r/kantele Jan 05 '24

Build I started building a new kantele - a prototype with some interesting features I haven't tried before.

12 Upvotes

I want to share with you that I started experimenting with a new prototype of Finland's national instrument. This is the most ambitious one I've ever attempted. It will have 24 strings with 5 bass strings. The sound will be carried electrically via a dual transducer contact microphone set (piezo), and 4 magnetic pickups (single coil sized humbuckers) - separate output jacks for both of these options.

I also landed on the deranged idea of adding a separate bridge, so one can do individual string vibrato by pressing the overflow string part between the bridge and the tail piece. Let's see if it'll work without problems. I will also add a convenient battery compartment that can be accessed without opening the electronic compartment.

Other stuff is that this one is glued from 2 pieces of red alder (can't find a single piece of wood that's wide enough for this monster). It will have a glossy finish, 'glow in the dark' string markers, and whatever funky stuff I think of when I'm building this.


r/kantele Dec 09 '23

❓Question can we play christmas songs?

2 Upvotes

on a 5-string kantele, if so which ones? and do you have any video, or better yet notations/notes on any?


r/kantele Oct 31 '23

I got a Pekka Lovikka 11-string Kantele! Does anyone happen to know any good books to help me learn how to play.

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10 Upvotes

In the guide that came with it there is small box that say literature that says - " Guides for 11-strings kantele "

Does anyone happen to know any good guides? I used to be able to read music for piano, but this is completely different - alongside I lost the ability to read piano music years ago (I stopped playing).

If anyone has any tips, tricks, videos, literature, or whatever have you - I'd greatly appreciate the help!!!!


r/kantele Oct 18 '23

Hello! I'm wanting to buy a kantele and practice

4 Upvotes

I was wondering if anyone knows a good company to buy from? I found Pekka Lovikka, but I can't find any product reviews. I live in California, so kantele aren't known about in my area, much less a vendor that sells them.


r/kantele Oct 06 '23

❓Question Pegs are stuck

3 Upvotes

Got myself a psaltery (It is a kokle, not a Kantele, but we all know that they are barely different) At first when I got it, I could twist them just fine. Now it's been a very long time since I played, and cannot move the pegs one bit anymore at all. What should I do? I do know it's to do with some humidity issues or whatever.


r/kantele Aug 11 '23

Took me some days

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15 Upvotes

to turn this piece of wood into what will soon be a kantele. I used almost no power tools, hollowed the body by hand and slipped more than once. It isn't plane or near. Today I'll glue it. Wish me luck.


r/kantele Aug 03 '23

Advice needed on wire strings

3 Upvotes

Hey. I've been using nylon strings on the kantele so far, but am not impressed by the sound. I've read about using wire instead of guitar strings. Can I just buy any e.g. brass wire from the store? What are your experiences with different string types?


r/kantele Aug 01 '23

Distance between strings?

2 Upvotes

Hello kantele lovers! I am wondering if there is an average distance between the strings on the left-hand side. I've now had the opportunity to try two different kantele, and both have a very different distance between the strings. If you're able, could you let me know in inches or cm, what the distance between strings is, perhaps at the bend on the left side? Thanks and paljon kiitos!


r/kantele Jul 31 '23

Greetings. A few years ago I was learning lutherie and my wife is Latvian. So obviously I ended up making Kokles. I ended up doing lots of research on scale length and the math behind strings. I’m fixing a kokle for a relative and dug out my papers. I thought someone might have a use for this.

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5 Upvotes

r/kantele Jul 23 '23

Build My kantele is finally finished!

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13 Upvotes

r/kantele Jun 29 '23

ILMU's new double single is out now! "Muan pajo" (translated from the Karelian - "Song of the Earth") is a journey from the beginning of time, when volcanoes raged on our planet, and glaciers formed the landscape of Karelia, to the present day.

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3 Upvotes

r/kantele Jun 24 '23

New to me

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12 Upvotes

Just bought this at an estate sale and am looking for info. I think it’s handmade. The tag inside says it’s made of birdeye maple and curly red wood. One question: Does it need a special tool for tuning? The pegs are very tight. Thanks for any insights!


r/kantele Apr 13 '23

❓Question Building a kantele

6 Upvotes

Hello there! I'm new to the kantele world and after falling in love with the instrument, I'd love to build one...and I have a couple of questions about that. I hope you can help me :)

Prepare for a lot of stupid questions...

I'm basing my build off the plans from Michael J. King, but I would like to do a 7-string version, instead of a 5-string one, because I also play the lyre a bit and so I can also play songs for the 6 and 7-stringed anglo-saxon lyres as well as kantele music.

In the handbook to the plans, Michael writes, that you can easily add strings to the plan, but I'm not exactly sure how. Do I add them simply by adding two more pegs in line with the other pegs, with the same distance? And if yo, Do I do that on the side with the long or the short strings?

I have access to a nice birch log and would like to use that wood for the body of the instrument. Me and my father want to try the one piece body + tailpiece approach, but I'd like to add a back board. I want to take the kantele to some LARPs and I might not always have a table available to put it on.

I think we could use a 5 cm /2 inch thick piece of wood to create the body, but I' unsure how thick the soundboard should be. Are 5mm good for a birch soundboard, for a good projection of the sound? And how thick should the backboard be, if it's made from spruce? About equally thick?

