Dictionary:
dul·ci·mer (dŭl'sə-mər)  |
[Alteration (influenced by Latin dulcis, sweet) of Middle English doucemer, from Old French doulcemer, doulcemele, probably from Latin dulce melos, sweet song : dulce, neuter of dulcis, sweet + melos, song (from Greek melos).]
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Sidebar: The hammered dulcimer produces a sweet sound. In fact, the word dulcimer is derived from the Greek meaning sweet (dulce) and song (menos). While the Greeks or Persians may have invented it nearly 1,000 years ago, Europeans were likely introduced to the dulcimer during the Crusades. It soon became a favorite at royal court, but musicians complained about the lack of dynamic range of the instrument. The dulcimer's stringed keyboard eventually led to the development of the pianoforte, which did offer a dynamic range, ultimately eclipsing the dulcimer in popularity. While the dulcimer was no longer a court instrument, it remained a great favorite with street musicians, gypsies, and other plain folk. This trapezoidal-shaped hammered dulcimer was lovingly made at the rurn-of-the-century, Red with gold-painted scrolls and varnished trim, it is proudly emblazed with "Henry Bryant-Maker-Wolfeboro NH 1898." While we don't know much about Henry Bryant, we suspect that he may have been a dulcimer player who typically found it difficult to acquire dulcimers and had to resort to constructing his own instruments. Happily, the sweet song of the hammered dulcimer was rediscovered in the early twentieth century with the revival of early American folk music and interest swelled again in the 1960s. Today, hammered dulcimers are available readily and there is a burgeoning fascination with its soothing sound. Nancy EV Bryk |
Background
The origin of the dulcimer is as elusive as its haunting sound. Two types of instrument stake claim to the name—both have different shapes, different methods of being played, and diverse origins. The fretted dulcimer resembles an elongated violin with a limited number of strings (usually three to five) that can be plucked or bowed. In the United States, the fretted dulcimer is better known as the Appalachian or Mountain dulcimer.
The hammered dulcimer is rectangular or trapezoidal in shape and has sets of multiple strings with a range of up to three octaves. The instrument is played with two light-weight beaters called hammers that are shaped like long-handled spoons and are used to strike the strings.
History
The history of both dulcimers is confused because they were developed to play folk music and sprang up independently in a number of locations in Europe and the Middle East. It is not known how or if varieties of dulcimers crossed cultural or topographic barriers.
The hammered dulcimer is considered a member of the zither family and may have origins in Iran as the citar or santir, an instrument used to produce the ancient classical music of Persia. The spice and silk trades that criscrossed the Middle East during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance may have been responsible for the instrument's presence in Spain by the twelfth century and its appearance in China. In China, it is called the yangqin, yang ch 'in, or foreign zither.
The French version of the hammered zither was called the tympanon, and it's strings were struck with leather-covered hammers. The instrument experienced great popularity from about 1697-1770 due to an inventor named Pantaleon Hebestreit, who constructed a version with 186 strings and named it a pantaleon. The instrument appeared to fade in popularity with the rise of the piano.
By unknown paths of immigration, hammered dulcimers arrived in the United States. The instrument was sufficiently popular to have been carried by both the Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck catalogues in the 1800s and early 1900s. The hammered dulcimer was also reportedly the favorite instrument of Henry Ford and enjoyed a mild revival thanks to his admirers. The harpsichord and pianoforte (or piano) are hammered dulcimers to which keyboards have been attached.
The Appalachian dulcimer or dulcimore is generally hourglass-shaped with three to five strings and frets (low ridges against which the strings are pressed). Its strings are plucked with the fingers, a pick, or a quill, and the player's left hand holds a stick or plectrum on the strings as a stop. Nordic settlers claim to have brought the dulcimer to the New World. The Swedes brought their version called a humle, Icelanders imported the langspil, and Norwegian immigrants brought the langleik. The Germans and Dutch had developed two instruments, the scheitholt and the hummel, which became the folk instrument of Pennsylvania where so many Germans settled. To this mix of variants, the French added their Epinette des Vosges, which is less box-like and more similar in shape to a violin.
