I actually found a really cool picture but it’s on Flickr and I don’t want to either join Flickr or download it without permission and proper acknowledgment of the builder.
it was a cigar box dulci-cello and looks pretty nicely executed.
I was actually surprised I didn’t see more different ones. It seems such a reasonable mating.
cheers,
paula
No need to reinvent the dulcimer cello. It's been done. Now if only I could remember where is saw a photo of one. Try this link: http://www.boweddulcimer.org/pocket-cello.html
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I have deleted Tod's post. If it happens again please let me know immediately, folks, and I will take action that insures it doesn't happen again. Thanks!
I’d love to play a bowed dulcimer. I am currently taking cello lessons. I imagine with a dulcimer set up with a curved fingerboard and say ddaD tuning; you could either play the dd, the a, or the D or you could double stop and play the dda or the aD strings. I wonder if an old cello fingerboard could be turned into a dulcicello.
Dang. Now I may have to go invent something. Someone stop me!!!!
Cheers,
paula
Tod -- your Flat Creek link led me to a McAfee Security Alert Page!! Best to remove it before someone gets infected...
The Flat Creek Dulcimer shop is all over a bunch of business pages but I can't find a website for the company... I've not heard of Flat Creek, but then I'm not any where near the Ozarks.
That's a beauty. The bridge reminds me of bowed dulcimers or cellos. Maybe the builder was inspired by them?
I wish you big suchen with your move and building the dulcimer case.
The link leads to an "online casino", are you sure it's correct?
Hello, new here and pretty new to dulcimers as well. I recently acquired (waiting for it to be delivered) what I have been told is a Flat Creek Box dulcimer for my wife. She's the musician in the family. I have been trying to find some info on it but have hit a brick wall, other than the fact that the shop it came from is closed. Any information at all would be most welcome (ie. quality, common tuning, maker) Thank you in advance.
What a great anecdote Ken! Robert seems like he was a sweet guy. I know he worked with special needs kids too. I was able to find an article about him and his wife Yvonne online in an old issue of Dulcimer Players News. I don’t know if he’s still around anywhere. I found a LinkedIn profile for him but it hasn’t been updated in quite some time. I sent him a message but if he’s anything like me he doesn’t really pay attention to LinkedIn.
Nate, she does seem a sweet dulcimer. She’s the only one I’ve ever played so I don’t have much to compare with. I trying to play all my instruments more. I’m on a bit of a kick. I’ve played guitar for years, strictly amateur. I’ve been taking cello lessons for about a year and have just recently been teaching myself tin whistle. I can easily pick out songs on the dulcimer tuned ddaD but want to work on taking it to the next level.
I need to build a case for her. My wife and I are moving to Europe next year and all of my instruments need to have solid cases. She’s the only one that doesn’t. (Actually, I also have a harmonium from the 1840s but that’s a subject for a different forum!) I’ve seen a couple dulcimer cases on eBay but the dimensions don’t work. Luckily I have a workshop and so knocking one out that will work shouldn’t be too bad.
hope everyone is having a lovely weekend,
paula
Besides building dulcimers, Robert also made kazoos. He made them in various sizes. Often he used leftover wood from building dulcimers for his kazoos. One time I saw him at an arts festival and we sat down to play together. After a few tunes we looked up to see a crowd of about 20-30 people around his booth. We play a couple of more tunes and then he went to talk to some of the folks. He told me to come back later and we could play again. He said it was helping his sales.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Certainly whoever was the builder whether amateur or professional, they knew what they were doing. There are aspects of this dulcimer such as the bridge that connects to the soundboard instead of the fingerboard, and the bizarre hole in the strum hollow that are very neat to me. Thanks for sharing.
-Nate
I was able to actually find a used copy of “Irish Music for the Mountain Dulcimer “ by Robert Hutchinson online and it’s wending it’s way towards me even as we speak.
im very excited to know the origins of my dulcimer and learn more about the story of its maker.
paula
I think I’ll try tuning them up to E and see if it makes a difference.
I have tried out my floating removable Humbucking pickup on 4 different dulcimers so far and it works great, fitting each dulcimer.
With this video, I have moved the pickup up some and I am strumming behind it.
Dusty...thank you for the additional information & comments. I had made plans for a new dulcimer but it didn't work out so it's been a bit of a scramble to find something else. A performer/music teacher I'll be taking lessons from knew my other dulcimer hadn't worked out and she told me the New Harmony sound was lovely. That seems to correspond with what you explained about the full sound & undercut bridge effect. A rounded guitar sound is exactly what I'd like. I feel like your quote ... keep one foot in the past & one foot forward into the future. I like the innovations Rick Gooden has made & don't mind something new & modern.
