Today, I got a balalaika for my birthday...

3

32-20-Blues

New member
So, my parents bought me a balalaika for my birthday. It's a prima sized instrument, if that means anything (I think it's the most common size).

They got it from the Early Music Shop for 75 pounds sterling. I'll put pics up in a couple o' hours.

Here are the bad points first (although they are minor):
-No finish at all on the soundboard. It's bare wood. :confused:
-There are two small knots on the soundboard that were filled. They did a neat job, but I wouldn't have minded had they left them alone.

Here are the good points:
-All solid timber. Spruce top, and rosewood back/neck. Not the highest quality, but solid tonewood nonetheless.
-Excellent fretwork.
-Well cut nut.
-Good action.
-Beautiful fitted hardcase (wine and gold - very classy)
-Great sound.
-Good tuning stability.

Happy days!!! I love this thing. I wouldn't know Russian music from a hole in the ground, but that doesn't stop me having fun. Expect clips in the near future.
 
Dogbreath said:
Cool...:cool:

Congrats man!


whats a balalaika?

:D
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Oh, sorry.

Here:

balalaika.jpg


It's a Russian 3-stringed instrument. Scale length is around 400mm. It's strummed rapidly like a mandolin.
 
That's pretty cool. I'd never even heard of one before. Looks like it'd be fun.

Hmmm.....It has 3 strings...I have 3 fingers....this could really work out! :D
 
Congrats on the Birthday mate, good time July..

On the Balalaika, a prima is the most common size and the one used for most of the lead solo stuff. Whats the scale length?

The soundboard needs to be dealt with. Are you sure it hasn't got a light oiled finish? The EMS are pretty good with the stuff they sell even the student models. If not I'd give it a few coats of that tru oil you have from the UKe. It won't hurt the tone but it will give you a bit of protection.

Is it a three string or a six course? Look forward to the sound clips.

Good acquisition.

Happy B'day and have one for me.
 
muttley600 said:
Congrats on the Birthday mate, good time July..

On the Balalaika, a prima is the most common size and the one used for most of the lead solo stuff. Whats the scale length?

The soundboard needs to be dealt with. Are you sure it hasn't got a light oiled finish? The EMS are pretty good with the stuff they sell even the student models. If not I'd give it a few coats of that tru oil you have from the UKe. It won't hurt the tone but it will give you a bit of protection.

Is it a three string or a six course? Look forward to the sound clips.

Good acquisition.

Happy B'day and have one for me.
Click to expand...

Scale length is 400-410 mm (slanted bridge, as I'm sure you guessed).

It's a three string. The catalogue said that 6 string versions had all steel strings, and I was worried about the effect of 6 steel strings on a neck without a truss rod. Plus, the 6 string models sound quite like a mandolin, and I wanted something very different.

I've been messing around with it. It's fantastic the way a new instrument forces you to play in ways you would never have thought of before. I'm playing chord fragments way up the neck, and trying to integrate them with melody lines. It's fun, and it's definitely making me think about composition and harmony differently.

Soundboard is almost definitely bare wood. I can't see any evidence of any finish. I'll sort it out ith the tru oil, as you suggest.

EMS are great - they sent me a load of stuff with the instrument. Catalogues, brochures, invites to showrooms. I was looking at their stuff, and I figured you'd definitely have heard of them - they sell Viol de Gambas and things that I know you're interested in.

Also, a lot of their instruments come in kit form. Kits of Rebecs and Citterns? I was amazed. Might investigate further when funds (and, more importantly, time) allow.
 
Happy new Balalaika day for you 32/20! I believe one of the people in my acoustic band has one but I don't think its strung up-at least not all 3 strings anyway. Is it used in a lot of Greek traditional music maybe?

All I really know is the reference to in the Beatles tune 'Back in the USSR'.:o

Do you and Paul both have July birthdays? I know he got a Les Paul Studio for his b'day....
 
32-20-Blues said:
Scale length is 400-410 mm (slanted bridge, as I'm sure you guessed).

I've been messing around with it. It's fantastic the way a new instrument forces you to play in ways you would never have thought of before. I'm playing chord fragments way up the neck, and trying to integrate them with melody lines. It's fun, and it's definitely making me think about composition and harmony differently.
Click to expand...

Go for it.:D

EMS are great - they sent me a load of stuff with the instrument. Catalogues, brochures, invites to showrooms. I was looking at their stuff, and I figured you'd definitely have heard of them - they sell Viol de Gambas and things that I know you're interested in.

Also, a lot of their instruments come in kit form. Kits of Rebecs and Citterns? I was amazed. Might investigate further when funds (and, more importantly, time) allow.
Click to expand...

I still know most of the guys there, and sold some lutes and viols through there list in my early days. They are a good and very knowledgeable bunch of guys and very helpful.

Now out down the new toy and have a Paddy Powers on me.;)
 
Anfontan said:
Happy new Balalaika day for you 32/20! I believe one of the people in my acoustic band has one but I don't think its strung up-at least not all 3 strings anyway. Is it used in a lot of Greek traditional music maybe?

