In MMD 000307 Philippe Rouille asked for details on how to tune a
Triola.  Kevin McElhone has asked several times for roll listings for
various instruments, including the Triola.  These notes attempt to
answer both requests, and to provide some general information about
the instrument.


The Triola is basically a conventional 6-chord zither fitted with a
roll-playing mechanism.  There is a full-page illustration on page 356
of "Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments" by Q. David Bowers.

A 6-chord zither has two full chromatic octaves of melody strings
(25 notes, C60 to C84), and six pre-set 4-note chords in the bass.
Starting from the left (the long end), the notes for each chord are:

Chord 6: Emaj: E64, B, G#, E
      5: Amaj: E64, A, C#61, A
      4: Dmaj: D62, A, F#, D
      3: Fmaj: F65, C, A, F
      2: Gmaj: D62, B, G, G
      1: Cmaj: E64, C, G, C

These are arranged left-to-right in descending order (except for the
third string of chord 5), but are actually played right-to-left.  The
fourth (right-most) note in each chord is a heavy wound string which
serves to locate the chord when playing.

At the most basic level, playing the chord zither involves plucking the
melody notes with the right hand and strumming the appropriate bass
chords with the left.  A tune sheet can be slipped under the strings to
show the pattern of the melody and the numbers for the bass chords.

The Triola is about an inch taller than the typical 6-chord zither (the
bass strings are 17-3/8" between bridges), and has only one string per
note in the melody (instead of the normal two).

The playing mechanism operates only on the melody strings.  25 plucking
fingers (actually small springs) are suspended above the strings, and
are continuously vibrated side-to-side by a cam-and-roller mechanism as
the handle is turned.  The perforations in the roll allow the fingers
to drop down to engage with the strings.  The vibration of the fingers
means that the melody plays with a continuous mandolin or tremolo
effect.

The Triola operator still has to play the bass chords with the left
hand, according to the numbers and timing marked on the roll.  With his
third hand, the operator works a lever to control the depth of the
plucking mechanism, to act as a volume control.

Triola rolls are 150 mm (5-7/8") wide, on heavy brown paper about
0.005" thick.  The perforations are continuous slots with semi-circular
ends.  The slots are 4 mm wide (about 5/32") on 5 mm centres.  (See the
illustration in Bowers).  The rolls are wound on wooden spools with
thin sheet-metal ends 42 mm (about 1-11/16") diam.  They are easily
identified by the word TRIOLA (one word) usually embossed on each end
of the spool, or by the chord numbers (1 to 6) printed along the edge
of the roll.

John Wolff
Melbourne, Australia

 [ Mike Knudsen wrote in MMD 970623: "Most unusual was a Triola zither,
 [ made by Knapp in Dresden, where you crank the reiterating melody roll
 [ with the right hand while strumming accompaniment chords manually
 [ with your left thumb.  Probably easier to play than the Tanzbar
 [ concertina, which I proved to myself requires considerable practice
 [ to master!"  See http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/KWIC/T/triola.html
 [
 [ The list of music rolls for the Triola provided by John appears
 [ in a separate article.   -- Robbie