Talharpa

The talaharpa is an ancient instrument used in the viking eras. It is essentially a very crude cello in sound, but is played much differently. This instructable will show you how to make a talaharpa with modern tools.

1. Plenty of any kind of wood, used for making the frame
2. basswood or equivalent, does not need to be solid sheet can be glued together
3. 3 screws and 3 washers for tuning pegs
4. other screws for the frame
5. a set of cello strings
6. a violin or cello bow of some sort
7. leather and leather making tools
8. woodworking tools, and a workshop

Think of a general size that you want. Remember the vikings did not make plans, most of what they did was free handed without measurements. Aproximate a frame for that looks like the one above. This step can be whatever your heart desires.

Sand down your frame and add 3 holes at the top for tuning pegs. Generally try to make your frame look nice, but not too nice this is for a viking.

This step can be done in easier ways but I wanted to do something cool for the tuning pegs. I used brazing to connect the washer and the screw to create a rather cool tuning peg, I also felt it kept the crudness of the viking instrument. you could find much easier tuning pegs online, however. You will need three of these.

This step requires the most craftsmanship. The bottom of a talaharpa has a leather strap (can be replaced by a rope) thay connects to a wooden tailpiece. The tailpiece must be able to have strings threaded through it, follow the design above. The leather strap can be dyed and store bought, but I made it from scratch myself.

Glue your bass wood pieces together for the front and the back of the soundbox.

Make a bridge of some sort. If your bridge is curved you will be able to play strings individually, if you make it straight you will be able to play them all at the same time. I made both but liked the curved better

Glue your bass wood to your frame and add a sound pole to keep the bridge from collapsing. Don't forget to sign your name!

When your talaharpa is dry cut sound holes of whatever shape you want into them, make sure they are cool. Also make a peg to attach your leather strap to your talaharpa.

Put it all together! If it works then you can remove all the parts, and stain the wood to whatever you would like.

Playing the talaharpa is difficult, I found the best way to make noise out of it was to use a finger slide from a slide guitar. Also, make sure to resin your bow.