All I really know is the reference to in the Beatles tune 'Back in the USSR'.:o

Do you and Paul both have July birthdays? I know he got a Les Paul Studio for his b'day....
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks! I'm not sure about the Greek connection - it could well be used there. To be honest, I know very little about it - this is very much a learning experience.

My birthday isn't until August, so this was an early surprise!
 
muttley600 said:
Go for it.:D



I still know most of the guys there, and sold some lutes and viols through there list in my early days. They are a good and very knowledgeable bunch of guys and very helpful.

Now out down the new toy and have a Paddy Powers on me.;)
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That's cool - yeah, I noticed that they have instruments for sale by a number of independent builders.

Can't start the drinking just yet - I'm typing the last few paragraphs of my thesis at the moment. It's killing me, but I'll be having a few drinks over the weekend.

Cheers.
 
A friend with a Cittern used to sit in with my acoustic band for dances we play regularly for a group of local dancers. It reminded me of a mandocello but had a brighter jangly sound and he tuned it in DADGAD minus the high D string (Cittern is a 10 string with unison strings like a mandolin). It has a very cool sound combined with fiddle, mandolin, guitar & banjo - our usual instruments for these dances.
 
Anfontan said:
A friend with a Cittern used to sit in with my acoustic band for dances we play regularly for a group of local dancers. It reminded me of a mandocello but had a brighter jangly sound and he tuned it in DADGAD minus the high D string (Cittern is a 10 string with unison strings like a mandolin). It has a very cool sound combined with fiddle, mandolin, guitar & banjo - our usual instruments for these dances.
Click to expand...

Sounds cool. What kind of music do you play for dancing? Is it bluegrass and stuff like that?

Ideally, I'd like to use the balalaika for traditional Irish dance music - jigs/reels, etc.
 
Very cool instrument. I used to have a cheap one (souvenir) and learned a couple of simple songs. There are balalaika orchestras in the US (and likely in Europe) - I attended one a couple years ago - certainly a treat. It's like all of the classical simphony experience, plus with the folk humor thrown in and none of the snobbery. I was also privileged to play the contrabass balalaika for a few gigs with a local Russian trio (when their bassist was away) - that was a bit easier - it's tuned E-A-D, just like a standard bass, which I can play. It was tons of fun. They are bayan (button accordion), prima and contrabass balalaikas. Very talented blokes.

Tuned E-E-A (yes the 2 lower strings are a unison). Also, it is typically strung with a mixed set - the two E's are nylon, the A is steel.

You can see in the video how it's common to fret both E strings with a thumb (to make a sorts of a "chord" for rhythm).

It's not that hard to get into, but I'm sure that further progress would require a teacher and reading music.

Sounds like you got a good one - a real instrument as opposed to what I had. I've been wanting one for a long-long time, but don't want to pay the money - it can be quite expensive here in the West. You got it at a fair price.

I take it the pic above is not the actual instrument you go?
 
32-20-Blues said:
Sounds cool. What kind of music do you play for dancing? Is it bluegrass and stuff like that?

Ideally, I'd like to use the balalaika for traditional Irish dance music - jigs/reels, etc.
Click to expand...

It's mostly instrumental songs, bluegrass and some old Irish tunes as well-St. Anne's reel, Whiskey before Breakfast, Cold Frosty Morning, Early Times, Angelina Baker-as well as a few waltzes for the dancers to catch their breath--some tunes are from the Civil War era.
We always do a version of Soldier's Joy we call 'Soldier's Joy & Sorrow' where we shift it between major and minor keys just to make it a bit more interesting.
 
Gear_Junky said:
Very cool instrument. I used to have a cheap one (souvenir) and learned a couple of simple songs. There are balalaika orchestras in the US (and likely in Europe) - I attended one a couple years ago - certainly a treat. It's like all of the classical simphony experience, plus with the folk humor thrown in and none of the snobbery. I was also privileged to play the contrabass balalaika for a few gigs with a local Russian trio (when their bassist was away) - that was a bit easier - it's tuned E-A-D, just like a standard bass, which I can play. It was tons of fun. They are bayan (button accordion), prima and contrabass balalaikas. Very talented blokes.

Tuned E-E-A (yes the 2 lower strings are a unison). Also, it is typically strung with a mixed set - the two E's are nylon, the A is steel.

You can see in the video how it's common to fret both E strings with a thumb (to make a sorts of a "chord" for rhythm).

It's not that hard to get into, but I'm sure that further progress would require a teacher and reading music.

Sounds like you got a good one - a real instrument as opposed to what I had. I've been wanting one for a long-long time, but don't want to pay the money - it can be quite expensive here in the West. You got it at a fair price.

I take it the pic above is not the actual instrument you go?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info...

The pic above is the same model, but not my actual instrument, no.
 
they're not rally manufactured outside of Russia, at least not mass-produced. usually you look for a used or a luthier-made instrument.

they probably start at $150-200 for a decent one. that's why i haven't bought one yet (considering that it's not my main instrument and i can barely play it).

i strongly suggest not getting the souvenir ones (they usually have no pickguard, that's how you can tell) - they have poor fretwork and overall sloppy construction.
 
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