I had the joy and pleasure of performing and teaching at The Lone Star State Dulcimer Festival in Glen Rose, Texas last weekend. It had been about 23 years since I had been to this festival and it is just as fun and wonderful as I remembered. Thanks Dana!

On Sunday at noon a group gathered and did some shape-note singing, often referred to as Sacred Harp singing. The Sacred Harp consists of the combined voices of all the singers; that is the instrument!

I have heard Sacred Harp shape-note singing many times on recordings and several times sung by a small groups of people.  I have always found it quite powerful and moving.

This was the first time I had experienced a large group of people singing Sacred Harp.

Wow!

The repertoire comes from a number of 19th century hymnals. Two popular books are “The Sacred Harp, Or, Eclectic Harmony,” which you can read and download from the always wonderful Internet Archive and “The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion” which can be read and heard online.

While traveling with my wife’s family we came across The Birds Of Vermont Museum. The museum was closed but we soon came across Bob Spear, the museum’s founder, coming back from a hike in the nearby woods.

Mr. Spear kindly offered to open the museum for us and we were very happy not to have missed seeing the fruits of his 25+ years of bird carving.

At 90 Bob Spear is still carving away. He also has an apprentice who is helping him complete this massive collection of bird carvings.

Go there if you can!

You can also view some of the museum on-line and watch live birds at the feeder on the bird-cam by going to the museum’s website:

The Birds Of Vermont Museum

I have mentioned before that my shop is very small, what realtors would describe as “cozy.” I have enough room to comfortably work on three dulcimers at a time during the primary steps of construction.

As the dulcimers come closer to completion I work on each one individually until it is time for the finishing process to begin. The size of the shop doesn’t really allow much else to take place while I am doing finishing work. I’ve tried and the results were not pretty.

The workbench becomes a finishing table. It usually looks something like this:

The finishing process takes several days. A lot of the time is taken up by waiting for coats of finish to dry and cure. Drying happens quickly. Curing is the process of the finish hardening and becoming more stable and solid.

Here are two dulcimers taking a break while the finish dries and cures. This gives them time to chat and catch up with each other.

Preparing the dulcimers for finishing is the longest part of the process. This begins in the traditional manner by using scrapers to smooth and clean up most surfaces.

I use sandpaper to clean up most of the tool marks left by planes, scrapers and files. Sanding is a process of making increasingly finer scratches until they can no longer be easily seen. Sanding is also very messy.

A few hundred years ago luthiers did not have sandpaper and they used planes, files and scrapers as their primary tools for preparing surfaces for finishing. The results are beautiful but do not produce the slick and polished look that people have come to expect from modern manufactured items.

Handmade objects looked as if they were made by hand and showed signs of the craftsmanship involved in making them. This does not imply that handmade objects looked shoddy; it was a different aesthetic.

I prefer the look of planed and scraped surfaces that show the use of tools used by skilled hands. I am debating whether I will exclusively use these techniques some time in the future.

I use a variety of finishes depending on the wood used and the visual and tonal qualities desired. I usually use shellac and a variety of oil varnishes and varnish oils, often in combination.

I lean towards more or less non-toxic, traditional finishing materials. This choice is again primarily aesthetic; they provide the look and sound I prefer.

But there are other reasons…

I have used modern solvent-based finishes. They work well but can cause interesting short and long-term side-effects.

Once while working with lacquer and lacquer thinner this crowd of happy folks kept showing up.

I enjoyed their jovial song and dance but after a while I realized that I was “not in Kansas anymore”, and if I continued using such products getting back here might become increasingly difficult in the future..

Tags: dulcimer maker, dulcimers

As I end the day my hands show traces of shellac and oil varnish. This makes me happy. The subtle fragrance of a relatively non-toxic finish drying on a cherry dulcimer fills the air.

Like many who appreciate and practice historic methods of work I read historic books on the subject.

