At the heart of many of the world’s musical instruments is the same, simple component—a string stretched tight between two points. Plucked, bowed, or struck, each of an instrument’s strings creates ...

Magnets keep strings suspended without anchor points, and pushing a magnet piece bends notes, so you get expressive sounds with simple moves.

Don’t fret. Benjamin Williams can repair that coveted string instrument for you. The gifted luthier, after years working out of his home, has settled in nicely to the Old Town neighborhood of Mankato.

The artifacts represent the earliest-known stringed instruments found in Southeast Asia. A reconstruction of the chordophone, crafted out of deer antler. Photo: Antiquity (2023). DOI: ...