It all depends on what the musician does with the instrument. That instrument could be used in popular music, if someone is creative enough you find a place for it. If an instrument is only thought of in a limited capacity, (i.e as representing Renaissance music), then that's all it will be. There's always gonna be someone like Kate who finds beauty in such things. Thanks, Kate!
I love listening to you play and talk about building instruments As a child, my family had a large number of entertainers, primarily folk singers in our home. My Father worked on their cars, he owned or had an interest in more than one bar, they went to the races with us, they had dinner at our house, crashed on our couch, and came to my father’s parties. I would pester them about their instruments and how they work. I would have endless questions about the meaning and history of their songs. From when I was 4 until about when I was 7 they called me onto stage with them to sing one or two songs with them. I would find songs to teach them. As an adult life got in the way and I never even learned to play. I was forced into retirement a few years ago. Now that my life has settled down some I have decided it is time to fulfill a lifelong interest in music that some find odd. My first effort is a diatonic dulcimer-style contrabass canjo. This is my first instrument since childhood attempts at whistles, one string box fiddles, and flutes. Can you recommend books and such to read on primitive musical instruments, and or medieval instruments. Are there any drawings available? After my canjo I hope to build a Krar type six-string lyre instrument or maybe an Anglo/saxon type lyer. I am also interested in things like building taglharpe, trumpet marine, citole, rebec, and the Ethiopian Masengo. I have hand carved many wooden Udu, wooden and clay doumbek, djembe. Many of my drums have gone to belly dancers
Thanks for sharing your story, what a wonderful experience! One good book is "A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music" edited by Ross Duffin, which contains brief overviews of all of the instrument types. You can find iconography of early instruments in many older texts like those by Mary Remnant, though with the advent of the internet you can find better quality images online. Christopher Page writes at a deeper level about medieval instruments and what we can deduce about their function. Enjoy your retirement adventures!
Your job is so nice. Here in Spain, mostly in the north, we have a cousin of the rebec, called rabel, used first in castles and that medieval stuff, and later it was a shepherd's instrument. Maybe you would like to check the rabel. Thank you for showing us
Thank you very much for your explanations. I've got a little question for you if I am allowed. Which pitch do you reccomend for tuning A, in Hz? I think you would use at least a baroque tuning at 435 Hz or less, perhaps, when you play medieval music? I will appreciate your comments Thankyou again
Thanks for your question. Early pitch levels are sort of a murky topic. In the middle ages they didn't have pitch standards the way we do; they might tune to the local organ, but they wouldn't need a world-wide pitch standard. Flexible instruments, like strings and the voice, would adapt to less flexible instruments like winds and brass. Some wind bands could be tuned to a high pitch and strings to one a whole step lower, and they would simply transpose when they wanted to play together. I tune my instruments to A 440, but if any customer wants a different pitch I can choose appropriate strings.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 Nice! I agree with you in all terms. As a violin player I never had the least problem related to the tuning of my instrument. Only once I tried gut strings from a well known brand searching for baroque tuning in 435 Hz. No success because these strings were intended for 440 Hz. Now I've been given a cheap alto rebec which comes with rough finished gut strings nearly 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5 mm thickness. Its sound is not nice enough yet. I would appreciate if you reccommend some strings for my new instrument. Thank you.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 My instrument is an alto rebec G-D-A. 33 cm from nut to bridge. I just stringed it with 4/4 violin strings by Infeld in order to check the sound resources of my rebec. I would rather like using plain gut strings, not metal wound, so that I can keep the "original" sound of the rebec. Many many thanks.
@@Hachefer It will be quite difficult to get down to a low G with that string length. A pure gut string with proper tension would be something like 1.60 diameter, which is far too thick to speak well. I tune my instruments of a similar string length to a bottom pitch of middle C. You might try a set like this from Gamut Music: A .76 treble, D 1.08 pistoy, G 1.52 pistoy or gimped. This is a lower tension than I use, but will accommodate the lower tuning you are seeking. A=440.
Thankyou! I'll certainly consider it. Is there a book on how to play this beautiful instrument? I've never played an instrument with a bow, and aren't trained...
@@adrianrosenlund-hudson8789 I don't know of a book specifically about the rebec, but there are useful chapters in books like "A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music" by Ross Duffin. There are also excellent summer workshops that offer training, and teachers who do online lessons in this day and age. I am also happy to teach.
Yes, the soundhole shapes are one of several things that influence the sound of the instrument. Other factors are the volume of the body and the thickness of the walls.
