Handmade Monochord

[purity4all]

Please list instructions for box size and string thickness and length. Many of us would like to make our own.

[kratanuva725]

How is it a monochord.... if it has more than one (mono) string (chord)???

[SONGSTICKS]

Hello,

Beautiful sound..love it.

I'm rather keen to make one for playing with my friend who is an excellent overtone singer. I think his overtoning and a monochord like this one would sound great together. Do you have a plan / drawing that you'd be willing to send me please?

If not, could you tell me what type of strings you used and what they are tuned to please? I reckon with a bit of practise this thing could produce some wicked harmonics, especially if I electrified it with some nice reverb

[Grandmasterbirch]

Surely a monochord by definition has only one string? Cool sound though.

[dirtridermag44]

just one word...............weak!

[setuda3]

good sound!

[PaganoPercussioni]

good!



[Urijahuri]

Monochord = FAILURE... any idiot with fingers ca play that crap.... -durk durk- imma strum sum strings -durk durk- i dont have to make it sound different cus it cant -durk durk- cus this insrument is for dummys -durk durk-

[MrSheliak]

I can hear hang-drum, but I cannot see it.

Does the sound produce only by this monochord playing ?

I am very curious, because that "machine" is relatively easy to build and with using a movable "board", catching the wind into the strings this instrument can become a fantastic Aeolian harp !

Al in all - an idea is simple, but what is a fantastic music !!!

[harktheherald]

you should play it with a bow!

[robinhelmde]

beautiful instruments. maybe you should put string seperators underneath the strings like on a koto. i like the sound.

[nguyenvietcuong1990]

how many strings are there ?

[gggreggg]

nice piece of work, but why do you call is a "monochord"?

see "dan bau" (vietnamese) for a truly one (mono-) stringed insturment

[Hikikomori013]

@gggreggg Many monochords have multiple strings, usually two. It's a monochord because the strings are tuned in unison like the courses of a mandolin.

On a two string monochord a bridge is usually moved under the string to divide the note in Pythagorean intervals, then chords are played.

Japan also has some monochords. One has a single string, the others use two strings in unison. The left hand holds a sliding bridge while the right has a heavy plectrum on the forefinger like a sanshin.

[gggreggg]

@Hikikomori013 really interesting! thanks for the information.

if you have a link to the japanese monochords that you particularly like, perhaps you could post them.

[Hikikomori013]

@gggreggg The two most common are the one string ichigenkin and the two string nigenkin (ichi=1, ni=2). Searching for ichigenkin on YouTube turns up a number of videos, including this solo performance, youtube.com/watch?v=mi8rn6FIRV­E and an ensemble piece, youtube.com/watch?v=mp3XsppmhG­k and a video brochure by kochicitychannel with a section on the instrument, youtube.com/watch?v=s1BmiRNYFg­A&feature=related

And here's a nigenkin. w(dot)asza(dot)com/inigen.shtm­l

[Contrapunctus1]

Can you change the pitch by stopping the strings ?

[ghostcrab311]

absolutely fantastic!

[RobertSHilton]

Are these nylon strings?

[barcanard]

I could listen to that for hours!

[rextopher]

you go inside the sound

[AnEscapedMind]

Where are the drums coming from?

[offi78]

It`s a Hangdrum

[squamam]

wow. great sounds . great work . °°

[ibanezgeorge]

can you tune it??

[addict2overtone]

Of course can tuning:)

[maddanana]

I need to build one of those!

[GotenTod]

Handmade Wow can you tell me How To

[Sardanza]

Sweet! I've never seen a monchord before. Have you tried pencils or dulcimer hammers on it? I use regular unsharpened pencils on my psaltry and kantele, hold the eraser end and you can get some really cool bounce effects and rolls with them. I bet it'd sound great on the mono. And sadly, I gotta say, that's the first time I missed my hang since I sold it. : ( Keep up the good work.

[BeyondTheMountain]

Nice overtones. I was just thinking that the hang would sound nice over the top op it and then it started. Thanks for sharing :)