The Medieval Citole
February 15, 2015 7:59 PM Subscribe
Studying and making an early instrument called a citole. Until recently, this style of instrument was not recognized as separate from a gittern.
Fantastic find. I'm still plowing through it, but I love this kind of detail work about the particulars of medieval instruments.
posted by immlass at 8:30 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by immlass at 8:30 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Holy crap he made 7 of these! These are serious, time intensive, laborious DIY projects. I can't even imagine.
Here's what one of his sounds like. To my ears sounds very much like a lute but I'm sure an expert would be able to tell the difference. It may have more to do with the use of gut rather than metal strings. I would actually like to hear how it sounds with metal strings. Paul Butler defends his choice thusly:
Here's what one of his sounds like. To my ears sounds very much like a lute but I'm sure an expert would be able to tell the difference. It may have more to do with the use of gut rather than metal strings. I would actually like to hear how it sounds with metal strings. Paul Butler defends his choice thusly:
On the strings, modern reconstructions of the instrument have been done with both wire (silver, bronze) strings and with gut (usually sheep's gut, though ram, pig, and calf all show up in the medieval descriptions of "how to make gut"). The question of choice between these two comes down to two arguments. For metal strings, the lyre like instruments that preceeded the citole and from which it developed were metal strung, as were the citterns that descended from it. Continuity would suggest that the citole was metal strung. The heavy plectum depicted, along with the description of bone or wood frets would also suggest metal strings (heavy plectum not damaged by sharper strings, and tied gut frets not cut by them). Tinctoris' description above from "De Inventione et Usu Musicae" from 1487 speaks of four metal strings. The lateness of his date, however, makes it a harder to guess if it was always strung so - he is speaking of an instrument that he considers archaic at his time, but at a time when the metal strung cittern is already appearing (the re-entrant tuning he suggests for his cetula is more reminiscent of a renaissance cittern than a medieval instrument). However, generally speaking, the only instruments ever described as being metal strung in the middle ages are harps (including lyres, cithara, and the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh harps) and psalteries. All the lute-like instruments, including the proto-lutes, fiddles, etc., are all specifically described as being gut strung, with tied gut frets (or no frets). There is one specific reference made by Jean de Brie in his Le Bon Berger of 1379, a little closer in time to the heyday of the citole, which states that gut strings are best for "vielles, harpes, rothes, luthz, quiternes, rebecs, choros, almaduries, symphonies, cytholes, and other instruments that one makes to give sound by means of the fingers and of strings." This sweeping statement is the only direct mention of with what a citole might be strung during the time of its use, and almost, because of its broad encompas, may not be trusted (for example, there were wire strung harps and rothes, though not in the geographic region where he lived). But given that this is the only evidence that we have, I think that we are stuck with a situation that could go either way. For my reconstruction, I am chosing to go the way of gut, partially because I think it is probably more accurate to an earlier period instrument, and partially because its the sound I want from the instrument.posted by Deathalicious at 8:30 PM on February 15, 2015
WARNING: This page is horrifically graphically intensive (about 450 images at the moment). It will take a long time to load everything.
But well worth it. Great find!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:52 PM on February 15, 2015
But well worth it. Great find!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:52 PM on February 15, 2015
So, it's Friday night, and as usual Lourenco (from Portugal) has got his dance band gig. He's on his third break of the evening in a five-set night, and taking a sip of mead, says to Michael Praetorius, "man, we gotta get a better gig. This joint is a real citole."
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:05 PM on February 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:05 PM on February 15, 2015 [5 favorites]
Heh, it didn't take me long to figure out what this guy did for fun.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 9:16 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 9:16 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
For contrast:
A friend of mine playing his gittern.
"Parti de mal," played on citole.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:16 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
A friend of mine playing his gittern.
"Parti de mal," played on citole.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:16 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Here's what one of his sounds like yt . To my ears sounds very much like a lute but I'm sure an expert would be able to tell the difference.
I have played the lute and that definitely does not sound like a lute.
That was absolutely painful to listen to, the intonation was horrible. It sounds more like a $5 ukelele. I can't quite tell where all the clinkers are coming from, could be his technique but I doubt it. I don't think the strings are out of tune, it's just that the instrument has no tempered tuning.
There is a good reason why these antiquated instruments are long forgotten.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:13 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have played the lute and that definitely does not sound like a lute.
That was absolutely painful to listen to, the intonation was horrible. It sounds more like a $5 ukelele. I can't quite tell where all the clinkers are coming from, could be his technique but I doubt it. I don't think the strings are out of tune, it's just that the instrument has no tempered tuning.
There is a good reason why these antiquated instruments are long forgotten.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:13 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Interesting! The Play of Daniel^, a medieval opera (properly but misleadingly titled 'liturgical drama') uses cithera, and some other instruments such as a flute and probably a triangle (and as revived and staged by the Pro Musica, at least, a trumpet at times, the validity of which is disputed). I gather it's one of the best-preserved early music pieces.
