Forum Activity for @cottage-timbre

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

Skip-  It's a sobering thing, and ironic given the forum we are on, but part of the reason these things are dying in actual practice is because more and more, young folks are recreating virtually or choosing to spend their time with a mediated reality. In my day, the problem was too much TV. Stay at home and plant yourself on the couch, veg out till bedtime. Today it is even worse. Seemingly infinite options to waste your time on, and all in your pocket. We seem to prefer to watch others achieve and do, rather than do it ourselves.

However, and in light of what I just wrote, ironically, if it weren't for the internet I would never have discovered the MD or heard the wonderful music it is capable of playing. So there is hope for both the MD and other crafts, maybe even new opportunities for exposure and interest. And yes, I would much rather see people playing an extra fretted dulcimer with 6 strings a discontinuous fretboard and a whammy bar (well maybe not a whammy bar) than not playing a dulcimer at all.

updated by @cottage-timbre: 06/28/25 12:28:39PM

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

John- If it has a slide it isn't an IRISH whistle anymore.  :)

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

Lisa, I can be curmudgeonly too. But I'll try not to be offended.

The motives of definition have nothing to do with keeping people out or keeping the "club" small. You may wish in the future to be careful in applying motives to what are supposed to be civil and friendly discussions. Feel free to disagree or challenge what I say, but to imply bad motives is out of line, and unwarranted.

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

Brudar,

"it seems the only characteristic that all share is that the melody string faces the player while the bass strings faces the audience. "

Except for stick dulcimers! :)

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

Ha! I'm in Alaska. I can't blame the heat!

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

I gave this a couple of days to see who would chime in, and looks like (at least among those who bothered) I am decidedly in the minority! And yet I am unmoved!

And so, in good humor, and with the best goodwill I will point out that a "sweet sound" is a poor defining characteristic. Many types of instruments could be said to have a "sweet sound". In fact, I know some people who do not find the dulcimer very sweet sounding. And indeed, some poorly crafted dulcimers do not have that "sweet sound". Perhaps the issue is in the adoption of the name "dulcimer" in the first place, being already assigned to the hammer dulcimer? But it is the name we have. It does seem that "dulcimer"  is a catch all for any fretted (or unfretted) zither (or non-zither as in stick dulcimers) that are not already defined as an eppinette des vosage, hummel, scheitholt, etc. And perhaps I should modify my previous argument to pertain to the "Appalachain" or "Mountain" dulcimer, rather than simply the word "dulcimer" used by itself.

Words do change meanings over time. It is an undeniable fact. Such word meanings change with usage, and there are different mechanisms for that change. I would argue that the change is not ALWAYS legitimate. For example, the word "literally" used to very clearly mean that what ever was being referred to is not being spoken of figuratively. For the last few decades, the word is increasingly being used for emphasis, and quite figuratively! No. No matter how cold you were, you did not "literally" freeze to death! etc. I won't belabor the point with more examples, but sometimes ignorance, hyperbole, or deliberate efforts to truncate or obfuscate through slang are the drivers of linguistic change.

The banjo example Strumelia gave is a good one. Banjos hadn't reached the apex of their evolution. I would add the fifth string to that list of "improvements". But I will point out, there are defining characteristics that make it a banjo in the first place, and if you stretch that too far, it becomes something else.

However, as Alex Lubet pointed out, the original question is that of "why not to buy a chromatic". It appears I am guilty of hijacking the thread (or attempting to).

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

I know this is an old thread, and the disagreements have settled down, and trouble maker that I am (please forgive me), I'm going to stir the pot.

Ken Hulme is right about the definition of the dulcimer. The word has to mean something. If it doesn't, then it means nothing.

It is true that dulcimers have evolved over the last couple of centuries, but at some point what is being crafted would have to be called something different. We do this with other instruments: violins are not viols, citterns are not guitars, etc. And I would argue (not disparagingly) that stick dulcimers, chromatic dulcimers, dulcimers with an independent bridge and discontinuous fret board (al la guitar) stretch the definition of "dulcimer" beyond the breaking point. Again I am not disparaging these instruments. I am just saying we have to speak of them with modifiers such as "stick", "chromatic" etc. because they deviate from the norm, and that norm is the kind of instrument Ken is describing: a real dulcimer.

I hate to sound so un-inclusive, and I don't mean to imply that such instruments are inferior (I actually own a couple of the "non dulcimers" I described above), or that there aren't sufficient similarities to true dulcimers with the deviation instruments that they shouldn't be discussed here. I am saying that words have to mean something (dulcimer included) or they are useless. If a luthier or craftsman wishes to innovate beyond the basic and general definition, go for it, but what comes from that may not still be a dulcimer. And that is okay.

Russell "Russ" Green

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

I'm afraid that I can shed no light on Russ Green. But I recently acquired one of his dulcimers. I agree with your assessment. Really, a high quality build, quite lovely to behold, and sounds even better.

Reasons NOT To Get a Chromatic

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

I agree with Dusty. I too started out playing a guitar for nearly 30 years before picking up a dulcimer. Three strings and a diatonic fret board, should be a cinch, right? I'm still working at it. As Dusty mentions, the chord shapes that one may be accustomed to laying anywhere on the finger board for what ever chord needed doesn't work. But for all that, if I wanted to play the guitar, that is what I would grab instead. The fact that it is not the same as a guitar is part of the appeal for me.