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[Roy Morgan <k1lky AT earthlink.net>]

On Jun 29, 2008, at 2:10 AM, Lynda wrote:

> No, no, no!  Not Madeline the school girl.

Yes the same one who had her appendix out and all the rest of the  
(12?) girls wanted theirs out too.

>  Only Madeline the French perfume
> will do <g>

Nevah hoid of dat un, Maam.

> However, to answer your question, no hammered dulcimer.  I have a
> mountain/Appalachian dulcimer that my b-i-l made for me.

That is four strings, played in the lap, looks a bit like a skinny  
violin?  My long time friend who's in Poughkeepsie made one.

>  ...plus 2 violins, a Rickenbacker 12 string, a Moonstone, a Peavy,  
> a very sweet little bass, an acoustic and a keyboard.

GOODness, you are all set to equip a band.

> However, I looked it up and it is quite interesting.

The hammered dulcimer, you mean? I like the sound of them.. It varies  
(the sound) quite a lot depending on what hammers you use, and how you  
play, apparently.  I know very little, but I think that each note has  
two strings.  There are two sets of strings interlaced at an angle and  
presumably it has all the notes in it's range like a piano.

(One of my favorite pieces of music is the List transcription of   
Beethoven's 6th by Ciprian Katzaris played on the Boosendorfer piano.   
That one has an extra half-of full-octave at the bass, and is  
apparently one of the most highly respected pianos made today.)

Did I spell List right? I think not.  It's Liszt, I discovered.

> Lynda, wondering if b-i-l could make one of those, hmmmmmm.

The hammered dulcimer is little more than a slope fronted pentagonal  
box studded with tuning pegs and with two bridges and a sound hole or  
two.

Nothing more.

HAH!

One gazillion links can be found here:
http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/links.php?action=sales

Shown here are models from $400 to $1300, and I learn that some play  
in only certain keys and some play in all keys.
http://d1328389.u37.alohaservices.net/hamdulc.htm

 My guess is that, like a lot of things, a little practice gets you  
to play some recognizable tunes, and 10 or 20 years experience gets  
you to being quite good.

Roy

Roy Morgan
k1lky AT earthlink.net
Lovettsville, VA 20180