I came across this video of Mike Clemmer. I thought some folks might enjoy watching it. https://www.voanews.com/a/6346682.html
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks for the addition Strumelia. I was going to mention that, but I guess I got lost somewhere along the way. That's what happens when you reach three quarters of century.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Great info from Ken.
I do want to add though- you said this dulcimer has no 6.5 fret. That would make it a little hard to play in DAd using chord style playing. You'd frequently get frustrated not having that note on the melody string.
However, if you try a 1-5-5 tuning (DAA or CGG) you would have most needed notes on the melody string. You can try out playing mostly on the melody string and leaving the other strings unfretted, sounding as drones. That's a very pretty older way of playing and this dulcimer might be perfect for giving it a try. The 'home' or tonic note of the tune is then located at the 3rd fret of the melody string.
For DAA/CGG tuning, you could use .010 or .012 gauge for the melody AND middle strings, and then as Ken suggested a .020 or a .022 for the bass low string. The thicker the string, the tighter it will be, so you don't want to go too tight/heavy on an instrument with wooden tuning pegs.
If you are used to fretting with your fingers, you can try 'finger dancing' style, where you fret the melody all on the melody string and play the other strings open and unfretted. It's a pretty way to play! You get the ancient sound of the drones.
Does your wonderful Sunhearth have the typical sunburst sound holes? We'd love to see a picture of it, it must be beautiful!
Ken,
thanks for sharing your knowledge on my instrument. Very helpful. I’ll give your string gauge suggestions a try.
Dennis
Your Sunhearth dulcimer made by Walt Martin in Roaring Spring, PA is a great instrument. These instruments were originally meant to be in a 1 - 5 - 5 tuning (DAA or CGG primarily) and using a noter. You might have to lower the action a little if you choose to play chord/melody style. You should be able to tune up to DAd using 0.010 for the melody strings, a 0.013 for the middle, and 0.020 for the bass. If those are too floppy, you can increase to 0.11 or 0.012, 0.014, and 0.022. Increasing the size of the strings will increase the tension of the peg and if they are friction pegs you may have trouble keeping them in tune.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks for quick reply….the VSL is 27 ¾. I was planning on DAD tuning but if this particular instrument was not designed for DAD I would try something else. You answered my question on keeping it original and will forgo adding 6 ½ fret. Dusted and hanging in humidified room with my guitars.
What is the VSL (vibrating string length)? Measure in inches from the nut to the bridge. Also tell us what tuning you are hoping to tune to.
You should know that your dulcimer by Martin is one that is coveted by many. Don't make changes to it! It is pretty valuable especially since it seems it is in pristine new condition with original packaging. Just wipe off the dust. Let us know about the VSL and your preferred tuning.
I recently picked up a Sunhearth AD3 made by Walter Martin in 1976. It’s his number 266. The date, number and his signature are visible through the sound hole. Condition is near new and still in original cardboard box with sales sheets and the setup paperwork. The “mimeograph” setup paper states it had 3 strings @ .009 and one .12. This is my first dulcimer, but these gauges don’t seem to be what is standard. Any insight on this instrument and advice would be appreciated.
thanks
Aspen is 'waaay too soft for a dulcimer; nearly as soft as Balsa! I made a blanket chest from aspen once -- worst wood choice I ever made!
Ok, I'll consider myself duly advised!
Aspen is 'waaay too soft for a dulcimer; nearly as soft as Balsa! I made a blanket chest from aspen once -- worst wood choice I ever made!
Notyhing wrong with cottonwood as a dulcimer wood. Poplar (particularly Yellow Poplar) in particular was very popular among the traditional dulcemore builders. Light in weight, works easily, can have great grain structure or poor grain can be painted/stained over...
That's good to know. I come from a drumming background and there's a lot of lore there about desirable woods and their sonic properties, with maple seeming to reign supreme. But I tend to form attachments to certain kinds of trees and find meaning in using their wood. Out here cottonwoods grow in river bottoms and I have a lot of fond memories of rambling around river bottoms, so the cottonwood actually means a lot to me. Not that I wouldn't love to get - or make - one out of cherry or walnut.
For that matter, I wonder about the suitability of aspen...
Now I'm off to look up more forum posts about woods.
Notyhing wrong with cottonwood as a dulcimer wood. Poplar (particularly Yellow Poplar) in particular was very popular among the traditional dulcemore builders. Light in weight, works easily, can have great grain structure or poor grain can be painted/stained over...
I know nothing about Mr. Burton yet I love the wood! Osage Orange wood?
Apparently it's cottonwood, with natural worm holes. Seems pretty unusual (for all that the wood's so cheap). I'm curious to hear how it sounds. I've made several walking sticks out of worm-tunneled branches, including a mountain mahogany shillelagh, but that's another story.
If the instrument seems very muted to you, you could -- with some careful and judicious work with a fine toothed jewelers saw -- open up those holes.
Now that you've really got DAd -- Dulcimer Acquisition disease -- when you're ready, we can talk you through making your own dulcimer similar to that teardrop -- from less than $100 worth of materials and simple hand tools. I've attached a picture of a simple conversion one of my students made using the fretboard from the cardboard dulcimer he started with...
That sounds like fun. Something to keep as a goal to prepare for.
Some more photos, before and after: https://fotmd.com/jim-yates/gallery/rs-williams-banjo/all
Great news! I'm looking forward to the new podcasts.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I know nothing about Mr. Burton yet I love the wood! Osage Orange wood?
Well done and best wishes for '22.
