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From the Spring 2003 NWF
Kanteles
In the Forest of Dean
An Interview with
Michael King,
British Kantele Maker
by Lani K. Thompson
In the Forest of Dean, England, there’s an old Norman hunting
lodge built by William, Duke of Normandy, as a place to keep his hounds
when he came to hunt the hart.
That hunting lodge, one of the oldest buildings in the forest, is
now part of a complex called Harts Barn Craft Centre, where a number
of British artisans and craftsmen have their shops.
I drove there, one day this winter, to interview the kantele maker,
Michael King, whom I’d met through my online kantele group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kanteleplayers/).
Michael makes some of the most beautiful kanteles I’ve ever seen.
They have lovely, delicate lines, beautiful inlays, and sound as good
as they look!
Lani: England is not generally associated with kantele playing, so
I wonder where and how you first heard this instrument?
Michael: I first heard the sound of a kantele on Microsoft’s
Musical Instruments Multimedia CD ROM (1992). I have long been interested
in ancient musical instruments. I am especially interested in the
instruments of the Nordic countries as instruments have survived there
that have long passed away in Britain. The Anglo-Saxon equivalent
of the kantele is the lyre. I made a lyre 12 years ago which has six
strings, but I never found a way to play it. My curiosity in the kantele
was aroused reading about the traditional uses of the five string
in old Runic songs and the Kalevala. I thought I could learn and apply
the techniques to the lyre. As it turns out, the Germanic lyre is
tuned to the same basic scale. It’s interesting that it also
occupied a similar place in myth and legend as the Finnish kantele.
Lani: What do you mean – the German lyre occupies a similar place
in myth and legend as the Finnish kantele?
Michael: The lyre of the Germanic peoples (Angles - Saxons, Germans,
Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, etc.) was the instrument for accompanying
the spoken/sung stories of their cultures up to the 10th century.
In England, this Anglo-Saxon culture flourished until the coming of
the Normans and afterwards survives only in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,
and the sagas of Beowulf and Widsith. I was making a connection between
the Kalevala and Beowulf, which was originally played to the lyre:
Beowulf as the embodiment of Saxon myth and the Kalevala as the embodiment
of Finnish/Baltic myth.
Lani: What draws you to the kantele?
 Michael:
The instrument has a touch of otherworldliness - the point where music
and the spiritual begin to blur. What I find exciting about the five
string is not so much the music you can make with five strings as
much as the music that appears beyond those five strings...the magical
music that comes of its own will, the gift? Since I play this instrument
extemporaneously, this and the meditative quality are big attractions.
Lani: Music that appears beyond the five strings...magical music that
comes of its own will? You sound as if you’re describing what
happened to me when I wrote my first kantele song! Can you expand
on this?
Michael: I am an Ex-Highland piper, and in the Classical bagpipe music
- Pibroch - you have a tune with variations, actually quite a common
Baroque format. The interesting thing is that the theme tune itself
is never played — only alluded to. For me, this holds a great
fascination and the music is most mesmerising — the stuff of
magic! From a scientific viewpoint, when our brainwaves move into
the alpha range...we experience and do things that seem not of ourselves.
Sometimes we experience greater connectedness or peace or clarity
of thought, and it’s in this form of meditation - through focus
or action - that great leaps of progress can occur.
The kantele acts as a kind of mediator between the music of the spheres
and the human mind. Five notes in themselves do not make music, and
I find at the start of a playing session I have nothing to play. Then,
gradually, as I settle down and am no longer thinking about my hands
or the kantele, I begin to play more intuitively. I believe the kantele
allows you to unlock the creative part of your subconscious. The tunes
you receive are magical, and they come to you from your subconscious
self.
Lani: It’s said that the best way to learn to play the kantele
is from a teacher. How does a lone kantele player discover his instrument
without a teacher?
Michael: I think without a teacher you waste a lot of time re-inventing
how to play! A good tutor book helps a lot. I started with the Finnish
Cassette for the 5 string. Maybe someone will produce a DVD tutor
for these instruments in the future.
