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Help: Help-Strange string instrument
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Help: Help-Strange string instrument |
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Subject: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 06 Jun 00 - 08:16 PM Good day; I just got an intriguing instrument from a contact in Florida. It is about 28 inches long, 6 inches wide. Rectangular. The cover hinges off but is not removed. It has 6 strings, 3 wound 3 unwound and 2 wound drones{?} Up the length of the instrument are 27 brass keys and irregular intervals. The keys are bars that act like a guitar capo or dobro slide which block the strings, like an electrical knife switch. Presumably one strums the strings near the bridge. I don't see how it could be bowed as the strings are all at the same level, except the drones, which are set slightly lower at the bridge and cannot be reached with a bow. Given it has 6 stjrings if I had to come up with a name I would call it a keyed guitar, or an autoguitar or ...? I have no idea what the strings are tuned to as there are no symbols on this beast and no indication where it was made, no serial number, just a couple of fancy decals.However, I suppose it could be tuned to an open guitar tuning. I have had two suggestions: one that it is a nyckleharpa (but that is bowed and this cannot be) and a bulbul tatar, an Indian instrument. Any ideas what it is? How to tune it? How to play it? Thanks for any suggestions
Richard Wright |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 06 Jun 00 - 08:20 PM oops! That should have read bulbul tarang. richard |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 06 Jun 00 - 08:36 PM It sounds like an instrument mentioned in this thread, here called a shruti box or banjo, and there are other names, I believe.
Some time in the last few months there was a thread about it - someone was wanting a portable instrument to take on a trip, and this one came up, and this was suggested, and there were links to websites with pictures of it. The supersearch should come up with more. Sounds a fun instrument. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Bill D Date: 06 Jun 00 - 08:37 PM sort of a cross between a dulcimer and a Hurdy-Gurdy!..wild...love to see a picture.. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Alice Date: 06 Jun 00 - 08:52 PM No, a shruti box is a drone box, reeds and bellows, no strings. It sounds like a Taeshokoto, or what is called a banjo from the Indian insrument company where I bought my shruti and harmonium. Alice Flynn |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Alice Date: 06 Jun 00 - 08:55 PM Richard, there is a US outlet in Florida for the Ethnic Musical Instruments Company that sells these instruments. I'm sure it is a taeshokoto, with piano type keys instead of typewriter keys. Also called a banjo in India. You can do a forum search and find more info in a discussion I had with a Japanese member of Mudcat. Alice |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Alice Date: 06 Jun 00 - 09:03 PM Richard, it is like a dulcimer. You can tune one string as a drone. Taishokoto (banjo, dulcimer photo)click here http://www.mid-east.com/banl1.jpg
This is info I got previously: |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 06 Jun 00 - 10:51 PM Alcie; Thanks for the links. The Japanese model seems to be a little different as mine is 6 strings, plus two drones. So, I guess it is the indian banjo or bulbul tarang (love the sound of the name) Here is something I found on it at another site just a few minutes ago. Still have not found out how to tune it, but your Japanese link will help. Interesting that it came from japan, as the harmonium came from England. Love that harmonium, now if I can find someone to tune it---it is about 2 cents sharp across the board. richard Bulbul Tarang. This instrument is also known in India by the model name of one company which makes them: Banjo. Despite this fact the Bulbul Tarang is nothing whatsoever like the American folk instrument most people think of when they hear the term "banjo". Think of a cross between an autoharp, the slide guitar used in American blues, and a typewriter equipped with a few drone strings and you start to get the idea of what the Bulbul Tarang is really like. This two-foot long, hand made instrument is essentially a rectangular box with 5 strings that are used to play the melody, plus two more that are fixed (open), and can either serve as sympathetic strings, be used rhythmically for droning- or both.The strings are strummed just in front of the bridge while the instrument is sitting flat on a stand/table or in the player's lap, much like a "lap steel" slide guitar. Instead of fretting notes with a slide or bar, however, the left hand strikes keys identical in size to those found on an old manual typewriter. Each keystroke presses a thin, metal arm across the fretboard of the "banjo", creating a single chord per keystroke (although I've found that "bouncing" the key by pressing it a bit harder gives you a sort of pitch bend, and jiggling the key side to side simulates a mild, slide guitar-style vibrato). Producer's Notes I have utilized the Bulbul Tarang to add a sitar-like Eastern feel to a song, but with a much tighter sound. The keystrokes produce a natural percussive quality, and each note dampens the last so there's very little of the dissonant resonance of the sitar. Also, unlike the sitar or saroud, anyone who has a little experience using a keyboard, lap steel, or...yes! a typewriter!...can get sounds out of the tarang with very little practice. The keys are numbered one through seven, corresponding to the steps in a scale, with black keys bearing sharp symbols for the in-between notes, so it's extremely easy to adapt to the instrument in terms of finding chords and tuning. In the recording studio the tarang is a breeze to set up, and likewise to mic. Throw 57 over the sound hole, place a condenser by the bridge, and you're off. On one occasion I propped the two ends of the instrument up on crates so that most of the bottom was exposed, then taped a PZM mic underneath, dead center. For a different session I propped the tarang up the same way, but this time duct taped the cup of a headphone underneath. I tuned the whole tarang to root notes and fifths, then piped a guitar track into the phone mix and mic'ed the top hole of the instrument to catch the resonance, sent that to a reverb and mixed it back into the original guitar track to add a bit of mystery to the take. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: catspaw49 Date: 06 Jun 00 - 10:56 PM Sorry I missed this today, but I'm having a good time visualizing it. Don't you wonder who comes up with these things? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Alice Date: 06 Jun 00 - 11:45 PM Hi, again, this sounds definitely like the Indian version of what Takeo described being originally invented in his hometown in Japan, then adapted in India. I have been planning to get an Indian "Banjo" for a couple of years, and just have not done it yet. When I was in Missoula last Saturday, picking up a Martin classical and a mandolin that my brother left for my son, I went to the Stringed Instruments store and found not only a hairy armadillo charango, but a typewriter keyed instrument that I immediately knew was some form of a taishokoto. It had a metal body painted black, with something like Japanese Uke printed on it. I don't remember exactly what it said. I had my camera in the car. I should have taken a picture of it. Alice |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 07 Jun 00 - 01:24 AM Alice;
Taken a pictute? Heck, you should have bought it.
