Wednesday, October 15, 2014

How To Make Handmade Psalteries

By Patty Goff


For those who do not know, a psaltery is an instrument that is somewhat a combination of a violin and a harp and is often played in the olden days. Now if one likes to play a string instrument that produces a somewhat unique sound, then he can actually play this instrument. This guide will help him be able to create his own handmade psalteries.

Now the first step in the process would be to make the frame. Now the frame is probably the most important part of the instrument because it is what holds the entire thing together. In order to make the frame, one has to cut two thin pieces of plywood for the sides and another thick piece of wood for the base.

Upon cutting up these three pieces, one must now use some glue to put them all together. Now he must make use of a wood glue that has the capacity to keep the wood pieces together. Now he must first apply the glue, stick the wood pieces, and then wait for a while until the glue dries.

After he has done this, then he would now have to make the back. Now the shape of the psaltery is a triangle which means that the back of the instrument would also be a triangle. So to make the back, one just has to cut out some thin plywood in the shape of a triangle and use the glue to attach it there.

Now when he has already attached the back to the frame, he now has to attach the front which is the soundboard. Now since the soundboard is located at the front of the psaltery, this means that the pins and strings are there. Now one just has to cut out the exact same shape as the back and attach it to the front.

After doing that, then the next thing to do would be to make a tuning hole in the middle and then attach the pins. For the positioning of the tuning pins, one may search the internet and follow from there. One should use a drill to drill the holes where he will place the pins.

Now the next part in the process would be to put the strings. Now in order to do this, one has to buy some tuning strings from a music store and start tying the strings around the pins of the psaltery. He may use a pair of pliers to do the job if he cannot do it by hand.

After doing that, then the last thing that one has to do would be to attach the bridge. Now the bridge is a very important part of the entire psaltery because it is what will make the strings sound really good. It should be located on the pins that are on the bottom of the instrument. Once that is already done, then one now has a psaltery which he can start plucking and strumming away. He may also want to build a bow along with it but that is already a different story.




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