Nyckelharpa is a String Instrument belonging to the Chordophone. The Nyckelharpa is similar to a Fiddle in appearance having key-actuated tangents to change the pitch. Its keys are attached to tangents. When a key is depressed, it serves as Fret to change the pitch of the string. Nyckelharpa is played usually with a strap around the neck and stabilized by the right arm. Watch a video on Nyckelharpa by Thomas Roth 00
Yaybahar
Have you heard of a musical instrument called Yaybahar? Really I hadn’t, until now. Yaybahar is a an Acoustic Musical Instrument. Its inventor, a Turkish Musician Gorkem Sen describes it as a “real-time acoustic string synthesizer”. The name is a combination of two words “Yay” which means “String” and “Bahar” in English means “Spring”. The instrument is played similar to orchestral string instruments by hitting or sliding a wooden bow along the two long strings. The strings are suspended in the centre of two drum heads. It is played by hitting the drums, or by sliding the bow up at the top of the instrument. Here is a small video of Yaybahar by Gorkem Sen. Enjoy it. Video provided only for illustration – Credit: Berat ...
Balalaika
The Balalaika is a Russian stringed musical instrument. It has a triangular wooden hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Tuning of the string is in such a way that two of them are tuned to the same note and the third one is in perfect fourth higher. A Fourth is a musical interval with four staff positions in the music notation of Western Culture. Balailaka is used mainly in the Russian Folk Music and Dances. It is available in different sizes from the highest pitch to the lowest. They are like Piccolo Balalaika, Prima Balalaika, Secunda Balalaika, Alto Balalaika, Bass Balalaika and Contra-Bass Balalaika. The Prima is most common and Piccolo is rare. Prima, Alto and Secunda are played either with fingers or a plectrum pick depending upon the music being played. Here is a small video ...