What other instruments compliment your H-D sound?

[Dick Glasgow]

What other instruments compliment your H-D sound best?

I know we all love playing our beloved Hammered Dulcimers & of course we love the sound they make.

But we're talking 'duets here, so what 'OTHER' single instruments do you regularly play along with & which do you think really suit & compliment the sound of your good old - H-D?

For my part, I mostly play along with a Harp & that is a lovely combination.

I also regularly play along with Uilleann Pipes & that is a truly wonderful combination, too.

The Flute would often be played along with my H-D too, from time to time, which also sounds quite nice.

I think the Accordeon & the Fiddle would be other options which would suit as well, but I haven't had the pleasure ... yet!

OK now it's your turn!

[kerensa]

;D
Other than Jim Couza, my first real exterience of the dulcimer was listening to harp/dulcimer duo 'Cythara' about 18 years ago!
Maclaine Colston played blinding dulcimer, alongside Jenny Crook, who was an amazing harp player. The combination & their style of playing was mind blowing!
I started out playing in a duo with melodeon player Tim van Eyken - it was great fun, & sounded great. He was a very subtle player & we worked well together.
Nowadays, I'm playing in a duo called 'Leski' alongside a young Cornish fiddler called Rich Trethewey (have a listen to the tracks on our myspace - www.myspace.com/leskikernow)
I personally think that the fiddle & dulcimer work really well together - he's extremely versatile & we really enjoy working together.

[jt3d]

If there is only one other instrument to accompany me, I like it to be the 12 sting guitar. It adds good backing to someone playing melody on HD.

[gypsy]

Our band has fiddle, mando and guitar, which all work well for me. My dream would be to have a cello player with us............love that bottom end. And basses just don't travel easily. someday.......

[Dick Glasgow]

Ha! That reminds me Gypsy of how myself & three Polish musicians used to go, Busking from Cafe to Cafe in West Berlin in the early 80s. We used a VW Beetle, with a Sun Roof & .... yes, you guessed it, the Bass used to have to stick out through the Sun Roof!

Wasn't quite so much fun though, on a wet night!

[ceadach]

Hey there folks,
I too love the sound of the dulcimer with other instruments. Perhaps it is the H-D's flexible sound that make it work well with a wide range of instruments.

Uilleann pipes are really very cool with H-D, and loud enough to make the dulcimer resonate in sympathy with them! I used to own a tape of that classic John Rea and Sean McAloon album, a firm family favorite, which sadly was played to death. (Ptarmigan, might you know where or if the Rea recordings are available anywhere these days??)

I'd really like to hear either Scottish or Northumbrian smallpipes with HD, they both have such great sounds.

Of the other "standard issue" trad instruments, flute I love. Cittern is a particular favorite of mine too, being slightly richer and deeper timbre than bouzouki. I'm in a band with a canny cittern player, whose back up I thoroughly enjoy. He has quite the wit and refers to my dulcimer as the "organic piano"...

The other day I was in a small session with HD, fiddle, uilleann pipes and bodhran. It was amongst the most brillant combinations I've heard in years, and had a texture akin to early music group.

Of course Harp and dulcimer are really lovely together, and are kindred spirits. I still play with my former harp teacher from time to time. She plays the wire strung harp, and the two instruments blend astoundingly well together and form these eerie harmonic "clouds" that are difficult to describe with words.
CM

[Dick Glasgow]

Hello Chad,

Yes, you can still get some of the great music from that classic LP by John Rea and Sean McAloon, on this Temple CD:

Irish Traditional Music

{ N.B. Check your PMs! }

Yes, I really like playing my H-D with Pipes, but speaking of Pipes, H-D & early music groups, here's us last Sunday, in Co Fermanagh:

Crom Joust

P. S. Those Pipes that Jaff is playing are bellows blown Leicestershire Small Pipes.

[Nikita]

I've been playing all over the years with all kinds of instruments, and the only one that didn't seems to "fit" was the harpsichord... we found it too near to the sound of the hackbrett, giving a kind of sound blur... but then, our keyboard player switched to organ, and that was immensely great ! I find the attack of the HD is a very good complement (is that how you say it ?) to any instrument which don't have a "hard" attack : pipes, boxes, fiddles. the combination I found the best was : HD, clarinet and bandoneon. and we have here in swtzerland the traditional band from appenzell : hackbrett, 2 fiddles, cello and contrabass : the hackbrett's sound entwines the longer sounds of the bowed strings, giving it a drive...

[ceadach]

Thanks for the tip Ptarmigan! I'll check my inbox. I sorely miss those recordings.

Hi nikita,

That Swiss combination sounds lovely! Apparently back in the baroque, dulcimers were used like the cembalo to provide the bass continuo for an ensemble.

I haven't had a chase to play my dulcimer with a harpsichord, but once played my wire strung in church with harpsichord. The wire harp sound is very similiar to the dulcimer/hackbrett, and use to play harp with fingernails which give it more initial attack.

It was discovered that tuning was the major problem, as the temperments were different between the two instruments. It having far more strings, I tuned my harp to it! Once that was boxed off we sounded very nice together. I found that when playing H-D with similar sounding instruments tuning has to be spot on or everyone sounds bad.

[Dick Glasgow]

Hey Chad, just for the record, you can hear clips from the great tracks on Nikita's CD, at this site:

Folk Music From Romandie

[drs55]

The group I play with has guitar, guitaron, recorders, and fiddle. They compliment the HD very well. Since I'm also the MD and metal-strung harp player, I don't know what they'd sound like together.

Deborah

[hdgal]

I like to play very fast on the hammered dulcimer--my band plays a lot of bluegrass, newgrass, etc. Playing fast tends to muddy things up, and the only reason I think I can get away with it, is because I play with my son who plays the mandolin. Since the mandolin doesn't have much sustain it cuts through all the ringing notes on the dulcimer. If you like to play fast, I think the mandolin is a good choice to partner with.
Jeanne

[gypsy]

himself plays mando, and i find that if i play an octave lower, then BOTH of us can be heard. Did a recording one time, and we played the same arrangement........couldn't hear 2 instruments LOL! I am really coveting the dampers that Russell is offering at Masterworks......we are doing more and more bluegrass.

[jenny4dulc]

I play HD with a Northumbrian piper which we think works very well. The drones blend with the ring-on of the dulcimer, both instruments have complimentary sweet tones and Northumbrian tunes suit the dulcimer very well, as do the 17th and 18th century English pipe tunes which we both enjoy.
Jenny4dulc

[Dick Glasgow]

Hey Jenny,

Have you ever thought of posting a YouTube video of you guys playing together?
If there isn't already one, there should be.
I remember you sounded terrific at the 1st Cork Dulcimer Festival.

If/when I get my new H-D, my master plan is to tune my Oakwood down to C/F for my weekly session in the Smuggler's Inn, which you know well. So that I can play along with Sam's Northumbrian Pipes & Riley's Ballad's, which are mostly sung in F too!

Cheers
Dick