| Tabletop-Harp/Kantele, previous Nagelgeige |
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Nagelgeige converted into Tabletop-Harp. | |
The "Nagelgeige" (Nail-Violin - here an image from the Händelhaus in Halle - you have to scroll down a bit on the page) basically is a wooden box with nails driven into the rim, and the nails raise a sound when bowed; it came around in the 18th century, but really did not make the charts. Like the Glass-Harp (Site needs Real Player), I heard one once "live" in my life yet, and it was really amazing, ever again, Miss Sophie. You can also see a glass-harp in the exhibition of the Händelhaus in Halle. Anyway, we tried to build replicas of an instrument in the vault of the Landesmuseum Darmstadt (a treasure chamber once you get there where the public does not). So size and design follow an original musical instrument. But we never got the nails properly tuned, hammered in, what soever. As the acer body and the spruce top came from discards wood of a well acclaimed guitar maker the box, once glued together, sanded, coated with shellac, was not bad. Finally I pulled the nails, sealed the holes, drilled tiny holes for strings and converted it into a diatonic Tabletop-Harp/Kandele with Zither-tuning pegs. Pretty loud for the small size, produces nice flaegolet-sounds. About 15 Nagelgeigen were built in the eary 1980's, so don't try to go shopping for one; better build your own. |
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