I may have been named after the work; the DECCA record was essentially a key part of our home's Christmas scene growing up.
posted by dhartung at 10:39 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I may have been named after the work; the DECCA record was essentially a key part of our home's Christmas scene growing up.
posted by dhartung at 10:39 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
It turns out that there is a lot of info out there on building instruments for early music - maybe largely because when the early music movement began there really wasn't anyone already making them, and a real community of people built up sharing their experience. I read through a bunch of those books last week.
One of the highlights was the hardanger fiddle in Irving Slone's Making Musical Instruments. Crazy amounts of ornamentation in there.
Other fun stuff (I don't know if this will be that interesting or useful to people but. . . )
Jeremy Montagu's website, with a bunch of essays online about various topics related to musical instruments.
A site to a builder of other "unprofitable instruments", including the tromba marina.
Mewzik.com - a website with lots of information about collecting and appraising old instruments.
There is a good reason why these antiquated instruments are long forgotten.
One of the points made in (I believe) David Munrow's Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance is that early instruments were created for and were well-suited to the contexts they were used in. Also, contemporary instruments, which have been created to basically be really loud, tend to not have as interesting timbres as older instruments and were created for concert settings that weren't really typical of early music. I'm not an early music diehard myself but my feeling is that for the right person them there would be fightin' words!
posted by ianhattwick at 11:00 PM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
One of the highlights was the hardanger fiddle in Irving Slone's Making Musical Instruments. Crazy amounts of ornamentation in there.
Other fun stuff (I don't know if this will be that interesting or useful to people but. . . )
Jeremy Montagu's website, with a bunch of essays online about various topics related to musical instruments.
A site to a builder of other "unprofitable instruments", including the tromba marina.
Mewzik.com - a website with lots of information about collecting and appraising old instruments.
There is a good reason why these antiquated instruments are long forgotten.
One of the points made in (I believe) David Munrow's Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance is that early instruments were created for and were well-suited to the contexts they were used in. Also, contemporary instruments, which have been created to basically be really loud, tend to not have as interesting timbres as older instruments and were created for concert settings that weren't really typical of early music. I'm not an early music diehard myself but my feeling is that for the right person them there would be fightin' words!
posted by ianhattwick at 11:00 PM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]
> Second, the hollowing out of the body cavity.
Once upon a time at an all-day SCA arts event we mass-produced cithara bodies which participants could take home and finish. Made only the initial hole with a drill and removed the rest of the wood with a router, which works fine and is lots of fun in a pure-destruction sort of way. BZZZZZZT!
posted by jfuller at 1:06 AM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Once upon a time at an all-day SCA arts event we mass-produced cithara bodies which participants could take home and finish. Made only the initial hole with a drill and removed the rest of the wood with a router, which works fine and is lots of fun in a pure-destruction sort of way. BZZZZZZT!
posted by jfuller at 1:06 AM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Don't let's start the whole citole/gittern wars up again.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:26 AM on February 16, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:26 AM on February 16, 2015 [10 favorites]
I'm not much for the sound of the instrument but I read the entire article and was fascinated. This man is an amazing craftsman and there aren't a lot of them around nowadays. I couldn't help but think how he's doing all this without a workshop or snazzy power tools - instead he works on the living room or kitchen floor amongst his pet rabbits - probably very much like the instruments were created in medieval times. And I love his comments about his wife - she's obviously very supportive of the artist she married.
Thoroughly enjoyed the article - thank you.
I have an old friend who makes banjos from a piece of nice wood and a skin, and they're beautiful, just like these instruments. He's a pilot for a major airline and frequently has one of his banjos with him which he's been known to play while the plane was loading - keep your ears peeled. He's called Bisbo.
posted by aryma at 3:10 AM on February 16, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyed the article - thank you.
I have an old friend who makes banjos from a piece of nice wood and a skin, and they're beautiful, just like these instruments. He's a pilot for a major airline and frequently has one of his banjos with him which he's been known to play while the plane was loading - keep your ears peeled. He's called Bisbo.
posted by aryma at 3:10 AM on February 16, 2015
I would actually like to hear how it sounds with metal strings.
I don't know if you could just replace the strings and not break it. Metal wound strings, brass maybe, but certainly not steel strings, they put much more tension on the neck. On modern six string guitars, the tension of steel over nylon strings is about double, and the instrument has to be built to handle it -- typically, with a steel truss rod in the neck to help support the load. Bronze or Silver would put less tension on, but still significantly more than nylon or gut.
If you build the instrument to handle metal strings, then sure, but these particular ones were built from the start to be strung with gut, and stringing them with metal may well break them.
