I love the bright sound of these instruments and this is a particularly nice example. You demonstrate it to perfection. Something you didn’t mention is how you tune it.
nice! i really love the sound but i was unable to buy one myself, so i just restrung my old tenor mandola, cos it has the same scale as the renaissance cittern, just to see if the instrument with its weird tuning and weird chord shapes was for me.. spending about 900euros just to see thats its not for me would be a waste. but now im positive about buying one, some day. a new cittern video on yt is always in instand like from me! so keep up the good work and maybe post some tunes once a while ;)
Indeed, it has three strings, and made from brass as opposed to wire for the other courses. Not 100% sure why a triple course, not why brass. Perhaps it was seen as a 'melody' string and therefore given a fuller sound, or maybe a more practical reason, such as it being the best material for the gauge?
@@danawinsor1380 Lets meet up, I have two mandolins, ones a resonator standard and the other is a F-style, both quite nice. We could met up and compare them, say in New Mexico, USA, that would be really nice as I just happen to live in Espanola, New Mexico and I enjoy meeting new and interesting people that play music, Humm is't that an oddity, get together and jam for a while.
I love the bright sound of these instruments and this is a particularly nice example. You demonstrate it to perfection. Something you didn’t mention is how you tune it.
Re-entrant tuning. From 1st to 4th strings: E, D, G and B or A (depending on Italian or French tuning).
It looked a bit like an orpharion..perhaps it is? Orpharion were also steel stringed instruments with a similar appearance..
Yes, I think in the video I said the cittern was the only wire-string instrument of the time. Clearly, it wasn't!
nice! i really love the sound but i was unable to buy one myself, so i just restrung my old tenor mandola, cos it has the same scale as the renaissance cittern, just to see if the instrument with its weird tuning and weird chord shapes was for me.. spending about 900euros just to see thats its not for me would be a waste. but now im positive about buying one, some day. a new cittern video on yt is always in instand like from me! so keep up the good work and maybe post some tunes once a while ;)
Nice to hear from you Joe. I dread to think how much this cittern costs! The are a couple of excerpts of me playing tunes at the end of this video.
I wonder why the cittern’s third course has three strings? Something to do with adding a little more volume maybe?
Indeed, it has three strings, and made from brass as opposed to wire for the other courses. Not 100% sure why a triple course, not why brass. Perhaps it was seen as a 'melody' string and therefore given a fuller sound, or maybe a more practical reason, such as it being the best material for the gauge?
Is there anywhere these can be picked up affordably? Id really love to try one but it seems you need to commission a luthier to make one
@@thekev506 yes you’re right. They are handmade instruments, to order. I’m lucky, in that this instrument is owned by the ensemble that I play with ☺️
Looks pretty much identical to a modern mandolin
They're very similar. It would be interesting to have one of each to compare.
@@danawinsor1380 Lets meet up, I have two mandolins, ones a resonator standard and the other is a F-style, both quite nice. We could met up and compare them, say in New Mexico, USA, that would be really nice as I just happen to live in Espanola, New Mexico and I enjoy meeting new and interesting people that play music, Humm is't that an oddity, get together and jam for a while.