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to me so quickly. I have a small instrument similar to a 3 string rebec and I would like to know if I can get a sound out of it. It has no fingerboard and its scale measures approximately 23/24 cm. What strings should I attach to the instrument and bow (nylon, steel) and what size? Thanking you again and also wishing you much satisfaction in your work.@@unprofitableinstruments607
Decades ago, I visited Crete and bought a Cretan Lyra, which seems to be a surviving form of the Rebec. With the Cretan Lyra, the strings are stopped by a pressing your fingernails against the side of the string rather than down against the fingerboard. I wonder if this method was employed with the rebec, or if it is a Cretan invention.
Not a Cretan invention. Variants of that instrument are played in other places of insular and continental Greece, in Turkey, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, South Italy, always with the same technique (only Bulgarians vary it a bit, but the basic playing is still with the fingernail). And always played upright, sort of like a cello, not on the shoulder. It's probably the western rebec that changed under the influence of the violin or viol family.
@@kabouktli Thank you for the information. I've seen some of the variants, but, far from all of them! There was a simile that was popular in old Europe that has come down to us, "dry as a rebec." I suspect this was related to the left hand method. The fingernail does produce a dryer sound than pressing the string down on the fingerboard.
Thanks, Mikhah! The only rebec I have built for sale right now is the little treble rebec in these videos. It is small and tuned to f above middle c for the lowest note. It can also probably be retuned down to middle c, but unless you prefer the small sized instrument I recommend a bigger one. I will be starting some new rebecs in the fall.
@@mikhahrreaves3126 Sure. Would you mind emailing me at kate@unprofitableinstruments.com and we can discuss what you are looking for in a rebec there. You can also check out my website for more information: www.unprofitableinstruments.com/instruments/rebec
That's exactly like the gadulka with the 3 strings and pair shape. The only difference is that the gadulka is played straight with the underhand bow. I imagine the sound were quite closer.
Yes, the gadulka is another similar instrument. I've found the shape of the instrument is significant to the sound, so the wider and shallower body of the gadulka would still have its own characteristic sound.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 unfortunately a big chunk of the gadulka variety exists only on old tapes and as museum expositions but you can see on pictures as the one I'll post at the end, how different the instruments were from one another. They were often made by the musicians themselves who played in vastly different styles and with different instrument and bow position. Nowadays most gadulkas are pretty standardized. Otherwise, I understand the idea of the resonance from physics. My comment was more general, in the sense of comparing to modern instruments. I find the history of music and musical instruments to be a fascinating subject. Anyway, maybe you'll find this interesting : www.desant.net/files/news/2019/05/31/155930722469713.jpg
as a gudok player, the long neck and the fact you're playing with fingertips seems horribly cursed - sounds cool though, just very similar instruments :p
Douce dame jolie Pour Dieu ne pensez pas Que nulle a pouvoir Sur moi, que vous seulement Que toujours sans tricherie Chérie (Je) vous ai humblement Tous les jours de ma vie Servie Sans viles arrières pensées
When you brought out the tiny one you made for your child that warmed my heart and made me smile!
Very cool. It's nice to see someone keeping stuff like this alive for us to appreciate. Thanks for sharing
Thank you! It's my pleasure.
It all depends on what the musician does with the instrument. That instrument could be used in popular music, if someone is creative enough you find a place for it. If an instrument is only thought of in a limited capacity, (i.e as representing Renaissance music), then that's all it will be. There's always gonna be someone like Kate who finds beauty in such things. Thanks, Kate!
I love listening to you play and talk about building instruments
As a child, my family had a large number of entertainers, primarily folk singers in our home. My Father worked on their cars, he owned or had an interest in more than one bar, they went to the races with us, they had dinner at our house, crashed on our couch, and came to my father’s parties. I would pester them about their instruments and how they work. I would have endless questions about the meaning and history of their songs. From when I was 4 until about when I was 7 they called me onto stage with them to sing one or two songs with them. I would find songs to teach them.
As an adult life got in the way and I never even learned to play. I was forced into retirement a few years ago. Now that my life has settled down some I have decided it is time to fulfill a lifelong interest in music that some find odd.
My first effort is a diatonic dulcimer-style contrabass canjo. This is my first instrument since childhood attempts at whistles, one string box fiddles, and flutes.
Can you recommend books and such to read on primitive musical instruments, and or medieval instruments. Are there any drawings available?
After my canjo I hope to build a Krar type six-string lyre instrument or maybe an Anglo/saxon type lyer. I am also interested in things like building taglharpe, trumpet marine, citole, rebec, and the Ethiopian Masengo.
