The Memling Fidel
A painting on a jewellery case that can be seen in the Memling Museum in Brugges is the basis for this 5-stringed instrument. Neck and finger board are made out of a single piece of cherry wood. The Memling Fidel has the typical extended c-holes and the wide top with just a little taille that is so typicall for all fidels painted by Memling. Gut frets make this instrument suitable as well for beginners as for experienced musicians.
The instrument can be delivered in several tunings. The most common are:
a violin/viola tuning (c - g - d’- a’- e’’)
and a mixed tuning (d - a - d’ - a’- e’’)
a violin/viola tuning (c - g - d’- a’- e’’)
and a mixed tuning (d - a - d’ - a’- e’’)
Especially the second version allows playing melody with a own rhythmic drone accompanying. Or accompanying other musicians or singers with a drone as well. The curvature of the bridge allows melodic single line playing as well.
Besides of the instruments made with the patterns of Bernard Ellis we offer a model based on the “Tryptichon of John Donne” by Hans Memling that can be found in the National Gallery in London, UK. Very special with this painting are the detailed inlays in the top of the 5-stringed fidel. A 6-stringed fidel after the Memling painting in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Germany is in preparation as well.