The amount of tension you can build up from metal strings is surprising. The acme of this is a piano, where you have 88 keys, each with multiple strings, and a total tensile force that exceeds 15 tons, and often hits 20 tons. There's a reason pianos are heavy, it's the huge frame needed to handle that force.
posted by eriko at 4:20 AM on February 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I don't know if you could just replace the strings and not break it. Metal wound strings, brass maybe, but certainly not steel strings, they put much more tension on the neck. On modern six string guitars, the tension of steel over nylon strings is about double, and the instrument has to be built to handle it -- typically, with a steel truss rod in the neck to help support the load. Bronze or Silver would put less tension on, but still significantly more than nylon or gut.
If you build the instrument to handle metal strings, then sure, but these particular ones were built from the start to be strung with gut, and stringing them with metal may well break them.
The amount of tension you can build up from metal strings is surprising. The acme of this is a piano, where you have 88 keys, each with multiple strings, and a total tensile force that exceeds 15 tons, and often hits 20 tons. There's a reason pianos are heavy, it's the huge frame needed to handle that force.
posted by eriko at 4:20 AM on February 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
That was really neat to read. He would have had a much easier time with even a very minimal workshop, but how cool is it that he is making these on his kitchen table?
I really like the sounds of early music, and hadn't considered that people might have to make their own instruments in order to recreate instruments depicted in drawings and stained glass windows.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:19 AM on February 16, 2015
I really like the sounds of early music, and hadn't considered that people might have to make their own instruments in order to recreate instruments depicted in drawings and stained glass windows.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:19 AM on February 16, 2015
I don't know if you could just replace the strings and not break it.
I see a lot of violins, violas, cellos and double basses with metal strings on them that don't have any truss rods in the neck.
posted by Wolof at 5:46 AM on February 16, 2015
I see a lot of violins, violas, cellos and double basses with metal strings on them that don't have any truss rods in the neck.
posted by Wolof at 5:46 AM on February 16, 2015
> Second, the hollowing out of the body cavity.
That's the first thing I noticed. The sides of the soundbox of instruments like the modern violin or guitar (or even piano, for that matter) are made by forming thin strips of wood into the desired shape.
Images of the process for violin here or for piano here. Form-heat-steam-cool; result is nicely formed, super-thin-but-strong sides.
The idea of straight-up carving the body and sides out of a giant chunk of wood is--well, let's just say, "interesting" from a modern perspective.
Having said that, I'm pretty sure the woodworkers and musicians of the time had plenty of skill needed to make the instruments do whatever they wanted and needed.
FWIW instrument makers and musicians around the world are known to make conscious, subtle alterations to instrument tuning in order to generate specific desirable effects that simply sound like 'out of tune' to musicians trained in the usual western musical styles.
And they often deliberately engineer buzzes and other ambient type sounds into the instrument as a desirable quality, whereas the western musician's impulse is usually to kill such things with fire.
Doesn't mean it's wrong, just different. And different--especially when talking about an instrument used over the course of many centuries--usually means something pretty interesting. There must have been some reason the instrument held such an appeal for such a length of time.
posted by flug at 8:31 AM on February 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
That's the first thing I noticed. The sides of the soundbox of instruments like the modern violin or guitar (or even piano, for that matter) are made by forming thin strips of wood into the desired shape.
Images of the process for violin here or for piano here. Form-heat-steam-cool; result is nicely formed, super-thin-but-strong sides.
The idea of straight-up carving the body and sides out of a giant chunk of wood is--well, let's just say, "interesting" from a modern perspective.
Having said that, I'm pretty sure the woodworkers and musicians of the time had plenty of skill needed to make the instruments do whatever they wanted and needed.
FWIW instrument makers and musicians around the world are known to make conscious, subtle alterations to instrument tuning in order to generate specific desirable effects that simply sound like 'out of tune' to musicians trained in the usual western musical styles.
And they often deliberately engineer buzzes and other ambient type sounds into the instrument as a desirable quality, whereas the western musician's impulse is usually to kill such things with fire.
Doesn't mean it's wrong, just different. And different--especially when talking about an instrument used over the course of many centuries--usually means something pretty interesting. There must have been some reason the instrument held such an appeal for such a length of time.
posted by flug at 8:31 AM on February 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
The idea of straight-up carving the body and sides out of a giant chunk of wood is--well, let's just say, "interesting" from a modern perspective.
Heh. Yeah, I was thinking that the type of lutherie involved here is comparable to the difference between building a dugout canoe and a cedar strip canoe.
...early instruments were created for and were well-suited to the contexts they were used in. Also, contemporary instruments, which have been created to basically be really loud, tend to not have as interesting timbres as older instruments and were created for concert settings that weren't really typical of early music.
Interestingly, the archtop mandolin design that was pioneered by Gibson in the US in the 1920s century proved to be too strident and loud for mandolin ensemble music where staved, bowlback mandolins were in use.