Lani: How did you learn how to make kanteles?
Michael: I started with the set of nine drawings that are available
and the teaching tape and tutor for 5 strings to make my first instrument
carved from solid poplar. I then developed my own construction techniques
to make them out of thin pieces of wood. My greatest debt is owed
to Gerry Henkel at www.kantele.com who provides the most valuable
online resource in the English language!
Lani: What’s special about your instruments?
Michael: I like to think that I am making unique artifacts that are
unusual as well as being functional objects. None are exactly the
same, the design is gradually evolving. I originally wanted to have
my soundholes on the back, but customers seem to like them on the
front. I am not totally convinced either way is the only way, as both
work. I use slightly thicker strings on my five strings which seem
to work well with the key of D and the hardwood framework. The same
instrument with .35 mm strings is less full in tone.
Lani: Is there anything specific you’d like to learn about kanteles?
Michael: I want to find out about what players want in an instrument,
string distance, etc. I am looking to make an electric/acoustic version
of the ten string for stage use.
Lani: How does the wood you use affect the sound of the instrument?
Michael: That’s a difficult question since it’s very subjective.
I prefer my sycamore/maple instruments but customers tend to prefer
the darker wooded instruments in walnut and cedar which are more mellow.
Lani: What advice would you give those who want to attempt to make
their own kanteles?
Michael: Find out what music you want to play first, then do your
research! The plans available for sale, photos on the Internet, and
the ancient/Lithuanian Latvian drawings online give good perimeters
for design. There are ways to build them at every level, from frame-like
fishbone options through to board, dugout and constructed versions.
Zither pins are readily available for tuning. I may at some pont do
some drawings myself of my instruments.
Lani: What are your goals as a kantele maker? As a kantele player?
Michael: As a player to learn to improve my playing on the ten string
and build up a repertoire of enchanting music drawn from Celtic and
Nordic music. As a maker, to continue to develop and improve and make
instruments that people can express themselves with.
Lani: What potential does the kantele have for you and what are its
limits?
Michael: They fill the void left between more complicated orchestral
instruments and the electonic synthesised. They enable people to connect
with their creative subconscious. Music has always had no boundary
line, but with the shrinking world and the Internet, who knows how
traditional music will evolve? As a bagpipe player, I appreciate how
having a limited range actually helps in creating tunes and music.
Lani: Do you envision kanteles being utilised or played in any specific
way?
Michael: I think of the five string kanteles as personal music therapy,
but they are great instruments for children and older adults. The
ten strings have more potential, but most of the instruments I have
made have been for musicians, some of whom are going to be recording
early and modern music with them.
Lani: What do pepole say when they see your kanteles?
Michael: They are either drawn by the attractive sound or shape. their
first question is “What is that?” I explain that it is a
lap harp/zither from Finland called a “kantele”. Alas, the
English are not terribly good at foreign sounding words. I sometimes
anglicize kantele to sound as “can - te - la”. I think the
name kantele...is a bit of a barrier. Other makers have been making
kantele inspired instruments and calling them Nordic lyres or simply
zithers. People generally take to it quite quickly. I show them the
sound it makes plucking and I teach them a few chords.
Lani: Why do you want to promote kanteles in England and how are you
doing this?
Michael: I think they have a very interesting tonal colour that is
more ethereal than the wire strung harp, and more accessible. I foresee
most interest in the ten string in folk/celtic circles. I will be
advertising locally and nationally and be building up an online playing
guide with musical examples.
Lani: How can people contact you if they’re interested in your
kanteles?
Michael: I have a website which has my contact detail at www.michaeljking.com.
About the Author: Lani K. Thompson is the author
of Compleat Chords for the Kantele which includes 420 chords for five
and ten string instruments in the diatonic and pentatonic scales -
along with 24 original songs. You can download her first song, In
the Forest, as a free mp3 file (along with seven other tunes) when
you visit her online at
<www.kantelemusic.com>. She is currently working on a book of
songs inspired by the Kalevala.
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