How to build a Monochord - DIY ancient musical instrument

If you always wanted to know how to build your own Monochord (an ancient Greek musical and scientific instrument) this is the video for you! I build it only using manual tools and I also talk about it's history and how to use it to enhance your understanding of musical harmony. I had a lot of fun shooting and editing it and I hope you will enjoy it too!

[@joedude9954]

Never thought a video about making an instrument could be so relaxing . Beautiful video.

[@becketthor6478]

Fun fact: you can play different notes quickly by pressing on the side of the string you aren't playing with your hand

[@anna_thema3732]

nice pfp, boomer garfield 😂

[@johnsaucerhunter]

OK.. Have no idea how I ended up here to watch your video... But I'm extremely happy I did. And because of your creativeness and DIYing up a monochord, I have no decided that this will be my next project. SO Thank You!

[@katsirtal]

So lovely to hear! Thanks John!

[@VT-tz5bm]

This is so wholesome and made me happy, thank you.

[@johandypablofrias3453]

Thank you very much. Happy to build one soon :) and yes you are lovely enjoyed you’re magical presence.

[@katsirtal]

So happy you will be building one Johandy and thank you :)

[@Hellgirlownz]

Thank you for making this video! Greetings from Greece!

[@katsirtal]

Thank you Tessera! Love from California

[@khazmology]

Thank you for making this video. I've been wondering for a year or so now how to make something like this.

[@katsirtal]

Thank you! you should totally make one yourself :)

[@rostandhoundji6733]

Incroyable ! Merci beaucoup

[@AlexA-eg7gz]

It was very a wholesome experience simply watching how you were making monochord. Actually, I was looking for something different to make, but I don't regret KZbin recommended me your channel. It seems you're a good singer as well. You performance of Ave Maria was really cool! Gonna be your 500th subscriber.

[@ricardskaupuzs4792]

Very relaxing video!

[@katsirtal]

Thanks Richard!

[@amedeomaniglia8272]

Beautiful🤗❤️🎶

[@johnsshed995]

I am verry impressed by your amazing hacksaw skills ;-)

[@andreyshchempik]

Awesome!!!!! ❤❤❤❤❤

[@rodneysmart9774]

Good stuff, well done. The beard was a nice touch.

[@soundliving2985]

This looks so easy to do. I am motivated.

[@katsirtal]

Absolutely!

[@ashliesmith9312]

Beautiful video!

[@katsirtal]

Thanks so much Ashlie!

[@ckblackwoodmusic]

So well-done and so soothing from the finest singer!

[@katsirtal]

What a heart melting comment! thank you!

[@ckblackwoodmusic]

@@katsirtal Least I could type! ;) Thank YOU! So glad I could make you feel nice; it means the world.

[@katsirtal]

@@ckblackwoodmusic thank you!!!

[@MartinFaulks]

I love this video.

[@mouse_eater]

This video is lovely, I didn't even need the tutorial, but I couldn't help but watch the whole thing

[@katsirtal]

What a lovely comment :) thank you!

[@fun_curious]

Amazing...

[@katsirtal]

Thank you Qadir!

[@AllBeingsAreLoveAmen]

you are lovely:) i love your arms:) the angel singing when you're on the pillars is wonderful:) amen

[@michaeljaguardumdum]

This is so great! I have been looking for a simple way to make one of these for long-ish time and your video has helped me get off the couch and just head to the hardware store to get what I need! One thing I can't help pointing out about the overtone idea is that the stuff that Pythagoras figured out (and that is in this video) ends up being almost the same exact idea as the overtone series, and producing almost the exact same notes, but the fact that these were overtones wasn't quite understood until the experiments of Mersenne and a few others in the seventeenth century (over 2,000 years after Pythagoras). I'm only geeking out on this cool fact because I just read through a really great dissertation on this (by Burdette Green) which addresses the question of why it took music theorists in Europe so LONG to discover that these same notes were ALSO present as overtones in the resonance of an undivided string (without the piece of forest wood dividing it up). There's a cool moment where Mersenne is baffled and says that the only way his data could make sense is if a single string is vibrating in all of these subdivided parts simultaneously, which he is certain could NOT be the case. But that turns out to be exactly what is happening! Which your video hints at so beautifully. Thanks for your brilliant work! I will definitely be sharing this video with my students.

[@katsirtal]

Wow David thank you so much for this awesome comment! Hopefully your comment will help me get off the couch and read Green's dissertation and more about Mersenne's experiments! thank you for sharing your knowledge and for sharing this video with your students - totally made my day :)

[@michaeljaguardumdum]

@@katsirtal That's so cool! I was doing a little wandering around in my back yard this morning and my eyes settled on a piece of wood that I recognized was going to be the central piece of my monochord (thanks to your vid). In the event that you REALLY like reading dissertations, I came upon another one earlier this year that has been rocking my world (or let's just say "tuning it to the heavens"): Anthony Peter Westbrook (2001), "The Divine Vina and the World Monochord: Musical Cosmology from the Rg Veda to Robert Fludd." He has not only an entire chapter on Pythagoras, but one before that on the historical Orpheus and how the orphic tradition fed into the Pythagorean tradition... and then two distinct chapters on Plato's world soul concept in the Timaeus and in the Myth of Er. Super inspiring read, which is what led me to the Green dissertation when I realized I wanted to learn more about the history of discovery of the harmonic series.

