Introduction!

My name is Dick Glasgow

I am a Scotsman living in Ireland, a Hammered Dulcimer enthusiast and on this site, I am your friendly, neighbourhood 'Ptarmigan'.

Thanks for calling by and checking out this Forum.

It was launched on Sunday June 9th 2007 and we now have << 396 >> Members[/b]

On the June 10th I launched the Dulcimer Player's Forum 'MySpace' where we now have <<[/color] 240 >> 'Friends'[/b]

Why not check out all our friends pages at - [/color] MySpace
Their pages contain some information about themselves & their instruments, plus some wonderful examples of their music. You will also get a real feel for the sort of music, instruments and good people this Forum is all about.

So do you play any of these members of the Dulcimer family: Hammered Dulcimer, Cimbalom, Cymbalom, Hackbrett, Tympanon, Salterio, Santouri, Santur, Santoor, Sur Santoor, Yangqin, Khim, Yanggeum, Guzheng, Mountain Dulcimer, Tennessee Music Box, Stick Dulcimer, Courting Dulcimer, Bowed Dulcimer, Dulcitar, Dulcijo, Scheitholt, Citera, Langspil, Hummel, Langeleik, Epinette Des Vosges, Tambourin (Ttun Ttun), Kantele, Kokle, Kankles, Kannel, Gusli, Guqin, Autoharp, Kanun, Fretless Zither, Swarmandal, Fretted Zither, Bowed Zither, Psaltery, Tsimbl, Cymbala, Bowed Psaltery or Bandura.
If so, I really look forward to hearing from you.

So if you are a Dulcimer player already, a musician who is interested in Dulcimers, or perhaps simply a musical enthusiast who loves the sound of the Dulcimer, then I hope you will be interested enough to want to become an active member of this new Forum.

As a member, you will be able to contribute to the information stored here and join in the discussions or perhaps even initiate some of the discussions yourself.

My hope is that this new forum will be a way for Dulcimer enthusiasts, of Ireland & the UK in particular, but also those in rest of Europe in particular and throughout the World in general, to simply keep in touch with each other, make new Dulcimer friends & learn about all the many, varied & wonderful members of the greater Dulcimer family of instruments.

This forum may well turn out to be a good vehicle too for touring Dulcimer players from here, and elsewhere, to promote their UK & Irish tours and reach local Dulcimer players and Club/ Venue organisers too.

However, please note that before you can access or contribute to any of the boards and their discussions here, you will need to register!

Once you have registered, you will receive an E-mail from me within 24 hours, asking you to send me a short E-mail in reply, with a little information about your own interest in Dulcimers. Once I have verified that you are a genuine enthusiast I will 'activate' your account & you will be able to join in the fun here.

Why the security?

I tried to run a similar forum a while back, but eventually was forced to close it down because of the huge numbers of spammers who literally destroyed the whole ethos of the forum on a daily basis & also, I might add, any possible pleasure I might have enjoyed from trying to promote music there. I suspect those pirates also rifled through the open files of members E-mail addresses too!

So this time, I believe I have found a format which I can better protect the members & their information from those C.S.P.s {Cyber-Space Plonkers} - the Spammers!

Unfortunately, this means that although visitors to the site can read the various discussions, nobody can actually access any of the information or post here, without becoming a member first. Then, and only once I have established that new members are in fact genuine, will they be able to become an active member of our .

This might seem like a bit of an inconvenience, but I do believe it's a small price to pay for keeping our forum & it's members info protected from unwanted intruders. It will, I hope, ensure that this forum remains a safe little cyber-space, reserved for genuine Dulcimer enthusiasts only, so should lead to a safe and friendly atmosphere on the Boards.

N.B. Please note that new members registering, have one week to send me their qualifying E-mail!
If no such E-mail arrives at D.P.F. - H.Q. within 7 days, their names will automatically be removed from the "Members List".
Of course, if they are a genuine applicant, then they can re-apply at a later date, but if they are not, then quite honestly, we have no wish to look at spammers nonsense indefinitely & have it clutter up our members list!

Why a UK/Irish/European Forum?

I've actually been a member, and a regular contributor too, to that excellent American Forum -


for some time now, but after carrying out a Poll there recently, I found that around 96% of regular contributors to that Forum were from North America. The remainder were from Australasia plus a couple only from Ireland & the UK.

So, knowing that there were a large number of excellent & enthusiastic Dulcimer players on this side of 'the Pond' too, I thought it might be about time to start up a Forum over here, where we can all learn from each other, without the 'language barrier [ ;D ] by discussing our playing problems, our latest tunes, promoting forthcoming Dulcimer events and generally encouraging each other, and in particular newcomers, to these wonderful instruments.

Forum's Background Photo

Thanks to one of our members, Dulcetta, for the photo of the English made Tim Manning Hammered Dulcimer, which I use as a background to this Forum.



If you would like to learn more about Tim & his instruments, you should check out his website.

Tim Manning Dulcimers

Forum's Title Bar Photo

Another member Jack Bethel kindly let me use one of his photos for the Title Bar of this forum.



Jack remembers:

I think the concert was in 1986. It was a great night, with an audience made up mostly of the families of the dulcimer players.
John Crichton and Willie Burke should have been in the picture as well, but they disappeared to the nearest pub as soon as they had finished their set.
The photo was actually two photo's joined together and a bit of touching up to remove the back of someone's head.

To see more fascinating photos of Dulcimer players and their Dulcimers, from the Glasgow area, check Jack's website.

Jack Bethel

Rules of this Forum

For anyone unfamiliar with the recognised codes of conduct for Forum members, or even those of you who are used to posting on Forum threads but who haven't actually read the Rules for a while, I would urge you to take the time to read through the 'Rules of this Forum'.

They might seem a trifle regimented, but believe me, they are there to ensure that we 'all' enjoy ourselves, while visiting this forum.

If anyone does ever find anything at all on any of these pages, which alarms or concerns them or which they simply feel just does not belong here, please let me know by pm, immediately!

Incidentally, if at any time, you feel like giving me advice on how I run this Forum, I would appreciate it, if you would do so by private E-mail only. I am open to criticism, but let's keep the pages of this Forum positive, thanks.

Now it's your turn!

OK, that's enough chattering from me, now it's your turn.

If you have an interest in Dulcimers, a fascination for any one, or more, of this amazing family of instruments, &/or a passion for playing them, then why not lend us a helping hand here, and do yourself a favour at the same time, by registering now, as a member of this new 'Dulcimer Player's Forum'?

As soon as you become a member, please visit the Welcome New Members board, below, & tell us a little bit about yourself, your music and the Dulcimer, or Dulcimers, in your life.
Then be sure to visit the Where do you live & play your Dulcimer?, POLL, in the General Discussion section and let us know where you are - thanks.

At the moment, the POLL looks like this:


N.B. One of the most useful links here, is the:
View the 10 most recent posts of this forum.
which you will find in the Info Centre at the foot of the Home Page.



P. S. Adds Warning!
A member of this Forum has pointed out that their Spyware went absolutely crazy after they clicked on one of the Adds, which are displayed above & below this Forum!
I have absolutely no control over these Adds, so please ...... be very careful!