Altai jaw harps.

First of all, few words about Altai jaw harp culture itself, Altai mountains is one of the remote regions of Russia which among few others was able to keep elements of traditional culture despite some historical difficulties such as Christianization. Jaw harp is an instrument inherent to traditional shamanic Altai culture among shamanic drums, some flutes and some other percussion.

There are 3 well known crafters from Altai these are: Potkin brothers- Pavel and Vladimir and Kazancev Andrei. All 3 are making jaw harps of a basic, most accessible level. Which means that these are really cheap and easy to start playing on but have limited possibilities in terms of which techniques you can use, how well jaw harps respond to your articulation and how wide is their sound range. But the quality of craft itself is pretty high: these jaw harps are sturdy and well put together.

So, lets look at what models we currently have in stock.

First one is Pavel Potkin jaw harp, this one stands out with it’s pretty high and melody sound.

Second one is Vladimir Potkin jaw harp, this one is more bass heavy while still having some sound range.

Third one Is Kazancev, is the most quiet with the least range but it has some pretty velvet in it’s low tone.

Going on to the bigger models of Potkin brothers, same story here: Pavel is more melody and high voice and Vladimir has more bass but less range. Bigger models have much longer sustain lower sound and they give stronger vibration while playing.

As an option all of those jaw harps can be ordered with a wooden case.

In conclusion, Altai jaw harps are cheap and easy to get started on, they are way higher quality then many many others making Mozart jaw harps (if you are familiar with them) look really bad. if you are just curious what a jaw harp is and want to try it out or maybe make an exotic present then they will fit your purpose, if you wish to get a more professional loud jaw harp with more possibilities then you should look at some other more expensive models which are present at our web site.

Blog

Altai jaw harps.

Related Products

Altai jaw harp by Pavel Potkin

Altai jaw harp by Vladimir Potkin

"Old man" Altai jaw harp by Pavel Potkin

Altai jaw harp by Kazantsev-Minakov

Large Altai jaw harp by Vladimir Potkin