Mine does not have any paint or marking on the keys but they do look rather primitive. Can't wait to learn it a bit and try it out in performance, if even to see the look on the audience's faces. If we come to Montana I'll play it for you.
Spaw, go to Alice's links and you'll find photos. It is a little hard to imagine. I had no idea what it was when I unpacked it as all I was told was that I was being sent an unique instrument.
richard |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Rick Fielding Date: 07 Jun 00 - 01:25 AM Wow. I want one! I had a call this week from a Indian man looking for mandolin lessons. I asked him what style he was interested in and he said "Ragas". Hmmm, I thought, not sure if I can help. I gave him a couple of names of some classical Mandolin players, but he called back a couple of days later. This time I asked him specifically how a teacher might help him. He said that his speed was not good enough. We talked pick guages and up-down strokes etc. and then I asked if it were possible for him to play a bit over the phone. Sure, he said and got his mandolin. Holy Sheeeit! This guy was so fast I couldn't believe it! Swooping modal scales, from the bass notes to the high trebles. When he'd finished I asked whether he listened to any Indian mandolinists on record? No, he said, there aren't any! Well obviously I wasn't going to be able to teach this guy anything BUT his dad owns an Indian music store, so next week I'm going out for a visit. Maybe I'll find one of those great looking banj things. Rick |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Alice Date: 07 Jun 00 - 11:08 AM R, I even have an Indian banjo for sale in my online music store, but it was barely possible for me to spend money on the gas to drive to Missoula and back to get my brother's insruments... no money for buying anything not needed at this time. Here's the link to my music store... no sales in its 5 month life, but I haven't had time to "position" it. Go to this page and click on "International" on the left side.The Instrument Shop click here Alice |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 07 Jun 00 - 11:56 AM Alice; Just checked your site and the model you have looks like a good one with piano keys rather than typewriter keys. And the price is certainly right at $60 rather than the $160 I found elsewhere. Good luck with the site. Richard |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 07 Jun 00 - 06:14 PM Nice site there Alice, especially when you dig around there. Only thing is, I couldn't find anything about postage and packing and that. |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Alice Date: 08 Jun 00 - 09:58 AM Sorry about that. The VSTore company controls the content and transactions, I just set up the way it looks. I just checked shipping, and at this time they can only ship within the US. You have to set up an account with an email address and password, then when you choose a purchase it takes you to a form that provides shipping cost.... sorry, US company only at this time. Alice |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 08 Jun 00 - 11:26 AM Interesting that with Free Trade etc so many companies think it is difficult to ship all the way across the line to Canada. It really is no different at all for the shipper. The only difference is at our end where it has to go through customs, make they sure it is not packed with dope, add on a fee and taxes, hold it for a few days, and then forward it. It has never made sense to me that a company would only ship in the US. Oh well, there's lots that do. richard |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: Sorcha Date: 08 Jun 00 - 02:54 PM So, find a Catter in the US, have it shipped there, and re addressed to you in CA, would that work? |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: richardw Date: 08 Jun 00 - 06:25 PM Sorcha; Yep. Good idea. There are ways around it, of course. Just strikes me as odd on the company's part. Certainly meant no reflection on Montana Alice. Thanks richard |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: GUEST,Nic Date: 20 Jun 06 - 09:13 AM Hi all I have recently come into possesion of a broken bulbul tarang(the typewriter kind) Could someone please post pictures of how it all fits together(maninly how the keys hook to the board that covers the fretboard. The more pics the better Thanks in advance |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: GUEST,ClaireBear Date: 20 Jun 06 - 11:10 AM There are some photos of the disassembled instrument and some notes about how it was refurbished at this page. Good luck! |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: GUEST,Jack Campin Date: 20 Jun 06 - 02:01 PM There are recordings of Indian mandolin playing - look for U. Srinivas. (All I've got is a three-minute sample, though). |
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Subject: RE: Help: Help-Strange string instrument From: GUEST,Nic Date: 21 Jun 06 - 01:20 AM Thanks Claire I had already seen that page except it shows the keyboard type of bulbul tarang. Mine is the typewriter kind. The keys seem to fit differently than shown on that website. Thank you for your help though Nic |
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