St. George's Bookstore tribute

[Spikey]

Thought I'd share an early version of my interpretation of one of the best Sierra themes ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNFjBUnKwj0

[Collector]

Nice to see something new in this subforum.

[BBP]

Nice! Never seen an instrument like that - looks like a zither but they're played in a less stage-friendly way.

[Collector]

It's an autoharp. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoharp

[BBP]

Ta! It looks like my concert zither, that's one of these but it's in need of extensive restoration. (I also have a lovely perepelotchka, that's a small zither with 15 snares: I can make music on that one.) I'm a long way from playing any music on it yet... all those snares are a bit confusing. They're not tuned entirely chromatically: only the lowest six (the ones the guy in the video barely uses) are tuned that way. Notes higher than that go up a fifth, then down a fourth etc.

[Spikey]

Thnx guys.

Nice! Never seen an instrument like that - looks like a zither but they're played in a less stage-friendly way.

Yeah most call it "autoharp", though I believe that is a brandname for the original diatonic version of it. This would technically be called a "chromaharp", though of course it is a type of zither and not a harp at all. I play fretless zither, too, and like you said; they are highly impractical for...well...anything really

[Spikey]

Ta! It looks like my concert zither, that's one of these but it's in need of extensive restoration. (I also have a lovely perepelotchka, that's a small zither with 15 snares: I can make music on that one.) I'm a long way from playing any music on it yet... all those snares are a bit confusing. They're not tuned entirely chromatically: only the lowest six (the ones the guy in the video barely uses) are tuned that way. Notes higher than that go up a fifth, then down a fourth etc.

Oh we were sort of posting at the same time. Well, chromaharps look nice and are practical, but have a lot of limitations too, in the number of chord bars it can carry (usually 21 chords max), and as the bass strings are not a full chromatic scales some chords don't even make sense. Fretless zithers have a horrible amount of strings (mine has 72 I think) for giving only five "large" chords, even though the melody strings are fully chromatic. You should definately restore that concert zither of yours, must be the best way too play a zither period. I don't have one, but thinking of trying to obtain one; still doubting between that and a violin zither, just because I always liked the idea of playing a bowed string instrument. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkfy0g6Ltsc

[BBP]

Oompf, are you sure you want to try that, Spike? My father once generously gave me a 3/4 violin and it's been very difficult getting it to sound right. Now all I need is rosin. And new snares. And, if possible, mini tuning pegs. Perhaps a new bow.
Having a stringed instrument is one thing, but learning to play them without actually having class is a big no, it's very easy to use incorrect techniques that harm the sound.

[Rath Darkblade]

Neat!