[Bergmark playing the Stringed Stirrups]

Photo from video © by Alejandro Vega-Fredes at HDK, Göteborg '95.

The Stringed Stirrups (formerly called the Angel Strings) have (like the butter bass) loose piano strings going through loops on a resonator - the resonator is tied around my chest. I am giving tension to the two strings standing in the lower end stirrups, thus hanging suspended from the ceiling in the strings. It is played with two bows and specially made wooden beaters. Sometimes the longitudinal vibrations of the strings are excited with rosined gloves. It is amplified with a contact microphone.

[Bergmark playing the Stringed Stirrups]

Bergmark playing the Stringed Stirrups in OSLO IMPRO '97, photo © by Gudrun Edel-Rösnes.

Closeup of the Stringed Stirrups]

A closer look at the instrument itself, from Bomuldsfabrikken, Arendal, Norway.

Playing the Stringed Stirrups in Helsinki]

Playing the Stringed Stirrups in Helsinki, Finland.

Playing the Stringed Stirrups in Stavanger]

Playing the Stringed Stirrups in Stavanger, Norway.

Listen to the Stringed Stirrups in Real Audio.


The Stringed Stirrups performed on the festival Högrisk, Malmö, '02, © Johannes Bergmark.

Look at a performance with the Stringed Stirrups in streaming video from the Splintermind web page! At about 8 minutes, something dramatic happens! This is from a Lava, Kulturhuset concert, Stockholm 2001.

From the festival B+PAC in Bandung, Indonesia april 2004; photos © by Arai Shin-ichi, Japan.

The Gallery
Updated the 2nd of September 2008.
http://www.bergmark.org/stirrups.html