Re: droning questions

["whiteoakstudios" <whiteoakstudios@supanet.com>]

Hah :)

Great minds think alike.

Gareth


>
> For years I've had the wish to add sympathetic strings to the guitar. The
way
> I'd imagined this being done would be to use two guitars. The first would
have
> some sort of pickup for the six (or however many you have !) strings. 
>This
> signal would then be fed to another guitar - I think an old acoustic 
>would
work
> well here - maybe a 12-string. This is where my idea needs work, but 
>maybe
the
> Sustainiac string driver could be adapted. The sound from the first 
>guitar
is
> applied to the strings of the second one in a controlled way in order to
produce
> sympathetic vibrations - I'd originally thought of doing this by fitting
the
> guitar with an internal speaker of some kind, but a transducer such as 
>the
> sustainiac or a conventional pickup (fed from a preamp) may be persuaded
to work
> in reverse. The sound of the sympathetic strings could then be mixed with
the
> sound from the first guitar using a conventional pickup on the second
guitar.
> The advantage of this setup is that you have a greater range of tuning 
>for
the
> longer sympathetic strings, and you can also adjust their volume with
respect to
> the main signal. I have a feeling that the original Coral Sitar Guitar
relied on
> the strings vibrating using the resonance (?) of the solid body of the
guitar.
> This would probably work if you were standing next to a 200w stack (which
would
> set the guitar and your internal organs resonating), but I doubt if they
create
> any sort of discernible sound in most other situations - I've never 
>played
one,
> but I imagine that this is the case.
> As with a lot of my ideas, this has languished without being put into
practice,
> mainly because of the need for a suitable string driver in the second
guitar. If
> anybody has any suggestions as to how this could be achieved, I would be
very
> interested !
>
> John Mcleod
>
>
> James Pokorny wrote:
>
> > Gareth wrote:
> > >there was a thing calling itself an electric sitar with 12 sympathetic
> > >strings under a Perspex cover and a sitar type bridge.
> >
> > >Tuning of the extra strings was done with a sort of autoharp/dulcimer
key.
> >
> > I've seen this type of guitar and have to chime in (pun fully intended)
that
> > these type of strings are not truly sympathetic strings.  That is, they
> > don't really resonate when the main strings are plucked.  I think the
> > intention of that design is to imitate the multiple strings of the
sitar.
> > However, when they're located too far from the main playing strings 
>they
> > won't begin to vibrate spontaneously from the sound of the main 
>strings.
My
> > feeling is that they're included on this type of instrument to simulate
the
> > tinkling, cascading zither-like sound called "jhankar" that we 
>associate
> > with the rapid brushing of the sitar's sympathetic strings.  As an
aside,
> > this sound used to be exclusively a "tuning check" of these strings and
was
> > never incorporated into the actual music itself until Pandit Ravi
Shankar
> > began using it as a sort of punctuation device between phrases or
sections
> > of the raga's development.
> >
> > >Another type of guitar ran the sympathetic strings at an angle to the
main
> > >guitar strings and under them, where they intersected. It had a
protruding
> > >pseudo-neck coming out at an angle along which the sympathetic strings
> > >ran.
> >
> > This instrument sounds as though the additional strings really would
work
> > "sympathetically" due to their resting beneath the main strings.  I'm
not
> > really sure how effective this would all be on an electric instrument,
> > though, since the pickup would essentially replace the resonator.  I
have
> > half a dozen traditional "ethnic" instruments that use sympathetic
strings
> > and of course, they're all purely acoustic.  Most have very thin wooden
> > faces that emphasize a bright sound and rich harmonics, and some of 
>them
> > have skin-covered resonators, which also really liven and expand the
sound
> > (think banjo vs guitar).  My Indian instruments (sitar, surbahar,
dilruba)
> > also have specific "twanging" bridges for the sympathetic strings that
> > increase their resonance.  I've found that on some of these instruments
it's
> > taken a long time (up to 5 years) for the instruments to 'warm up'
enough
> > that the sympathetic strings really begin to "speak."  I feel that this
is
> > due to the density of the wood in the neck along which they run,
underneath
> > the main strings.  So I wonder how well sympathetic strings would
vibrate in
> > the absence of a resonator?
> >
> > Anyway, my 2 "cents" [monetary, not tuning intervals  :-) ]
> >
> > James
>