A Peek into the World of Dulcimers
July 31, 2008 1:15 pm ArtsA dulcimer is a distinguished member of the box zither family that takes the form of a trapezoidal-formed box. As it is also a string instrument, it commonly has two to six strings for each course – which are unfretted – and the courses are usually in intersecting horizontal planes. The dulcimer player can either hit the strings (preferably made of steel piano wire) with hammers that may have soft or hard heads or just pluck them with the fingers. The instrument has been reintroduced in popular Western folk and art music and has been widespread in Eastern Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, India, Korea, China and especially Iran. As with all handmade products, the quality of this musical instrument lies in the hands of the maker. In fact, many careful hours are spent in achieving the final product that is intended to be beautiful as its sound. You’ll definitely know the quality of a dulcimer by the sweet sound the dulcimer evidently produces.