Many of the Scotch-Irish who left Ireland in the early 1700s settled first in Pennsylvania before following the frontiersmen to the Appalachian mountains and along the Ohio River. While in Pennsylvania, they may well have heard the scheitholt or humle played by the Pennsylvania Dutch. The German instruments were elongated boxes with frets and a limited number of strings; these either merged with British versions or were developed by the Scotch-Irish settlers to form the hourglass-shaped instrument now known as the Appalachian dulcimer.
Design
As the history of the dulcimer suggests, almost anything goes in selecting the shape of an Appalachian dulcimer. The size and depth of the soundbox must be chosen for the desired sound of the instrument. The deeper and larger boxes produce both louder and lower tones. Perhaps the most eye-catching and apparently ornamental feature of the dulcimer is the sound holes. Some of these are both beautiful and elaborate. The actual shape of the hole does not affect the sound, but the length of slots or elongated holes is important. Like the f holes in a violin, they free longer pieces of the sound-board from the constraining effects of the rigid sides so that the soundboard vibrates more responsively to the strings.
Design of a dulcimer begins with making a pattern and selecting the size of the instrument. Size is determined from the outside in. Strings are available from manufacturers in standard lengths between 25-30 in (63.5-76.2 cm). The soundbar is as long as the strings, but because it is fixed to the sound-box with a nut several inches down from the top of the solid end of the box, the soundbox must be longer than the soundboard. The soundbox is usually 6-8 in (15.2-20.3 cm) wide and up to 2 in (5.08 cm) deep. The maximum measurements have proven to produce the best sound character, including loudness and timbre, or quality of sound.
After the basic dimensions are chosen, a pattern is made on paper or cardboard. One half of the dulcimer is outlined on the paper, which is folded on the axis and cut to produce the mirror image. A form will be made to shape the upper and lower curves of the dulcimer, so before the pattern is cut, a partial pattern is made of this shape so that top and bottom match.
Raw Matericals
Many types of fine wood can be used to make a dulcimer. The outer wood forms the finish and should be selected for its beauty and grain, while the inner wood (usually oak) does not have to be attractive, although the material must respond to steam used to soften and shape the sides. The outer or finish wood used for the soundboard may be walnut, spruce, pine, or yellow poplar and should produce a bright sound due to the presence of hard and soft streaks in the wood. Such striations will give the finished dulcimer visual as well as aural beauty. The body of the dulcimer is usually made of harder wood like cherry, black walnut, or mahogany. The tuning pegs are Brazilian rosewood, although old dulcimers have ebony, rosewood, metal, or crude wooden pegs.
Frets on old dulcimers were also made of a variety of materials including silver, steel, brass, staghorn, ivory, bone, and various woods. Today, commercially-made fretting material is manufactured by specialists in a tee-shaped cross section that is convenient to fit to an instrument. These frets are made of nickel silver or brass. Also made by specialty manufacturers, dulcimer strings are standard, using the same strings as are manufactured for 12-string guitars.
The Manufacturing
Process
Master jig assembly
Sides and internal bracing
Tuning head and pegs
Soundboard and soundbar
Soundbox and strings
Finishing
Quality Control
As with all handmade products, quality control is in the hands of the maker. The end result of the dulcimer maker's craftsmanship is considered from the conception of the instrument forward, and many careful hours are spent in achieving a final product that is as beautiful as intended. Quality control may also be in the ear of the beholder; the craftsman's care will be evident in the sound the instrument produces.
The Future
Renewed interest in folk music has awakened the interest of hobbyists and musicians in dulcimers. The instrument is easier to play than more sophisticated instruments that require long hours of training and practice. Dulcimer-making kits are available from a number of suppliers.
Where to Learn More
Books
Alvey, R. Gerald. Dulcimer Maker: The Craft of Homer Ledford. The University Press of Kentucky, 1984.
Hines, Chet. How to Make and Play the Dulcimore. Stackpole Books, 1973.
Murphy, Michael. The Appalachian Dulcimer Book. St. Clairsville, Ohio: Folksay Press, 1980.
Ritchie, Jean. The Dulcimer Book. New York: Oak Publications, 1974.
Other
Charlie Alm's Hammered Dulcimer Book. www.dcwi.com/dulcimer.
The Dulcimer Factory. www.Instar.com/mallldulcimer/dulcfac2.htm.
The Dulcimer Shop. www.databahn.net/dulcimer.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Hammered Dulcimer. www.dulcimer.com/faq.html.
