21! But you only play 7...
It's an Englische Violett - A practically extinct Baroque Bowed Instrument from the early 1700s. Some clips here;
Ironically think the distinction would make someone feel less welcome haha... But I'm male, the photo is of a German player, playing the instrument for me at a performance.
The player is holding my Englische Violett, which is a replica of the Instrument behind her on the far right. The 'inner' 2 of the 4 Instruments are a Baryton and Viola D'amore - A Baryton is a Viola Da Gamba with the back of the neck open - It has extra strings going through the next (as do all the instruments pictured), but the open neck allows you to pluck the strings at the same time;
? I don't really understand your point sorry. The number of strings an instrument can 'tolerate' is to do with the strength of the soundboard (it's thickness, stiffness, size and wood type)... My Instrument doesn't have frets? And frets don't affect how many strings one can place on an Instrument.
Was just a bit confusingly wrote, but thanks for caring. The Instrument I made doesn't have frets (which actually allows chords to be played much more in tune than can be managed on a Guitar for example), but also means learning to play in tune without frets which is a bit of a lifelong project.
