Also called płock, płocka or fidel płocka, a box-shaped six-string traditional Polish folk violin, without fingerboard or tailpiece, played vertically resting on the knee, and pairs of strings doubling pitch to bring a rich, resonant sound. Made of one piece of wood, usually birch or alder, its origins are thought to be from the 16th century, and has unusually unequal length legs. It was revived by modern player Maria Pomianowska, who demonstrates its sound here:
In 1993 ethnomusicologist Ewy Dahlig and Warsaw violin maker Andrzej Kuczkowski, commissioned Maria Pomianowska to make the first modern copy of the instrument, reviving a tradition of the so-called fingernail technique.
Also acknowledging Pomianowska, multi-instrumentalist Markus Wach plays some simpler but also beautiful melodies on a replica made by Thomas Petersen.
Similar knee fiddle instruments include the suka and gadulka, but the plock is also regularly used in repertoire of Polish folk band Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa:
So then, any more to share in relation to the plock, in music or wider culture? Feel free to suggest examples, or even from film, art, or other contexts in comments below.
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