Gotta agree that making Hds has a way of making things a bit more peaceful.. They have been around for at least a couple thousand years, maybe longer. About all that has changed is the tuning schemes and steel wires.. It gets bad when youre addicted to sawdust creation and playing them. :) One of these days im going to get off my duff and make a chromatic one based somewhat on a hakbret tuning instead of the somewhat standard 5th octave tuning most use in the states. Ive also been debating about making a 5th octave one with the low side to the left where it should be. :) I do the internals a bit different and stay with 1/4 thick tops and bottoms.
No.. Its how the relationship between the bridges is set up. Assuming you understand how a HD ( US tuning) is set up, starting at the D marker on the treb bridge follow that wire to the right to the bass bridge right next to it, either up or down, will be a marker. That marker is the G in the key of D one octave down from the D marker on the treb. Like this, 5 notes lower down from that D on the treb. Assuming a 15/14 the next marker DOWN on the bass bridge is the D for that octave. The best web site ive ever seen explaining how a HD is setup is cpmusic.com click on the info button at the top of the page. There are other tunings used on some HDs such as whats known as Michigan tuning, rare but they do exist. Genrally bass tuning means everything is just shifted down an octave or 2 from normal NOTE GENERALLY, With guitars the string open tuning is different than a normal 6 string along with just 4 strings. There are mandolens and octave mandolens. Here he open tuning is exactly the same with the octave one being one octave lower.
Just to clarify where a "normal" hd lies in the note range ---- assuming a 15/14, the marker in the middle of the bass bridge is middle C. Thats the C just about the middle of an 88 a note keyboard and also the note between the trebble and bass cleft in sheet music that uses both staffs. I dont know of anyone other than Russel Cook of masterworks that makes hds with the tuning range set different than the normal. He does sell a Trebble tuning one. Same note setup but everything is just shifted UP an octave. The long side on that one is around 18 inches.. He also has base version he made a few years back. Not for sale and very few know it exists. Its around 3 to 4 feet across the long side. Had the privilege to bang around it some a few years back. The hammers for that thing look more like clubs. lololol If you ever get up to around Bennington OK, stop by his shop for a chat. Its just about a mile east of Bennington on US 70. Big red buildng on the north side of the road. Hard to miss as its in the middle of a big feild..
Thanks. I'm building my first dulcimer. The acoustic box is ready, but I need some help in in the tuning pins colocation. Is there an email where I could send you some photos and questions? I would like to hear your comments. Peace from Costa Rica.
+Walter Briceño Working out tuning pin locations is not difficult. an easy way to do it is to draw out a full size drawing. Draw a line for each wire spaced the way you want the. I use a .198 spacing between the wires on a course with a 1 inch spacing between courses ( top wire to top wire). the .198 is the diameter of a tuning pin, makes it easy to find a spacer when needed to position the wires. :) on the pinblock area in the drawing just draw 4 lines spaced equally across it. end to end. Where the lines on that cross the wire lines is just about where he holes need to be. For hitc oins the hoke is located DIRECTLY on the crossing point. For tuning pins the hole center is .198 BELOW the crossing centered on the pin block ones on the right and .198 ABOVE on the left. The reason --- the pins tighten up by turning clockwise. So on the right the hole is BELOW the wire. On the left it is ABOVE the hole. That will give you a wire exactly straight across. I designed my HDs using a solid modeling program from autodesk called inventor. That program is accurate out to over 5 decimal places.. Now way in hell can you cut wood that close. If you can get to within say .015 or about a 64th you are doing fantastic.. :)
+Hemant Sharma The soundboard is quite thick (3/8ths of an inch) unlike many stringed instruments so it keeps its tune for quite a while. I'll tune about once a week or so, or before I perform. Takes about 15 minutes to tune.
Hammer Dulcimers are so beautifully enchanting.... My Irish blood sings
Would like to see more of the construction process.
Your instrument making art is truly exquisite :)
I would like to know what was the wood finish you brushed on. It is so beautiful.