Jim, sounds like your friend Teilhard is skilled at restoring an old banjo. I love to see that! A happy new life for a lovely old banjer... and joy for you to play! 
That's lovely to hear Patricia! 
If the instrument seems very muted to you, you could -- with some careful and judicious work with a fine toothed jewelers saw -- open up those holes.
Now that you've really got DAd -- Dulcimer Acquisition disease -- when you're ready, we can talk you through making your own dulcimer similar to that teardrop -- from less than $100 worth of materials and simple hand tools. I've attached a picture of a simple conversion one of my students made using the fretboard from the cardboard dulcimer he started with...
Just this weekend my friend Teilhard Frost, a wonderful gourd banjo builder (and player) paid us a visit toreturn my R.S. Williams banjo which had been in terrible, unplayable condition since I bought it for $20 at a yard sale in 2018(?). I could see that it had promise and when Teilhard saw it, he said that he could bring it back to playable condition. Well he sure did that. It was made prior to 1879 (when the company was renamed R.S. Williams & Son) and has been restored with rosewood pegs and nylon strings. I have been playing it constantly since I got it back.
One photo before Teilhard got hold of it and one after he worked his magic.
Good to know, thanks. I won an auction for this on ebay so when it gets here I'll be able to inspect and photograph it up close. Not surprised about the hole size: they did look quite small to me.
I recognize the risks in buying this, but at least at last I'll have an actual wooden dulcimer at a fraction of what I expected to have to spend.
A Winter Miracle!
We have great news for the Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast listeners! Due to not reaching our fundraising goal, the last episode we released in November was supposed to be our final episode. Well, since then, a miracle happened. An anonymous donor gave us a generous donation that helped us reach our fundraising goal. This has enabled us to continue the podcast for one more year. This means we’ll bring you 5 new episodes in 2022.
Thank you to everyone who generously donated, especially to the one anonymous donor who provided the majority of funds to keep the podcast alive in 2022. Your outpouring of generosity has warmed our hearts. We’re happy to be able to bring you new dulcimer stories in 2022.
You can listen to this either in your podcast app or on our website: https://dulcimuse.com/podcast
Jumping ?? Jumping ?? We don't jump--we levitate --why do you think we get paid the big bucks for concerts ?? We spend hours meditating & considerable yoga hours for that :) We are training to ascend :)
My bass string was out of tune--so I walked away from the mic to tune. Then back again to play. Cameron is my favorite fiddler & he knew my string was out--so he just held the tune and the stage. Happy Holidays :)
That jumping was fun, Mary.
I'm curious as to why you left the stage for a while- ?
Here's a little banjo from Saturday night with Boston fiddler, Cameron Freer. This is our levitation verson of dance tunes Black Eyed Susie/Forked Deer. :)
Nope. Never heard of him. Looks like a simple kit build. Needs more sound hole area to get the best sound from it -- there are complex formulas to calculate the optimum area, but it's roughly 4-5 square inches for most dulcimers...
Close up photos of construction details and scroll head would be nice.
Anybody heard of him? Located in Robbins, NC, built this instrument:
That's good news SoR. Glad to hear that some of this discussion was helpful to you. Keep on strumming.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
When I put the thin string on the bass it wouldn't hold a pitch lower than the G below middle C but if I tuned it to the D above middle C the other strings would pull their pins and/or break. When I put the thicker string on I just tuned it up to the same pitch - like, how did it not occur to me to just try the lower D again? Well, now that's done with.
The DAC I'm playing in now is the D and A below middle C and then middle C itself. That tuning I got from my old book and the old Jean Ritchie record, if I'm remembering right. I just strummed out "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman," "Noel Nouvelet" and "Douce Dame Jolie."
Onward and upward!
In any case, it appears you and I don't really disagree on the appropriate string gauges; we are just not sure how studentofrhythm has his dulcimer set up.
I agree that we don't really disagree. I was trying to find the appropriate strings for the first tuning he mentioned which was GDD. As I understand the pattern for identifying the notes by letters in the system we use, middle C is designated by a lower case "c". The octave below that is capital letters. The next octave lower is a capital letter followed by an apostrophe. The octave with middle c is lower case and the next octave above is lower case followed by an apostrophe.In American Standard Pitch Notation notes are designated by letter and octave; middle c being C4.
The original poster wants to tune his dulcimer "up to minor tuning." If that is D minor those notes would be D, F, A. I don't know whether one would tune those strings in the same octave giving a open minor when the dulcimer is strummed. I guess I need a more information and a better knowledge of music theory.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Well, heck it if I didn't get the thing tuned right finally! I've got me a DAD tuned dulcimer at last, and it's now a cinch to get it down to DAC and play in minor! I see I was making very silly n00b mistakes, and after paying more careful attention to octaves and gauges I've got it sorted out. Thanks all for your discussion and your patience!
Ken, maybe I am misunderstanding something. @studentofrhythm appears to be tuning to a G ionian, which would either put him in the baritone range or in the ginger range. Ken H concluded that studentofrhythm was tuning to a "high Gdd," meaning the G below middle C and the D above middle C. I could obviously be wrong. It has happened before. 
In any case, it appears you and I don't really disagree on the appropriate string gauges; we are just not sure how studentofrhythm has his dulcimer set up.
Dusty, if the string VSL is 24 inches and the tuning is the D below middle C, according the the Strothers string calculator the string should be a 0.022. If you were tuning the "d" an octave higher the recommended string is a 0.011 but I think you could use a 0.012. I based my calculation on G and D as I thought that was what the original poster was going for in his question.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
@ken-longfield, I think you mean .012 and not .022 for the D strings. Is that correct?
