Technical note about horsehair vs. synthetic... part of why hair works "better" - especially when it comes to bows - is because hair is coated in scales, like a microscopic fish skin. As such, there's a texture to it that gives it better purchase on what you're rubbing it against. Synthetics are smooth, so there's less friction. Think of it like walking on ice - much easier in shoes with lugged or cleated soles than with smooth soles. With a hair bow and hair strings, the friction level is maximized, so the strings will more easily and consistantly actuate. Similarly, because of the scales and pourous nature of hair, rosin (resin) will stick to it more consistently and for longer. Whereas that smooth nature of synthetics will allow it to be 'scraped' off, as there's nothing for it to cling to.
Thank you for this video. It was nice to be able to hear the difference between horse hair and nylon one after the other. I've been doing research while impatiently waiting for my own instrument to arrive, I'm glad to have come across your channel. I never would have thought to resin the strings, but it really makes a difference. Take care!
@@StarshipTrooper4231 I've used fishing line too and it was certainly needed. It sounded awful without it and could really produce a proper note. It sounded a lot better after applying the rosin. So I don't know if we did something differently, but rosin on the strings can definitely help. I also used violin strings and it sounded OK without it.
Thank you for the tips. Your teaching style is so smooth and clear and personable, and your speech is delightfully slow and crisp. A very peaceful video to listen to before sleep. The Talharp is nicely soothing too.
After this video, now I really want to buy one of these instruments. I am by no means a musician and I can't read notes, so videos like these I could learn from if I bought an instrument.
Recently I bought a tagelharpa as I love how it sounds and I wanted to finally learn some music in my life. I'm so glad I found your video, I was worried I wouldn't get to know how should I hold the bow and if I put too much resin but I'll adjust to your advices and hopefully will be able to play something. Getting into more, shall I say, raw side of music feels really exciting!
Thank you for the tips, I am at the beginning of the learning process on my own Taglharpa. I appreciate any advice that I can get. Keep up the great work Espen, best wishes for 2018.
Besides providing wonderful and inspiring music with Eldrim, you also inspired me to be a little more liberal with the rosin on my strings. I recently received my very own and beautifully made Tagelharpa but have struggled with it over the last two weeks thinking something was either wrong with me or wrong with the instrument! Thanks to your expert guidance, I’m now able wave goodbye to the sounds of two cats fighting and instead, hear those beautiful sounds a Tagelharpa should produce. All I have to do now is begin mastering the notes. Thank you so much. 👍🙏
ELDRIM Thank you. Your advices was helpful to me too!. i never put rosin on the string and i try it . It made a difference! I found so little information about them. I made a tagelharpa(3strings). and then 2 jouhikko (2 strings) each(horse hair 35horsehair per strings). Inspired by gnaal and some others video... I enjoy woodworking and every band who has a tagelharpa/jouhikko in it! This sound is so profound and hypnotic i decided to try it! And made some artistic touchs of my own to my instrument. So this video helped me to give a brighter sound to my tagelharpa thanks
Thank you for the interesting video! I love the ancient haunting sound the taglharpe produces, and you play it so well! It stirs my Germanic ancestral soul 😄 Cheers from USA! 🍻
Espen, thank you for the music and your thoughts on the instrument. I have a question... did you design and build the one you used in the Gnaal video? I would love to hear your opinions on optimal wood types and dimensions and how these factors affect the tonal quality of the music. Thanks for your time!
Great job! I would like a lot to see more videos like this. Maybe you can make videos on how to build theese instrument or video that just explain your songs. I'm sure a lot of us would love that!
Hello Espen. Tusen Takk. for sharing your wisdom. I am hoping you can make a video explaining how to pronounce names(song names) and a little information about the songs.
Hello thank you so much for your videos 😊 iv watched them over an over again haha do you think you can make a video on setting up the instrument an tuning it , I can't find anything on it 🙄
I reeeally want to learn how to play this awesome instrument, I live in Colombia and I don't find someone who teaches it here. What can you advice me, and also where to get one
i love the look on your face when you're annoyed by nylon strings! thank you for this video, i just made my first taglharpa and it is more of a baritone/bass, i'm not sure how i should tune it because most suggestions are for higher pitches, but other than that it is my favorite instrument.
You can just follow the same tuning suggestions in an octave or two below, if that doesn't work for your strings then it doesn't really matter what the notes are, tune them to the best tension for your taglharpa and just keep the relationship between the notes the same, assuming you aren't playing along with higher instruments already.
If you want a historically correct instrument i think you need to do some research. There are lots of information to find if you google. I like designing my own instruments - both for better sound and because i like having something unike. When it comes to materials i would choose spruce for body and some hardwood for the hardware.
Hey, I just recently found out about this instrument and I would love to learn how to play it, I was wondering if you know any book, website or youtube channel that teaches how to play?
Hey Espen, great informative video...well done....I agree that the totally synthetic strings sound horrible and there are as you point out,also disadvantages with the pure Horse hair as well...I wonder what a hybrid bow, with horse hair and synthetic would sound like? Regards Mark
I have synthetic strings on one of my bowed lyres. I beg to differ and don't think they sound horrible. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PAmFW9ZcAB0.html You can use fishing line as material for your bow. It works great. But I prefer the horse hair.
Hey Eldrim, thank you for your advices. Did you weave the horse hairs to prepare them to be a string? Can you tell us some more information about you handle the strings?( how many hairs, weaving?spinning? dont know 😁) Thanks in advance!
