Our Niibori Orchestra
Our niibori orchestra sits within our classical guitar ensemble, with a much wider range of sound. The humble orchestra is made up for six different pitched classical guitar, namely alto cembalo, prime, bass, alto, contrabass and guitarron.
Our New Milestone
The Toa Payoh Guitar Club first bought our range of Niibori instruments in 2006. On 16 September 2006, TPGC marked a new milestone in our history with the arrival of the new “Niibori” styled guitars. These “Niibori”-styled guitars have transformed our guitar ensemble to a Guitar Orchestra.
A “Welcome “Niibori”-styled Guitar Orchestra” ceremony was held on 16 September 2006, to celebrate the arrival of these guitars. In addition to being the Patron of the club, Mr Alex has also kindly agreed to be the resident conductor of our Guitar Orchestra and train our members on the new instruments. The club also enhanced the percussion capabilities by purchasing a conga and Cajun.
A lot of members have contributed to the success purchase of the “niibori “guitars. In 2008, Club has presented Adai Adai/Nain dong and H.M. Blues at the ASEAN Serenade 5th July 2008. Club was the oldest and only non-educational institution guitar club in Singapore then and remains to keep the unique values.
Our Instruments
- Alto Cembalo guitar
- 01 * Alto Cembalo
- Usually in charge of the ornaments in the melody
- Guitar string are made of nylon. However, the strings of the Cembalo guitar are made of steel. The Alto-Cembalo is played with needles that are attached o the guitarist’s right hand fingers.
- 01 * Alto Cembalo
- Prime Guitar
- In classical pieces, prime guitar acts as the connecting bridge between the Alto-Guitar and the Bass Guitar. The tone produced by this guitar is gentle and it is the most popular type of Classical Guitar.
- Bass Guitar
- 04 * Bass Guitar
- The guitar is an octave lower than the Alto Guitar, hence it is able to create deep and gentle notes. It is primarily played with the right thumb.
- 04 * Bass Guitar
- Alto Guitar
- 12 * Alto Guitar (split into Alto 1 and Alto 2)
- The alto guitar is a little smaller than the Prime Guitar. The curve in the body is made deeper so that it can portray higher notes.
- Alto 1 is usually in charge of the Melody while the Alto 2 is on Harmony.
- 12 * Alto Guitar (split into Alto 1 and Alto 2)
- Contrabass and Guitarron
- 01 * Contrabass and 02 * Guitarron
- These are responsible for the lowest sound range. Are known to produce solemn reverberations.
- 01 * Contrabass and 02 * Guitarron
- One day we might have these:-
- Prime Cembalo Guitar
- Soprano Guitar