Capo without capos…

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Arle Lommel

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Nov 16, 2012, 1:11:17 PM11/16/12
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Hi all,

Got an unusual question. I have a C/G instrument but have been asked to provide a drone in D as part of an Advent processional as part of a program put on by my children’s school at the Berliner Dom in a few weeks. (I know, drone only is boring, but that is what they need.)

The problem I face is that they need a rich drone sound in Ds and As, but there is no way I'm going to tune directly up (last time I tried I lost a drone string, and I can tell even going to C♯ that the tension is higher than I want to go).

My instrument does not have drone capos. While I have thought of making some using harp levers and wooden supports under them, I've never gotten around to it. (I've also thought of nondestructively fitting a fret board under my drones with a clip-type capo, but that is a major project and I don't have the tools right now to do it.

So the question is if any of you have any good suggestions for how to (a) easily and (b) cheaply raise the pitch of my drone strings. I don't want to restring for this event (nor do I want to buy new strings at the moment). I tried using clothes pins to grip the strings, but I find that they do not grip the strings firmly enough, so the results only work if I grip the clothes pin by hand and force it to shut harder. Not an ideal way to do it. So any ideas would be most welcome.

Best,

ARle

Andy Carter

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Nov 16, 2012, 1:51:50 PM11/16/12
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Hi Arle,
The capo Ruth Bramley (possibly on here somewhere) uses is a simple wooden wedge backed with a small piece of rubber to protect the sound board finish. It is isosceles in section with the apex touching the underside of the string and the base sitting comfortably on the sound board. Using this would mean you could temporarily capo a drone without changing the setup of your instrument? You can also attend future productions requiring any keyed drone they require!

Cheers
Andy
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Ruth Bramley

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Nov 16, 2012, 1:53:47 PM11/16/12
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Hi Arle

I regularly tune my trompette up to D, which is fine. I also have a homemade capo that I occasionally put under the trompette if I want, say, a G. This consists of a prism-shaped piece of wood with a small notch cut into it. This sits on the soundboard, with the trompette string in the notch, and acts as a nut/bridge. I can move it along the soundboard to get the correct note.
If you're not happy tuning the trompette up to D, you could leave it at C, but put something like this wooden block under to raise it to D. There's no reason why you couldn't also make one to go under the gros bourdon to put it up to A. I'd leave the petit bourdon off the wheel, and then on the chanterelles play either a D or an A.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Ruthie



Augusto de Ornellas Abreu

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Nov 16, 2012, 1:56:40 PM11/16/12
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Some pictures might help us understand your capo design, Ruth!


Arle Lommel

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Nov 16, 2012, 2:17:54 PM11/16/12
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Hi all,

Thanks all for the suggestion about Ruth's method. A big wooden tangent might just do the trick. I'll have to find a piece of maple or something like that to make it from. Because of the shape of my instrument, however, I'd have to have the tangent rest on the side of key box, which means I would also have to cut the tangent for a specific location (since the strings don't run parallel to the side of the key box), but I think that it will work that way.

Thanks,

Arle

cwhill

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Nov 16, 2012, 2:19:13 PM11/16/12
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Same here, although I made mine from a wooden clothes peg (the spring
type, not the dolly peg) which was just the right height.

Colin Hill

On 16/11/2012 18:56, Augusto de Ornellas Abreu wrote:
> Some pictures might help us understand your capo design, Ruth!
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Ruth Bramley <ru...@bramleyfamily.org.uk
> <mailto:ru...@bramleyfamily.org.uk>> wrote:
>
> Hi Arle
>
> I regularly tune my trompette up to D, which is fine. I also have a
> homemade capo that I occasionally put under the trompette if I want,
> say, a G. This consists of a prism-shaped piece of wood with a small
> notch cut into it. This sits on the soundboard, with the trompette
> string in the notch, and acts as a nut/bridge. I can move it along
> the soundboard to get the correct note.If you're not happy tuning
> the trompette up to D, you could leave it at C, but put something
> like this wooden block under to raise it to D.There's no reason why
> you couldn't also make one to go under the gros bourdon to put it up
> to A. I'd leave the petit bourdon off the wheel, and then on the
> chanterelles play either a D or an A.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Cheers
> Ruthie
>
>
>
> On 16/11/2012 18:11, Arle Lommel wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Got an unusual question. I have a C/G instrument but have been asked to provide a drone in D as part of an Advent processional as part of a program put on by my children’s school at the Berliner Dom in a few weeks. (I know, drone only is boring, but that is what they need.)
>>
>> The problem I face is that they need a rich drone sound in Ds and As, but there is no way I'm going to tune directly up (last time I tried I lost a drone string, and I can tell even going to C♯ that the tension is higher than I want to go).
>>
>> My instrument does not have drone capos. While I have thought of making some using harp levers and wooden supports under them, I've never gotten around to it. (I've also thought of nondestructively fitting a fret board under my drones with a clip-type capo, but that is a major project and I don't have the tools right now to do it.
>>
>> So the question is if any of you have any good suggestions for how to (a) easily and (b) cheaply raise the pitch of my drone strings. I don't want to restring for this event (nor do I want to buy new strings at the moment). I tried using clothes pins to grip the strings, but I find that they do not grip the strings firmly enough, so the results only work if I grip the clothes pin by hand and force it to shut harder. Not an ideal way to do it. So any ideas would be most welcome.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> ARle
>>
>
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Leonard Williams

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Nov 16, 2012, 5:01:16 PM11/16/12
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I've attached a photo of a simple wedge capo I use. It's held in place by string tension.  The notch is positioned so that the string pulls the capo against both the soundboard and the keybox.

