Kantele is a Finnish folk instrument. It is plucked string instrument similar to
zither. It is made of wood and has strings the number of which varies from 5 to
40. The traditional kantele had horsehair strings but in the modern instrument
the strings are metal.
According
to the Finnish epic Kalevala the first kantele was built by hero Väinämöinen.
He made the body of the instrument from a reindeer bone, the strings were a few
hair of demon Hiisi’s horse which were attached to the body with the jawbone of
a pike.
Kantele
playing consist in plucking the strings with fingers. Nowadays kantele is used
not only in folk music but also in other music genres such as heavy metal. When
I heard the sound of kantele for the first time I felt in love with it. The two
bands I’m listening to which use kantele in their songs are Nest and
Kardemimmit. Nest is a finnish band composed by two musicians Aslak Tolonen, who is the kantele
player, and Timo Saxell. Their music can be classified as neofolk, ambient and
dark ambient.
Kardemimmit
is a Finnish quartet composed of female musicians. They play folk music.
This instrument sounds a little sad. I like this one because of its warm sound of wood. It is called txalaparta and it is a basque instrument. You can see more on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsImsOPv0M. It can be also made from ice. To play on txalaparta you need a partner, because this is instrument for two people. I think this is a very interesting thing.
OdpowiedzUsuńWhat an unusual instrument. I have not seen it before. For me it looks like an interior part of the piano ;)
OdpowiedzUsuńJu, it's true, kantele has a bit sad tone but actually I like sad music ;) The instrument you mention makes me feel that music really comes from nature.
OdpowiedzUsuńEmilia, I also learnt about this instrument just a few years ago. That's why I like to meet people from other countries - thanks to them I always enrich my knowledge about the world :D