How Many Dulcimers Should You Own?
Good Morning, Y'all - Happy Friday!
So, how many dulcimers should you own? Just one, or dozens and dozens? As a person with a minimalist (possessions) philosophy, the correct answer is "just one." As a player, I have a handful of dulcimers that get regular use. Here's my current collection of dulcimers:
From left-to-right, with the tiny dulcimer on the stool showing as number three:
1) Folkcraft® Custom Series - Rosewood with Western red cedar top. Diatonic, no 1.5 or 6.5 frets. Two melody strings, four drone strings.
2) FolkRoots® Custom Series - White oak body with white oak top. Diatonic, plus 1.5 and 6.5 frets. This one is a beautiful dulcimer (looks-wise) but as an acoustic instrument, it had a great tone with absolutely zero projection. It is now a baritone dulcimer, and sounds utterly amazing through the Fishman pickup/preamp system.
3) Don Neuhouser "itty bitty" dulcimer. It has an 8-inch scale length and is tuned two full octaves above a normal dulcimer. Fun to play with an ensemble - as a solo instrument - there's not much sustain. (Eight inch scale length = loss of tone, loss of sustain - but this dulcimer is cool, and I liked Don...)
4) Folkcraft Custom Series - Honduras mahogany with an Engelmann spruce top. My "daily player" still. 1.5 and 6.5 frets, made in 2013. I've re-fretted this dulcimer a couple of times already.
5) This one's not a dulcimer - it's a guitar. This guitar used to be my grandmother's, and it was the design inspiration for our current resonator dulcimers. This is a 1936 National (brand) Duolian (model), in case you care.
For grins, here's my Grandma's guitar being played in the middle of an Ash family jam, back in the late 1930s. My grandfather is playing the accordion, my grandmother must have been in the kitchen, or behind the camera, so a family friend was playing her guitar. My dad, Jim (he's made a LOT of your dulcimers, Y'all) is the baby sitting on the ground, front and center.
Continuing on with my dulcimer collection:
6) Folkcraft® Custom Series - Walnut body with a butternut top. Double pickups (magnetic and piezo), diatonic, with the 1.5 and 6.5 frets added.
7) LAP-JO® Pro. Diatonic, plus the 1.5 and 6.5 frets.
A Highly Reasonable Collection
I have enough instruments to give me a good variety in sounds, without much duplication. I only own two standard dulcimers, plus the baritone, the LAP-JO, and the "diatonic only with way too many drone strings for most of Y'all to enjoy" dulcimer.
I'm missing a resonator, still, and haven't found the time to finish myself a personal DulciVox, yet. But I have candidates for both resonator and DulciVox on my workbench, so when we get caught up with customer orders, maybe I'll add the missing instruments to my personal collection!
It would be nice to make a smaller-bodied, Ed-Thomas-inspired instrument one of these days, too. Or maybe I'll make myself one of our own FSH Series dulcimers? The FSH Series instruments have a slightly larger body (for more tone!), but they are very much rooted in the Kentucky dulcimer designs of the late 1800s.
Show-and-Tell With Mandy Tyner
Here's a video of Folkcraft artist Mandy Tyner, showing off a few of her instruments. She's demonstrating the versatility of a diatonic-only (no extra frets) instrument in segments three through six, but you will also hear a DulciVox, alongside a resonator, alongside the diatonic dulcimer. It is interesting to hear a quick-change from instrument-to-instrument, so you can easily hear the tonal variations. (Just click on the image below to watch the video)
Here's An Assignment For Each Of You
Send us a photo of your dulcimer collection. Ideally, send it to newsletter@Folkcraft.com, but you can also reply to this email, and attach your photo. No text, no descriptions - keep it simple. We'll feature some of your photos in next week's newsletter!
Thanks for reading, Y'all - have a great weekend! Go and visit each of your dulcimers now, while you're thinking about it. We don't want them to get lonely...
Richard Ash - luthier-who-has-a-modest-dulcimer-collection-to-go-along-with-all-his-other-non-dulcimer-instruments
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: MATTHEW WALWORTH
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
Matthew: I first got my hands on a dulcimer in the late 1980's. It was a very traditional instrument built by Raymond Layne of Berea, Kentucky in 1975. A short while later I purchased a cherry and spruce Blue Lion which was my main instrument for many years. Then, as luck would have it, I ordered a kit for an all-walnut instrument from McSpadden that arrived in March of 2020. So you know what I did during the pandemic lock-down.
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
Matthew: I got my walnut and spruce Folkcraft chromatic as a 60th birthday present in March of 2021. It's been a lot of fun learning the ins and outs of the chromatic instrument.
Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
Matthew: Over the years I have played a couple of times at church. I also love attending the Colorado Dulcimer Festival where I have played in the dulcimer orchestra and the contra dance band. Other than that, I play for my own enjoyment.
Folkcraft: What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
Matthew: My wife would tell you that there are too many to count. I have a collection of musical instruments that includes brass, woodwinds, a variety of strings...
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHICH OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MATTHEW PLAYS & READ ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE MATTHEW & YOU!
HELLO FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!
While we don't have a new player to add to our online global dulcimer community this week, we are still glad to re-feature community member, Matthew Walworth. How ya been, Matt?
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep The Family Growing?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to receiving your submission & featuring you in our newsletter real soon!
1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER). IT'S REALLY SO EASY TO DO!
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
This week, Mandy shows you how to use chord inversions to vary your playing! This is a fun and easy way to use chord voicings. Have fun! Just click on the image below to listen & learn.
We have a slew (that's a fancy luthier word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.
THE WEDDING BOOK
by Dana Gruber
Spring is finally here, with summer not far away. And with the summer, comes the traditional wedding season. This comprehensive book of mountain dulcimer tablature, arranged by renowned dulcimer expert Dana Gruber, provides everything you need to elegantly play traditional mountain dulcimer at a wedding. From processional and recessional works to prelude music, this book will add a reverent touch to any ceremony.
Includes both standard notation and dulcimer tablature. Capo needed for one tune. (41 pages)
This book is published by Fingers Of Steel, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
SONG LISTING:
Ave Maria - Franz Schubert - DAD Tuning
Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) - DAD Tuning
Plaisir D'Amour (The Pleasure Of Love) - Jean-Paul-Egide Martini - DAD Tuning
Southwind - DAD Tuning
Canon In D - Johann Pachelbel - DAD Tuning
Simple Gifts - Elder Joseph Brackett - DAD Tuning
Theme From "Spring" (From "The Four Seasons") - Antonio Vivaldi - DAD Tuning
Lohengrin - Bridal Chorus - Richard Wagner - DAD Tuning
Ode To Joy - Ludwig Van Beethoven - DAD Tuning
Minuet In G - Christian Petzold (Formerly Credited To J.S. Bach) - Capo 3, DAD Tuning
Wedding March - Recessional - Felix Mendelssohn - DAD Tuning
Hallelujah (Chorus) From "Messiah" - George Frederick Handel - DAD Tuning
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