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1. Tuning Pins - the pins located at the base of the
psaltery. These are the pins that are tightened and loosened to tune the
strings. Unlike the hitch pins, these pins are set into a special hardwood
pinblock to help ensure that they won't slip or lose their tuning easily.
2. Pinblock (aka wrest plank) - technically the pinblock isn't
fully visible in this picture, but is underneath the soundboard. The
pinblock is a piece of strong and fine-grained wood (usually hard maple) that
holds all of the tuning pins in place.
3. Soundhole - an opening, of many various shapes or sizes, in
the top of the soundboard. Where the sound comes out! Think of the
soundhole as the mouth of the instrument.
4. Hitch pins - the pins located along the sides of the
psaltery. These pins anchor the strings to the instrument and elevate them
above the soundboard. Notes are
played by running the bow in between these pins.
5. Bridge - the piece of wood that runs perpendicular across the
top of the psaltery. This is the point where the vibrations of the strings
are transferred to the instrument's soundboard.
6. Saddle - a piece of metal or hard plastic that runs along
the top of the bridge. The saddle's job is to keep the strings from
gouging into the wood of the bridge.
7. Soundboard - a thin piece of wood, (usually a quartersawn softwood), that
makes up the top of the bowed psaltery. This piece is responsible for
transferring the strings' vibrations to the rest of the psaltery.
8. Bow - a simple hardwood bow is pictured above. Bows can be of
any number of shapes or sizes. What puts the bowed in bowed
psaltery.
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Items not labeled/included - For clarity's sake, I have left
some items in the picture unlabeled. In addition, some features are not
present on this particular bowed psaltery. These following items are
described below.
Strings (unlabeled) - somewhat self explanatory. Each string
wraps overtop the hitch pin, runs across the top of the bridge, and is wound around
a corresponding tuning pin at the base of the instrument.
Sides (unlabeled) - along with the pinblock, the sides
make up the actual frame of the psaltery. The sides also hold the hitch
pins in place. Because the hitch pins are stationary, the sides can be
made out of a variety of woods.
Back (not pictured) - like the soundboard, the back is also a
thin piece of wood. But unlike the soundboard, the back's job is to
reverberate the string's vibrations. Think of the back as a tuning fork of
sorts.
Rose or Rosette (not included) - any sort of decoration within
or around the soundhole. Typically, if it is a pattern or carving inside
the soundhole, it is considered a rose; and anything that is inlaid
around the soundhole is a rosette. This psaltery has no rose
or rosette.
Binding (not included) - the wood trim that runs along the
border of the top and/or back of the psaltery. The binding is used to
protect the soft edges of the soundboard from dents and dings, as well as
seal the end-grain of the wood on the soundboard and back. This psaltery
has no binding.
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