The ORIGINAL "Lap Piano"?

davismanLV

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Wow, that was beautiful, Al!! Beautiful playing, instrument, and venue for sure. Thanks for sharing that one!! :encouragement:
 

walrus

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Very nice! Beautiful playing...

Wonder what strings he uses? :witless:

walrus
 

adorshki

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Very nice! Beautiful playing...

Wonder what strings he uses? :witless:

walrus

Great question.
I'm guessing with sales quickly approaching tens of units per year, all the big makers would be jumping into the market.
But a quick search shows LaBella as the lone wolf in the market, for complete-in-one sets.
I bet it'd be a great candidate for silk strings:
http://www.silkqin.com/03qobj/silk.htm
 

Brad Little

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But a quick search shows LaBella as the lone wolf in the market, for complete-in-one sets.
Yes, pretty much any strings that are a little off the beaten track and LaBella will probably have them.
 

adorshki

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The lower strings must be drones.
Not in the sense of drone strings such as found in Indian instruments like the sitar, which resonate sympathetically and aren't plucked.
But you just taught me that technically, according to another definition, they are drone strings since they only play one pitch.
From here:
https://richardsweeney.com/everythi...now-about-the-theorbo-but-were-afraid-to-ask/
"The long bass strings of a theorbo – also called diapasons – are played with the thumb of the right hand and are never stopped with the left hand. The top strings are played with both hands, where the left hand makes the chord shapes and the right hand plucks the appropriate strings, like a guitar. Historically, the theorbo could be played with or without fingernails."
From here:
https://musicterms.artopium.com/d/Drone.htm
"A drone can also be a string or pipe that sounds a single pitch."
 

12 string

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Too bad Graham isn't hanging out here anymore. I'd love to see what his photoshop skills could do with a "Guild Lap Piano"!
 

GAD

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We had plenty of lap pianos in the '80s!

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chazmo

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That's really awesome! Never even heard of a theorbo before!

But I have to say, that is one of the most impractical, fragile instruments I've ever seen. That neck is so long and thin... I'd go out of my mind with worry if I ever had to take one somewhere. For that matter, how do you even tune the long strings? Probably need help. Wow, just wow!
 

adorshki

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That's really awesome! Never even heard of a theorbo before!
All your questions answered, here:


But I have to say, that is one of the most impractical, fragile instruments I've ever seen. That neck is so long and thin... I'd go out of my mind with worry if I ever had to take one somewhere. For that matter, how do you even tune the long strings? Probably need help. Wow, just wow!
And imagine how much fun they had before the invention of tuning forks.
:biggrin-new:
What really got to me though is just how piano-like the thing actually sounds, at least on my tube and little PC speakers, although they are Altecs
 

chazmo

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I meant, how do you even reach the pegs to tune it?

And, agreed that it does sound kind of piano-like. Although to my ears it was more harp-like than piano.
 

adorshki

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I meant, how do you even reach the pegs to tune it?
I know, it was just a great opportunity.
I'm sure in medieval times all you had to do was draft the nearest handy serf to hold the thing for you.
Because, like, after all, if you could afford one of those things you obviously lived in the castle, not in the peat.
:biggrin-new:
 
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