Hammer Dulcimer

I came home yesterday to a nice surprise - my daughter found and wife
bought a hammer dulcimer from the antique store for $30!!

Awesome - I've ordered a tuning wrench and piano wire to re-string the
instrument.
I was wondering if someone has previous microtonal experience with a
hammer dulcimer and perhaps some tuning suggestions.

One of the characteristics is that the left bridge gives a 5th above
to the left of the notes on the right. (Every other notes)
I'm thinking the right bridge is a major 3rd but I haven't confirmed
that with a tuner yet.

I posted this on facebook as well have have the following suggestions so far:

Ethan Schwartz
it's built for diatonic scales, right? i like the sound of
1 9/8 7/6 4/3 3/2 27/16 7/4
for modal stuff rather than the plain pythagorean. or if you wanted to get crazy
1 9/8 5/4 11/8 3/2 13/8 7/4

Pictures are here:

http://notonlymusic.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=642&start=0

Most hammer dulcimers are indeed set up for diatonic scales. Some larger instruments have additional strings for some accidentals, but I have yet to see a hammer dulcimer that covers all accidentals of 12-edo.

As for scales, I would shoot for JI based scales. You are correct about the left bridge giving the 5th. I have to check about the right bridge being a major 3rd -- I don't remember. Look up some websites that talk about standard tunings of the hammer dulcimer and it should be pretty obvious -- then translate to the scale of your choice. Occasionally, you will hear of hammer dulcimer players tuning a string here or there to a different note than normal.

Anyway, I am so glad to hear you have a hammer dulcimer. Some day I will spend some time with mine!

Chris -- really enjoy your music and your prolific work. Keep up the good work!

Jay

Quoting Chris Vaisvil <chrisvaisvil@...>:

> I came home yesterday to a nice surprise - my daughter found and wife
> bought a hammer dulcimer from the antique store for $30!!
>
> Awesome - I've ordered a tuning wrench and piano wire to re-string the
> instrument.
> I was wondering if someone has previous microtonal experience with a
> hammer dulcimer and perhaps some tuning suggestions.
>
> One of the characteristics is that the left bridge gives a 5th above
> to the left of the notes on the right. (Every other notes)
> I'm thinking the right bridge is a major 3rd but I haven't confirmed
> that with a tuner yet.
>
> I posted this on facebook as well have have the following suggestions so far:
>
> Ethan Schwartz
> it's built for diatonic scales, right? i like the sound of
> 1 9/8 7/6 4/3 3/2 27/16 7/4
> for modal stuff rather than the plain pythagorean. or if you wanted > to get crazy
> 1 9/8 5/4 11/8 3/2 13/8 7/4
>
>
> Pictures are here:
>
> http://notonlymusic.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=642&start=0
>

Thanks for the vote for JI - and I'm glad you like the compositions I'm
making!

Chris

On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 5:06 PM, <jrinkel@...> wrote:

>
>
> Most hammer dulcimers are indeed set up for diatonic scales. Some
> larger instruments have additional strings for some accidentals, but I
> have yet to see a hammer dulcimer that covers all accidentals of 12-edo.
>
> As for scales, I would shoot for JI based scales. You are correct
> about the left bridge giving the 5th. I have to check about the right
> bridge being a major 3rd -- I don't remember. Look up some websites
> that talk about standard tunings of the hammer dulcimer and it should
> be pretty obvious -- then translate to the scale of your choice.
> Occasionally, you will hear of hammer dulcimer players tuning a string
> here or there to a different note than normal.
>
> Anyway, I am so glad to hear you have a hammer dulcimer. Some day I
> will spend some time with mine!
>
> Chris -- really enjoy your music and your prolific work. Keep up the
> good work!
>
> Jay
>
>
> Quoting Chris Vaisvil <chrisvaisvil@... <chrisvaisvil%40gmail.com>>:
>
> > I came home yesterday to a nice surprise - my daughter found and wife
> > bought a hammer dulcimer from the antique store for $30!!
> >
> > Awesome - I've ordered a tuning wrench and piano wire to re-string the
> > instrument.
> > I was wondering if someone has previous microtonal experience with a
> > hammer dulcimer and perhaps some tuning suggestions.
> >
> > One of the characteristics is that the left bridge gives a 5th above
> > to the left of the notes on the right. (Every other notes)
> > I'm thinking the right bridge is a major 3rd but I haven't confirmed
> > that with a tuner yet.
> >
> > I posted this on facebook as well have have the following suggestions so
> far:
> >
> > Ethan Schwartz
> > it's built for diatonic scales, right? i like the sound of
> > 1 9/8 7/6 4/3 3/2 27/16 7/4
> > for modal stuff rather than the plain pythagorean. or if you wanted
> > to get crazy
> > 1 9/8 5/4 11/8 3/2 13/8 7/4
> >
> >
> > Pictures are here:
> >
> > http://notonlymusic.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=642&start=0
> >
>
>
>

Hi Chris
Kraig Grady is no longer on the tuning list but I'm sure if you
emailed him personally <kraiggrady@...> he would be happy to
share what he knows from working with hammered dulcimers for 30 years.
Best wishes,
Terumi Narushima
P.S. Several years ago I retuned a santur to a pentatriadic scale
based on John Chalmers' theories and used it for a film score.