Paul N. Hasluck was an extremely prolific writer in his day. I’ve previously posted links to his book, “Violins and Other Stringed Instruments – How To Make Them”

“Wood Finishing, Comprising Staining, Varnishing, and Polishing, with Engravings and Diagrams” is the kind of book from which I always learn a few useful tricks.

Another gem brought to you by The Internet Archive.

Download your copy here: “Wood Finishing, Comprising Staining, Varnishing, and Polishing, with Engravings and Diagrams” by Paul N. Hasluck (1906)

I was busking in New York City at the tender age of 17. I played Appalachian dulcimer by myself or as part of several string bands.

While out busking one day I heard a hammered dulcimer for the first time. It was played by another busker who was passing through the city.

A few months later I acquired my first hammered dulcimer. Since the only hammered dulcimer player I had seen played standing up I figured that was how it was done.

Over time I met other hammered dulcimer players and saw that some played standing and some played sitting.

I preferred to play standing for the following reasons:

• Chairs come in a variety of heights but the ground is always in the same place
• I liked being able to move around while playing
• Most musicians I worked with played standing up and everyone could hear each other more easily
• I thought it looked better when performing

After playing hammered dulcimer for 12 years I developed some musculoskeletal difficulties. Playing hammered dulcimer did not cause this problem but it did aggravate the condition. It was difficult for me to play hammered dulcimer for extended periods of time.

After a few more years the situation worsened and if I was going to continue playing hammered dulcimer some changes would have to be made. This was some time in the early 1990′s

Getting a new body was too expensive so I tried playing hammered dulcimer sitting down.

The advantages of playing sitting down:

• Sitting took a lot of pressure off my hips and lower back
• Tilting the hammered dulcimer at a very steep angle helped my upper back  relax since the high strings were within closer reach

I was very used to playing standing up and it took about 2 years before playing seated felt natural to me.

A few days ago I was practicing before a concert and I simply could not play well. I kept missing notes and something just didn’t seem right.

Something told me to try playing standing up.

I felt a sense of ease playing hammered dulcimer that I had not felt in many years. Freedom of movement made playing seem much easier and my accuracy immediately improved.

I still have musculoskeletal problems but during the last few years I received a different diagnosis and have pursued some treatments that are more helpful.

It seems my body is once again showing a preference for playing standing up.

I wonder what’s next.

I’m always looking for new sources of old music for my repertoire. Old books and new technology offer a wealth of possibilities.

“Popular music of the olden time : a collection of ancient songs, ballads, and dance tunes, illustrative of the national music of England : with short introductions to the different reigns, and notices of the airs from writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries : also a short account of the minstrels” by William Chappell and George Alexander MacFarren was written in 1859.

A book on ancient music written 150 years ago seemed like it might be interesting and it proved to be so.

Another delight brought to you by The Internet Archive.

Here are some photographs of things going on in the shop that have been cluttering up my hard drive.

As a dulcimer maker I do a lot of fine, detailed work requiring extreme precision and accuracy.

Perhaps this is why I love using a mallet! Here is my often used mallet resting on top of the form I use for bending dulcimer sides.

The dampened sides and a flexible heating strip are sandwiched between two long pieces of sheet metal. As heat and moisture soften the sides I gradually apply hand-pressure to the long caul and press the sides to the form. I finalize the pressure and hold everything in place with cam clamps and use the mallet to persuade everything into proper alignment.

I also use the mallet to clamp work to my bench with a holdfast. Here is a picture I took of a holdfast on my bench before photography was invented:

Planes have a very high opinion of themselves and like to strut their stuff and show off whenever they can. After they worked up a sweat squaring up a big chunk of curly cherry I let them have their moment.

In our next photo, from left to right, are Romulus the high angle smoothing plane and Remus the toothing plane. Though they come from the same mother they have vastly different approaches to smoothing and flattening wood. Romulus requires a lot of pushing and force but once in motion will smooth almost any wood to a glass-like finish, Remus prefers to score ruts in the wood and show it who is boss. Together they can handle the wildest grain I have yet to  come across.

Last but not least I include a photograph of Ms. Agatha Tsatskeh. Ms. Tsatskeh, through the art of interpretive dance, has taught me many things about accuracy, proportion and grace.