I have hand carved many wooden Udu, wooden and clay doumbek, djembe. Many of my drums have gone to belly dancers
Thanks for sharing your story, what a wonderful experience! One good book is "A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music" edited by Ross Duffin, which contains brief overviews of all of the instrument types. You can find iconography of early instruments in many older texts like those by Mary Remnant, though with the advent of the internet you can find better quality images online. Christopher Page writes at a deeper level about medieval instruments and what we can deduce about their function. Enjoy your retirement adventures!
@@unprofitableinstruments607 Thank you hugely for your help
"Medieval Time Travellers" by Ian Mortimer talks about a rebec so I googled the word and found your wonderful site. Thanks Kate.
That's a fun book!
The tiny rebec is precious.
You play it so well, Kate! Very nice to hear--and I learned a lot.
Thank you!
Very nice keep up the work
Thank you for the demonstration. The child’s Rebec was adorable.
Thank you!
this rocks, Album, please!
Your job is so nice. Here in Spain, mostly in the north, we have a cousin of the rebec, called rabel, used first in castles and that medieval stuff, and later it was a shepherd's instrument. Maybe you would like to check the rabel. Thank you for showing us
This is terrific
Lovely dedication!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks! Very cool instrument, great craftmanship, and great playing!
Thank you!
hermosos, qué largo de tiro de cuerda tiene el mini-rabel?
That's really nice
Thank you very much for your explanations.
I've got a little question for you if I am allowed.
Which pitch do you reccomend for tuning A, in Hz?
I think you would use at least a baroque tuning at 435 Hz or less, perhaps, when you play medieval music?
I will appreciate your comments
Thankyou again
Thanks for your question. Early pitch levels are sort of a murky topic. In the middle ages they didn't have pitch standards the way we do; they might tune to the local organ, but they wouldn't need a world-wide pitch standard. Flexible instruments, like strings and the voice, would adapt to less flexible instruments like winds and brass. Some wind bands could be tuned to a high pitch and strings to one a whole step lower, and they would simply transpose when they wanted to play together.
I tune my instruments to A 440, but if any customer wants a different pitch I can choose appropriate strings.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 Nice! I agree with you in all terms. As a violin player I never had the least problem related to the tuning of my instrument. Only once I tried gut strings from a well known brand searching for baroque tuning in 435 Hz. No success because these strings were intended for 440 Hz. Now I've been given a cheap alto rebec which comes with rough finished gut strings nearly 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5 mm thickness. Its sound is not nice enough yet. I would appreciate if you reccommend some strings for my new instrument. Thank you.
@@Hachefer Sure, I can recommend some string gauges for that. What is the string length of the instrument, and how do you want it tuned?
@@unprofitableinstruments607 My instrument is an alto rebec G-D-A. 33 cm from nut to bridge. I just stringed it with 4/4 violin strings by Infeld in order to check the sound resources of my rebec. I would rather like using plain gut strings, not metal wound, so that I can keep the "original" sound of the rebec. Many many thanks.
@@Hachefer It will be quite difficult to get down to a low G with that string length. A pure gut string with proper tension would be something like 1.60 diameter, which is far too thick to speak well. I tune my instruments of a similar string length to a bottom pitch of middle C. You might try a set like this from Gamut Music: A .76 treble, D 1.08 pistoy, G 1.52 pistoy or gimped. This is a lower tension than I use, but will accommodate the lower tuning you are seeking. A=440.
Lovely. Seriously considering a Rebec for the medieval living history group I'm involved in. Looks like a lot of fun
They are great instruments! Let me know if you would like me to build you one.
Thankyou! I'll certainly consider it. Is there a book on how to play this beautiful instrument? I've never played an instrument with a bow, and aren't trained...
@@adrianrosenlund-hudson8789 I don't know of a book specifically about the rebec, but there are useful chapters in books like "A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music" by Ross Duffin. There are also excellent summer workshops that offer training, and teachers who do online lessons in this day and age. I am also happy to teach.
THANK YOU! ♥♥♥♥
Is there any difference in the sound on this Rebec with (kinda) star
shaped soundhole and those ´C´ shaped soundholes at the bridge ?
Yes, the soundhole shapes are one of several things that influence the sound of the instrument. Other factors are the volume of the body and the thickness of the walls.
☘️ Awesome!!! 👍🏻
Whats the Name of the 'Dance Tune'?....🎻🎶
The tune I play at 1:20 is "Douce Dame" by Machaut. A vocal piece originally, but dancified here.
I’ve Got a rebec, thehighest
String is brokken. Where Can I buy a new set of strings?
