Nancy

[Dick Glasgow]

WELCOME ;D

Hello Nancy & welcome to the Dulcimer Player's Forum.

We are all delighted that you are now a member and we look forward to your contributions to the discussions here.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your music & your Dulcimers.

Then, why not hop over to our Where are you? poll and click on your own area!

Cheers
'Ptarmigan'

[nancy]

Hello,

Thanks for the friendly welcome. I'm a folk dancer in the Washington, DC area of the U.S., familiar with Balkan, Romanian, Roma and some Middle Eastern and Central Asian dance.

I would like to learn how to play a chromatically tuned hammered instrument, such as a sandouri or cimbalom (aka tsimbl or tsimbaly) as another path into the music I now experience through dance. I have played piano and guitar in the past, but the small size of my hands has limited my ability to get beyond a certain point (literally) in my mastery of either of those. This, plus dance, has led me to look for something I can play that does not require a far stretch of my hands.

Task one is to find a suitable hammered instrument. That is not easy in the U.S., as there are rather few makers and players. The instrument I am looking for must be portable (unlike the classic piano-like concert cimbaloms of Romania and Hungary) yet have a substantive, heavy, Eastern sound (unlike the light, sweet-sounding hammered dulcimers of Ireland and the Appalachian Mountains region of the U.S.). The available instruments I've run across so far are either piano-like and Eastern-sounding, or portable and light-sounding--of course.

Why I've joined the group: I've been surprised at and grateful for the guidance and help I've already received from the people I've contacted in connection with my search. As I learn more about instruments, music, artists and workshops perhaps I can be of help by channeling information back into the community.

I'm very glad to be here and am open to your advice.

Many thanks,
Nancy

[Dick Glasgow]

Hello Nancy,

I'm very glad to be here and am open to your advice.

I'm delighted you decided to join us & I do hope you stay with us & we hear how you get on, as you learn to play your Dulcimer. However, my first piece of advice to you is, if you want to find out about all the great Hammered Dulcimer players in North America, you really must join up with the guys over on the Everything Dulcimer Forum

Sounds a bit like saying ~ "Here's yer coat, what's yer hurry"! but those guys really will keep you right & help you source & choose the best Dulcimer, for you.
I bought an American H.D. last year & I couldn't have chosen the right one for me, without their help.

Good Luck.

Cheers
Dick

[Nikita]

Hi Nancy,
from what you're saying, you might be able to find a "rumanian sheperd or paesant" cymbalum : they're the ones you see people carrying on photographs : much smaller than the concert ones, but with the sound you're looking for, more eastern europe. Sandouri is also an option : fully chromatic, but smaller.
but have in mind that these instruments, to my knowledge, are quite heavier than an american hammered dulcimer. The strings are thicker, so you need a very solid-bodied instrument, which can be a nuisance for transport... (but then, my hackbrett weights 25 kilos in his box...)
good luck, hope you'll enjoy this magnificent instrument !