The langspil (; meaning ''long-play'') is a traditional
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic
drone zither. It has a single melody string and usually 2
drone
Drone or The Drones may refer to:
Science and technology Vehicle
* Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot
** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone
*** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle
** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone
** Unma ...
strings.
The langspil can be played by plucking the strings by hand, with a bow or by hammering. Langspils exist in two basic versions, straight and curved and are generally around the length of , and can be as long as or as short as . Many different types of wood have traditionally been used, including pine, fir, beechwood, birch, oak and walnut, since they were generally constructed from driftwood.
[David G. Woods, "Íslenska langspilið". ''Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags''. 1993. p. 109-128.]
History
The oldest written sources describing the langspil are from the 18th century. In those times langspils are described as a long thin box, wider at the bottom end and with one to six strings. In the early 19th century a version with a curved soundbox emerged which has improved sound qualities. In 1855 the book ''Leiðarvísir til að spila á langspil'' (A guide on playing the langspil) was published. It also included information on how to make langspils, although with a slight printing error in the fretting. This book increased the popularity of the Langspil quite a lot. However, by the middle of the 20th century the instrument had become rare and few played it any more.
By the 1960s, the singer
Anna Þórhallsdóttir
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654)
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...
realized that the langspil was slowly disappearing from Icelandic musical traditions and as a response she spearheaded its revival, which is still ongoing. Today a number of bands and performers include the langspil in their repertoire, including ''Spilmenn Ríkinís'',
Sigurður Rúnar Jónsson Sigurður () or Sigurdur may refer to:
*Sigurður Bragason (born 1954), Icelandic baritone
* Sigurður Breiðfjörð (1798–1846), Icelandic poet
*Sigurður Eggerz (1875–1945), Prime Minister of Iceland from 1914 to 1915 and from 1922 to 1924
* ...
,
Bára Grímsdóttir,
Chris Foster and
Þórður Tómasson á Skógum Þórður is an Icelandic given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Þórður Friðjónsson (Thordur Fridjonsson), (1952–2011), Vice President of Iceland Stock Exchange and President of NASDAQ OMX Iceland
*Þórður Guðjónsson, (Thord ...
. The langspil also has an important place on the yearly folk-song festival on
Siglufjörður
Siglufjörður () is a small fishing town in a narrow fjord with the same name on the northern coast of Iceland.
The population in 2011 was 1,206; the town has been shrinking in size since the 1950s when the town reached its peak of 3,000 inhabit ...
.
See also
*
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of t ...
*
Epinette des Vosges
The ''épinette des Vosges'' () is a traditional plucked-string instrument of the zither family, whose use was confined to two areas in the Vosges mountains of France approximately 50 km apart: around Val-d'Ajol and around Gérardmer.
...
*
Hummel (instrument)
*
Langeleik
The ''langeleik'', also called langleik, is a Norwegian stringed folklore musical instrument, a droned zither.
Description
The langeleik has only one melody string and up to 8 drone strings. Under the melody string there are seven frets per ...
*
Scheitholt
The scheitholt or scheitholz is a traditional German stringed instrument and an ancestor of the modern zither. It falls into the category of drone zithers.
History
The scheitholt may have derived from an ancient Greek instrument for theoretica ...
*
Fiðla
The ''Icelandic fiddle'' (Icelandic: fiðla fɪðla is a traditional Icelandic instrument that can be described as a box with two brass strings which is played with a bow. The strings stretch across one end of the box to the other where they ...
, the other string instrument native to Iceland
References
{{Icelandic folk music
Bowed box zithers
Fretted zithers
Board zithers
Icelandic musical instruments