I am often asked how long it takes me to make a dulcimer. The answer is that I don’t really know. Someday I will figure it out. I do know that I am not making very much per hour!

Here are some of the things that require my time before making a dulcimer.

• Design – It took a lot of time to come up with the specific shape and soundholes for my standard dulcimers. Many drawings were made and several prototype instruments were built to test my ideas. Though the bulk of the design work is complete it is by no means finished; I am constantly making subtle changes to continually improve my instruments.

• Finding and buying wood – I spend a lot of time visiting sawmills and hardwood dealers searching for the wood that I use. I am very particular about the wood I use so I often come home empty-handed.

• Resawing – The wood needs to be sawn to the rough dimensions required for dulcimer making. After inspection and sorting the wood gets to age for a while.

• Selection – After the wood has aged and stabilized I look for the optimal sets of wood for each dulcimer. I usually cover the floor with many backs, tops and sides and look for the ones that will go together best. Tonal, structural and aesthetic consideration goes in to choosing the wood for each dulcimer. Sometimes this process takes considerable time.

At this point  I start doing things that actually look like I am making a dulcimer! Tops and backs are joined, sides are bent, etc. Most of the parts are made as they are needed during construction of each individual dulcimer.

Once the body of the dulcimer is complete I spend lots of time scraping and sanding prior to finishing. Once the finish has cured I install the frets, tuners, nut and bridge and string the dulcimer up. This is always an exciting moment.

I play the dulcimer for several days and break it in. During these first few days the sound of the dulcimer opens up and some small adjustments may need to be made to assure it will have optimal playability and tone.

Added to the time of making the dulcimer is the “down time” as glue dries, finish cures, etc. Though I am not working on the dulcimer while these things take place it does add to the time it takes to make one from start to finish.

Someday I will figure out how much time it actually takes to make a dulcimer from going to the sawmill to having a finished instruments on the bench, though I am not sure I really want to know!

I am glad I enjoy the ride as much as I do!

Tags: Dulcimer, dulcimers, mountain dulcimer

Studia Instrumentorum Musicae presents some rare resources for those interested in researching historic stringed instruments. I recommend starting with the on-line museum of historic guitars, zithers, and citterns.

The deeper you dig into this site the more treasure you will find.

Musicians have nightmares about flying with their instruments. Though a mountain dulcimer will almost always fit in overhead storage the instrument is technically too long to be considered carry-on baggage by many airlines.

I rarely have  trouble carrying-on a dulcimer. Here are a few things I have learned over the years:

I fly with my dulcimer in a gigbag with a shoulder strap.

A gigbag takes up less room than a hard case and looks smaller and more compact when noticed by flight crews. A shoulder strap lets me carry the dulcimer on my back and leaves my hands free to show my ticket when boarding. Since I am carrying my dulcimer with ease it sometimes goes unnoticed. I rarely have trouble bringing a small backpack and dulcimer on board.

If possible I reserve a seat towards the back of the plane.

Usually the rear seats board earlier and many overhead bins are still empty and available.  The flight crews are usually less concerned about this odd-shaped piece of musical luggage taking up space while there is still plenty to go around.

If told my dulcimer will not fit overhead I politely explain that it has always fit in the past.

The flight crew is doing their job. They are people. Be nice to them!

If the flight crew tags my dulcimer to be checked as cargo while boarding a smaller plane I discreetly take the tag off and put it in my pocket .

I have only  done this a few times. I was able to carry on my dulcimer with no problem.

There have been a few times when all the overhead compartments were full or an airline employee’s purpose in life has been to keep me from bringing  my dulcimer on the plane. In 30 years of flying with a dulcimer I have faced these scenarios 3 or 4 times. In these situations the only option was to have my dulcimer hand-placed in cargo. Theoretically this means it is carefully placed in cargo and carefully removed and given to me as I leave the plane.

When this has happened my dulcimer survived. I survived too but the flight was anything but relaxing!