Regards,
Leonard Williams
Wedge Capo on mouche.JPG
Wedge Capo on mouche.JPG

cwhill

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Nov 16, 2012, 5:33:51 PM11/16/12
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Yes, very similar to mine made from a clothes peg. I suggest trying one
made from simple materials for a test and, if it works, make a nice one
with decent wood. Necessity IS sometimes the mother of inventions!
Thank you for the photo.

Colin Hill


On 16/11/2012 22:01, Leonard Williams wrote:
> I've attached a photo of a simple wedge capo I use. It's held in place
> by string tension. The notch is positioned so that the string pulls the
> capo against both the soundboard and the keybox.
>
> Regards,
> Leonard Williams
>
> From: Augusto de Ornellas Abreu <augusto....@gmail.com
> <mailto:augusto....@gmail.com>>
> Reply-To: Hurdy-Gurdy List <hurdy...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:hurdy...@googlegroups.com>>
> Date: Friday, November 16, 2012 1:56 PM
> To: Hurdy-Gurdy List <hurdy...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:hurdy...@googlegroups.com>>
> Subject: Re: [HG-new] Capo without capos…
>
> Some pictures might help us understand your capo design, Ruth!
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Ruth Bramley <ru...@bramleyfamily.org.uk
> <mailto:ru...@bramleyfamily.org.uk>> wrote:
>
> Hi Arle
>
> I regularly tune my trompette up to D, which is fine. I also have a
> homemade capo that I occasionally put under the trompette if I want,
> say, a G. This consists of a prism-shaped piece of wood with a small
> notch cut into it. This sits on the soundboard, with the trompette
> string in the notch, and acts as a nut/bridge. I can move it along
> the soundboard to get the correct note.If you're not happy tuning
> the trompette up to D, you could leave it at C, but put something
> like this wooden block under to raise it to D.There's no reason why
> you couldn't also make one to go under the gros bourdon to put it up
> to A. I'd leave the petit bourdon off the wheel, and then on the
> chanterelles play either a D or an A.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Cheers
> Ruthie
>
>
>
> On 16/11/2012 18:11, Arle Lommel wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Got an unusual question. I have a C/G instrument but have been asked to provide a drone in D as part of an Advent processional as part of a program put on by my children’s school at the Berliner Dom in a few weeks. (I know, drone only is boring, but that is what they need.)
>>
>> The problem I face is that they need a rich drone sound in Ds and As, but there is no way I'm going to tune directly up (last time I tried I lost a drone string, and I can tell even going to C♯ that the tension is higher than I want to go).
>>
>> My instrument does not have drone capos. While I have thought of making some using harp levers and wooden supports under them, I've never gotten around to it. (I've also thought of nondestructively fitting a fret board under my drones with a clip-type capo, but that is a major project and I don't have the tools right now to do it.
>>
>> So the question is if any of you have any good suggestions for how to (a) easily and (b) cheaply raise the pitch of my drone strings. I don't want to restring for this event (nor do I want to buy new strings at the moment). I tried using clothes pins to grip the strings, but I find that they do not grip the strings firmly enough, so the results only work if I grip the clothes pin by hand and force it to shut harder. Not an ideal way to do it. So any ideas would be most welcome.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> ARle
>>
>
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Ruth Bramley

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Nov 16, 2012, 6:55:37 PM11/16/12
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Sorry for not replying sooner - I've been out at a concert and only just got back.

Here are a few photos of my 'capo'. It's not quite isosceles in cross-section. It was actually an off-cut of wood from Mike Gilpin's workshop (where I was lucky enough to have lessons!) and was Mike's idea. As you can see, I've glued a piece of leather (not rubber) to the hypotenuse face (the one that sits on the soundboard), and the end that rests against the keybox. My gurdy is a Gotschy Phoenix, which means I can't put the capo very close to the top of the gurdy because of the shape of the soundboard.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Ruthie

On 16/11/2012 18:56, Augusto de Ornellas Abreu wrote:
IMG_2745reduced.JPG
IMG_2747reduced.JPG
IMG_2749reduced.JPG
IMG_2750reduced.JPG
IMG_2751reduced.JPG

Felicia Dale

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Nov 16, 2012, 7:16:55 PM11/16/12
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Very interesting photos. Thanks for posting them! I couldn't figure out what was meant by the descriptions.

Felicia.

The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster.<Wedge Capo on mouche.JPG>

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