Tag Archive: hammered dulcimer

 9 Dulcimer Hammer Styles From Around the World

December 1, 2022 Leave your thoughts

by Nicolette Foss With the hammered dulcimer, not only do you need a well-designed, quality instrument to create beautiful music, you will need a pair of hammers. Hammers are an essential part of producing good dulcimer sound. The hammers you choose should ideally suit your playing style, tone preferences, and dexterity capabilities. In a previous blog post, “7 Types of Hammered Dulcimers Around the World“, we explored some of the most common hammered dulcimer variations around the world. Now we... Read More →

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Musician Spotlight: Val Cortoni

March 26, 2022 Leave your thoughts

By Nicolette Foss We did a series of Zoom interviews with Val Cortoni, a French poly-instrumentalist, songwriter, and sound engineer. Val focuses on the integration of old-world acoustics with modern production techniques.  Val Cortoni’s repertoire on the hammered dulcimer includes everything from Celtic to baroque to death metal and video game themes. His covers are varied, while his own compositions often center on the newly-evolving synth-folk genre.  We discussed his musical interests, influences, as well as recording and mixing the... Read More →

Roger Frood hammered dulcimer

Now Making Our Very Own Hammered Dulcimer Cases

February 18, 2022 3 Comments

By Nicolette Foss The pandemic hit everyone hard. Here at Songbird Dulcimers, the supply chain debacle caused us to run out of the cases we’ve been importing for about 20 years. We scrambled to find American companies that could undertake such a project, but as you can imagine, everyone was swamped. In the meantime, we slapped together some makeshift hammered dulcimer hard cases to get us through. We were sweating. But with every hardship, there is always a silver lining.... Read More →

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How to Tune a Hammered Dulcimer For Complete Beginners

July 27, 2021 1 Comment

By Nicolette Foss Are you a hammered dulcimer newbie? Have you noticed your dulcimer just doesn’t sound as good as it did when you first started playing? Do people grimace in pain as you play? These may be signs your hammered dulcimer may be out of tune.  Just as any stringed instrument does, when the tension on the strings changes, it changes the pitch of the notes played. This will cause your hammered dulcimer to be what is called “out... Read More →

tuning the hammered dulcimer

3 of Our Top Picks For Hammered Dulcimer Tuning Apps

July 21, 2021 4 Comments

By Nicolette Foss Tuning by ear comes only with years of experience (*ahem* Chris), or through the rare inherent ability of those freaks-of-nature with perfect pitch. And we say to those freaks, hey this article is not for you! For the rest of us who get by with a little help from our device friends, stay tuned, this article is for you. But is a tuning app right for your tuning needs? In this article, we will discuss the advantages... Read More →

Where Did the Hammered Dulcimer Originate?

July 19, 2021 13 Comments

By Nicolette Foss Today the hammered dulcimer is played in some of the farthest corners of the world. Its music has enriched the lives of people everywhere; from the traditional silk and bamboo genre of China to the folk music festivals of the U.S. But where did this instrument come from and how has it intermingled with history? In this article, we will take a trip back in time to discover the instrument’s humble beginnings and follow the evolution of... Read More →

Effects For Electric Hammered Dulcimer

January 20, 2021 Leave your thoughts

After working on it for several years, this is the setup I have come up with for my electric hammered dulcimer.  You don’t need all this stuff to play electric hammered dulcimer, just an amp of some sort.  But the effects give you an amazing array of wonderful, useful sounds that have never been heard. My setup starts with the Fishman Loudbox Artist Acoustic amp which I highly recommend.  It has two channels so you can run two instruments, or... Read More →