Five-stringed kantele

[Vargalv]

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hei!

i am seriously thinking about getting one (a five-stringed kantele) made, so can anyone help me out with some quality links? or books to look for? i am mostly in need for some information about their construction (types of wood, carving, straight frames vs. 'organic' lines, coating, etc.), easy/easier-to-learn playing methods & songs (a.k.a. "beginner's guides", i'm starting from scratch), and similar basic stuff.

i play (sort of) instruments for my meditative/sprititual needs rather than any artistic longings per se, and from what i've read about kantele, the five-stringed version would be a good instrument to move on to from my small mbira (the big ones are too awkward for my liking. or is it the other way around?), i think. not to mention that i love its sound.

in any case, all help is greatly appreciated.

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[atolonen]

The kantele is quite an easy intrument to begin playing. Because it's tuned to a scale you can't really hit any notes/stings that doesn't sound good with the previous one you hit. A 5-stringer is good to begin with. The kantele doesn't have a fret board so you can only produce as many notes as there are strings (+ flageolets, naturally), but 5 notes is quite a lot already - enough for traditional pentatonic Finnish music, for example. A 10-stringer is usually enough for just about anything. I play a 15 stringer, but it has 4 bass strings (which are awesome!), so it's basically just an extended 11-stringer. There aren't any exact rules on how to play the kantele or with what technique to play it. I know plenty of kantele players and none of them play it with the same style. My technique, for example, has nothing in common with the techniques presented in the guide I linked below. You can play the thing the way that feels most comfortable to you.

A good place for info about the kantele: www.kantele.com/
Gerry's Guide for Playing 5 & 10 String Kanteles: www.kantele.com/guide.pdf

Building a small kantele: eno.joensuu.fi/themes/theme42006/Smallkantele1.pdf
Other Kantele stuff & making a kantele: www.kantelemusic.com/

[Vargalv]

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kiitos paljon!

i think this will do great for starters!
since getting the right wood is of the outmost priority & importance, what kind of wood are kantele usually made from? we're thinking (my friend, the kantele-maker-to-be and me) that ash would do very well. we're also thinking of giving it a more 'organic', curved look rather than the 'boxed' one. or is that something you wouldn't advise? of course it'll have to keep the resonating abilities in both cases.

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[atolonen]

I'm not an expert in kantele building, but from what I know alder and maple work well.

You can also check these great kantele makers for more info, including what woods they used:
www.koistinenkantele.fi/
www.kandlekoda.ee/indexen.htm

My kantele was made by Koistinen, and I'm still amazed how high quality instrument it is, so I'd trust the info on their site completely. Two friends of mine ordered their kanteles from Kandlekoda and they have been completely satisfied with them too. I've tried their instruments and I see them as very good too.

[Vargalv]

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thanks!

the wood is on order (either pine, birch or larchwood), hopefully it will arrive soon. alder would be great, but since it's very rare here - and thus protected - it's out of the question, and maple is more of a decorative tree. i will try to keep a WIP photojournal somewhere at cyberia - and keep you informed (should you wish). thanks again for all the help!

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[Vargalv]

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hei!

it has been a while, but work is progressing quite nicely now, since we have entered the closing phases. smoothening the wood and so forth.

there are a few shots of the w.i.p. at čezlesje if you're interested.

we have somewhat of a problem though. since we are working without ever seeing a kantele in real life, we don't know the exact lenghts of the strings, and with that how to properly tune them. i'm not sure if i'm making any sense at all, but the lenght/diameter for the first 7 strings at least would be greatly appreciated if someone could provide them. the links above are pretty much vague on the matter.

thanks in advance.

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[atolonen]

Lookin' good already Vargalv.

The length of the longest string in my old 10-stringer is 54 cm and the shortest string is 32 cm. My 15-stringer has some 5 cm longer strings. The thickness of the strings varies, but a 0,35 mm piano wire is often used. Naturally you can use thicker strings for the lower notes, and thinner for the higher ones, but 0,35 mm should work on every string too. The notes I have a 10-stringer tuned to is usually the following (from lowest to highest): C, D, E, F, G, A, A#, C, D, D#. This tuning is mostly based on the D minor scale, but it allows me to play a variety of different chords and even scales, and naturally you can tune it the way you want.

[mournfulwoods]

Seems cool. Keep it up and keep posting pictures.

[Trailblazer, Quillwaver]

Great pictures, and I love those folkloric forest pics too!

[Vargalv]

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atolonen said:

Lookin' good already Vargalv.

The length of the longest string in my old 10-stringer is 54 cm and the shortest string is 32 cm. My 15-stringer has some 5 cm longer strings. The thickness of the strings varies, but a 0,35 mm piano wire is often used. Naturally you can use thicker strings for the lower notes, and thinner for the higher ones, but 0,35 mm should work on every string too. The notes I have a 10-stringer tuned to is usually the following (from lowest to highest): C, D, E, F, G, A, A#, C, D, D#. This tuning is mostly based on the D minor scale, but it allows me to play a variety of different chords and even scales, and naturally you can tune it the way you want.

thanks a ton!

this should narrow down the guessing game substantially. the instruments should be finished by the end of this moon, i will however keep you informed.
thanks again & enjoy the high spring!

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[Vargalv]

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all three kantele have been finished!

more info, plus photos, at my deviantArt account, but feel free to ask any questions you might have here at the forum.

WE OWE IT ALL TO THE HELP OF MR. A. TOLONEN!
;D
THANK YOU KINDLY!!!

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[mournfulwoods]

This is an item I'd like to possess , even if I don't play that instrument. Just the presence of the objext in my room would put some serenity in the place. It's real sweet, good work.

[Vargalv]

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mournfulwoods said:

This is an item I'd like to possess , even if I don't play that instrument. Just the presence of the objext in my room would put some serenity in the place. It's real sweet, good work.

i'm just starting to learn how to play kantele myself, although you just need an ear for music really, since the kantele is a personal meditative/spiritual instrument just as well. just follow the links above, i'm sure you'll find someone in Quebec who's good at woodwork and can make you a kantele... the stringing/tuning is up to some other folk, but i bet you can find someone in that profession as well.

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[Vargalv]

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finally took and uploaded a few photos of the finished six-stringed kantele we made. click the wee house icon on the far left to see them.

once again, thank you kindly for your help and advice mr. Tolonen. ;D

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[atolonen]

Looking good, mon. I also love how you named them.

I just noticed that you used screws or something similar for the tuning pegs. What are they actually? And do they work well? After I built mine with guitar tuning pegs, I don't ever intend on going going back to the normal kantele ones. The guitar ones are infinitely better for fine tuning, although the traditional look suffers.