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Topic: How Many of Us Play the Dulcimer ? |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 27 Mar 2013 12:41 pm |
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I'm talking about the Mountain Dulcimer, which originates from the Swedish Hummel, and the Hammer Dulcimer, which goes back in antiquity to the times of the Egyptian empire.
I play both. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 28 Mar 2013 10:19 am
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Come on now. Being fingered from above, the Appalachian Dulcimer is the closest instrument to the lap steel. Both are played across the lap. Don't any of you play the dulcimer ?
Indeed, there are many who claim, and I amongst them, that the lap steel is derived from the dulcimer played with a tone bar. |
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Michael Maddex
From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2013 1:03 pm
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Alan, I would like to help you out here, but I can't. In the early 1970s, when I was in my mid-twenties, I made a lap dulcimer for myself. Shortly thereafter, the wife of a friend of mine played it so sweetly that I gave it to her.
Then I made another one for myself. A co-worker wanted to trade for it to give it to his wife. As I was quite fond of his wife myself, I really couldn't refuse.
Then I made another one for myself. A former neighbor said he heard that I 'was making dulcimers' and could I sell him one for his wife. As I was quite fond of his wife myself, I really couldn't refuse.
I never finished the next dulcimer. I think that the sides are still on the form in a shed. Coming up with the rest of the lumber shouldn't be too hard. Parts is parts. Maybe one of these days ... In the meantime, I can't lay any claims to being a dulcimer player.
BTW, FWIW, 'dulcimer' could be translated as 'pretty little thing'. But you already knew that.
_________________
"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." -- Arthur C. Clarke |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 28 Mar 2013 1:25 pm
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I had a feeling this thread was never destined to run to four pages.....
_________________
Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles, Martins, and a Gibson Super 400!
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 28 Mar 2013 1:52 pm
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Michael: seems to me that you're so successful that you could set up a dulcimer building business. 
Over the last 45 years I've built many dulcimers, no two of which are alike. Few of them have been sold; most are hanging up around my den. Technically, the Mountain Dulcimer is a Board Zither, and it is known throughout Europe under such names as the Scheitholdt, Hummel, Epinette des Vosges, Langleik, etc. |
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Michael Maddex
From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2013 4:29 pm
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
| Michael: seems to me that you're so successful that you could set up a dulcimer building business. ... |
Alan, I'm well past an age where I want to start a business or even get up and go to work for someone else, but I actually thought about it at the time. I was concerned that my local market would be saturated in a matter of months. I suppose that I could have branched out with some lap steels, zithers, autoharps and so on, but that never really crossed my mind at the time. Well, the road not taken and all that.
Oh, and please don't spread that word that I'm successful -- People will want to borrow money. 
_________________
"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." -- Arthur C. Clarke |
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Jerry Tillman
From:
Florida
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Posted 29 Mar 2013 4:47 am Dulcimer
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| I taught someone to play the Dulcimer .His wife bought it as a present for him and bought him some lessons.I didn,t like it much and switched him to the dobro as soon as possible.I find it interesting that Michel uses Dulcimers to meet women. |
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Olaf van Roggen
From:
The Netherlands
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Posted 29 Mar 2013 9:38 am
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...although I don't play the dulcimer,we very often listen to Jean Ritchie and her music, I think I have more than 30 records of Jean.
I got in contact with Jean several years ago and she sent us a signed book...nice topic on this forum. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 29 Mar 2013 9:42 am
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| The dulcimer is one of the easiest instruments to play. Having a diatonic fretboard it's absolutely impossible to play a bad note ...those notes aren't on the fretboard. It does limit you to one major and one minor scale, though, unless you change tunings from time to time. I'm thinking of building a dulcimer with a Hipshot Trilogy unit, which would allow changing of tunings on the fly. I've even thought of putting palm levers or pedals on one. |
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Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 29 Mar 2013 3:51 pm Pedal Zither ?
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I Think A Pedal Zither Would be An Interesting project For You Alan. 
Roger |
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Bill Cunningham
From:
Atlanta, Ga. USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2013 10:18 am
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As an Appalachian native, the dulcimer runs a close second to Deliverance in the stereotypes I wish we could shake. I DON”T LIKE IT. While I’m on this rant, I'm eternally grateful that the Scots evidently had to cast aside their bagpipes as they headed up into the hills and that dreadful sound never “took” in my mountains.  
Fiddles, now that’s TOTALLY different.  ……
Maybe my comment will make it go four pages, Roger.
