The modern nyckelharpa is a bowed string instrument with 4 melody strings 12 sympathetic (resonance) strings. Wooden keys with tangents are used to stop the strings, producing different tones. The origin of the nyckelharpa is not known but the oldest evidence (about 1350), a stone relief of a very similar instrument can be found on the island of Gotland (Sweden). The tradition of playing and making the nyckelharpa has existed unchanged in Sweden for more than 400 years. The modern Swedish nyckelharpa was developed during the early 1900’s and is the most common type used today. The body of the modern nyckelharpa is normally made from spruce. Improved sound properties of thermally modified instruments (e.g. guitars and violins) has been shown in earlier studies. In this project some properties of a thermally modified soundboard for a nyckelharpa were tested for improved acoustic properties. Figure 1 shows two examples of nyckelharpas before and after surface treatment.
Keywords: nyckelharpa, thermal modification, acoustic properties
Authors
Susanna Källbom
KTH – Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Esbjörn Hogmark
Christoph Munk
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