I'll ask Rick when we meet next week whether I'm a candidate for the Accutune module. I'm just an advanced beginner & not sure I'll be able to recognize when finer tuning is needed. By the way, I was watching your Modern Flatpicking video here last night. That's how I want to play. Thanks for taking the time to make the videos.
Anyway, while I know the shade of wood tones I like, I'm very interested in hearing what Rick has to say about wood choices. I noticed they are reconstructing a new website. When I sent him a brief email outlining what I had in mind, I wrote that I like simple elegance so appearance was important to me. Just now, I saw what they put up while working on a rebuilt website & low and behold, they said their dulcimers have a simple elegance. I'm so glad they took it to heart that elegance can, indeed, be simple & doesn't require hundreds of dollars worth of embellishments. The more I hear, the more I am respecting the level of talent Rick has in his ideas. He said he is looking forward to designing my new dulcimer and so am I. Nice folks there in New Harmony but then, I have yet to meet a dulcimer person I didn't like. Great people all. Thanks for taking the time to give me the information you did ... it really helps me know I'm making the right decision. Wish I could visit New Harmony & get a peek at dulcimers in progress to watch the making process. So interesting I think. Barb
Hello Hugs, here's my tab for "A Light At The River" it is a hymn written around 1911, DAA noter and drone. Hope this helps.
There’s a light at the river
There’s a deep, turbid river, Flowing on before, And its waters are deep and wide;
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 5 7 5 4
But faith sees a light, yes, a beacon bright, Just down by the river side.
7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0 6-6 5 5 3 4 4 3
There’s a light at the river, A light at the river; A light at the river I can see;
0 0 6 6 6 6 8 6 5 5 3 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 5 4
My Lord will stand and hold in His hand, A light at the river for me.
7 7 5 5 3 4-3 3 1 3 6 5 5 3 4 4 4 3
O’er the dark, foaming waters, From the unseen shore, Angel bands in their beauty
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 5 7 5
glide, And will bear us away to the realms of day, Into light on the other side. ch
4 7 7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0 6 6 5 5 3 4 4 3
Many dear ones we’ve loved Are from their homes removed, Dipped their wings in
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3
the mystic tide; They have passed o’er the deep, Where they’ll ne’er more weep,
5 7 5 4 7 7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0
In the light on the other side. ch
6 6 5 5 3 4 4 3
To this deep, endless river We must one day come, And we’ll cross o’er its waters
0 0 3 3 3 5 3 1 3 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 5 7 5
wide; How happy we’ll be, if by faith we see The light on the other side.
4 7 3 3 3 5 3 3 1 3 0 6-6 5 5 3 4 4 3
There’s a light at the river, A light at the river; A light at the river I can see;
0 0 6 6 6 6 8 6 5 5 3 5 5 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 5 4
My Lord will stand and hold in His hand, A light at the river for me.
7 7 5 5 3 4-3 3 1 3 6 5 5 3 4 4 4 3
Barbara, I think you have made a good choice. You will have to tell me about it once you decide!
Thank you, Joseph! Great idea... Why didn't I think of that? LOL
I know a few people who have bought New Harmony dulcimers over the past year or two. They rave about the big, full sound. I haven't played one myself, but hope to soon. I met Rick (the luthier, not the business/PR guy) in Zoom when New Harmony was a vendor at the virtual Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering. He seemed to know most of the other dulcimer makers in the country and was familiar with the variations in their designs. I'm not ready to buy another dulcimer right now, but we discussed my personal preferences, and he was certainly willing to build a dulcimer to please me.
Several luthiers offer a three-string option, and a few (like Modern Mountain Dulcimers) only make dulcimers with three strings. That approach may be in the minority, but it is not unheard of.
As @gail-webber explains, the accutune bridge is a way of adjusting the compensation for each string individually, providing greater accuracy in intonation depending on tuning and string gauge.
Perhaps just as importantly, the New Harmony design does not really use an end block. Instead the strings latch onto an undercut bridge with several inches to spare before the end of the top. That design allows the sound board to resonate a lot more than it does on a standard dulcimer. The resulting sound resembles not the traditional, high silvery sound of older dulcimers but the warmer, round sound of a guitar.
As for the hole in the head, I assumed it was simply so that the instrument would be easy to hang on a wall on a simple peg, like those traditional Shaker chairs.
Gail....an update. Just heard from Rick Gooden & we're Zooming next Tuesday to talk about him designing a dulcimer for me. I sent him an email with general thoughts ie VSL, wood tones, tuners, etc. .... he said he could easily design something very nice for me within my price range so I'm thrilled. He's going to be gone the rest of the week to the Gateway Dulcimer Festival.
And the journey begins....thanks to you. Barb
I used to have a CD with Margaret Wright singing "A Light at the River" and cannot get her lovely voice out of my head with this tune. It's haunting me! 😅 I am dying to play it but don't see it in her songbooks. Anyone familiar with it? TIA!
