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langspil
EntityQ1805401· pop 10· linked from 61 articles

The langspil (; meaning long-play) is a traditional Icelandic drone zither. It has a single melody string and usually 2 drone strings.

Key facts

Instrument.name
Langspil
Instrument.image
Langspil.jpg
Instrument.image_capt
Langspil in the National Museum of Iceland, in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Instrument.background
string
Instrument.classification
String instruments
Instrument.hornbostel_sachs
314.1
Instrument.hornbostel_sachs_desc
true board zither
Instrument.related
Langeleik, Scheitholt, Epinette des Vosges, Dulcimer

via Wikipedia infobox

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Encyclopedic overview

3 sections
Contents
  • History
  • See also
  • References

The langspil (; meaning long-play) is a traditional Icelandic drone zither. It has a single melody string and usually 2 drone 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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “langspil” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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