Puerto Rico
Puerto Ricans

Woods, metal
Commissioned in 2016 by HWMC – maker Pico Periz, Artesano de Puerto Rico  
Length: 34 in; Width: 11.5 in; Depth: 3.5 in
Chordophone – Lute – Plucked

The cuatro is a fretted lute found in South America and the West Indies.  This cuatro araña is a handmade Artisan Cuatro in the antique style – Araña, by Pico Periz Cruz, Artesano de Puerto Rico.  It was commissioned to be made for the Hartenberger World Music Collection in 2016.    The cuatro araña has 10 metal strings (5 double courses) with 19 metal frets. The body of the instrument is caolba/mahogany, while the top is yagrumo wood.  The face is trimmed by the acoustic hole and the edges with detailed furling, and the entire body of the instrument is pear shaped with pointed top corners rather than a rounded top section, as in the traditional cuatro.

The tuning of the cuatro araña is like the Spanish bandurria.