[@katsirtal]

@@michaeljaguardumdum Wow sounds fascinating! I've heard about the Orphic tradition but don't know too much about it. Thank you!! yes, finding the bridge hiding in the wood was one of my favorite parts as well :) a note from experience - you might want to consider adding to your eye bolt a 'wing nut'. It will be more stable and easier to control the tuning/stretching of the string. Would love to see the end product ;)

[@michaeljaguardumdum]

@@katsirtal Ahh... the wing nut. I saw this note from you, and I bought one, but I didn't know where/how to put it on. Now I get it. But it's a little late, at least for the video response I made, inspired by your request to see the end product. Will send you a link once it's done rendering and posted...

[@Raku777]

Thanks for sharing this. I like the elegant simplicity of your monochord. It makes me believe I can make my own and make it sound good. I am tempted to make a duochord of two strings side by side, so that I can set them to form a D and A harmonic fifth. Do I gather correctly that if you set the wedge just right, the two sides of the string split by the wedge will also play a harmonic fifth? Blessings.

[@katsirtal]

Thank you so much Raku! A duochord sounds very cool :) so yes, if you place the wedge at 2/5 of the full length, such that the lengths of the two parts of the string have a ratio of 2:3, you should be able to get a prefect fifth. Looking forward to your duochord video! Cheers

[@matiasmalagoli9440]

Very cool video , btw i think i love you

[@katsirtal]

Thank you Matias!

[@malioz7024]

thank you so much i did my school homework thanks to you and i got 100 thanks again :D

[@katsirtal]

Wow I'm SO happy to hear that!

[@katsirtal]

Thanks again to my camera man :)

[@blahblahwhat]

it is I the camera man!

[@friedfish69]

The beard was funny, but syncronizing the beard with "Pythagoras" made it twice as funny. Great editing.

[@katsirtal]

Thank you!

[@jonasblaupa5812]

love you

[@mannyprescod5484]

Coming from Barbados this is wonderful

[@katsirtal]

Thank you Manny!

[@mannyprescod5484]

@@katsirtal most welcome

[@annaserrano947]

cuales son las medidas de la plaancha más grande?

[@kalahweber5641]

Hey, I was wondering do you have any specific dimensions you used for the wood pieces?

[@katsirtal]

Hi Kalah, thanks for your question! I will ask my student to measure it (I gave it to him as a present) but until then, I believe the old shelf I was using for the 'body' of the monochord was something around 35x7 cm.

[@hifijohn]

a hacksaw for cutting wood??

[@dannysowers4698]

Tooltip when you use the eye bolt you can actually take the screwdriver put it in through the eye and twist with the screw driver

[@katsirtal]

Thanks Danny!

[@tikitak9132]

You're really amazing. Modern Pythagoras! I have a question. At 5:37, is the ratio of strings 4/5 in fractions? Is it right to divide the strings into five and play the bridge at the point of four? Does this make the sound of the name E(mi)?

[@katsirtal]

Thank you so much! so happy you like the video, and yes you are absolutely right! if you divide the string in 5 and place the bridge at 4/5 (and pluck the shorter part) you will hear a major 3rd above your fundamental (open string). So if the fundamental is C(do) you will get E(mi) :)

[@MalucoLapin]

@@katsirtal err... no. If the fondamental is the open string, Then, with the bridge at the half of the string, you'll play the octave. (C6-C5) Here, putting the bridge at 4/5 of the string, you'll play higher than the octave, so it can't be the 3d above the fundamental.

[@katsirtal]

@@MalucoLapin thanks! Of course that if let's say the fundamental is C3 at 4/5 we are going to have E5. I was referring to the note not the actual interval but you are right so thank you for the clarification!

[@briangreenfield2850]

Is this an E String that you are using?

[@katsirtal]

Yes

[@jollyroger7624]

There really is a better world out there.

[@mrpoing8977]

Put the screw driver in the eye bolt as a handle , easier to get in 👍

[@pianopourtous9345]

Hello, thank you for this video really interesting 😍, I will try when I have time. I am currently doing a video related to the "quinte du loup" (don't know how to translate) and I want to know if it should be possible to take an extract of your video (between 04:58 and 05:40) to illustrate my explanations, I would of course add you to the credits. Let me know if you are ok, hoping you will see my message :)

[@katsirtal]

Absolutely! And thanks so much :)

[@pianopourtous9345]

@@katsirtal Thanks to you 🤗. So quick answer 🤩.

[@RAMAKAVYA]

you are so nice...:)

[@cj1614]

You are a lovely person as well as pretty. I like how different you are and comfortable expressing yourself. I hope you never get bored in life. You seem magical and very pleasant :)

[@katsirtal]

Thank you C J for your words

[@reashatgalib5758]

So nerdy that my nerd geeks

[@EvilgeSupreme]

No cute gf in the woods making beautiful instruments, why live

[@bldbandit5563]

L+Ratio

[@StopFear]

“Ancient instrument” also stands for “easiest” primitive instrumentx