But for other applications, like bluegrass, it worked out to be just the ticket, where a staved-back mandolin like this would be hard to hear versus fiddles, banjos, etc., unlike this 1927 Gibson, for example. That was the result of taking the principles of archtop violin design and applying them to the mandolin. The result was much more volume.
I really liked this point in the second article:
Aren't you glad you don't do research into early instruments? On the other hand, we're just as bad nowadays. Spare a thought for the poor music researcher four centuries hence who has to sort out the terms acoustic, Les Paul, jazz, Spanish, electro-acoustic, steel, Fender, bass, guitar synth, plank, classical, Strat, twelve-string, and a few others, all of which are either minor variants or completely different instruments, but all called guitars.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:45 AM on February 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Heh. Yeah, I was thinking that the type of lutherie involved here is comparable to the difference between building a dugout canoe and a cedar strip canoe.
...early instruments were created for and were well-suited to the contexts they were used in. Also, contemporary instruments, which have been created to basically be really loud, tend to not have as interesting timbres as older instruments and were created for concert settings that weren't really typical of early music.
Interestingly, the archtop mandolin design that was pioneered by Gibson in the US in the 1920s century proved to be too strident and loud for mandolin ensemble music where staved, bowlback mandolins were in use.
But for other applications, like bluegrass, it worked out to be just the ticket, where a staved-back mandolin like this would be hard to hear versus fiddles, banjos, etc., unlike this 1927 Gibson, for example. That was the result of taking the principles of archtop violin design and applying them to the mandolin. The result was much more volume.
I really liked this point in the second article:
Aren't you glad you don't do research into early instruments? On the other hand, we're just as bad nowadays. Spare a thought for the poor music researcher four centuries hence who has to sort out the terms acoustic, Les Paul, jazz, Spanish, electro-acoustic, steel, Fender, bass, guitar synth, plank, classical, Strat, twelve-string, and a few others, all of which are either minor variants or completely different instruments, but all called guitars.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:45 AM on February 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
The rosette work on the citole is awesome.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:04 AM on February 16, 2015
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:04 AM on February 16, 2015
Doesn't mean it's wrong, just different. And different--especially when talking about an instrument used over the course of many centuries--usually means something pretty interesting. There must have been some reason the instrument held such an appeal for such a length of time.
Depends on how you define "desirable" and "appeal." It might be worth comparing to the Biwa which is quite similar in design in many ways. It certainly has an interesting timbre, and the musical scales and the entire repertoire are alien to most western musical sensibilities. But the Biwa has endured pretty much unchanged since the 7th Century and has a continuous musical tradition unto today, while the citole and gittern basically went extinct once the lute and guitar became popular. Even to my gaijin ears, the dissonant sounds of gagaku seem consistent and purposeful, while that performance on the citole just sounds like it produces incorrect notes despite the player's intentions. But that's just my opinion based on my personal sensibilities as a musician, I suppose.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:09 AM on February 16, 2015
Depends on how you define "desirable" and "appeal." It might be worth comparing to the Biwa which is quite similar in design in many ways. It certainly has an interesting timbre, and the musical scales and the entire repertoire are alien to most western musical sensibilities. But the Biwa has endured pretty much unchanged since the 7th Century and has a continuous musical tradition unto today, while the citole and gittern basically went extinct once the lute and guitar became popular. Even to my gaijin ears, the dissonant sounds of gagaku seem consistent and purposeful, while that performance on the citole just sounds like it produces incorrect notes despite the player's intentions. But that's just my opinion based on my personal sensibilities as a musician, I suppose.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:09 AM on February 16, 2015
Your favorite medieval stringed instrument sucks.
posted by neroli at 11:08 AM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by neroli at 11:08 AM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
A friend of mine playing his gittern.
Neat! Also features recorder, played well.
You know, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I hear the recorder played as it was intended. My first run-in with that instrument was in 5th or 6th grade, with a roomful of fellow 5th or 6th graders huffing and puffing into them maliciously and tunelessly. It's a wonder I ever took up music after that.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:13 AM on February 16, 2015
Neat! Also features recorder, played well.
You know, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I hear the recorder played as it was intended. My first run-in with that instrument was in 5th or 6th grade, with a roomful of fellow 5th or 6th graders huffing and puffing into them maliciously and tunelessly. It's a wonder I ever took up music after that.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:13 AM on February 16, 2015
Christ, what a citole.
posted by the sobsister at 11:55 AM on February 16, 2015
posted by the sobsister at 11:55 AM on February 16, 2015
Your favorite medieval stringed instrument sucks.
That could be a feature, not a bug.
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:21 PM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
That could be a feature, not a bug.
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:21 PM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, yeah? Well your favorite Medieval reed instrument blows.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:05 PM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:05 PM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by Deathalicious at 8:15 PM on February 15, 2015