Hammered Dulcimer Questions
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 20:35:39 -0800 (PST)
Subject: First Purchase
Hello,
Greetings Michael,
I am interested in purchasing my first hammer dulcimer. I am a drummer with over twenty years experience. My friends say that the hammer dulcimer would be a great instrument for me.
Yes, this is a percussive oriented instrument...and, if you know how to rhythmically handle drumsticks, you're not too far off with a hammered dulcimer...
I want to be able to play in my church and eventually with my band. What will I need to get started and how much should I spend??
My suggestion would be to start out with a Folkcraft Pathfinder system...these come with everything you need to get started on hammered dulcimer...including hammers, instructional material, and most importantly, a template to place under the strings until you become familiar with where the notes fall...and best of all, it's the most reasonably priced, high quality, solid wood hammered dulcimer I know of...
I also play vintage drums and appreciate a well made and beautiful instrument. I don't want to go over board with my first hammer dulcimer. What do you recommend
Again, the Pathfinder is finely crafted and offers a beautiful overall appearance with solid woods and well-fitted tuners... http://www.folkofthewood.com/page30.htm
Please get back with me if you have further questions...Mickey
Michael Henke
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 13:49:29 -0500
Subject: Tunning a hammered dulcimer
Hi Mickey,
I recently bought a 15/15/5/4 hammered dulcimer. I was told that I need a chromatic tuner to tune it, so I bought one but I can't seem to tune the instrument correctly. The keys available on the tuner are C, Eb, Bb and F, the pitch reference goes from 435 to 446. I cannot seem to find the right key and frequency to tune it in, its either to high or to low ( I broke the higher bass C on trying to tune it in C...). I do not know much about the instrument and I was hoping you could tell me what would be the right key and pitch for it.
Thanks in advance!
Andrea
Greetings Andrea,
You'll most definitely want the note templates that slide under the strings. This will give you a direct reference of what tuning each string is...
Additionally, I'd highly recommend a video such as: "You Can Teach Yourself Hammered Dulcimer"...which also covers tuning techniques.
We do have note templates in stock...although, I believe they're 12/11...we might also have a 15/14...whatever we have, we would be happy to send you out free of charge.
Hope the above helps...
Mickey
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 14:27:03 -0600
I am interested in two instruments.
I will be purchasing my first hammer dulcimer. I was told by an expert that a "floating top" is recommended. It appears that the 16A that you offer has that. Am I correct? Where is this instrument made? What is your best sale price at this time.
This instrument is made in Connecticut...it does not have a floating top...no contemporary builders, of notoriety, utilize floating tops. This includes all major manufacturers. Our dulcimers produce as good, if not better, along with a more even a tone as any of the older floating top hammered dulcimers.
Here's why most of us no longer manufacture a floating top:
If the top is not mechanically connected to the instrument there is no strength..it's not providing any rigidity to the structure. The back and the other internal bracing would have to carry the tension load. so the result would be the instrument with a floating top would be extremely heavy.
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to assist you...
I can get you the Folkcraft 16A solid wood which is the 16/15 42"x18" model
16 treble/15 bass courses...47 notes...black soundboard....
Retails for 895.00 Your price: 650.00
Carrying bag would be an additional 75.00 (Retails at 112.00)
You can Teach Yourself Hammered Dulcimer 25.00 (Retails at 29.95)
Hammers and Tuning wrench included free...Lifetime Warrany
Let me know if you have any further questions or if I can assist you with anything else...
Mickey Cochran
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 12:35:06 -0600
Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday. I have a few more
questions that maybe you could answer...I have heard that some dulcimers
need to be tuned frequently because the woods used in in their construction.
How would you rate the Folkcraft hammered dulcimer (12/11) in terms of
holding its tune? Does climate make any difference in the choice of woods
used (I live in Minnesota where we have hot, humid summers and very cold
winters)?
Thankyou for your patience in answering my many questions. Ideally,
I would like to see and hear a variety of dulcimers before making the
investment, but this is essentially impossible given where I live.
Sharon
Hi Sharon,
The Folkcraft Hammered Dulcimer is solid as a rock...you'll be playing it indoors most of the time, and should not have any fluctuations with the strings going out of tune. You can always double-check for this by testing the dulcimer with your electronic chromatic tuner (an essential tool for every hammered dulcimer).
Choice woods can make a difference...some are more sensitive to weather changes than others...again, when indoors this should not have too much influence due to a more controlled environment.
Let me know if you have any further questions or if I can assist you with anything else...
Mickey Cochran
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999
Mickey, I appreciate your latest reply. I went back to your website and looked again at the descriptions and photos of the Pathfinder and the 12A model dulcimers. I guess I did not catch the difference in them the first go around. I do have a few questions; First, does a laminate soundboard vs. solid soundboard make much difference in tone quality or in how well it holds up to time?
As new, it's almost inaudible to hear a difference....although, as an instrument ages, the solid wood instrument will gain a seasoned tone. The laminate instrument will sound the same as new over time.
Second, how much would the "extras" included in the Pathfinder package cost if added to the 12A model instead?
The 12A model does include the essentials, such as hammers and tuning wrench. Essentially, you'll only be missing the note template, the carrying bag and the tape/book combination.
Note Template: Free
Carrying Bag: retails: 96.00 your cost: 69.95
Tape/Book Combination: 14.95
Third, how easy (or hard) is it to learn for a 9 or 12 year old? My two children study piano now and my oldest is in band so they already know how to read music.
We have kids that learned within a few minutes to play a recognizable melody.
Fourth, I've heard and read some about Chris Foss dulcimers being what professionals prefer. How does Folkcraft compare to them or is there really that much difference in the end?
Sorry, I haven't played a Foss; although, I can attest that the Folkcraft dulcimer is professional through and through.
Thank you for your time in answering my questions and when the time comes to purchase, I'll probably be back. Sincerely, Linda Clay
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