Starting a new instrument. This week I started constructing a new instrument - a long zither, based on the Chinese "qin" (or "chin").
Note, I say 'based on'; I don't claim that this is a qin. I'm not that presumptuous. The qin has a 3,000 year history, and is considered by Chinese scholars to be one of the great musical, poetic and philosophic influences.
So, what I make is a long zither, influenced by the qin.
It will be about 1.2 metres long, by about 160mm wide at it's widest point, and will be strung with six bronze or brass strings.
I'm using one of my favourite timbers for the body - cypress pine. It's a pleasure working cypress; it cuts and planes well, glues well, and finishes beautfully. When it's being worked it gives off a wonderful piney/spicey/turpentiney smell. It can have big variations in colour and grain. The batch I'm working with isn't highly varied, and is a bit like teak in appearance.
As a contrast I'll use NT stringybark for zither pin planks at each end. The stringybark has a pink to reddish brown colour, and is quite hard. It unfortunately smells like dog poo when being cut or planed.
I unreservedly love the cypress, because it's pleasure to work, and if you make an effort with finishing it looks great.
I have a bit of a love/hate thing with the stringybark, because although I do like the contrast in colour it provides, I really don't enjoy working it.
As the zither progresses I'll post some photos to show the stages.
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2 comments:
maybe you can invent a whole new name for it when it's done.
How about something like "Long Zither". Very descriptive.
Or "Territory Long Zither That Bears Some Vague Resmblance to a Chinese Long Zither". More information, but perhaps not long on brevity.
Or perhaps I'll call it "Fred".
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