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When You Unbox Your Bowed Psaltery
Editor's Note: The following text was written about 1982 by Gene and Jessica Jaeger. It was provided as a single sheet of paper with every Unicorn Strings bowed psaltery sold.
We're including it here, because it's a good introduction for anyone who buys or otherwise comes across any bowed psaltery.
IMPORTANT
Here's a few tips to help you get started making music on
your new bowed psaltery. We encourage you to read the
instruction book at your earliest convenience, but you'll
probably want to play first and read later!
There are some things you should know right away, however:
- It's best NOT TO TOUCH THE BOWHAIR, because
oil from your fingers leaves a "quiet" spot.
- ROSIN THE BOW THOROUGHLY EACH TIME YOU PLAY,
or whenever the volume is low or the notes
sound weak or scratchy. Try to cover the
entire cake of rosin with firm bow strokes
to transfer rosin to the bowhair.
- To play, HOLD THE BOW about 1/3 of the way
from the bottom (the big end). Hold it
firmly, using all your fingertips.
- PLAY WITH FIRM STROKES, producing clear pure
notes - don't be afraid to press hard. Alternate the direction of your bow strokes - up
on one note, down on the next.
- IF YOU BREAK A BOWHAIR, simply remove it and
continue playing. If too many hairs break,
just return the wooden bow to us in a mailing
tube (no padded envelopes, please) for re-
placement of the hairs.
- YOUR INSTRUMENT HAS BEEN TUNED, and is ready
for you to enjoy. Our psalteries usually
need tuning only once or twice a year.
- LOW HUMIDITY CAN BE A PROBLEM: if your house
is excessively dry in the winter, we recommend
a case humidifier, available for a few dollars
at local music stores.
We hope you enjoy your psaltery. If you have any questions
not covered in the book or on the tape, please write to us.
Happy bowing!
Gene and Jessica
UNICORN STRINGS
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More Resources
Conclusion
Like most of the articles on our HarpersGuild and CreekDontRise pages, this article came as a result of reader inquiries, and discovering that much of the "information" on these things was either patchy or unreliable. So I've picked up a few different pieces to make certain what I was writing about them was correct and tracked down what seem to be the most reliable sources of information.
That said, if you have a correction or a question, please contact me and I'll be glad to hear from you.
Also, if you make or play bowed psalteries, and want to provide additional information, corrections, etc. we'd be glad to hear from you.
 Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."
And please stay in touch!
- Paul Race
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All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted ? 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.
HarpersGuild(tm) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Note: Creek Don't Rise (tm) is Paul Race's name for his resources supporting the history and music of the North American Heartland as well as additional kinds of acoustic and traditional music.
For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about this page or this site, please
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