source file: m1346.txt
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 03:14:54 -0600

Subject: Instruments for non-12TET music

From: "Ed & Alita Morrison" <essaim@texas.net>

I have been reading the questions about non-12TET music and will describe
my instruments that work for playing non-12TET music.  The first one is my
"steel guitar" which is similar to Ivor Darreg's megalyra instruments.  I
corresponded with him while building it.  My "steel guitar" is a 1 X 6
board about 40 inches long with a 7 1/2 inch piece attached at right angles
to each end of the 40 inch board.  I have 9 guitar strings on one side of
the board and 5 bass guitar strings on the other side to prevent warping of
the board from the tension of the strings.  The tuning pegs are piano
tuning pegs in snugly drilled holes.  There are no frets; instead, layers
of cardboard and several paper clips to hold stiff paper boards with lines
to mark where frets would be.  I have a paper board for each of more than a
dozen tunings including equal tempered scales.  Painting lines on a "fret"
board beneath the strings can get very confusing when there are so many
tunings.  All of these fit interchangeably on ONE instrument.  I hold the
instrument across my lap and stop the strings with a noter bar in my left
hand and pick the strings with the fingers of my right hand.
	The second instrument is a mountain dulcimer built with moveable frets. 
The fret board is mounted on shims, one on each end to allow wire loop
"frets" to be adjusted along the fretboard.  The dulcimer is played with
fingers or a noter to stop the strings in the conventional mountain
dulcimer manner.
	The third instrument is a kalimba or thumb piano with a resonator box with
very easily adjustable reeds of steel and bamboo strips.  I have not
calculated tuning charts as I have for the stringed instruments but an
electronic tuner reading in "cents" will work as long as you know the
frequencies needed.
	The fourth instrument is a panpipe.  It is a set of tubes of various
lengths and diameters attached into row and blown across the tops as you
would blow across a bottle.   Inside each tube is a snug-fitting cork that
can be pushed higher or lower inside the tube to tune the tubes.  These
tubes can be tuned with an electronic tuner also.
	My favorite equal tempered scale is 7TET.  It is a challenge because it
has so few tones but yet is unexplainably very interesting.
	ALITA MORRISON <essaim@texas.net>