I recommend Gamut Music. You can tell them the string length and the pitch you want, and they will recommend a gauge.
Reminds me a bit of the Cretan Lyra.
Hello and thank you for this video. Could you tell me what strings you use for a 3-string rebec. Thank you in advance.
I get my strings from Gamut Music. The gauge of string depends on the string length and the pitches you want the strings tuned to.
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to me so quickly.
I have a small instrument similar to a 3 string rebec and I would like to know if I can get a sound out of it. It has no fingerboard and its scale measures approximately 23/24 cm. What strings should I attach to the instrument and bow (nylon, steel) and what size?
Thanking you again and also wishing you much satisfaction in your work.@@unprofitableinstruments607
@@mic2570 hola, tengo un rabel y le coloqué cuerdas de violín (las 3 más agudas) y lo afiné en c4 g4 d5, suerte!!
@@supernoise Muchas gracias, es muy amable
Decades ago, I visited Crete and bought a Cretan Lyra, which seems to be a surviving form of the Rebec. With the Cretan Lyra, the strings are stopped by a pressing your fingernails against the side of the string rather than down against the fingerboard. I wonder if this method was employed with the rebec, or if it is a Cretan invention.
Not a Cretan invention. Variants of that instrument are played in other places of insular and continental Greece, in Turkey, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Croatia, South Italy, always with the same technique (only Bulgarians vary it a bit, but the basic playing is still with the fingernail). And always played upright, sort of like a cello, not on the shoulder. It's probably the western rebec that changed under the influence of the violin or viol family.
@@kabouktli Thank you for the information. I've seen some of the variants, but, far from all of them!
There was a simile that was popular in old Europe that has come down to us, "dry as a rebec." I suspect this was related to the left hand method. The fingernail does produce a dryer sound than pressing the string down on the fingerboard.
They are beautiful!! Do you have any for sale?
Thanks, Mikhah! The only rebec I have built for sale right now is the little treble rebec in these videos. It is small and tuned to f above middle c for the lowest note. It can also probably be retuned down to middle c, but unless you prefer the small sized instrument I recommend a bigger one. I will be starting some new rebecs in the fall.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 Thanks dear, I would like a bigger one. I'm trying to learn to play fiddle so a Rebec would be great to learn.
@@mikhahrreaves3126 Sure. Would you mind emailing me at kate@unprofitableinstruments.com and we can discuss what you are looking for in a rebec there. You can also check out my website for more information: www.unprofitableinstruments.com/instruments/rebec
so cool! ❤️🎵❤️
That's exactly like the gadulka with the 3 strings and pair shape. The only difference is that the gadulka is played straight with the underhand bow. I imagine the sound were quite closer.
Yes, the gadulka is another similar instrument. I've found the shape of the instrument is significant to the sound, so the wider and shallower body of the gadulka would still have its own characteristic sound.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 unfortunately a big chunk of the gadulka variety exists only on old tapes and as museum expositions but you can see on pictures as the one I'll post at the end, how different the instruments were from one another. They were often made by the musicians themselves who played in vastly different styles and with different instrument and bow position. Nowadays most gadulkas are pretty standardized.
Otherwise, I understand the idea of the resonance from physics. My comment was more general, in the sense of comparing to modern instruments. I find the history of music and musical instruments to be a fascinating subject. Anyway, maybe you'll find this interesting :
www.desant.net/files/news/2019/05/31/155930722469713.jpg
@@huskytail Beautiful, thanks for sharing.
Maravilhoso e piedoso !
Is it possible to buy the tailpiece for a rebec? I was given the instrument without the tailpiece.
Hi Susan, I don't typically do repairs, but if you want to send me a picture at kate@unprofitableinstruments.com I'll take a look.
Extremely good looking rebecs, do u use gut strings?
Yes, I do. I get them from Gamut Strings.
@@unprofitableinstruments607 very authentic sound
as a gudok player, the long neck and the fact you're playing with fingertips seems horribly cursed - sounds cool though, just very similar instruments :p
No audio.
Check you settings? It seems to work for everyone else.
Douce dame jolie
Pour Dieu ne pensez pas
Que nulle a pouvoir
Sur moi, que vous seulement
Que toujours sans tricherie
Chérie
(Je) vous ai humblement
Tous les jours de ma vie
Servie
Sans viles arrières pensées
Not convincing me to switch from violin
That's not the point of the video
That's just a bowed fretless lute.
Yes, there are certain similarities. It is even more like a gittern, a plucked instrument with a rounded, carved back.
@unprofitableinstruments607 the gittern had more strings as well as frets.
It’s a violin, sort of.
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