Hi! I just gathered the hairs, combed them and twisted them into a string. Then i made a knot in the end (to fit the fine tuners). Be sure that all hairs are evenly tight before making a knot in the other end. I'm not really sure how many hairs in each string. I just guessed what would work, and it did :) I might make a video on this later. I think maybe Mikael J.King has a video on strings.
Thank you! I had some plans on making historically correct copies, but i'd rather have my own design on the instruments i play myself. That way i get closer to the sound i want. I might do some historical instruments on a later point, but for now i concentrate on making what i need. But i plan to make videos on what materials to choose when building instruments in general.
FYI it's better not to apply rosin directly to the strings since you could possibly damage them. Instead, put rosin on the bow and bow your strings in between to let it rub off.
I built a taglharpa a few years ago based on plans online and structurally it came out damn good.. I built two bows very similar to yours from poplar.. so aside from issues with a poor choice tuning knob design....what do you recommend for twisting strings? how many per string,? and how many twists? and recommendations for the bow...
When did you start playing with the Taglharpa? and do you have a recommendation on where to buy one or a good direction on what to look up to build one and which I should do?
@@Erykfib ur welcome. I've tuned to c g c on nylon twine. The strings need to be rosined as does the bow. The plans came from watching utube taglharpa vids. Good luck with it's.
Nobody knows what "viking music" sounded like or how their instruments were tuned. We make music to try to recreate a feeling and bring to life pictures we have in our minds. Our lyres are tuned in A, B, C#, D, E, F# and that seem to work fine for us. There is found a pan-flute in York that has similar tuning: www.panflutejedi.com/viking-pan-flute-tutorial.html
On your video about switching to archery line on your Tegelharpa , you said that you used B 50 Dacron archery line . I am trying to find this product is that actual bow string line ? it seems to be 35 lb test ,is that the stuff ? 7 , 9 and 11 are the number of raps on the three strings right ?
@@Bryan-jm4uc Or CGG, CCG depending on number of strings. Based on archeological finds however I suspect we are stringing them and playing them the wrong way. The earliest engraving he looks like he's merely 'holding' the instrument. And that is what many archeologists assumed. Then I saw a child trying to play. He had tuned it the wrong way around because he wasn't a string player and programmed to string the way we do, and held it by the limb that in almost every find is curved or more rounded to look like a comfortable handle spot, and used the backs of his fingers to play. I truly suspect this is how the instrument was played in the period and we're tuning them the wrong way around.
@@ELDRIMmusic Thank you so much. How is the best way for me to share a photo of it with you when it is finished? Oh, is it bow as in bow and arrow string ? Do you use the same for your bow to play the taglharpa? I am sooo excited that I am going to have a taglharpa
I have just finished making my own taglharpa and because horse hair string are so hard to get a hold of in New Zealand for a cheap price I had opted to use synthetic strings. My issue is when I place my knuckle or fingertip against the 3rd string, I cannot get it to make a loud enough sound, my fingers are stopping the vibrations. Do you have any advice?
I have found that bows with black natural hair is better than the ones with white hair. eBay is a good advice for buying hair :) I have found that it's harder to get deep tuned strings to sing, but they will come around if you play your instrument a lot. I use the inside of the first joint on my fingers to touch the strings when i play. I don't know if that is the "right" way, but it works for me.
What am I doing wrong. On the jouhikkos that I have made my horse hair bow is not reacting with my nylon strings. Did I forget something in the building of the instrument?
Is there somewhere (online) your instruments can be seen? Have you tried moving the bridge? What about resin? How close to the bridge are you stroking the strings?
ELDRIM ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dfjMi0_kjw8.html yeah, I used this general design. I don't have any resin, strings are very close, moving the bridge does not help
Hello, new Tagelharpa player here :) Great tip with the darker rosin, I'll have to try that. I've noticed a trend with having the third string made of gut, and the others horse hair. Can you explain this? Does it make the melody string sing louder?
Hi there, guys! I want to ask u very important think. I want to buy something like jouhikko/taglharp. Can u recommend for me some good master or forum where I can find it? Thx!
300$ is actually not so bad, conscidering the time it takes to make one, but it is lots of money. That's why we make them ourself. We can't afford to pay what they are worth :)
Härliga instrument men bäst att spela utanför eller i störe localer om man ska säga så men dom väker en sån stor kännsla inom sig. (Translation) Wonderful instruments but its best to play out doors or in bigger premises (sorry for my swedish tho its been a very long time since i have ever spoken my native language online anyway)
The advices still adhere to instruments with horse hair strings. The bow is absolutely proper enough - i have combed the hairs now. But somehow negativity is a strong force in some people....
@@espenwinther9065 It's not mandatory for a talharpa/jouhikko to have horse hair strings. That does not define the instrument, even considering the name. Most historic records, recordings and picture show that most players used metal/violin strings. Even further back in time they surely used gut more than horse hair. If the instrument have a neck, it's not a talharpa/jouhikko. It has nothing to do with negativity, it's just pointing out facts. :)
That's just what I said, wasn't it? No, it wasn't... A bowed lyre without horse hair is a bowed lyre, but if you use tagl strings it may be called a taglharpa. I never call this instrument a taglharpa, but a taglfidlle. Still the advices fits most bowed, instruments with tagl strings.
