What is a hammered guitar?
The instrument is referred to as "hammered" in reference to the small mallets (referred to as hammers) that players use to strike the strings. Hammers are usually made of wood (most likely hardwoods such as maple, cherry, padauk, oak, walnut, or any other hardwood), but can also be made from any material, including metal and plastic.
What is a hammer made out of?
Hammers. The instrument is referred to as "hammered" in reference to the small mallets (referred to as hammers) that players use to strike the strings. Hammers are usually made of wood (most likely hardwoods such as maple, cherry, padauk, oak, walnut, or any other hardwood), but can also be made from any material, including metal and plastic.
What size tuning pins do I need for a hammered dulcimer?
(Ordinarily, 5 mm "zither pins" are used, similar to, but smaller in diameter than piano tuning pins, which come in various sizes ranging upwards from "1/0" or 7 mm.) The strings of the hammered dulcimer are often tuned according to a circle of fifths pattern.
What is a dulcimer instrument look like?
The dulcimer is hourglass shaped and it can have from three to eight strings, but typically only has three or four. Interestingly enough, the strings can be finger plucked, plucked or strummed with a pick, or they can even be played with a bow as a violin is played, each making very different sounds.
Which instrument is played by striking a small hammer?
xylophone Add to list Share. A xylophone is a long musical instrument with wooden bars that is played by hitting it with small hammer-like mallets.
What is a dulcimer piano?
The piano dulcimer is a compact 3 & 1/2 octave fully chromatic instrument with a unique tuning scheme. Notes are arranged in semi-tones on either side of a central bridge and have two bridge markers on each course of strings.
What does a hammered dulcimer look like?
Hammered dulcimer is the type we make, and it is played by striking the strings with a pair of special mallets called hammers. Mountain dulcimer looks more like a guitar (often hourglass-shaped) and is played by fretting and strumming the strings.
What is instrument is played by striking and hammering?
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer, dulcimer, santouri, or tympanon) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board.
What is a hammer head called?
The striking surface of the head is called the face. It may be flat, called plain faced, or slightly convex, called bell faced. A bell-faced hammer is less likely to bend a nail if the nail is struck at an angle. Another face design is called a checkered face.
What is a hammered zither?
0:001:20I found this wire thing in here and there's two little holes in the zipper. And I believe this isMoreI found this wire thing in here and there's two little holes in the zipper. And I believe this is the music rack right here. So you can put that there. And you can put some music right there.
How do you play hammer dulcimer?
5:016:57Both strings vibrate even though you didn't strike the top string. And I'll show you I'm going toMoreBoth strings vibrate even though you didn't strike the top string. And I'll show you I'm going to pluck the bottom string. And then deaden it and you can hear the top string.
How do you use a dulcimer hammer?
1:196:40So here's what I do I hold my hammers between my thumb. And my first finger my thumb follows isMoreSo here's what I do I hold my hammers between my thumb. And my first finger my thumb follows is points down the shaft of the hammer. My first finger is making a T it's perpendicular to the hammer.
What is the difference between a dulcimer and a hammered dulcimer?
The difference between the two is how they are played. The strings of the psaltery are plucked with the fingers, while dulcimer strings are struck with small mallets or hammers. Technically, both instruments are from the same family of instruments called board-zithers.
How expensive is a hammered dulcimer?
As a quick overview, our harps range in price from under $1,000 up to around $7,000. Our dulcimers range from about $700 to about $4,500.
What is a dulcimer guitar?
The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the lute family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.
Music video
The camera travels through a green-lit city during a lightning storm. Papa Emeritus III takes a paper from a hawker. He reads about a Mysterious Spectre who has seized power. He also reads about his role in the first ever moving picture. The picture "Square Hammer" is set to premiere at the Meliora Grand that very night.
Reception
MetalSucks gave the video a positive review. Metal Injection gave the song a positive review.
Overview
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer, dulcimer, santouri, or tympanon) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more traditional styles may sit cross-legged on the floor, or in a more modern style may stand or sit at a wooden su…
Strings and tuning
A dulcimer usually has two bridges, a bass bridge near the right and a treble bridge on the left side. The bass bridge holds up bass strings, which are played to the left of the bridge. The treble strings can be played on either side of the treble bridge. In the usual construction, playing them on the left side gives a note a fifth higher than playing them on the right of the bridge.
Hammers
The instrument is referred to as "hammered" in reference to the small mallets (referred to as hammers) that players use to strike the strings. Hammers are usually made of wood (most likely hardwoods such as maple, cherry, padauk, oak, walnut, or any other hardwood), but can also be made from any material, including metal and plastic. In the Western hemisphere, hammers are usually stiff, but in Asia, flexible hammers are often used. The head of the hammer can be left b…
Variants and adaptations
The hammered dulcimer was extensively used during the Middle Ages in England, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. Although it had a distinctive name in each country, it was everywhere regarded as a kind of psalterium. The importance of the method of setting the strings in vibration by means of hammers, and its bearing on the acoustics of the instrument, were re…
Around the world
Versions of the hammered dulcimer, each of which has its own distinct manner of construction and playing style, are used throughout the world:
• Austria – Hackbrett
• Belarus – tsymbaly (цымбалы)
• Belgium – hakkebord
See also
• List of hammered dulcimer players
• Santoor – India
• Santur§Santurs from around the world
• Yangqin – China
Further reading
• Gifford, Paul M. (2001), The Hammered Dulcimer: A History, The Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 0-8108-3943-1. A comprehensive history of the hammered dulcimer and its variants.
• Kettlewell, David (1976), The Dulcimer, PhD thesis. History and playing traditions around the world; web-version at https://web.archive.org/web/20110717071302/http://www.new-renaissance.net/dulcimer.
External links
• Santur on Nay-Nava, the encyclopedia of Persian music instruments
• Pete Rushefsky, "Jewish Strings: An Introduction to the Klezmer Tsimbl" (Related to the Hammered Dulcimer) (archive from 27 December 2009).
• Smithsonian Institution booklet on hammered dulcimer history and playing