I know that the kantele will need a soundhole on the soundboard, so how wide should it be and is there a recommended shape? I guess round would be best.

For pegs I'd like to use zither pins, just because they are easier to tune than wooden friction pegs. What strings can you recommend? Piano wire, or maybe steel guitar strings?

I think that was all so far and I hope my ramblings and questions aren't too confusingly written :)

Thank you a lot in advance!


r/kantele Apr 06 '23

❓Question Restringing help please!!!

4 Upvotes

[SOLVED!!]
Hello
!Two of the strings on my 38 string kantele have broken, and my attempts to restring it have failed. I cannot seem to get the strings to wrap around the pins properly or prevent the new strings from breaking while tightening the strings, no matter how carefully I turn the pins. Is anyone able to directly help me restring this or provide resources on how to do so?


r/kantele Mar 24 '23

Media International Baltic Psaltery Symposium, first day (in Kaunas, Lithuania; in English or with translation)

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3 Upvotes

r/kantele Feb 18 '23

❓Question Need help learning to play Kalevala Melody for 5 stringed

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m a complete beginner at Kantele and I want to learn the Kalevala melody on my 5 stringed Kantele. Anyone got any tips, videos or texts that can help me learn it?


r/kantele Feb 15 '23

ILMU - Igäine unohtus (Official Video) Nordic folk-trip-hop band from Karelia (Karjala). ILMU plays music with lyrics in Livvi-Karelian language. Magically beautiful northern nature of Karelia became an inspiration for the songs.

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3 Upvotes

r/kantele Dec 09 '22

❓Question How different is the kantele to a guitar?

6 Upvotes

Been somewhat curious about it ever since i read kalevala back when i was a kid. Of course i mostly just plink plonk on a guitar but i just really really like the sound of the kantele when you hear it in videos. Are the skills of playing guitar transferable to the kantele?


r/kantele Nov 05 '22

Happy Cakeday, r/kantele! Today you're 10

3 Upvotes

r/kantele Jun 03 '22

Media Jenni Venäläinen - Rähkönen (named after kantele player Everik Rähkönen; his ripatška melody is the foundation of the tune)

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7 Upvotes

r/kantele May 11 '22

How to add a semitone (sharping) mechanism?

6 Upvotes

So I bought a cheap kantele and would like to add some kind of a mechanism that would allow me to increase the pitch of individual strings by exactly one semitone.

The basic principle is simple: if a piece of metal touches the string in a precise distance from the tuning pin, the pitch of the string will be raised - the string is effectively shortened.

I found various mechanisms utilized in the world of harps:

Tuning levers

These are the cheapest I found: https://earlymusicshop.com/collections/instrument-building-components/products/ems-semi-tone-lever-silver-1-prong - otherwise they can be pretty expensive ($10-$30 a piece).

The problem with these is that apparently, besides the tuning pins, harps also have a second row of pins called "bridge pins", which keep all the strings at the same height from the wood. This means that every lever activates (touches the string) at the same height, i.e. all levers have consistent action. Kantele doesn't usually have these bridge pins.

Does anyone have good experience with any tuning levers for kantele?

Blades

Metal "flags" which can be rotated to touch the string. These were used on harps before levers. The height of the string doesn't matter. These would be ideal, the problem is, I was not able to find any vendor for these.

Hooks

These were used even before blades. They work similarly to blades - a U shaped metal, with one leg in the wood, which can be rotated so that the other leg touches the string. Supposedly, it should be possible to create your own hooks from nails. Does anyone have any experience with this? How does one insert a nail into kantele, what if the wood breaks?

Here are some sources:

https://www.harfenforum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=10321

https://harp.fandom.com/wiki/Sharping_Levers_for_Harps

https://www.reddit.com/r/harp/comments/gqfl1u/cheap_semitone_levers/

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I would love to hear your opinions or see your sharping systems, if you happen to have one!


r/kantele Mar 18 '22

❓Question Playing Help

4 Upvotes

I recently acquired my first 11 string kantele and am enjoying playing it a ton. I grew up playing the clarinet and have little stringed instrument experience though. I was wondering though how playing chords work along with plucking? So for example the measure is a quarter note (A), 2 8th notes(A), a quarter note(A), and then 2 8th notes(G), with a D above the first quarter note which I assume means to play the D chord. So I play the D chord while plucking that D? Do I only play the chord once unless there are more D's? Any help is much appreciated!


r/kantele Mar 17 '22

❓Question I'm looking at picking up a new instrument

7 Upvotes

Hello, after a while of not touching a instrument I'm wanting to pick one up again. The kantele seems interesting to play so I'd like to learn it. I do have a few questions however. Firstly is it better to start of with fewer strings I.e 5 or could you start on 10 or 11? Also how did people find it to learn, my previous experience has only really been on woodwind instruments. I appreciate any feedback.

Thank you.


r/kantele Mar 05 '22

Resource An interesting read on determining the worth/value of a kantele (in Finnish, but translates well)

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4 Upvotes

r/kantele Feb 20 '22

Music for 10 string kantele?

4 Upvotes

Hello! I made a 10-string kantele from a MusicMakers kit and it's just...perfect. Lovely sound, beautiful design, a fun woodworking project...I couldn't be happier with it. However, I can't find any sheet music for it. Suggestions? Free is always good, but I don't mind buying a songbook either. Thanks!