Talk:Epinette des Vosges

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Chart is not intelligible[edit]

The chart of modes either needs to be rendered into standard western pitch notation, or else some explanatory notes are needed. What is meant by "case", and how does "1st case" differ from 2nd or 6th "case"?

WARNING: I might be wrong. However, I think 'case' equates to fret although it is not a direct translation. As mentioned below I think "... jouant à vide" will mean "sounding open". It seems funny that the chart (which I think is based on a 3-drone string model) simply states the third drone as always a duplicate note for the first or second drone. This doesn't seem a very imaginative use of the third drone string. Anyway, I think the basic principle is you set up the drones (however many you have) to whatever you want (spacing them 4ths and 5ths apart would seem a good starting point) and then you play the melody on the fretboard along with drone changes. The chart seems to be an attempt to order the available modes: which fret the scale begins on and what drone tunings to use. I suppose the chromatic fretboard is likely a more recent refinement that is overlooked by the chart. 2.1.216.45 (talk) 07:39, 29 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How many strings are there? From the illustrations there seem to be some fretted strings and some drone strings. How are they tuned?

Good question! The images show 5 and 6 string versions and I have an 8 string one. 2.1.216.45 (talk) 07:41, 29 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, any tuning info would be handy but it appears these things are, like many folk instruments, tuned according to users preference. I have one of these things with no strings, no idea of tuning or required string weights. It has 5 well-spaced 'floating' strings (no frets) and 3 in close proximity (like pairs on a mandolin or 12 string guitar) over a narrow fret board. My guess has to be you use the floating strings as drones (tonics) and play the melody on the fretboard. 2.1.216.45 (talk) 07:43, 29 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Bing translator makes Chanterelles jouant à vide out to be "Chanterelles playing vacuum", which needs some explanation. "... jouant à vide" will mean "sounding open" (I think) as in open strings. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 23:21, 22 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I am an English folk instrumentalist who speaks fluent French. A chanterelle ("singing" string) is the term used on a hurdy for a stopped melody string. A vide means unstopped. A bourdon is a drone. The use of "case" ("box" on a form or "partition" - in the English sense, not the French one, which means "score" - so probably "fret") is unusual, so I've left it. A more normal term would be "frette" or "touchette". Because the solfege terms have a relative meaning in modal music (DO being a major third from the modal pitch whatever the key), they must NOT be used here. The French use presumes a tuned key of C major, which may not actually be pitch tuned from. In addition, the use of a pitch for the modal name is highly confusing. It needs to be thought about carefully, probably with a tuned instrument in front of you, which is why I've left it. Because it's just possible the author's mixing relative and absolute meanings of the solfege pitches, I've left them in. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.24.95.94 (talk) 07:23, 28 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Contradictory Information; explanation required[edit]

This article identifies the epinette des vosges as a plucked-string zither, similar to the Appalachian dulcimer.

However, the New harvard Dictionary of Music, Marcuse's Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary, and the Oxford Companion to Music (Sholes) all identify "epinette des vosges" as a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family, and a variety of spinet harpsichord.

This needs to either be corrected (if in error), or explained (if the term "epinette des vosges" is indeed used to refer to both instruments). 67.206.184.201 (talk) 05:25, 14 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]