By Jove, I believe you're right! And, I was able to find a great number of references to him, his wife Yvonne and their dulcimers. It's too bad there's no trace of a label. I'd love to know what year etc. it was made. It looks like he was featured in Dulcimer Player's News several times and actually wrote a book about playing Irish music on the Mountain Dulcimer.
Hey, Bull Terrier named Gary! So nice you can foster, @paula!
Paula, I sent you a private message, but for those who may look at this thread, I think this a North Country Dulcimer made by Robert Hutchinson.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
We're currently fostering this fellow. His name is Gary. Bull Terrier.
Cheers,
Paula
I would be interested in something like that. I have used the Seymour Duncan kind with my acoustic guitar before. Would be fine n with dulcimer too.
I've had this dulcimer for about 30+ years. It was a pawn shop acquisition. I imagine it was most likely homemade but it seems nicely done. I've never seen one exactly like it especially the standing bridge. Any info someone might have would be lovely.
Thanks,
Paula
@dusty-turtle interesting! I ordered a basic FolrkLife set with 11s for my melody strings and not being used to tuning a dulcimer, broke them. So now I have GHS Boomer electric guitar strings in 13 (I think B string on guitar in that set) on the melody strings as I had a bunch of sets laying around I bought in a blowout sale once.
decided I liked that better anyway, especially trying to tune for Joni’s All I Want. Will look at the middle and bass strings too and see if I want to up the gauge.
Lighter strings will be looser. Heavier strings will be tighter.
If you're playing by yourself, though, and don't need to be in a specific key, I would suggest tuning higher for tighter strings and lower for looser strings. That's a lot easier than changing strings.
I have a follow up question. I know I’ve heard comments about floppy strings with low/loose tuning. I just can’t remember what the cure is, heavier or lighter gauge strings? Thanks
I set a Seymour Duncan up years ago under the strings in a flat space at strum hollow, so I could learn & use the Boss GT-1 during Harvey, the TX Hurricane. It is the only dulcimer I had with a flat space, all others had the strum hollow.
Hey, @johnpat27. I have a few thoughts here.
Consider starting with three strings, especially if you want to fingerpick. Just remove the doubled strings. You can always add them back later on. I was given this advice when I first started and out of nothing but hubris, I resisted it, thinking that since I play 12-string guitar and mandolin the extra strings wouldn't bother me. But eventually (like 2 years later) I strung up my instrument with three single strings and loved the clarity of the sound. Some techniques (like hammer-ons and pull-offs) are easier with single strings and some (like bending) are virtually impossible with double strings.
Second, there are two resources for drone players close by: Strumelia's Mountain Dulcimer Noter and Drone Blog (which others have mentioned but not provided a link for) and the Old Style Noter and Drone Players Group here at FOTMD. You have to join the group to see all the posts, but you'll find lots of information and camaraderie there.
Third, have fun. Put the the instrument on your lap, find a melody that you like, and let your instrument ring!
Lisa Strumelia has a Noter & Drone Blog, and I wrote a booklet years ago called Get Noterized, both of which are accessible from here at FOTMD. Many of us who primarily play N&D do play by ear, but we also simply use just the melody line from other dulcimer tabs. There are other sources for hard-core N&D players as well. It all depends on the kind of music you're interested in.
BTW the more correct designation for your tuning is DdAdd. The D and the A are in the same octave, but the d's are an octave higher than D. The octave setup Dd for a 5 string dulcimer is intended to give an added richness to the sound compared to the older DD couplet.
It is, as you say, Ddadd.
So far I am pleased with the setup, it has a pleasing sound.
By the way its worth noting that the vast majority of string instruments have intonation issues way up the neck. I'm not sure if this is because of how much a small imprecision can affect the tonality, or if it is simply the nature of string instruments that ideal intonation at the top of the fretboard is not the same as at the bottom.
All I know is that most of the guitars, dulcimers, mandolins, and every other string instrument I've ever looked at close with a tuner tends to be less well intonated further up the fretboard.
Hello John, it is more common to see doubled bass strings, but having a thin string there is perfectly fine. It is most likely intended to be tuned an octave up from the bass note, which is the same as the melody note in a 1-5-8 tuning(if you were tuning D a dd, this would be Dd a dd), but if you are playing in a 1-5-5 tuning then perhaps this is different and someone else might know if that is still correct.
I can't recommend any sites specifically for noter playing, however I have found many tabs on dulcimertab.com and everythingdulcimer.com which are suitable for noter style. Really most of the tabs I see for 1-5-5 tunings such as DAA are well suited to noter drone.
Also, if you can read sheet music or are willing to learn, I have noticed that the majority of popular vocal melodies of the last hundred years are diatonic and can be transcribed to dulcimer and are readily available online. This is a fun way to bring contemporary songs into your noter drone playing.
-Nate
