the name zithinder comes from "cylindrical zither". this
is an early project, inspired by asian long zithers and the Valiha.
it uses a piece of cardboard concrete mold left over from the cardboard drum project, and
various bits of scrap wood. the soundhole decoration is a bit of
balse wood cut with a sharp knife. the strings are salvaged from
various projects.
the design is flawed, since there is very poor transfer of sound
energy to the tube body, making the instrument quite quiet. i had
intended to build bridges that would wedge between the tube and the
strings; however, not long after building the zithinder i aquired a
real Chinese zheng, and the
zithinder suffered in comparison. nonetheless, it has a pleasantly
twangy tone, and the curved shape is well suited to bowing. in
addition, the strings can be bent by pressing between the bridges
and the anchoring zither pins.
examples:
samples:
samples, loops, and Reason/Mach5 banks coming soon...
the name zithinder comes from "cylindrical zither". this is an early project, inspired by asian long zithers and the Valiha. it uses a piece of cardboard concrete mold left over from the cardboard drum project, and various bits of scrap wood. the soundhole decoration is a bit of balse wood cut with a sharp knife. the strings are salvaged from various projects.
the design is flawed, since there is very poor transfer of sound energy to the tube body, making the instrument quite quiet. i had intended to build bridges that would wedge between the tube and the strings; however, not long after building the zithinder i aquired a real Chinese zheng, and the zithinder suffered in comparison. nonetheless, it has a pleasantly twangy tone, and the curved shape is well suited to bowing. in addition, the strings can be bent by pressing between the bridges and the anchoring zither pins.