Musician and Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer Maker
I often use Adirondack spruce soundboards on dulcimers with walnut back and sides. Adirondack spruce was used for the soundboards of many classic fretted instruments made before World War II. It was also used to build airplanes and in other applications requiring a strong, light and stiff timber. Adirondack spruce was over-cut and for many [...]
Posted in Tools on Dec 26th, 2010
No teak or elephants are used in the making of my dulcimers! An Elephant In Burma, India Of course you have seen elephants at the zoo or in the circus. Did you ever wish you had one for a pet! What a big room he would need! How much hay would he eat! How much [...]
Violin makers sometimes refer to an instrument that is assembled but rough as a “corpse.” Though it is an odd term it does seem appropriate – the instrument has not yet been brought to life. Last night I was working with a dulcimer in such a state. All the major components are in place but [...]
Beginning dulcimer makers are often perplexed about knowing where to place the frets. The first step towards getting a dulcimer to play in tune is to have the frets placed properly. There are many discussions about temperament, scale length, etc. Most current fretted instruments in the Western world are fretted to play in equal temperament. [...]
It’s a thrill a minute here today! Let it not be said that a dulcimer maker doesn’t lead an exciting life! For several years I used this little water boiling contraption as my glue pot. I measured the temperature with a candy thermometer and marked the spot on the temperature dial that kept the water [...]
The peace and quiet, plane shavings and the small, granular shavings made by a rasp, the control and finish left by a card scraper; these are some of the joys of making dulcimers using hand tools. I carve the ramp at the end of the fingerboard with a chisel and finish it with a plane. [...]
Posted in Hammered Dulcimer on Dec 10th, 2010
This is wonderful short documentary about a well know traditional dulcimer maker. I particularly find his simple but effective bending form, jigs and clamps intriguing. Also interesting is how he constructs the scroll peghead and fretboard as an integral unit. And the soundboard is nailed to the fretboard!
Posted in Music on Dec 4th, 2010
This is a gem! The English Folk Dance And Song Society Take 6 Archives has digitized six major collections of folksongs. From the site: Welcome to the Take Six website, a searchable database of the manuscript archives of six of the UK’s most prominent folksong collectors. Each of the archives have been completely catalogued and digitized, [...]
My wife and I live in a 100-year-old farm-house. What once were fields around us are now house-farms, but that is another story. It is a challenge keeping the house comfortably warm but that too is another story. My shop is in what once was an upstairs bedroom. Since I spend a lot of time [...]
