Musician and Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer Maker
Posted in Fun, Jew's Harps on Dec 22nd, 2009
Many of my friends know that I have chosen two possible epitaphs for my tombstone that I feel succinctly sum up certain aspects of my life:
“No One Said There Would Be Math”
“He Played The Hammered Dulcimer But Never Made A Christmas Album”
In light of the second possibility I would like to share that I love [...]
Posted in Tools on Dec 19th, 2009
To start off I would like to say that it is my firm belief that nothing is perfectly flat, straight or in tune. Everything on earth seems to always be a little bit off. This includes myself from what I have been told.
That being said, hand-planing the thin stock used for dulcimer tops, backs, sides [...]
The full title of this book is, “Field Book Of American Trees And Shrubs: A Concise Description Of The Character And Color Of Species Common Throughout The United States, Together With Maps Showing Their General Distribution.” I guess they were into long titles in 1915!
Woodworkers and luthiers could not do what they do without tress. This book [...]
My shop used to be a bedroom, a small bedroom. It is what a realtor would describe as being “cozy and intimate.”
I work primarily with hand tools so most of my time is spent standing or sitting by the bench.
I tend to multitask so there are several things in the works in this picture; [...]
Posted in Jew's Harps, Lutherie, Music on Dec 1st, 2009
Musical bows are most likely the original stringed instrument.
Some are played in a fashion similar to the Jew’s harp; the player’s mouth is used as a resonator and by changing the shape of the mouth different harmonics are emphasized to produce melody.
Some musical bows are designed to allow defining notes by fingering the length of [...]
This information applies to dulcimers as well as any wooden stringed instrument.
Wood, no matter how well seasoned, will continue to expand and contract with changes in humidity.
One of the primary causes of damage to stringed instruments is dehydration. An instrument can dry out in a remarkably short period of time. As the wood becomes dry [...]
I envy my friends my woodworker friends who make things other than musical instruments. Even the pickiest of them often come home from a sawmill with beautiful, usable wood. For stringed instruments the choices quickly narrow down. For most parts of a dulcimer I will only use quarter sawn wood.
I generally have a hard [...]
Illustrations from “Sound” by John Tyndall (1915) via Google Books.
More fun facts to know and tell provided by Google Books.
The Tree Book: A Popular Guide To A Knowledge Of The Trees Of North America by Julia Ellen Rogers (1905)
I did not work on dulcimers for about two weeks. I was recovering from gallbladder surgery followed by bronchitis. None of this is a big deal but I had to take it easy for a while.
But now I am back to my old tricks and have picked up where I left off on three dulcimers. [...]