?Mechanical instruments for live gigging with irregular temperaments

(I also posted this on Make Micro Music. I thought I'd see if I get answers here as well.

I play fretted electric guitar and sing at live gigs. The nature of the
instrument makes (low numbered) equal temperaments and 12 note pythagorean
intonation easy for me to play, quarter comma difficult but doable and irregular
temperaments and intonations impractical.
I would like to be able to choose my tunings freely without worrying about where
to put frets.
However, I want to play mechanically real instruments, not synthesisers. I will
make them myself (that is not a problem). What instruments do people suggest
that can be easily carried to and from a gig, can be tuned to irregular
temperaments or intonations and permit the player to sing at the same time as
playing chords? Ideally I want to be able to play without looking at what I'm
doing so that I can look the audience in the eye while I sing to them.
I do not want to play fretless guitar or slide guitar. I want instruments that
are specifically tuned to scales to make it easier for me.
Ideas I have had myself include harp, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, koto, xither
and xylophone.
A Thai mouthorgan opperated by bellows might work. (this would be like an
accordion but easier to tune, I think).
I have also been trying to work out a way to quickly swap between different
tunings on harp like instruments

...adapted viola, anyone?

I've also seen people use small pump organs--if you added sliders for the pipes it might give you some dynamic tuning ability. I'm also interested, so let's hear some ideas.

On Sep 22, 2010, at 1:40 PM, Mark wrote:

> (I also posted this on Make Micro Music. I thought I'd see if I get answers here as well.
>
> I play fretted electric guitar and sing at live gigs. The nature of the
> instrument makes (low numbered) equal temperaments and 12 note pythagorean
> intonation easy for me to play, quarter comma difficult but doable and irregular
> temperaments and intonations impractical.
> I would like to be able to choose my tunings freely without worrying about where
> to put frets.
> However, I want to play mechanically real instruments, not synthesisers. I will
> make them myself (that is not a problem). What instruments do people suggest
> that can be easily carried to and from a gig, can be tuned to irregular
> temperaments or intonations and permit the player to sing at the same time as
> playing chords? Ideally I want to be able to play without looking at what I'm
> doing so that I can look the audience in the eye while I sing to them.
> I do not want to play fretless guitar or slide guitar. I want instruments that
> are specifically tuned to scales to make it easier for me.
> Ideas I have had myself include harp, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, koto, xither
> and xylophone.
> A Thai mouthorgan opperated by bellows might work. (this would be like an
> accordion but easier to tune, I think).
> I have also been trying to work out a way to quickly swap between different
> tunings on harp like instruments
>
>

The Turkish baglama, saz, family of instruments is wonderful. The frets are moveable, you simply scootch them to where you want. They come in all sizes from tiny to huge, and the instruments are very light, nice for travelling. They're plenty loud but if you need amplification, a stick-on piezo works very well. .

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <mark.barnes3@...> wrote:
>
> (I also posted this on Make Micro Music. I thought I'd see if I get answers here as well.
>
> I play fretted electric guitar and sing at live gigs. The nature of the
> instrument makes (low numbered) equal temperaments and 12 note pythagorean
> intonation easy for me to play, quarter comma difficult but doable and irregular
> temperaments and intonations impractical.
> I would like to be able to choose my tunings freely without worrying about where
> to put frets.
> However, I want to play mechanically real instruments, not synthesisers. I will
> make them myself (that is not a problem). What instruments do people suggest
> that can be easily carried to and from a gig, can be tuned to irregular
> temperaments or intonations and permit the player to sing at the same time as
> playing chords? Ideally I want to be able to play without looking at what I'm
> doing so that I can look the audience in the eye while I sing to them.
> I do not want to play fretless guitar or slide guitar. I want instruments that
> are specifically tuned to scales to make it easier for me.
> Ideas I have had myself include harp, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, koto, xither
> and xylophone.
> A Thai mouthorgan opperated by bellows might work. (this would be like an
> accordion but easier to tune, I think).
> I have also been trying to work out a way to quickly swap between different
> tunings on harp like instruments
>

If you're willing to try out a keyboard, Aaron Hunt has some good stuff built at H-Pi Instruments:

http://www.h-pi.com/index.html

I have the Tuning Box, which I use to retune my electric keyboard. I understand that it should be able to retune any MIDI instrument that has a MIDI-out, but I haven't experimented along those lines. The Tonal Plexus also looks quite interesting, but I haven't invested in one yet. You can find some clips of Aaron playing on some on Youtube.

Andrew

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Mark" <mark.barnes3@...> wrote:
>
> (I also posted this on Make Micro Music. I thought I'd see if I get answers here as well.
>
> I play fretted electric guitar and sing at live gigs. The nature of the
> instrument makes (low numbered) equal temperaments and 12 note pythagorean
> intonation easy for me to play, quarter comma difficult but doable and irregular
> temperaments and intonations impractical.
> I would like to be able to choose my tunings freely without worrying about where
> to put frets.
> However, I want to play mechanically real instruments, not synthesisers. I will
> make them myself (that is not a problem). What instruments do people suggest
> that can be easily carried to and from a gig, can be tuned to irregular
> temperaments or intonations and permit the player to sing at the same time as
> playing chords? Ideally I want to be able to play without looking at what I'm
> doing so that I can look the audience in the eye while I sing to them.
> I do not want to play fretless guitar or slide guitar. I want instruments that
> are specifically tuned to scales to make it easier for me.
> Ideas I have had myself include harp, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, koto, xither
> and xylophone.
> A Thai mouthorgan opperated by bellows might work. (this would be like an
> accordion but easier to tune, I think).
> I have also been trying to work out a way to quickly swap between different
> tunings on harp like instruments
>

There is also the Haken Continuum: http://www.cerlsoundgroup.org/Continuum/

I first saw one via Jordan Rudess in Dream Theatre. He wasn't doing anything non-12-ET, but I understand that it's capable.

Andrew