HARDWOOD RECORD 



Mandolin and guitar necks are often of 

 mahogany or rosewood. Fingerboards are 

 ordinarily of ebony or ebonized wood. They 

 are quite commonly inlaid with pearl in both 

 mandolins and guitars, and boards entirely 

 overlaid with pearl are sometimes seen. Pegs 

 are usually of ebony or ivory. 



The guitar is much simpler than the man- 



ehestra parlance as "the woodwinds," are 

 the flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, 

 English horn, etc., the separate characteris- 

 tics of which no one except a person familiar 

 with orchestra work can understand. In- 

 deed, few have any idea what an English 

 horn is, or can distinguish between the oboe 

 and the clarinet. Paradoxical as it may 



BEAUTIFULLY CARVED HARP. 



dolin as regards its construction. Tops are 

 of spruce, while the sides and back may be 

 of rosewood, mahogany, oak — quarter-sawed 

 or plain — and other woods. There is a simi- 

 lar variety in necks and fingerboards. 



The banjo, an instrument that is rapidly 

 losing its popularity, is a kind of "cross" 

 between the guitar and tambourine. A maple 

 cylinder surrounds the drum-head, while the 

 neck and fingerboard are similar to the 

 guitar. 



The wood wind-instruments, known in or- 



seem, the "woodwinds" are occasionally 

 made of metal, but not often. The favored 

 timbers are granadilla and ebony. The 

 former comes from two widely separated 

 countries — Cuba and Mozambique, on the 

 east coast of Africa. It is very hard, dense 

 and impervious to moisture, like ebony, and 

 its only use, so far as can be discovered, is in 

 musical instruments. Other timbers used in 

 those instruments are snake and boxwood. 



That most charming instrument, the harp, 

 is of prehistoric origin, Egyptian frescoes 



more than three thousand years old showing 

 specimens of quite elaborate construction. It 

 is one of the most beautiful as it is one of 

 the most neglected of instruments. None of 

 the others are sold in such .small quantities.' 

 This is largely due to the great cost of a 

 good harp and to the fact that the instru- 

 ment has been superseded by the pianoforte, 

 of which it was the earliest precursor. Its 

 great beauty, however, is recognized by all 

 masters of tone; no large orchestra is com- 

 plete without its two harpists, and the harp 

 soloist is likely to be one of the favored 

 members of the organization, as he is also 

 one of the best paid. According to some au- 

 thorities the harp had its origin in the bow 

 of the primitive warrior, which when drawn 

 would naturally give forth a musical tone, 

 and which roughly resembles the harp in 

 shape— especially the instruments depicted in 

 the old Egyptian frescoes. 



However that may be, the modern harp is 

 not built of yew, lancewood, snakewood or 

 any of the timbers of which bows are made. 

 The woods now used are maple, spruce and 

 red beech, with some use of other varieties 

 merely for ornamental purposes. A power- 

 ful hardwood must be employed ta bear the 

 strain of something like 1,700 pounds, which 

 is exerted by the strings, which explains the 

 choice of maple for the framework. The 

 soundboard, which readers will have little 

 difficulty in recognizing as the flat surface 

 directly beneath the strings, is made of 

 spruce, as in the resonant parts of other in- 

 struments. The center bridge, which runs 

 longitudinally up and down the soundboard 

 and directly supports the strings, is of quar- 

 ter-sawed red beech in the Lyon & Healy 

 harp, which is the chief instrument of its 

 kind made in America and indeed of world- 

 wide reputation for its excellence. This wood 

 is very desirable for the purpose on account 

 of its unusual elasticity— a quality which is 

 indispensable on account of the heavy pull 

 of the strings. 



The curved surface which forms the back- 

 ing of the soundboar-d and is the part near- 

 est the player is made of quartered curly or 

 birdseye maple in good harps. The interior 

 is hollow, frequently with openings in the 

 maple back to let out the sound and facili- 

 tate and modify vibrations — much on the 

 principle of the violin, except that the sound- 

 holes are in the back instead of in the spruce 

 front. The beautiful columnar post that 

 forms the front support is a solid block of 

 maple, often decked with ornaments beauti- 

 fully carved out of thick pieces of mahog- 

 any or the maple itself. 



The finish of harps is frequently white 

 enamel and gold instead of the matured 

 wood. One particularly beautiful harp post 

 in the Lyon & Healy factory was in this style 

 elaborately carved, the capital having as its 

 chief feature a series of niches containing 

 the effigies of praying saints. This factory 

 recently turned out a specially made harp in 

 an original Japanese design, which was min- 

 utely carved and probably represented the top 

 mark of artistic decoration of these instru- 



