Sam Hermann, by the way, is a woman and the wife of fiddler Joe Hermann. Critton Hollow must be one of the longest running old time bands ever. Maybe not as long as the Red Clay Ramblers but they’ve been active since the 1970s. Here’s a link to an article about Sam.
http://www.dpnews.com/articles/articles_herrmann.html
Steve
I was wondering if anyone can tell me a bit about what kind of dulcimers they play and find nice or don’t like, and what to look for in an instrument in general. I will probably be getting a more modestly priced one.
Thank you all ever so much.
Mine is a 17/16/8 Meadowlark by Songbird (Chris Foss). Two string courses. It stays in tune very well.
It’s 4 years old and I only had to adjust the treble bridge once very slightly on the high notes.
Because of it’s size it has a massive sustain especially on the lower bass notes.
On the bass bridge I tune the high Bb to a B sometimes and tune the so-called chromatic bridge differently depending on what I want to do. However there can be some pulsing if the chromatic bridge is not tuned right as it vibrates; especially on the left treble A across from the treble low D.
The price was around 600 USD at Elderly instruments.
The only thing I dislike is the size. It’s huge and difficult to haul around.
For travel/renfaires or other festivals I’d recommend a smaller one. a 12/11 or such.
I use a wooden adjustable stand that is very heavy and cumbersome but it adjusts for sitting or standing. Again, for travel you could probably or make a lighter one.
I definitely do not recommend a three string/course unless you love tuning. However some people love them for their sheer power and I’m sure some will disagree with me on that.
The dulcimer of my dreams is a Rick Thum pro model. I think it’s 16/15 with a floating top. Which means it will keep in tune better with temp fluxuation. Plus it has tuning pins on both sides which supposedly allow for finer tuning across the bridges. I’ve never had one like that so I don’t know. If the bridge is positioned right that should not be an issue.
Question for Lilymaid. Have you found info on how they are tuned and all the “lingo” associated with them? I’m sure I or another one of our HD players would be happy to provide a discourse.
A useful page for some of this information is the Kitchen Musician site. It also has some tunes. There are sections on history and anatomy of the dulcimer and also tuning charts. There are various tuning schemes depending on the size of the dulcimer. Some dulcimers have more bridges than the customary two. The larger Dusty Strings models and many of James Jones’ instruments have these bridges. There are the newer chromatic type dulcimers too-linear chromatic and piano dulcimers. On the kitchen musician charts you will notice that there are octave bass and fifth bass systems. The fifth is by far the most common but some people prefer octave bass which seems to be a characteristic of some dulcimers made in Michigan.
My dulcimer is a J&K. It has it’s good and bad points. Its fairly loud, which I like. It doesn’t sound like the larger J&K models which have a much richer tone. I don’t know much about all the various makes. There are many. I think Byll knows a lot though. Here’s the address for the Kitchen Musician site: http://members.aol.com/kitchiegal/
Steve
I play a Songbird Phoebe model - 16/15. http://www.songbirdhd.com/ It was a great entry point dulcimer as it has enough courses to allow musical growth, but with the birch laminate top/bottom it is very stable in tuning and was inexpensive to get started (I think my dulcimer was $375 without the case). There really is no right or wrong when selecting a dulcimer - everyone has different opinions of what makes a good dulcimer. A lot of people would consider mine junk because of the laminate top/bottom, but I have had a LOT of compliments about the sound/tone of it. I have been very happy with my choice. If you play a lot of airs and slower tunes, you probably want a dulcimer with more sustain. That same quality will drive you nuts and make things very “muddy” if you play a lot of faster fiddle tunes. Chromatic dulcimers are also a great option, which give you a few extra notes to help with the non-dulcimer friendly keys.
I was given the advice to buy at least a 16/15 if I had experience with another instrument, as I would outgrow a 12/11 too quickly. I stil think that was good advice. Also, I would say the best advice I ever received was to play as many duclimers as possible to see for myself what I liked and disliked. Now that I have been playing for a while, I can definitely say that my opinions about what I personally want in a dulcimer have changed quite a bit. Yours probably will too.
