So, I got the Harpeleik for christmas, a norvegian instrument that’s just meant to play basic major chords. I think it’s very beautiful nevertheless, especially after I got it in tune, and I wanted to share it here. We got it from a guy who doesn’t play it anymore really, so he gave it to us. It’s got 64 strings, with seven rows of major chords. From bottom to top, they are b, e, a, d, g, c, and f. And of course, there’ll be an audio sample of it too, where I play the chords from bottom to top first, and then some improvisation. By the way, you use a ring which goes on your thumb to play it. Enjoy!
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8 replies on “my new christmas present”
Great! Never heard of this instrument before but I have a special interest in such traditional/medieval Nordic instruments. Can you send me each of these chords separately so that I can use them?
I’m currently not at home, but if I am again on friday, I can record it. And You think the quality of this mike is good enough? Don’t have anything more professional.
It’s decent and can be improved. I don’t have anything far more professional either, apart from my binaural Sennheiser headphones, and am used to doing noise reduction on my own recordings. By the way, I wonder if you can play single notes on that harpeleik just by playing one single string.
Plucking I could say.
Yes, it’s perfectly possible, even though the strings are rather close together. But it’s just enough space to do it with your fingernails or the ring for your thumb I was on about. Another problem might be the computer fan as well, I might see about recording it with another device then. But I’ll see. I’m again not at home now, but I will be in two weeks. Just for your information.
Oh, and should I arpeggiate the chords, like I did on the recording in this blog and the forum? And I have to correct myself, it’s easier to do single notes with your nails rather than the ring.
And the wound strings sound rather dull as well. They’d probably need restringing, but I know neither if there are people who do this nor how much that would cost.
Well, got your points. If you do happen to send me that recording, please play each chord at once.