A 12th-century troubadour melody by Bernart de Ventadorn

Can vei la lauzeta mover

Traditional Austrian: a Hymn to the Virgin, played on a chord zither. Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/Morgenrot.pdf . The zither can be seen in my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments

Du Schöne Morgenröt

Raft rattle kayamba from Kenya, made of two reed mats which are held apart by wooden spacers. The instrument is held horizontally between both hands and shaken from side to side. The sound is made by seeds in the space between the two mats. This is one of the recordings I made for an on-line exhibition at the RAM Museum (Exeter, UK).

Kayamba (raft rattle)

Small lute baglamas from Greece, made around 1970. The baglamas is a close relative of the much larger bouzouki. It is small enough to be hidden under a coat, which was useful in the days when its music (in the rebetika style) was considered subversive. This is one of the recordings I made for an on-line exhibition at the RAM Museum (Exeter, UK).

Baglamas (small lute)

Aboriginal clapsticks from Cape York in the North of Australia, made around 1980 and decorated in earth colours. This is one of the recordings I made for an on-line exhibition at the RAM Museum (Exeter, UK).

Clapsticks

Middle-Eastern tambourine riq, bought in Jerusalem in the 1990s. Ten pairs of small cymbals are arranged in five groups, equally spaced around the wooden body. The inlaid decoration includes mother-of-pearl. This is one of the recordings I made for an on-line exhibition at the RAM Museum (Exeter, UK).

Riq (tambourine)

This double dulcimer is based on a "Tennessee music box" design, but with dimensions scaled down by around 2/3 to give a string length of 44 cm. The tune is by Jean Lenoir (1924). This instrument can also be seen in my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments .

Parlez moi d'amour on double dulcimer

Sounds from the Borneo forest. The engkratong harp-zither is an instrument of the Dayak people. It has an unusual design: the strings run parallel to the top of the soundbox and lie in a plane which is perpendicular to it. As far as I know, the engkratong has not been played for the past 100 years or so. This track is my imagining of what it might have sounded like. 

Engkratong harp zither

Langeleik Tune

This is the only carol I know in 5 beats to the bar. The tune was written by Claude-Henri Vic and dates from the 1960s. I made the crumhorn from a kit kindly given to me by my work colleagues at the University of Exeter.

Ce Soir C'est Noel

The tonkori is a long zither of the Ainu culture from Hokkaido (Japan) and islands further north. The naresyukh (naras-yux etc.) and the very similar sangkultap (sangvyltap etc.) are long lyres of the Khanty and Mansi cultures from Western Siberia. This track is played on an instrument I made which includes features of both the naresyukh and tonkori -- the overall shape is that of a long lyre but the lateral pegs and double bridges are features of a long zither. The tune is my attempt at a similar style to those on the Tonkori CD by Oki. Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/tonkori.pdf

Tonkori long zither

Version of a Betsileo tune from Madagascar, played on the lokanga voatavo -- a stick zither with a gourd resonator.

Lokanga voatavo

This carol, also known as 'Is the Little King Sleeping?', was written by Horace King (1901-1986). The ukelin is a bowed zither (with plucked strings for accompaniment) which was sold door-to-door in the USA. The standard tuning is in C, but here I have re-tuned some melody and accompaniment strings to play in G. This instrument can be seen in my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments . Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/LiftUpLightly.pdf

Lift Up Lightly the Stable Bar, ukelin and harmonica

A tune on the double flute 'dvojnice', based on the first song in 'Bosnian Popular Melodies' by Vlado Milosevic (1954). This instrument can be seen in my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments . Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/dvojnice.pdf

Dvojnice

A carol on the Annunciation from the 13th century, mentioned by Chaucer in 'The Canterbury Taies'. The psaltery, which I bought in an unfinished state, is based on a design from the 1965 book 'Musical Instruments: Made to be Played" by Ronald Roberts. This instrument can also be seen in my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments . The lower part is played on a long-necked lute. Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/angelus.pdf

Angelus ad Virginem on psaltery

My version of the 'tizita' style from Ethiopia.  Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/Tizita.pdf (some differences to the video, because of improvisation).

Tizita on guitar

Melody by Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 – 1230). I have added a descant line on guitar. The hurdy-gurdy is from a very entertaining kit by UGears -- I used a thicker melody string than the one supplied, tuned to F rather than the suggested high D. Also, I modified the two highest tangents to give the notes D and F (the other tangents give G, A, B flat and C). Thanks to Don for help building the kit. Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/Palastinalied.pdf .

Nû alrêst lebe ich mir werde, on hurdy-gurdy

Based on my collection of Finnish melodies for singing the Kalevala -- from a variety of sources, including the 1840 book 'Kanteletar' by Elias Lönnrot. Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/kalevala.pdf . The instrument heard on the left is a 6-string kantele (zither) which can be seen in Room 15 of my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments . The instruments heard on the right are similar 6-string zithers/lyres which can be seen in Rooms 4 and 10 of my museum.

Runolauluja / Rune Songs on kantele

The love song 'Mi la michay thopna' (If a man could live longer), learnt from the playing and singing of Muhammed Shafi Reli, who I think also wrote the song (he played a similar instrument). The original song was recorded in Leh (Ladakh) by David Lewiston in the mid 1970s. The bulbul tarang is a keyed zither, deriving from the Japanese taishogoto. This one was made in India around 1975. It can be seen in my Musical Instrument Museum at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments . Sheet music is at http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/Ladakh.pdf .

Melody from Ladakh on bulbul tarang

The image is from a postcard of the character Mignon, printed around 1910. There are many similar Mignon cards – the photographer used different models and different settings, but always the exact same instrument. The music by Johann Friedrich Reichardt was written to lyrics by Goethe, from the 1795 novel which features Mignon. I have imagined that Mignon might be playing those songs on the instrument in the postcards – I am playing something similar(but with 4 strings, not 5, tuned cGCc; I made it myself). More details about the cards, the instrument and the music are here: http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/Mignon1.pdf . Sheet music (Reichardt's originals and my arrangements) is here: http://stellatripp.co.uk/IanInstruments/pdf/Mignon2.pdf

Mignon Songs by Johann Friedrich Reichardt

Arranged for ukulele and guitar. Ukulele played by Don Tripp.

La Javanaise

Link to my on-line museum of musical instruments.

IanSummers

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