Information on Hammered Dulcimers
The history of the hammered dulcimer goes back as far as Biblical times, and it has been well documented since the 15th century. It has many different names in many cultures and throughout history: In France, it is known as the psalterion or tympanon; in Germany, the Hackbrett; in Italy, the salterio; in Hungary, the cimbalom; and in China, the yangqin. Hammered dulcimers are also found in North Africa, Korea and the Middle East.
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The Hammered Dulcimer
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The instrument is usually a portable wooden box in a trapezoidal shape, placed on a table during performance. It is strung with groups, or "courses," of strings for each note, and one note can have from two to six strings. Hammered dulcimers usually have metal strings, but plucked dulcimer-like instruments historically have strings made from gut.
Hammers
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Depending on the musical effect desired, dulcimer players use hammers that are hard or soft and flexible or stiff. The hammers are usually made of wood or bamboo, but in England, they are sometimes made of cane. The end of the wood or cane shaft is fashioned into a disk or ring for a hard-headed hammer. The heads of soft hammers are usually wrapped in wool, felt, leather or cotton. Many dulcimer players make their own hammers.
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18th-Century Hammered Dulcimers
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The strings on a simple dulcimer are divided by a wooden bridge that causes the two sections of the divided string to have different pitches. Usually, the pitches of the two sections of string are a fifth apart. In the 18th century, builders began making more complex dulcimers, using more bridges to create more variations in pitch.
Square Dance Music
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During the 19th century and early 20th century, American musicians played hammered dulcimers to provide music for country square dances. Fellow accompanists played other instruments, including fiddles, accordions and concertinas, depending on their ethnic backgrounds.
Cimbalom
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The concert cimbalom, a larger hammered dulcimer, began appearing in orchestral pieces in the 20th century. Franz Liszt, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly all wrote parts for the cimbalom in many of their compositions. As these composers were all of Eastern European origin, this variant of the dulcimer took the Hungarian name.
Other Dulcimer Variants
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The santir, a Persian dulcimer with a trapezoidal shape that has stayed consistent since the 10th century, is significant for being the first hammered dulcimer strung with metal strings. It is played with hard or padded hammers. In Germany, the dulcimer is called the Hackbrett, and its box can be either a trapezoid or triangle. It and other European variants date back to around 1477. The yanqin in China is usually trapezoidal, but it's smaller than European instruments and is played with two bamboo hammers. It dates back to at least 1800.
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References
- "Dulcimer;" The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; David Kettlewell; 2001
- A Survey of Musical Instruments; Sibyl Marcuse; 1975
