I got to see a bowed psaltery at the Vandalia Festival

[mutepointe]

Just at a booth, I wish he would have been performing on one. The craftsman answered all kinds of questions for me. My wife was pleased enough with the sound to give me hope of owning one. I don't know why, I've looked at plenty on the internet but it never crossed my mind that the longer string would be the lower strings. Why oh why is everything backwards?

[Tim2723]

Mute, you've heard the siren song. There's no help for you now. Go get one before your wife changes her mind!

Do you remember the builder's name? We're trying to compile an updated list of builders at the PsalteryStrings site, and new, smaller shops are sprouting up all over these days.

BTW, backwards? I don't get it. What's backwards about it?

[mutepointe]

I'll post the builder's name tomorrow when I find his card he gave me.

To someone thinking like a piano player, the strings are backwards, the high strings are at the bottom of the triangle. Low notes should always be at the bottom. High strings at the top. The strings are actually laid out correctly left to right, low to high, and I suppose it's how a person orients themselves to the psaltery at first attempt. I accidently taught myself to play the pennywhistle left-handed too because I had no instruction at all.

The builder said that he had a piano player ask him to build an additional psaltery holder so that she could hold the instrument upside down (pointy tip towards her) so that this all made sense inside her brain. I can believe it.

(Where we would even find a flat surface in our house to put the psaltery is a matter to discuss. She'd be interested in learning this herself.)

[greg]

i just bought one from "songs of the wood" 2 1/2 octaves and your right it does feel backwards but im getting used to it quickly, ive only played penny whistle up to now and this seems easier to learn.one of the nice suprises about it is that you can just kinda bounce the bow off a string and get a nice but very quiet sound , great for learning songs without bothering the wife and cats. i also bought a little bock for hanging it on the wall

[Tim2723]

Greg, just a word of caution about those SOTW display hangers. Even more than a guitar or mandolin, psalteries are exceptionally sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. All those strings pulling against a simple wooden box makes them nearly self-destruct mechanisms. Keep your psaltery out of direct sunlight and away from a heat source. If you have low humidity, like in winter, and you don't humidify your home, you'll be better off keeping it in the case with a humidifier.