What's The Best-Sounding Dulcimer?
Good Morning, Everyone - and Happy May Day!
Today we're featuring an "In The Shop" from late summer 2023. Richard attempts to answer an inevitable question: "What's the best sounding dulcimer?" (In my humble opinion, the answer is always "a Folkcraft dulcimer!")
You all keep on strummin' and hummin' out there,
Toya, your-newsletter-editor-who's-happy-to-have-been-born-in-the-merry-month-of-May!
(August 18, 2023)
Good Morning, Y'all!
I get the following question (in bold type below) all the time, and there's no easy answer. So, take everything I say today with a grain (or maybe a whole bag?) of salt...
Imagine this: a player is designing her next dulcimer. She and I are talking about the options, and she asks the inevitable question: "What's the best sounding dulcimer?" Ouch.
The answer is always "it depends." Are you a strummer, fingerpicker, flat-picker, or some mix of all three? Do you want a lot of warmth, or great clarity? There are so many great choices, and they often depend on the individual player. So, I usually narrow things down to the three biggest factors which influence the sound of an instrument:
1) Body size. Larger bodies (our California body) have more warmth, power, and sustain than smaller (our Kentucky body) bodied instruments do. If you want to play like Jean Ritchie, with lots and lots of light strums, you don't want a lot of sustain, so I'll recommend one of our Kentucky-body dulcimers for you. The vast majority of us want a bolder, more contemporary sound, so I usually recommend our California body size.
Example of our California-style body
2) Scale length. There's a broad consensus that "a longer VSL (Vibrating String Length) sounds better than a shorter VSL." And I generally agree with that consensus. So I recommend having us make you an instrument with the longest possible (for your comfort and playing style) scale length your hands can manage easily. You get more sustain, power, and warmth with a longer VSL. But, choose your VSL based on hand size, mostly, unless you're playing strictly noter style. (And then we might be looking at a Kentucky body anyway, to knock back some of the sustain from the repetitive strumming...)
Each fret is a certain percentage of the distance from the nut to the bridge, regardless of the scale length. Which means that on a shorter scale fretboard, the frets are closer together than they are on a longer scale instrument.
3) Woods used. This is only one of the "Big Three" options, but it is vitally important. The woods we use should depend on your playing style, sound preferences (warm, loud, etc.), body size (dulcimer size, not your size!), visual preference (I love the look of a dark piece of walnut, but some players really like the lighter color of cherry, for example), and budget (rosewood is awesome, but is getting pretty expensive). We'll usually choose the body wood (back and sides) first, and then pair it with an appropriate, both tonally and visually, top (soundboard) wood. There's a lot of nuance involved when choosing appropriate woods for a custom dulcimer.
A Red Oak (body) + Sitka spruce (top) with a Padauk fretboard veneer and headstock.
The whole process can easily take an hour, as we go through all the permutations, and discuss the pros and cons. I've put together a series of articles talking about many of the design choices (in excruciating detail, sometimes, sorry!). CLICK HERE to access the articles I have created (so far).
Maybe they'll be helpful as you work on designing your next dulcimer? Hopefully! Anyway...
Thanks for reading - Have a great weekend!
Richard Ash - Luthier-who's-calculated-billions-of-possible-dulcimer-combinations-we-can-build-for-you
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KELLY SASMAN
I had lived all my life and had never seen or heard a mountain dulcimer. Then, in March of 2021, my husband and I took a road trip from Wisconsin to Louisiana. On our way home we stopped in Tennessee at what we thought was a woodworking shop. We walked in and saw what we learned were dulcimers. With no musical background, the man had me playing one within five minutes. I purchased my first dulcimer that day.
At home I couldn’t find anyone who gave mountain dulcimer lessons, let alone played one, within three hours from me. I knew someone who gave hammer dulcimer lessons, so imagine my embarrassment when I didn’t know there were two different types of dulcimer.
It was a wonderful day when I found Mandy’s Banjo Lemonade site for lessons on the internet! That was before she was a Folkcraft Artist. Mandy spoke highly of Folkcraft, so I decided to order strings and a few other things from them. In lessons Mandy also talked about VSL. That is when I knew I needed/wanted a shorter VSL because...
FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE WANT TO INTERVIEW YOU!!
We don't have a new "playa" to feature this week - but maybe we will by next week? (hint, hint) But we are still glad to re-feature relative dulcimer newbie, Kelly Sasman, who joined our online dulcimer community the first week of May 2022. How've you been, Kelly? There's still plenty of room for more of you, folks! Maybe we could feature you and your Folkcraft dulcimer(s) next week?
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!
WE JUST LOVE HEARING FROM Y'ALL!
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
This week's lesson is for intermediate players. Mandy shows you a fun finger exercise, which will get you moving and grooving and is meant to show you how to make your own little fun exercises. TAB is included below. 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.
FASTER, CLEANER, BETTER
by Aaron O'Rourke
This exceptional book (from dulcimer superstar Aaron O'Rourke) will teach you how to play just like he does. Ha! For most of us, that's unlikely to ever happen. But by working through the exercises in this book (and paying close attention to his text instructions, too!) you'll get a lot closer.
A lot of "how to" books are dry, and a bit dull; this one isn't. Aaron lays out practice drills and exercises to increase speed and fluidity, without strain. Includes in-depth analysis of fingering choices, ergonomics, and tips for navigating the fretboard easily. You'll see progress from the first week you use it, and keep on getting better every day you work on your technique. (57 pages)
This book is published by Fingers Of Steel, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.
EXERCISES:
Arpeggios
Scales
Hammer-ons and Pull-offs
Pick-Stroke Theory and Strumming
Flatpicking and Crosspicking
ETUDES:
Etudes 1-6
Whiskey Before Breakfast (a slightly intoxicated etude)
Excerpt from "Autumn"