What's the deal with Aquavinas?
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
At some point I found myself on the Wikipedia page for mountain dulcimers where I saw a description of a mountain dulcimer variant called an "Aquavina." The description given went as follows: "... essentially a variant of the Appalachian Dulcimer , but with a metal resonator body partially filled with water. The player would agitate the instrument while playing, resulting in a constant acoustic phasing effect within the instrument's harmonics"
I had already made dulcimers out of things like coffee cans, cookie tins, and frying pans so immediately this seemed right up my alley. A bit of googling later I was only able to find indication of one actual song recorded by the inventor called "Naïades" which I was unable to find any recordings of. The only audio I was able to find at all was a video of a so-called "junk aquavina" which had very primitive design, two strings, was played with a slide, and seemed to have audio effects added on, as well as other instruments played over it. Basically I have no idea what this thing is supposed to sound like.
I figured if no one else knows what it sounds like, maybe I can find out for myself, and when I considered the definition I quickly thought of an idea that's been bouncing around my head for a while that utilizes a bundt pan as a resonator. Once I built it, I poured some water in the bundt pan and started playing and WOW. Very difficult to describe. The best I can articulate is that it's a lot like having a mild "wah wah pedal" electric guitar effect every time you slightly move the instrument. It adds a dreamlike ambiance.
The first adjective I thought of was 'dreamy' yet the wiki page uses the term "eerie" and the 'junk aquavina' video also sounds quite ominous, though I am not assuredly convinced that either of those are definitive. I'd love to find out more. As it stands I've made a few using bundt pans filled partially with water. I'll include an image of one of them, and will make a video soon to show how mine sounds, but I'm very curious about what you guys know. Have any of you folks ever made any? Played one? Ever heard one? Seen one in person? Does anyone know where I can find any videos of them? Images?
). Just keep playing and you'll see that over time your skills (and the muscles in your fingers) will develop and you'll improve. It might take a while, so be patient and find joy in what you are capable of playing even while you hope one day to be able to play more challenging stuff. About five years ago I realized that my pinky was really weak and near useless. So I developed some exercises and some songs that emphasized the pinky. I worked on that stuff regularly, but it took a long while. About two years later I was playing a tune and realized that my pinky had become just as strong as my other fingers. I now find chording fairly easy and natural, but it was certainly not that way at the beginning.
- I will need the link of your "not listed" youtube video (or soundcloud link) beginning/mid of April at the latest.
Followed by maybe watching a movie in bed. A little slice of humble Heaven.