Post by dan on Dec 17, 2018 19:35:31 GMT -5
Let me elaborate (opine) on this position. It is my belief the transitional pieces consolidated the box zither (zitter) to what the Americans use, the board zither. Some have referred to this as a "raised" fret board but I would submit the fret board is the zither, as the "zither" is being defined as a simple chordophone. Unlike the box zithers being restrained to the placement of the frets on the edge of the box, the new board zither can be mounted on any shape sound box the maker wants.
For those contemporary makers who have shortened the fret board, added a saddle and center sound hole, have in turn made a "lute". A lute is "not" a simple chordophone, and a lute is "not" a zither. A dulcimore is "not" a lute, it is a zither.
Hornbostel–Sachs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hornbostel–Sachs (or Sachs–Hornbostel) is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. It is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments by ethnomusicologists and organologists (people who study musical instruments). (It is also used by Dulcimore Makers who live in Tennessee) The system was updated in 2011 as part of the work of the MIMO Project - Musical Instrument Museums Online.
Hornbostel and Sachs based their ideas on a system devised in the late 19th century by Victor-Charles Mahillon, the curator of musical instruments at Brussels Conservatory. Mahillon divided instruments into four broad categories according to the nature of the sound-producing material: air column; string; membrane; and the body of the instrument. Mahillon limited his system, for the most part, to instruments used in European classical music. From this basis, Hornbostel and Sachs expanded Mahillon's system to make it possible to classify any instrument from any culture.
Formally, the Sachs–Hornbostel is modeled on the Dewey Decimal Classification for libraries. It has five top-level classifications, with several levels below those, adding up to over 300 basic categories in all.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hornbostel–Sachs (or Sachs–Hornbostel) is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. It is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments by ethnomusicologists and organologists (people who study musical instruments). (It is also used by Dulcimore Makers who live in Tennessee) The system was updated in 2011 as part of the work of the MIMO Project - Musical Instrument Museums Online.
Hornbostel and Sachs based their ideas on a system devised in the late 19th century by Victor-Charles Mahillon, the curator of musical instruments at Brussels Conservatory. Mahillon divided instruments into four broad categories according to the nature of the sound-producing material: air column; string; membrane; and the body of the instrument. Mahillon limited his system, for the most part, to instruments used in European classical music. From this basis, Hornbostel and Sachs expanded Mahillon's system to make it possible to classify any instrument from any culture.
Formally, the Sachs–Hornbostel is modeled on the Dewey Decimal Classification for libraries. It has five top-level classifications, with several levels below those, adding up to over 300 basic categories in all.
Now we ask, what is a dulcimore?
Chordophone (3)
Simple chordophones or zithers (31)
Board zithers (314)
With resonator box (.122)
314.122
Chordophone (3)
Simple chordophones or zithers (31)
Board zithers (314)
With resonator box (.122)
314.122
This is my understanding of the Traditional Appalachian Dulcimore. The fret board has extended past the sound box on some music boxes, but the classification is only calling for full length. There is nothing about extending beyond. The fret board is the zither. The fret board is mounted on the sound box.
