I have owned a bowed psaltery for about two years, and I am only now beginning to feel comfortable with it.
Last year I posted a couple of items on youtube of me playing this bizarre contraption. I received a number of affirmative comments including ...
"What on Earth is that?"
"Where can I get one?"
"Is it easy to play?"
My favourite was, "STOP IT - I LIKE IT!"
What follows should not be regarded as expert advice. It is simply a response to those questions, based on my own short and very limited experience.
History
Although the bowed psaltery produces a characteristically resonant and olde-worlde sound, it has little documented historical provenance. In its present form it was introduced in the mid twentieth century by Walter Mittman, a school teacher in Westphalia. Its plucked ancestors, however, date back to Biblical times, and it is questionable whether these earlier instruments were ever played with a bow.
Present-day instruments
Commercially-available bowed psalteries retailed in the UK are generally fully chromatic over two octaves, commonly beginning at G above middle C. Of course, this range is optional. Within limits; I suppose you could retune to a different range. I have encountered one US manufacturer who describes a 32-string psaltery with the lowest note being C. Each of the steel strings is tuned individually. These are tensioned between a hitch pin and a tuning pin such that the notes on the right of the instrument are naturals, (equivalent to the white keys on a piano keyboard.) The accidentals (black keys) occupy the left hand side. A note rings when a string is bowed just short of its hitch pin. Some consider that the sustained resonance is a very pleasing sound. Others worry about their personal dentition!
My psaltery, (factory-produced in Pakistan,) came with a short violin-type bow of about 19 inches in length. (I am advised that this is about 1/16 size in violin parlance.) I have experimented with longer bows, but I found them to be cumbersome, and speed and accuracy are compromised. I also have a bow strung with nylon, rather than horse-hair. Horse hair is far superior. Unlike modern violin bows, my bow has a curve which is convex away from the hair. (See image above.) This facilitates greater tension, and the player may hold the bow anywhere along its length, rather than being restricted to the frog. Some players use bows with hair tensioned by a piece of curved bamboo. I am not convinced that these are any more easily manipulated. They are not adjustable and I see no reason why they should compliment the sound. I wonder if they are not simply a contrivance to make this modern instrument appear more ancient than it really is. Believe it or not, some players use two bows simultaneously on a psaltery stabilised in some sort of clamp.
Tuning
Tuning is a time-consuming business as the pitch of a string is highly sensitive to the slightest rotation of the tuning pin. A clip-on digital chromatic tuner is essential for those who do not possess perfect pitch. For one new instrument that I tuned for a friend recently, I found it better to begin by slackening off all the strings; then tune up, rather than tune down. My experience has been that first tuning stays reliable for a matter of only minutes. I had to revisit and retune my own new psaltery several times over a week before it would stay in tune with itself overnight. I guess that has to do with ‘settling in’. Those top strings are particularly sensitive, fickle and fragile. Only a fraction of a degree’s rotation of the tuning peg can alter the pitch by one semitone or more. (Over-enthusiasm here results in a resounding 'TWANG!!', a sharp intake of breath, followed by Anglo-Saxon expletives!) Just when you think you’ve got it right, you invariably find that the tuning wrench is seized on the tuning peg. You have to wiggle it to remove it. Anything more than a delicate wiggle has you back to square one!
With patience, I found that, according to my tuner, the psaltery appeared to be in concert pitch, and would remain reasonably so. Unfortunately, I have yet to find that my psaltery plays in tune with any other precisely-tuned instrument in a session. Then again, this is not usually a session instrument. It’s not a rock-psaltery, after all! I doubt that you'll find Concerto for two bowed psalteries in any classical repertoire either.
That said, I insist on the importance of the instrument being accurately in tune with itself throughout its range. There is always at least one person in the audience who has a finer ear for pitch and harmony than you!
I know; I've met him!
Replacing strings
Yes, you would expect strings to break. I use .009 guitar strings for replacements. Fitting these is a fiddly procedure that often draws blood. (Are you up-to-date with your tetanus vaccinations?)
Ideally you require three hands, a good pair of pliers (and a supply of sticking-plasters.)
For this operation, it is helpful to clamp the psaltery to an operating table.
Alcohol consumption is unhelpful; it serves only to increase blood-loss!
Interestingly, I find that the timbre of replaced strings is noticeably different to that of the originals. It may be that they need time to relax, or perhaps this represents some difference in material.
Playing
This is one of the simplest instruments I have ever tried to play. On my psaltery the notes are scribed into the soundboard alongside the corresponding string/hitch pin. The notes are all there in front of you. Your only task is to play them, one at a time, preferably in some semblance of order!
Anyone with an ear for melody would be able to feel their way around. A little patient practice will help with placing the bow accurately between the hitch pins, rather than stumbling over them. I recommend some experimentation with tension of, and pressure on, the bow. In my view, more tension and less pressure gives a better sound. When it sounds right, it is right!
As regards tune-selection, this is a matter of personal taste, and I hesitate to advise. I remain a novice, but it is clear to me that up-tempo pieces don't work. This is an instrument that, like a lover, requires tender strokes and gentle carresses!
Although I can read simple music, I play the psaltery by ear. I use tunes that have penetrated my being over the years through the very pores of my soul. I started with the ancient melody Dives and Lazarus, in what musicologists might label the Aeolian mode. For the moment, I tend to avoid those black notes that require superhuman dexterity, and I almost instinctively transpose into the keys of C or A minor. It works well with church music and carols. As yet, I have not accompanied myself with the psaltery throughout an entire song. That requires too much concentration, and becomes just something else that might go wrong. I have, however, used it near-successfully for an instrumental introduction to a song, with the odd ‘tween-verse ‘fill'' and an obligato final flourish!
At the outset I regarded the psaltery as nothing more than a toy for aspirant violinists who weren’t sure what to do with the left hand. Perseverance, and tentative exposure at a local folk club have led me to now believe that the sound has a place within folk music. I accept that the bowed psaltery has even less authenticity as a ‘traditional’ instrument, and it is far less versatile, than those ubiquitous fretted instruments for accompanying ancient lyrics. Nevertheless, the sound works for me, and I have concentrated on medleys of tunes.
Here's a mudley ...
All comments from those with more experience than me, and questions from those with less, will be welcome.
