Forum Activity for @peter-w

He, she or it?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks for all your answers and different opinions! I appreciate all of them and some really made me laugh! It was a serious question but one should not take that too seriously!

If you look at it from a statistical point of view, it is true that in the German language many musical instruments are regarded as being feminine (trumpet, trombone, violin [BUT: a cello is neuter!], organ, guitar, zither but also flute / recorder, so maybe Freud could have been mistaken at that point) or neuter (piano, accordion, bugle / cornet, cello, saxophone, banjo [even though it has a guitar-like neck!]), glockenspiel, Scheitholt etc.). Compared to that, I have found only very few examples for musical instruments that are regarded as being masculine in the German language. Most of them are compound words, and the genus is given by the last word component for example "Der Dudelsack" (bagpipe), because "Sack" is masculine.

Interesting: in German grammar, the word "chalumeau" is defined as being neuter. The corresponding word "Schalmei", which has come into the German language some centuries earlier, is defined as being feminine. So that example shows that words can change their genus over the years.

Now to make things even more complicated, the word "dulcimer" seems to be derivated from a mixed expression "dulce" (Latin) and "melos" (Greek). "melos" / "" in Greek is an irregular word (because it is neuter, but doesn't have the "typical" ending for neutral words ("-on"), but "-os", which in most cases is the ending for masculine words in Greek). Mmmh, that doesn't make things easier...

The problem is: there are "logical" arguments for all three alternatives.

Grammaticaly, I have been tending to use the masculine article so far.

But on the other hand, I can't deny that my hourglass dulcimer in fact has appealing curves and I think these emotions could persuade me to look at my dulcimer as being a "she" from now on

On the other hand again I am expecting to receive two McSpadden dulcimers in a few weeks. One of them is a "Ginger" model. Now I wonder: should I name the other one (a standard model) "Fred"? Questions upon questions

He, she or it?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

When talking about the mountain dulcimer with my friends in Germany, there's always a little uncertainty about the genus of our instrument.

In German you can't just use "the" or "a" as definite or undefinite article with a noun - you have to make clear whether the thing you talk about is male, female or neuter by using "der, die, das" or "ein, eine, ein".
Now the "Duden" dictionary (it is THE reference / authority for correct German) says it is female, so it should be "die Dulcimer".

On the other hand - in literature and in documents on the web (including the German wikipedia) you find many examples for the use of the male article, "der Dulcimer". The reason for that may be that in genuine German words the ending "-er" is almost always an ending for things (or animals and plants) considered to be male.

Now again, "dulcimer" is not a genuine German word, but descends from Greek and Latin words, and went a long way round from there to French, and from there into the English word pool (I'm not a linguist and that may not be accurate, but you understand what I mean). Confusing.

So my question is:

When you talk about dulcimers (or when you hold one and play it), do you regard it as a "he", "she" or "it"?

Sorry if this has been discussed here before. Hope my English is good enough to explain what I'm asking for.

I'm curious about your answers! :D

updated by @peter-w: 08/03/23 03:35:34PM

Kantele: How Difficult to Learn - How Do You Play It?

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Strumming the small kantele is so much fun!

I reworked the chord chart I have uploaded here the other day.

I tried to show which of the most common chords are available on the five string kantele. I added the chart as jpg and as pdf here.

On the five string kantele, some chords are incomplete ambiguios (i.e. identical fingerings may stand for different chords. For example, A and Am are identical, because there is no c or c# string. Em (e-g-b) and C (c-e-g) are identical, because there is no c and no b string on the five string kantele). Incomplete chords become "completed" and distinct when someone sings or plays a melody instrument along.

If there are any mistakes or if you have suggestions, just let me know. Thank you.

Thanks Robin and Sam for your replies!

Sorry for adding a (perhaps) "off topic" question here:

I have noticed that gap (resulting of the fact that the McSpadden soundboards don't meet in the middle) on photos of their dulcimers before. As I am generally interested in maybe ordering a McSpadden some day, I would like to ask the experts here:

What reason is there for that "gap" between the sides? Or to put it in another way: what's the advantage of that?

The dulcimer I have got now has a one piece soundboard and three cut out "arches" under the fretboard (the folkcraft dulcimer have that as well, I think). Up to now I always fancied that a construction like that (i.e. with arches and a one-piece soundboard) allows a better resonation (because it sets a larger area of the soundboard free for resonation).

I could not find any information about the construction McSpadden uses on their website.

Are there any opinions or experience about that? :D

(Sorry if that has been discussed here already anywhere else. I used the "search" function but didn't find anything. If I missed it, I'd be greatful if someone could lead me to the right place to discuss this.)

john p said:

Or did you mean the slot that runs across the tail.

This is a consequence of the soundboard being made of two pieces of wood that don't meet in the middle, but extend only a little way under the hollowed out fretboard.

This leaves a gap made up of the end cap on the fretboard(top), the two edges of the soundboard and the pin block at the bottom.

I guess McSpadden feel it is unnecessary to fill this, or perhaps it has some effect on the sound.

john p

Here's a photo of some other instruments I play (more or less) - especially instruments that are perfect for Mountain Dulcimer accompaniment...

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/photo/d-major-instruments

Show us your sound holes!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

So now I can contribute something to this interesting thread as well...

These are the soundholes of my modified Cedar Creek kit dulcimer. I drilled them myself yesterday. A simple, timeless design made with three wood drills of 6, 12 and 18 mm (about 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 inches).

Show us your sound holes!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi Robert,

the "diamond" pattern on those psalteries look great!