That was an awesome performance and the instrument is beautiful looking and sounding.Each is connected to the keyboard, complete with smaller black keys for sharp and flat notes. But unlike a piano, it has no hammered dulcimers. Instead, there are four spinning wheels wrapped in horse-tail hair, like violin bows.
To turn them, Zubrzycki pumps a pedal below the keyboard connected to a crankshaft. As he tinkles the keys, they press the strings down onto the wheels, emitting rich, sonorous tones reminiscent of a cello, an organ and even an accordion.
Each note really does sound "bowed". I'd love to try this out. fuffle, somehow I think this instrument would suit your music well. -To be clear, that's a compliment.
Yeah, I thought you might be into this. I think it has a really rich tone. What a different musical landscape it might have been had this been built, though given the complexity, I wonder if tuning was one potential reason why it was never built. It could just be that manufacturing at the time wasn't up to it. It also says that it shares some similarities with the harpsichord, so I wonder if that means that it can't change dynamic? Anyway, here is another video of it which seems to explain more about it . . . if you speak Polish. There is some more music included though, as well as a better view of it being played.
Given the description, this thing sounds like a beast to manufacture- four spinning horsehair wheels? And each key presses the entire string down onto the wheel? And upkeep would be... rigorous. Horsehair frays, and the microhairs (technical term? Dunno) that create the tone wear down. And new hair stretches I think, which means that every time you replaced the hair on the wheels, you'd have to spend time "tuning" just the bow part of it so that it wasn't too loose. To say nothing of the steel strings. Re. dynamic- sounds like dynamics were taken into consideration. Harder the string presses onto the wheel, and the faster you pump the foot pedal, the stronger the tone you'd get. Like a violin. And an organ. Maybe a little less dynamism. The harpsichord has no dynamic variance because every string is plucked by a little fork on hitting the key, and the fork jumps at a fixed rate regardless of how hard you hit the key. THE MORE YOU KNOW
I wonder if the spinning "bow" has to be adjusted or replaced often?
looks like it's likely a fake: http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/11/leonardos-ins...
Well, according to that article, not exactly. Even if this instrument is not a reconstruction of Da Vinci's, it is still a reconstruction of a real instrument. A misnomer, perhaps. While that is disappointing, it makes me curious as to why it didn't catch on like the piano.
true, "fake" is a strong word. It's still really cool. AS to why it didn't catch on, well, who knows? it's joined the ranks of the Arpeggione and the Rothphone, i guess.
So many cool instruments have gone by the wayside. I would love to try playing a Rothphone. I'd also really like to mess around with a lithophone and one of these "wooden harps".
I have a soft spot for impractically large musical instruments. Behold: the subcontrabass saxophone.
The glorious Tubax! Ever seen a subcontrabass clarinet? Leblanc only made one or two for displays. Also, the MandoBass
Interesting. It's like a piano sized, foot powered Hurdy-gurdy.