Kantele building, with a twist

[atolonen]

Ave people.

I've been dying to share this project with the lot of you for quite some time, but I've kept myself from doing so until I got it completely finished, and was sure I succeeded (this was also because if I buggered it up, I could always deny ever having tried anything )

As the subject implies, I just finished making my own kantele. Since you're on the Nest forum, you should be at least somewhat familiar with the instrument, but for those that are not, it's a traditional Finnish string instrument, similar to a zither, a horizontal harp, etc. I just made the thing a bit differently from the norm. I used mostly wound strings to get an approx. octave lower sound than a standard small kantele, used guitar tuners, magnetic humbucker pickups, and the works. It's awesome, I tell ye.

Here's a more detailed story of the creation process, complete with pictures from all the phases of the project:
- koti.mbnet.fi/atolonen/kanteleproject_sysi.html


Here are some sound examples:
- Clean (high)
- Clean (low)
- Distorted (lead)
- Distorted (rhythm)


And here are a couple of assorted pics:
- Finished
- Pickups, knobs, varras


And here's me playing it:

[ganymedes]

That looks great ;D - ready for the Hunt.

Eh, ... I hope you do not mind if that creates an association to the metal (melodic black&doom) ingredients of some songs.

I would certainly like to hear how "Silvershade Lynx" sounds with this beast ;D

... hey, just an idea, how about an EP of "alternate versions" ...

[atolonen]

Thank ye. I'm extremely pleased with how it turned out. The sound is excellent, and that's naturally the main point, but it does look great too. I don't mind the black doom associations at all. One of the reasons I made this thing to be an octave lower, and have magnetic pickups is because I intend on using it for distorted sounds a lot too. Just you wait what I have in store for it

The alternate versions thing is actually quite interesting. But if I ever get around to doing something like that, the versions will be truly different, because the sound is indeed an octave lower, and distorted playing lends itself a whole different sound and technique too. I would still have to do the "faster" melodic parts with an acoustic kantele, or at least a clean sound from Sysi (that's the name I gave this new one). Most likely I'd play low distorted stuff as the backing instrumentation, and include distorted lead playing, that was completely new, on top of the existing acoustic melodies. I doubt just changing the existing ones to be played with distortion would provide the best result.

I seldom revisit anything I've done before, so I'll probably just set my sights to new songs, but you'll never know. It is indeed an interesting idea, and I'm surprised that I'm actually quite intrigued about trying it out. Most of the time I don't bother with such stuff.

EDIT:
I posted some sound samples online. Check out the first post on this page or the project homepage.

[Vargalv]

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whoa!

not that it was otherwise before, but you have my outmost respect, sir! in a whole new category!

the design is stunning, not too metal (except maybe the colour), the sound (clean) captivating and clear-deep! and even the distorted samples... although they sound a bit like an electric guitar, the feeling is way different - which is to be expected, since it's a kantele. you've managed yet another masterpiece, no doubt about it. and with ash, whoa... now that's some seriously hard wood. although its sound is clear like ice-water.

it'll be grand to hear a song made with sysi (if it's not too personal a question, what does that mean?).

also, thank you for the thorough making-of.

[Oakenpalace]

sounds good, but if you should ask me if it's a kantele or a eletric guitar I wouldn't know,... I know the ignorance

[ganymedes]

Very nice sounds, too ;D .

"Sysi" in Finnish means the same as "completely" when talking about the colour black. So, this kantele is "sysi black" = "completely black". For other meanings ... I do not know ... perhaps the artist can explain more.

[Vargalv]

ganymedes said:

"Sysi" in Finnish means the same as "completely" when talking about the colour black. So, this kantele is "sysi black" = "completely black". For other meanings ... I do not know ... perhaps the artist can explain more.

kiiti! so it's like pitch black in english... sysi susi. ;D

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[ganymedes]

Yeah, pitch seems to equal sysi - although "pitch" has great many other meanings while sysi does not really.

Pitch black wolf = sysi musta susi :-) .

[Vargalv]

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ok, kiiti.
i thought there must be a twist somewhere, but sysi susi sounds neat...

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[mournfulwoods]

Sweet I'm glad to see the result. It's a wonderful and Doomy looking kantele.

[atolonen]

Thank ye good people.

"Sysi" is an old archaic word for wood coal. It is often used nowadays to describe something as "sysimusta", which basically means "deep black", "completely black", etc. (musta = black).

The heavily distorted stuff does indeed sound very similar than what would expect from a guitar. This is a natural occurrence with many string instruments when played through distortion. I've heard violins, violas, cellos (Apocalyptica, anyone?), harps, dulcimers, and natually basses produce a very "guitar like" sound. I personally think a more correct description would be a "distortion sound" or an "amplifier sound", because the sound is clearly not unique to guitars. Well, I did design my kantele to have a sound similar to a guitar when played through distortion (meaning that it's approximately on the same octave as a normal guitar), but acoustically it sounds exactly like a kantele.

[Vargalv]

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atolonen said:

"Sysi" is an old archaic word for wood coal. It is often used nowadays to describe something as "sysimusta", which basically means "deep black", "completely black", etc. (musta = black).

ah, interesting! i guess many languages have something similar, from english pitchblack to german rabenschwarz, and my native (slovene) vranje črno. where germans have ravens, we've crows though.

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