Sun, 31 May 2026 09:42:06 +0200 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/ en-EN contact@hearthis.at contact@hearthis.at https://hearthis.at/greywolf/ https://img.hearthis.at/1/6/4/_/uploads/9542965/image_user/w1400_h1400_q70_ptrue_v2_----cropped_1597762369461.jpg no no https://hearthis.at/greywolf/thanks-to-the-great-gods/ Apologies for the mic popping ... I'll re-record the speech when I have time :-)
Blessings to all,
Greywolf /|\]]> Apologies for the mic popping ... I'll re-record the speech when I have time :-)
Blessings to all,
Greywolf /|\]]> 5264816 no no Sat, 31 Oct 2020 16:11:01 +0100 2020-10-31T16:11:01+01:00 16:10 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/timpan-improvisation-in-bragod-gywair-bb-dorian/ There has been much debate about what the Timpan actually was, with conclusions ranging from a small hand drum to a hammered dulcimer. Medieval manuscripts make it clear that it was a stringed instrument and suggest to me that it may have been a long-necked, three-stringed lute of a type found across much of Europe, Asia and Africa from at least 3,500 BCE until the present day.
The next step was to build one. The first few weeks of Covid lockdown provided the perfect opportunity. I already had all the pieces necessary: a wooden bowl from a charity shop for a soundbox, a piece of Ash from a tree I'd felled to make drum hoops, some Red Deer hide left over from drum-making for a soundboard, some spare guitar strings and violin tuning pegs. It pushed my craft skills to the limit, but the resulting instrument turned out surprisingly playable.
The strings are tuned to B flat, F and B flat. The neck length gives a range of two octaves. The frets are made from rawhide cord and were positioned using an online app for calculating fret positions according to just intonation.
This piece is an improvisation in a medieval Welsh bardic mode or scale called Bragod gywair, 'mixed mode, scale or tuning,' or rather to one interpretation of what that mode or scale was. In trying to work out how to tune and play this instrument, I've been relying on the work of various musicologists, on how similar instruments are played in other cultures, and just on what sounds right to me when I play it. The strings are strummed with the nail of the right index finger. From around 7.30 there's a passage where I am playing the hide soundboard like a drum with the tips of the other three fingers, a technique suggested by a description in an Irish manuscript and used by players of the North African guembri or sintir.]]> There has been much debate about what the Timpan actually was, with conclusions ranging from a small hand drum to a hammered dulcimer. Medieval manuscripts make it clear that it was a stringed instrument and suggest to me that it may have been a long-necked, three-stringed lute of a type found across much of Europe, Asia and Africa from at least 3,500 BCE until the present day.
The next step was to build one. The first few weeks of Covid lockdown provided the perfect opportunity. I already had all the pieces necessary: a wooden bowl from a charity shop for a soundbox, a piece of Ash from a tree I'd felled to make drum hoops, some Red Deer hide left over from drum-making for a soundboard, some spare guitar strings and violin tuning pegs. It pushed my craft skills to the limit, but the resulting instrument turned out surprisingly playable.
The strings are tuned to B flat, F and B flat. The neck length gives a range of two octaves. The frets are made from rawhide cord and were positioned using an online app for calculating fret positions according to just intonation.
This piece is an improvisation in a medieval Welsh bardic mode or scale called Bragod gywair, 'mixed mode, scale or tuning,' or rather to one interpretation of what that mode or scale was. In trying to work out how to tune and play this instrument, I've been relying on the work of various musicologists, on how similar instruments are played in other cultures, and just on what sounds right to me when I play it. The strings are strummed with the nail of the right index finger. From around 7.30 there's a passage where I am playing the hide soundboard like a drum with the tips of the other three fingers, a technique suggested by a description in an Irish manuscript and used by players of the North African guembri or sintir.]]> 5050001 no no Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:18:07 +0200 2020-08-19T14:18:07+02:00 13:03 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/prayer-for-a-long-life-good-old-age-3m20s/ 4714432 no no Sun, 10 May 2020 17:39:36 +0200 2020-05-10T17:39:36+02:00 03:19 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/cad-goddeu-take-2/ 4714435 no no Sun, 10 May 2020 17:39:53 +0200 2020-05-10T17:39:53+02:00 12:55 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/chant-for-healing-protection/ 4714433 no no Sun, 10 May 2020 17:39:50 +0200 2020-05-10T17:39:50+02:00 09:35 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/tiompan-improvisation-2-with-wand/ Having made my tiompán, I used some Red Deer rawhide cord to make frets for it. This is the first recording made after the frets had dried tight on the neck. The strings are plucked and strummed with a nylon risha 'wand.' The recording was made on my trusty Zoom H4nPro, a great piece of kit.]]> Having made my tiompán, I used some Red Deer rawhide cord to make frets for it. This is the first recording made after the frets had dried tight on the neck. The strings are plucked and strummed with a nylon risha 'wand.' The recording was made on my trusty Zoom H4nPro, a great piece of kit.]]> 4704212 no no Fri, 08 May 2020 17:29:40 +0200 2020-05-08T17:29:40+02:00 04:30 https://hearthis.at/greywolf/tiompan-improvisation-3-pluck-strum-drum/ 4704214 no no Fri, 08 May 2020 17:29:50 +0200 2020-05-08T17:29:50+02:00 08:15