Forum Activity for @wibble

1 1/2" and 1 3/8ths fretboad widths.

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I've just acquired a New Harmony Command performance Dulcimer. I spent about an hour auditioning it.

Now, All my other Dulcimers have 1 1/2 " wide fret boards which work for me because of my pudgy fingers. In the hour during auditioning the new one I didn't really pay attention to this (to busy enjoying the sound of it).

I had a really long session with yesterday and found that more times then not when playing something a first position G chord the finger fretting the middle string will impinge on the melody string giving a bum note to it. The was happening quite often and with similar bass & middle string fretting.

So my question is thus do dulcimer players supposed be able to just pick up any dulcimer fret board width and play it ok?

I am what I suppose you call an advance beginner or starter intermediate. I can play the New Harmony albeit completely changing my fretting technique for this shorter width. Will learning to cope with a 13/8ths wide board help improve my playing? The New Harmony is very unforgiving as it is.

Due i stick with it or change it for a 1 1/2" like all my others?

Many thanks for any advice

Richard

updated by @wibble: 07/21/25 11:09:54AM

Are two melody strings louder than one?

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Depending on string strike timing/forces used, it's all about the waveform spectrum and the phase interplay between the pitches & the harmonics produced from this. Even slightly out of phase components between the two will cancel slightly. Conversely in-phase will reinforce, the end effect is an altered sound spectrum which won't sound like 2 pure pitches played together. This the "fullness" that is heard but not louder.

Interestingly because wave prorogation/ pressure level is governed by the square root rule to make your Dulcimers twice sound as loud as all the others you'll need to strike the strings with 4 times the force of the others players.

I think slashed fingers/broken strings would be the order of day if you tried that

What Are You Working On?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Only been playing for 5 months as a complete beginner but I am now exploring the sounds of CGC tuning. Luckily as it is still 1:5:8 I can still play all the stuff I was learning in DAD. To me CGC just sounds so much more pleasing.

I also discovered I like playing with harmonies and am working on a little ditty,  something along the lines of 023 - 034  - 045 - 023 -022 - 011 - 103 -113- 012 - 234 045 - 056 -045 - 056 and so on and trying different strumming patterns.

Just need to  learn to write what I play in musical notation now, for the fun of learning it.

updated by @wibble: 02/13/24 04:35:47AM