The great part is that there are a lot of wonderful builders out there with a lot of really great instruments. I can’t even say for sure that I know what I would buy right now if I were going to upgrade - although I am leaning toward a Jerry Reed Smith/Song of the Wood http://www.songofthewood.com/ or a Masterworks http://www.woodnstrings.com/. Honestly, it would be a very hard decision. Like whistlemakers, there are a lot of good HD builders out there and a lot of really good choices. All of the builders mentioned so far are also on my short list. :roll: If you live near a folk music store, you might be able to rent a dulcimer to get started. It is a great way to start learning to play and about the instrument itself before investing. (since dulcimers are a wee bit more expensive than Generations) 
I was watching the Chieftains “Irish Evening” DVD last night, and the very first thing I saw when the music started, right in front of Derek Bell, was a cymbalom!
I came across this interesting looking article on the dulcimer in Ireland. I haven’t read it all but Derek Bell is supposed to be mentioned.
http://www.corkdulcimerfest.org/Dulcimer_Thesis.pdf
Steve
It mentions him occasionally playing cymbalom, but calling it “tiompan”. Contrary to the article’s assertion of the word being the Irish for dulcimer, nobody really knows for sure what the tiompan was; the meaning was lost over time. Somehow the name appears to fit, although I’m no scholar equal to such pronouncements…it may be that D. Bell was making a guess on the issue with the goal of giving a traditional cachet to the instrument.
(edited for the usual reasons)
Hi Lily maid. Oh, you are in trouble now! The Hammered Dulcimer is very addictive. 
Here is a thread on Everything Dulcimer http://everythingdulcimer.com/index.php that might give you some ideas about which dulcimer to buy. Go to the discussion groups and the forum there is a great place to ask questions and get good answers from some very friendly and helpful people. HERE is a discussion about different dulcimers. I am Kathy on that forum. 
I have a Rick Thum 16/16 dulcimer. I love it! It sounds wonderful and is very nice to look at too. It isn’t fully chromatic but I do have some extra handy notes that some dulcimers don’t have. You can read about these dulcimers at www.rthum.com .
Happy hunting!
Cheers,
Kathy
Lilymaid: Please check your PM.
Best
Byll
Funny I should see this thread today when I had been thinking about hammered dulcimer while driving home last night. There was some Eastern sounding dulcimer on Hearts of Space and it prompted me to wonder about the instrument.
Whenever I’ve heard Celtic type folk music on hammered dulcimer it always sounds very light and relaxed and never the driven, rhythmic, up-tempo stuff we like from our favorite folk bands and musicians. But whenever I hear Eastern music played on hammered dulcimer it sounds just that-- driven, rhythmic, etc.
I know that the dulcimers place in Celtic music is uncertain but bouzouki, banjo, guitar and other strings have found a welcome home in the last 30 years. As I was pondering this last night realized that most Celtic music I hear on hammered dulcimer features the instrument as one of the lead melody instruments.
Perhaps the hammered dulcimers place in Celtic music needs to be explored along the lines of what Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Arty McGlynn, and others have done for string accompaniment.
Just my thoughts.
Cheers,
Aaron
Lilymaid: I am sorry the PM to you never made it. I had some thoughts on hammer dulcimers, what to look for, etc., and simply wanted to keep it off the whistle board. If you are interested, please let me know by e-mail.
Best.
Byll
Everyone here buys what they can’t afford: it’s the law. Buying musical instruments instead of CDs is wasteful, after all–instruments cost more, you don’t play them as well as the artist on the CD (maybe), the dog barks, the cat yowls, and the credit card company sharpens its teeth.
Check Song of the Sea and House of Musical Traditions. You can bring this off for about $300.
How are they used? I don’t know about Irish music, but they’re standards in klezmer, Greek, Macedonian, some North American folk (the first time I ever heard HD was in North Carolina in 1985). And as someone else said, WHAT rules? Play what you like. Play the Frank Sinatra songbook.
Get inspired. There’s a stupendous CD called European Klezmer Music performed by a group called Khevrisa. It’s a Smithsonian Folkway recording and is available from their website.
Go for it.
Ken
The use of the tsimbaly in Western Canada is not well known but apparantly it’s a going concern among the Ukranian population. Another kind of music to explore if you happen to have Ukranian roots or have some interest in that. Here’s some info. http://cjtm.icaap.org/content/11/v11art5.html
I previously mentioned dulcimer maker Gillian Alcock. She makes this instrument.
Steve