My boss walks into my office and says "I was watching Joe Bonamassa on TV and someone in his band was playing this weird guitar that he was bowing--and it had keys like a piano!"

He of course knows I play Stick and is one of my biggest fans. I had no clue what he could be referring to.

So, some google-fu later, here it is: the Swedish Nyckelharpa, a bowed violin thingy--with keys! Nyckelharpa at 3:42. Joe Bonamassa - Different Shades of Blue - 1/23/15 Radio City Music Hall - NYC
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyxgGGZeoyM[/youtube]

http://www.elsewhere.co.nz/livereviews/ ... r-12-2014/




http://www.nyckelharpa.org/about/what-is-a-nyckelharpa/

I played viola when I was younger. This could be a lot of fun! But I wouldn't want to change the strings! Here's a pastiche of classical greatest hits, some killer Bach, (and even Smoke on the Water) done by a Nyckelharpa master: Thomas Roth (Nyckelharpa) - Ingredients
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sfBcWvVUbs[/youtube]

Cheers!
Steve Sink

Cool Steve!
Thought it was a Hurdy Gurdy for a sec there before I clicked on the vid.
I dislike the sound of the tactile strikes of the key presses though.....otherwise, very neat instrument I've never heard before.


cheers,
kev

Me, too, Kev! I don't like the clicky-clack of the key presses, either. But it sounds otherwise just like a violin. Surely you could eliminate the key press sound with better tech? I don't actually have my head around exactly how the keys work across the strings...I'm not even sure how many strings it has! But very violiny!

This explains how the whole thing works and even some history of it. At least in this video (there's 4 major variants of the Nyckelharpa), there's seems to be 16 strings in 3 sets of strings and 3 banks of keys to put a wooden peg on a string, and then another set of strings that's maybe hand-fretted? (Turns out they're sympathetic vibratory strings--don't quite get how that works, but somehow they resonate with the fretted notes and make a reverby sound. Or something.) Crazy setup![youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgbMVIYv57I[/youtube]

That's an exciting instrument! I keep seeing it around a lot here in Sweden, but as you said; once you start paying attention to the mechanic's noise you can't help seeing a drunk step dancer staggering on the inside of your forehead. I think though that if I was to drop that much money on a non-fretless bowing string instrument I think I would rather get a Togaman GuitarViol, http://www.togamanguitars.com/ because it also doubles up as a normal guitar, then sounding almost like a nylon stringed classical model. It can be seen in this video from a gig where my duo band mate plays his Togaman both guitar-style and with the bow (mostly making noiser though, but cool bowed noise IMHO)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DWezuFTdgE[/youtube]

I like that, Per! I took a look at the site and saw a couple of videos. Looks like a cello/violin that is fretted like a guitar, or a guitar that is bowed like a cello. Much cooler than the Nyckelharpa, unless you could eliminate the key clacking. Otherwise, the keyboard player in me would prefer the keys--unless you could tap the frets and not have to bow at all (hey, that's a Stick!)