Ringing Strings Bowed Psalteries
handcrafted by Rick Long
Clinton, Tennessee
(865) 660-4026
psalteryman@gmail.com
psalteryman@gmail.com
1-28-12 One more sound clip added. This one is so you can hear it amplified using a guitar amp.
1-27-12 New curly redwood/walnut baritone added today. Pictures and sound clips are now in place.
1-23-12 I have started cutting wood for two new Bass/Baritone bowed psalteries. These have the modification that gives you eight cello strings to use for bass drones. I sold my first three of those before Christmas, I don't even have one for myself now. Here's a few soundclips if you want to hear what they sound like.
I am almost to the point of stringing a new standard model baritone, like the one listed below. The wood is curly redwood/walnut. I'm out of stock on a couple of wound string sizes I need for it. They are supposed to be delivered on Wed.
1-6-12 I have one new baritone psaltery finished and have the pictures ready to view right now, scroll down to see them. Sound clips are there for you to listen to it.
There are 37 wound strings on each one of these baritone psalteries. The lowest note is C below middle C and the psaltery has three full octaves. They are 30" long, 9" wide, and just over 3" thick including the pins and strings. Everything you need is included except a tripod and tuner. I will give you a recommendation of a great tripod to use with these baritones. It can't just be any old camera tripod, it will take a heavy duty model with an all metal head. I recommend an electronic tuner to use while tuning. They are inexpensive and really make tuning easy.
There is an attached back plate that allow for mounting the psaltery on a tripod without losing any vibration of the back of the psaltery. The back plate is fastened only around the outside edges. They included piezo internal pickup is standard and gives you the option to amplify this psaltery. I show you how all this works on the DVD. I'll be posting a video soon to demonstrate this and the sound you can get.
The included two hour DVD is dedicated to this psaltery only. It covers everything you will need to know and learn about this psaltery. The tripod mount and two bows get you set up to double bow. This is a great way to play the bowed psaltery, really opens up the possibilities of what can be done on a bowed psaltery. It takes it to the next level.
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- Top: Curly Redwood
- Back: Black Walnut
- Price: $975
- Item No. CRWAB014
Price includes:
Two Bows
Tuning wrench
Rosin
Extra Strings
Two hour Instructional DVD
Internal Piezo Pick Up
Tuning Chart
Special Picks
Padded Case
Tripod is not included
More videos showing the baritone psaltery on the How to Play page.
Scroll on down the page to see the listings
of the baritone psalteries that are available.
Click pictures to enlarge
Copyright Ringing Strings Music 2004-2012 All Rights Reserved
This new baritone psaltery is one of my standard baritone models. This one does not have the cello string modification.
The soundboard is made of curly redwood. The body and back plate, of this psaltery, are black walnut. One change I have recently made, is to use a thin piece of western red cedar for the back. It is pretty much hidden except for the part you can see along the outside edge. You can also see it inside the rear sound hole through the back plate. This change should give a slight increase in volume. It is a fragile wood, but is protected by the walnut back plate.
The radial carved designs around both sound holes and also the threaded insert for the tripod mount, have been handcarved. I use a very small 1/8 inch gouge chisel to do this. I have done several different things for soundhole decoration over the years, but have settled on this as my favorite. I use this same design on all of my tenor and baritone psalteries. The reason I do this around the tripod mount, is that the tripod quick release plate will dent the wood in this area.
The curly redwood is one of my favorite words to use. I love the dark rich color and interesting patterns in the grain.
To Order -
Email me at -
psalteryman@gmail.com
or Call -
865-660-4026
To Order -
Email me at -
psalteryman@gmail.com
or Call -
865-660-4026
Click pictures to enlarge
The redwood has a small bark pocket in the wood, just behind the bottom row of tuning pins. You can see a little of it in the picture above, especially when you click on the picture to enlarge it. It's pretty common to find this when working with redwood. It doesn't affect the sound or structural strength in any way. Just adds a little character and is a reminder that wood is a product of nature.
I was playing using two bows here. The low D drone was played by my left bow and the rest by my right hand bow.
Sorry, I made a mistake on the price when I listed it last week. The price is $975, not $995.
