building the hammered dulcimer - PART (08) - strings and tuning
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ส.ค. 2024
- In this final episode I will string the instrument and tune it. I am using phosphor bronze strings with a thickness of 0.6mm in the bass, 0.55mm and 0.5mm in the mid range and 0.45mm in the treble. I did a couple of test assemblies on a piece of scrapwood before working on the actual instrument. Although traditionally you would pound the tuning pins into the predrilled holes with a hammer, I did a number of tests and found, that the tuning pins are much more stable and consistent when screwed into place. When stringing the Dulcimer I made sure to start in the middle and work may way evenly to both sides to provide an even amount of stress to the instrument. Before tuning the Instrument the Strings are pulled to tension roughly one octave below the final tuning. This gives a good starting point to adress the bridge placement. The bridges are not glued into place, as the string tension will ultimately keep them safe in place. However the bridge positioning is very critical to the tuning of the instrument, as it splits the string into two notes. I am adjusting the bridge position to where the interval is perfect before pulling the string thension all the way up. The tuning is done in over and over again, row by row to ensure a balanced amount of stress to the instrument. It takes about two to three weeks for the instrument to stabilize. During that period I tuned It every couple of days.
In the End you will hear me play a little tune I came up with. Bare with me, I have never played the Hammered Dulcimer before.
For some parts of the build I will be referencing the book "Saiteninstrumente selbst gebaut Band 1" by Martin Kesselring (Zytglogge Verlag Bern, 1987)
#building #hammereddulcimer #mountaindulcimer #instrumentbuilding #DIY #luthier #luthery #guitarbuilder #dulcimer #hackbrett #bauen #maker #selfmade #woodworking #handcrafted #musikinstrumentebauen #stringing #tuning
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Outstanding! I watched all eight videos on your building this beautiful hammer dulcimer. I will need to view them again a few times to pick up some of the nuances since I plan to make a dulcimer from scratch and never built one before. I may as well start on something difficult since that's the only way to learn. When I learned to do stained glass 45 years ago and turned into a business, my first panel was a very difficult one and I intend to do the same building a dulcimer. Now I am retired and looking for something to make with my hands that sounds as beautiful as some of my stained glass looks. Thanks for the inspiration.
Such an awesome videoseries of this wonderful instrument, thank you for taking the time and showing! It sound gorgeous. I've never seen a 5-string per note HD before. Own a Dusty Strings D25 from 1985, but that one has the usual 2-string per note arrangement :)
Good job 👍👏👏👏
Wonderful. Rarely you get to see videos with such minutest details. What a great masterpiece created with utmost precision and dedication. Being an Indian Santoor player and maker I know how much patience it requires.
Would have still loved it more if there were few tips given about the material used, like types of wood and adhesives etc. Learned a lot of valuable things. Thanks😊
Great job 👌👌❤
thank you for your kind words
Watched them all! Sweet. Now my turn to build one.
well done!!! it was so much fun watching you create this unique instrument :-)
👍👍Thanks for a nice and interesting video.
Watched all the videos from beginning to the end. Your hammer dulcimer is definitely a beautiful instrument; a labor of love in what you do. Very impressive artistry to make one of these. I can't tell how many hours you have devoted to this instrument, but I would guess 100+ hours time. Great job!!!!
Now that I've watched all the videos in one sitting, I gotta go pee after all the tea that is poured at the beginning of each. I had to follow suite and brew my own.
thank you so much!!
Eight incredible videos! Congrats, that was awesome! 🙏🏻
Nice series! Beautiful sound at the end too.
thank you, william!
Also, I have seen in some of the videos, the braces are placed horizontally(unlike shown in your video where it is exactly below the bridge and glued with the sound board). Also a small gap is kept between the sound board and braces below the bridge. This is bit confusing for me. I will be very thankful if you could kindly suggest what is better.
The brace placement is a critical part of the instrument design. they have to take the load of the bridges and distribute. the string pressure puts quite some stress on them. If glued and placed properly they actually help amplify the sound by keeping not only the top but also the bottom of the instrument in resonance.
Nice work!
Ps.: if you bend down the overhanging part of the string on the tuning peg, you can roll the rest of the string on it. It will give some additional force to prevent to pull the string out. But you have to give a few mm extra for it.
Looks good. I want to try to make one too, and yes, I have a bit experience in making instruments from scrap wood.
But one important question: Where did you bought the strings?
hey claudia,
i bouht them through a piano technician, who got them from a them german distributor jahn pianoteile (www.pianoteile.com/)
Can anyone help me with tuning details for my Chernihiv Ukrainian Cymbali. I want to learn to play but cannot find details anywhere on Cymbali tunings as the instrument designs and bridges confuse me eyc. Any help would be appreciated. Mine is not the neck strap portable one, but approximately a metre long , has white binding, three removable legs and has string dampers too
Even I have questions about the same, as I too have one with me. Really want to know.
Thanks , if you could keep in touch, and share any link, as I cannot understand why it is soooooo difficult to get the tuning chart that is needed,
Amazing. Did you tune it so that the left bridge creates a minor 6th between the two sides??
thank you!! Yes the left bridge is tuned in a minor 6th, the additional bridge below is tuned as a 5th, therefore it is separate to the main left bridge.
is it possible to get plans for this dulcimer?
i reference the book that i used as a guide when building the instrument. it is in german language, but it includes pretty good plans, can recommend it even if you dont speak the language
you can find the name of the book in the video description
What if I say I would like to buy one?
if your interested drop me a pm on instagram/solitude_woodworking
@solitude_woodworking
What size socket did you use to drill in your tuning pins? Zither pins right? Thank you!
Hey Matt, these are nickel-plated 5mm tuning pins, I used a 4.8mm Drillbit. I drilled all the way thru the pin blocks, as the pins will slowly but surely make their way deeper down into the hole when the instrument is tuned.