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Bill Cunningham
Atlanta, GA |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 30 Mar 2013 3:43 pm
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Being brought up in England, I don't think of the Mountain Dulcimer as an American instrument. It was widely known all over Europe and brought over by immigrants originally. I use the term "Dulcimer" in this posting because that's what people nowadays tend to call it, but I myself don't use the term. I prefer to call it a "Hummel". A dulcimer is an instrument without a fretboard that you play with hammers.
I honestly believe that the lap steel originated from the hummel/dulcimer, in fact I've built dulcimers with removable fretboards that can be played as lap steels just by removing the fretboard and using a tone bar. |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 30 Mar 2013 3:49 pm
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| who put the dull in dulcimer? |
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Bo Borland
From:
South Jersey -
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Posted 30 Mar 2013 4:26 pm
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If you want to hear some amazing dulcimer playing ..google Kevin Roth .. an old friend who plays a finger style dulcimer, he also sings and writes beautiful music.
He has recorded over 40 albums. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 3 Sep 2013 10:29 pm
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| I have two CDs of myself playing mediaeval music on various board zithers, citterns, lutes, etc. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 4 Sep 2013 8:58 am
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I used to build them, many years ago. I think my mom still has one, and I'm sure it hasn't been played in 30 years. What got me interested in them was seeing Ken Bloom playing one with a pickup in a rock style at a concert when I was in college. "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" if I recall... I just looked him up and found vids of him playing a bowed dulcimer, which should through another curve into the discussion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FcrXlA8MXQ
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 4 Sep 2013 9:04 am About those Dulcimer(sp?) thingies..............
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I recently discovered a site that has mostly German polka type music in giant beer halls. The performers are truly GREAT! I fell in love with a beautiful young lady named "Jasmine=Melanie" and they have about a dozen videos there, one of which is a tall slender young man playing a 125 string Dulcimer with a bunch of cows marching across the front of it. He plays it with little wooden hammers and the music is truly beautiful. Until now, I had no idea how great they sounded and versatile they are. The Hippy, street-type troubadours I"ve been exposed to are nothing compared to this young fellow on the Jasmine-Melanie show.
She by the way, does a great performance singing
Amore'-Fantastico. Just love that song.
You might enjoy giving it a listen. It's on YOU Tube. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 4 Sep 2013 5:25 pm
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Ray, that's the true dulcimer, nowadays referred to as the Hammered Dulcimer to distinguish it from the Plucked Dulcimer. There's also an orchestral version called the Cimbalom, which is a much bigger instrument with permanent legs like a piano, and a lot of classical music has been written for it.
I've built both hammered and plucked dulcimers. A few years ago I came up with the idea of a dulcimer with octave courses. There would be three of each string, of which the centre string passed through the bridge without touching it, to a second bridge twice the distance away. That would mean that you were playing octave harmonies, but the strings would be of the same gauge as the octave strings, so they would have the same tone. This obviates the problem of having heavier strings for the octaves, which would mean that the hammer would strike the bass string without touching the treble string, unless you sank the bass strings into a groove in the common bridge.
I went as far as having a tubular steel frame welded for it, but I haven't built the instrument yet. Now that I'm retired I shall complete the project. (Along with all the other projects I have lined up.)
The Cimbalom is the ancestor of the piano and other keyboard instruments such as the harpsichord, virginal, and clavichord. Someone back into antiquity came up with an idea of building a keyboard connected to the hammers, and the rest is history. In fact you could play the grand piano with hammers, although it's not designed for it.
There will be some hammered dulcimer music on my next mediaeval CD, which I'm working on, which will be called "Days of Yore."
Last edited by Alan Brookes on 4 Sep 2013 5:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 4 Sep 2013 5:36 pm
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Well, as a matter of fact, I happen to own a Persian-style Santur (trapezoidal-shaped, hammered dulcimer) though I haven't touched it in about 20 years and am not sure it's even tuned correctly... It just sits there, right next to my Guitarron...
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www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 4 Sep 2013 5:39 pm
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| Dust it off, Jim. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 4 Sep 2013 6:06 pm
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Because it will sound better once you've cleaned it and given it a new set of strings.  |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Jeff Metz Jr.
From:
York, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 5 Sep 2013 12:00 am
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This is funny as i just enherited a dulci er two days ago. See my thread in the steel without pedals section...i think:-)
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Mullen G2 SD10 , Lil Izzy Buffer, Goodrich 120 volume pedal, Boss DD-7, Peterson Strobo flip, Peavey Nashville 112 |
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MIchael Bean
From:
North Of Boston
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Posted 5 Sep 2013 4:38 am
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| My wife gave me a dulcimer one Christmas. I immediately wrote and recorded a tune with it. I don't play it that often, but my wife loves its simple soothing sound. |
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