Strings
Some background by Salve Håkedal:
When I made that first hardanger d'amore for Dan, I put on traditional hardangerfiddle strings, gauge 11 with a G-string 11,5 to give better balance to some viola C for the 5th string. Hardangerfiddle strings are thin compared to violin strings, and the thinnest viola C that I could find was Dominant light gauge. This worked OK, but (for players with little previous hardangerfiddle experience,) this can feel rather soft and flimsy.
After Dan did his testing, I started to use what he had picked and put on traditional hardangerfiddle strings only for players who's main instrument I knew was the normal hardangerfiddle.
Hardanger d'amores are relatively light and thin to keep them in the hardangerfiddle tradition with that charateristic sound and feel.. I encouraged the players to experiment with strings, but stick with light gauge, because I was afraid that the instruments would not take too much tension. After 10 years, I've seen that they can probably take medium gauge too; they seem to stand up to aging rather well. But I'd still avoid heavy gauge: hardangerfiddles as well as hardanger d'amores are built for a full and rich sound. Not for maximum decibel!
Sympathetic strings: If you attempt to fit normal hardanger fiddle sympathetic strings to the hardanger d'amore, you will probably struggle to attach them to the two pegs closest to the head. I have made Knut Oppheimsbakken at Valdres Folkemuseum make longer sympathetic strings and I keep them in store. But you won't have to change them often. (Just keep them clean.)
String preferences of all players
(automatically generated from the info on each player's page)
| players | Strings |
|---|---|
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh |
|
Dan Trueman |
|
David Boyden |
|