Hammered Dulcimer Page. www.rtpnet.org/-hdweb/.
Handcrafted Cimbaloms. www.cimbalom.com.
Joe Zsigray's Mountain Dulcimer Page. www.wcnet.org/-jrz100/mountain-d/.
Mike's Hammered Dulcimer. www.halcyon.com/riston/home/dulcimer.htm.
[Article by: Gillian S. Holmes]
| Music Encyclopedia: Dulcimer |
A string instrument of the box zither family, without keyboard. It often has a trapeziform box. Its strings, commonly two to six for each course, are unfretted; the courses are usually in intersecting horizontal planes. The player may hit the strings with hammers or pluck them with the fingers or a plectrum. The instrument has been used in Western popular, folk and art music; it is widespread in eastern Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, India, Korea and China and especially Iran.
The body is almost always a box, commonly c 1 m along the bottom side. Small instruments c 60 cmlong were made in Flanders in the 17th century and England in the 19th, and larger ones c 130 cmlong are known in England, the USA and Alpine areas. The concert cimbalom is even larger, c 160 cmlong. Bridges are of wood, usually with a wire rod in the top. Hammers may have hard or soft heads; steel piano wire is used for the strings.
The instrument was introduced to western Europe in the 15th century, possibly from Byzantium. The medieval psaltery is usually held flat against the body, the player looking out and away from the instrument. More detail is known about the Baroque dulcimer; surviving instruments have 18 to 25 courses. Dulcimers were played in Bohemia, England (Pepys mentioned it in 1662 as accompanying puppet shows) and Spain and became more widespread in Italy. Mersenne (1663-7) illustrated a double-course instrument with notes on only one side of a single bridge. In 1704 Pantaleon Hebenstreit brought a large version to Louis XIV, who is said to have decreed that it should be called ‘pantaleon’. 18th-century instruments could have as many as five bridges and seven or eight strings to a course. The repertory includes Scottish and Irish dances.
The concert cimbalom was accorded orchestral status by Liszt, in the revised version of his Ungarischer Sturmmarsch (1876) and his Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody. The instrument's association with Hungarian gypsy music was exploited by Kodály (Háry János, 1926) and Bartók (Violin Rhapsody no.1, 1928). Stravinsky used it in Reynard (1915-16) and Ragtime (1918).
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Joey's grandfather played the dulcimer for the fifth-grade American Folk Music Appreciation Day performance.
Tutor's tip: This was the final winning word in the 1949 National Spelling Bee.
| Wikipedia: Appalachian dulcimer |
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| Other names | Mountain duclimer |
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The Appalachian dulcimer (or mountain dulcimer) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.
Contents |
Although the Appalachian dulcimer appeared in regions dominated by Irish and Scottish settlement, the instrument has no known precedent in Ireland or Scotland. However, several diatonic fretted zithers exist in Continental Europe, which bear a strong similarity to the dulcimer. Jean Ritchie (The Dulcimer Book, 1974) and others have speculated that the Appalachian dulcimer is related to similar European instruments like the langeleik, scheitholt, and epinette des Vosges.
A traditional way to play the instrument is to lay it flat on the lap and pluck or strum the strings with one hand, while fretting with the other. The dulcimer may also be placed in a similar position on a piece of furniture such as a table or chest of drawers, to enhance the sound. There are two predominant methods of fretting. First, the strings may be depressed with the fingertips of the fretting hand. Using this technique, all the strings may be fretted allowing the player to produce chords. Second, the melody string, the string closest to the player, may be depressed with a noter, typically a short length of dowel or bamboo (see photo at left). Using this method, only the melody string is fretted and the other strings act as drone strings (the melody string may be doubled so that the melody can be better heard over the drones). In this second style of playing, the combination of the drone strings and the buzz of the noter on the melody strings produces a unique sound.
