Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.09.2008, Page 19

REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 14—2008 | 19
ARTIClE
If you have ever had the pleasure of hearing the drone of a langspil, then you can
count yourself very lucky. It looks like a Jenga box and is an oblong string instru-
ment. Örn Magnússon recently crafted a langspil after discovering his passion for
the instrument a few years back. “I built my first one with my father in law about a
year ago” he explained. “Langspils were first made with driftwood from the beach,
but now they are made from birch or wood from the rowan tree in my garden”
The langspil is unofficially recognised as the Icelandic National Instrument,
but its popularity on the continent dates back to the time of the Renaissance, some-
where between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. In France it is known as
the Epinette Des Osges or in Germany as the Scheitholt. Sources confirm that the
langspil variety arrived in Iceland in the eighteenth century. Upon its arrival, the
langspil was used at rituals and was not seen as a concert instrument. “It was
played in small rooms in houses and sometimes on farms” explains Magnússon. “It
was also played at weddings and other gatherings of joy.” Upon hearing the tone,
it is possible to imagine the langspil as part of a large, upbeat orchestral backing.
Yet, played solo it has a sombre quality that is unlike any other instrument I have
ever heard.
Magnússon started to play the langspil two years ago and was drawn to it by
its unassuming nature: “It is a very simple instrument. It has frets for one string and
the other two are drone strings. Some have five but mine is a simple, old version,”
he explained. The Icelandic way of playing the instrument is with a bow, whereas
in other cultures a plectrum is used, for example Joni Mitchell plucking the Ap-
palachian Dulcimer variety in North America in her folk songs. Current players
include Diddi Fiðla, Chris Foster and Bára Grímsdóttir. Beyond the technical de-
scription, Magnússon compares the sound to a human voice: “It gives a very lonely,
sweet sound. It has a special kind of pain, a little bit like a tender female sound. It
has a melancholy tone and it goes straight to my heart.” The droning quality of the
langspil evokes a unique resonance that is uncomplicated in conveying isolation
and oneness in an elongated tone. “You could say that the drone is always there.
What is the true meaning of the drone? The answer is that things never change, be
it in life or some kind of eternity”.
Alone With a Drone
BY MARcuS wALSH — pHoTo BY gAS
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Exploring the sound of the Langspil