The sound is so beautiful too !
thank you
Gotta agree that making Hds has a way of making things a bit more peaceful.. They have been around for at least a couple thousand years, maybe longer. About all that has changed is the tuning schemes and steel wires.. It gets bad when youre addicted to sawdust creation and playing them. :) One of these days im going to get off my duff and make a chromatic one based somewhat on a hakbret tuning instead of the somewhat standard 5th octave tuning most use in the states. Ive also been debating about making a 5th octave one with the low side to the left where it should be. :) I do the internals a bit different and stay with 1/4 thick tops and bottoms.
+John Ware Would the 5th octave be like a bass dulcimer?
No.. Its how the relationship between the bridges is set up. Assuming you understand how a HD ( US tuning) is set up, starting at the D marker on the treb bridge follow that wire to the right to the bass bridge right next to it, either up or down, will be a marker. That marker is the G in the key of D one octave down from the D marker on the treb. Like this, 5 notes lower down from that D on the treb. Assuming a 15/14 the next marker DOWN on the bass bridge is the D for that octave. The best web site ive ever seen explaining how a HD is setup is cpmusic.com click on the info button at the top of the page. There are other tunings used on some HDs such as whats known as Michigan tuning, rare but they do exist. Genrally bass tuning means everything is just shifted down an octave or 2 from normal NOTE GENERALLY, With guitars the string open tuning is different than a normal 6 string along with just 4 strings. There are mandolens and octave mandolens. Here he open tuning is exactly the same with the octave one being one octave lower.
Just to clarify where a "normal" hd lies in the note range ---- assuming a 15/14, the marker in the middle of the bass bridge is middle C. Thats the C just about the middle of an 88 a note keyboard and also the note between the trebble and bass cleft in sheet music that uses both staffs. I dont know of anyone other than Russel Cook of masterworks that makes hds with the tuning range set different than the normal. He does sell a Trebble tuning one. Same note setup but everything is just shifted UP an octave. The long side on that one is around 18 inches.. He also has base version he made a few years back. Not for sale and very few know it exists. Its around 3 to 4 feet across the long side. Had the privilege to bang around it some a few years back. The hammers for that thing look more like clubs. lololol
If you ever get up to around Bennington OK, stop by his shop for a chat. Its just about a mile east of Bennington on US 70. Big red buildng on the north side of the road. Hard to miss as its in the middle of a big feild..
do you have any plan to share ?
Thanks. I'm building my first dulcimer. The acoustic box is ready, but I need some help in in the tuning pins colocation. Is there an email where I could send you some photos and questions? I would like to hear your comments. Peace from Costa Rica.
+Walter Briceño Working out tuning pin locations is not difficult. an easy way to do it is to draw out a full size drawing. Draw a line for each wire spaced the way you want the. I use a .198 spacing between the wires on a course with a 1 inch spacing between courses ( top wire to top wire). the .198 is the diameter of a tuning pin, makes it easy to find a spacer when needed to position the wires. :) on the pinblock area in the drawing just draw 4 lines spaced equally across it. end to end. Where the lines on that cross the wire lines is just about where he holes need to be. For hitc oins the hoke is located DIRECTLY on the crossing point. For tuning pins the hole center is .198 BELOW the crossing centered on the pin block ones on the right and .198 ABOVE on the left. The reason --- the pins tighten up by turning clockwise. So on the right the hole is BELOW the wire. On the left it is ABOVE the hole. That will give you a wire exactly straight across. I designed my HDs using a solid modeling program from autodesk called inventor. That program is accurate out to over 5 decimal places.. Now way in hell can you cut wood that close. If you can get to within say .015 or about a 64th you are doing fantastic.. :)
poor rabbit’s living in a prison… not sure why you had to include that cruel bit.
how long does it stay in tune?
+Hemant Sharma The soundboard is quite thick (3/8ths of an inch) unlike many stringed instruments so it keeps its tune for quite a while. I'll tune about once a week or so, or before I perform. Takes about 15 minutes to tune.
How do I contact you Mr. Simon ?
non e accordato bene ,,