In practice, a wide variety of playing styles have long been used. Jean Ritchie's The Dulcimer Book (1974) has an old photograph of Mrs. Leah Smith of Big Laurel, Kentucky, playing the dulcimer with a bow instead of a pick, with the tail of the dulcimer held in the player's lap, and the headstock resting on a table pointing away from her. In their book In Search of the Wild dulcimer (1974), Robert Force and Al d'Ossché describe their preferred method as "guitar style": the dulcimer hangs from a strap around the neck, and the instrument is fretted and strummed like a guitar; they also describe playing "Autoharp style" where "the dulcimer is held vertically with the headstock over the shoulder." Lynn McSpadden, in his book Four and Twenty Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer, states that some players "tilt the dulcimer up sideways on their laps and strum in a guitar style." Still other dulcimer players use a fingerstyle technique, fingering chord positions with the fretting hand and rhythmically plucking individual strings with the strumming hand, creating delicate arpeggios.
Contemporary players have also borrowed from chord theory and guitar analogues to create a variety of more complex ways to play the dulcimer. Some dulcimers are constructed with four equidistant strings to facilitate playing more complex chords, particularly for playing jazz. In another line of contemporary innovation, electric dulcimers have been used in rock music. The Appalachian dulcimer is both easy to learn to play, and capable of complexity, providing scope for a wide range of professionals and hobbyists.
The frets of the Appalachian dulcimer are typically arranged in a diatonic scale. Traditionally, the Appalachian dulcimer was usually tuned to DAA, or notes with this 1 5 5 relationship. The key note is on the bass string and the middle string is an interval of a perfect fifth above it. The melody string is tuned so that the key note is at the third fret. This facilitates playing melodies in the Ionian mode. The melody played on the top string (or string pair) only, with the unfretted drone strings providing a simple harmony, gives the instrument its distinctive traditional sound. To play in a different key, or in a different mode, a traditional player would have to retune the instrument. For example, to play a minor mode melody the instrument might be tuned to DAC. This facilitates playing the Aeolian mode, where the scale begins at the first fret.
Modern instruments usually include an additional fret a half step below the octave position, the so-called "six and a half" fret. This enables one to play in the Ionian mode when tuned to DAD, the traditional tuning for the Mixolydian mode, where the scale starts on the open fret. This arrangement is often found to be more conducive to chordal playing, as opposed to the more traditional dronal style. Among modern players, it is fair to say that the instrument is most commonly tuned to DAD. So-called "chromatic dulcimers" are sometimes made, to permit play in any key without re-tuning.
While currently the most common tuning is DAD, it is often easier for the beginning player to tune to DAA or the so-called "Reverse Ionian" tuning, (DGD). "Reverse" tunings are ones where the key note is on the middle string and the bass string is the fifth of the scale, but in the octave below the middle string. This is sometimes suggested as an easier tuning. From (DGD) one can put a capo on the first fret to play the Dorian mode, or retune the second string to (A), to play the Mixolydian mode, then from Mixolydian capo the first fret to play the Aeolian mode. DAA tuning should not be thought of as simply a "beginner" tuning, however. Many accomplished, innovative players use this tuning.
The Appalachian dulcimer is widely used in the American old-time music tradition. The instrument first appeared in the early 1800s from the Scots-Irish in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and is thus also called a mountain dulcimer. The instrument became used as a parlor instrument, as its sound volume was well-suited to small home gatherings.
The Appalachian dulcimer achieved a renaissance in the 1950s urban folk music revival in the United States through the work of Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician who introduced the instrument to New York City audiences. In the 1960s, the American folk musician Richard Fariña (1937–1966) became the first to utilize an Appalachian dulcimer in a less traditional way, pointing out its similarity in tone to some Middle Eastern and Asian instruments. Styles performed by modern dulcimer enthusiasts run the gamut from traditional folk music through popular and experimental forms, although most perform in more or less traditional styles. Increasingly, modern musicians such as Lindsay Buckland, Bing Futch, Butch Ross and Quintin Stephens have contributed to the popularity of the solid-body electric dulcimer. Dulcimer festivals take place regularly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, as the Appalachian dulcimer has achieved a following in a number of countries.
While the dulcimer may not have a large fan base in young people, many music teachers consider them to be especially educational. Because of this, they are often used in educational settings, and some music classes make dulcimers. However, because of budget, time, and craftsmanship skill issues, these are usually made from cardboard. See "Materials" below.
As a folk instrument, wide variation exists in Appalachian dulcimers.
Appalachian dulcimer manufacture is often conducted by small, family-run businesses located in the American South and particularly in Appalachia. John Bailey's book provides instructions for constructing a dulcimer:
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