Yuri Landman and my Autozither
Yuri Landman is an experimental instrument creator and has been making them since 2001. He was inspired by Bradford Reed’s “Pencilina” and Harry Partch’s “sticks under strings” to create his first instrument.
In 2009, I started with the development of DIY workshops, and I actually drifted away from visual aesthetics. ‘Fast design’ and ‘form follows function’, as well as the costs of the material dominated the design.
Yuri Landman 2018
His most popular invention is the “Third Bridge Zither”. This is a usual zither but uses another bridge in the middle to create overtones, similar to a koto. This allows both sides of the zither to have different tuning, but the standard is to have both sides be octaves of each other.
Below is a video showcasing how to create this instrument and what it sounds like.
This made me think about incorporating this into my design, using the 3rd bridge to create a larger timbre. If my sliding tuners work, will they affect the other side? Or will nothing happen? To test this out, I got a pen and put it under my guitar, using a slider to affect the pitch on one side, which showed that one side will not be affected. If I incorporated this into my design, I could have one half pitch controllable and the other half isn’t, meaning a drone could be played. This could be really interesting, allowing the instrument to be tuned to a chord and have it constantly playing while notes are played and modulated over it. But also, would it be possible to have this bridge be on and off, in case the drone isn’t wanted. It’s an interesting idea, but I think it’s overcomplicating the piece and forces the instrument to be played in a scale of the chord, while without the bridge, it can be played to anything.
While thinking of this drone, the sitar came into mind. It uses sympathetic strings, which are strings that are not played, to create a bigger sound. I could have strings in the instrument that resonates when the instruments are played and hopefully gives a larger sound.
I have also been thinking of a name for my instrument. It’s a box of strings excited by motors which are modulated by a motor controller. My instrument reminds me of an autoharp, zither and hurdy-gurdy but automatic. I really enjoy the name of an autoharp, it makes it sound more technologically advanced than it really is. Because of this, the name of this project is the Autozither. While this is subject to change, I think it’s a good idea, and it’s much better than “my instrument”. With this in mind, I think getting my hands on a zither and turning it into my project would be effective, as I won’t need to create the zither from scratch. While I would like to upcycle one, reusing one should do fine.
Links
https://medium.com/@yurilandman/experimental-musical-instruments-a-fringe-scene-231c56177999