hdgal
Dulci-Tambourin (10 - 20 Posts)
Posts: 18
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Post by hdgal on Aug 15, 2007 21:33:15 GMT 1
I guess I do a reverse Glenn Morgan. I hold them between my thumb and middle finger and use my index finger on top for weight and my little finger underneath to support as well. It's like forming a little cradle for the hammers to rest in. Does this make me a Hack-imer player? Or a Hammered-Dulcibrette player?
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Post by Nikita on Aug 16, 2007 10:45:19 GMT 1
Wow ! another way of holdin' dem' klanghammers ! ... at the end, I guess everybody uses the best grip for himself... cymbalum hammers are held between index and middle finger, but at the beginnig of the fingers, not at the tip (which is the hackbrett's)... and then they hold their hand horizontally, not vertically, as HD and Hackbrett... same instruments, same moods... and so many different things...
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gypsy
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 154
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Post by gypsy on Aug 17, 2007 4:48:11 GMT 1
I like Dulcebrette! I hold my hammers very loosely twixt my thumb and index, and kick with my middle finger. Hammers are an extension of my fingers........so very new hammers tend to slide away. I have learned to rough them up a bit when new and shiny.
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ceadach
Dulci-Zither (60 - 70 Posts)
Posts: 63
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Post by ceadach on Aug 20, 2007 20:36:20 GMT 1
Funny this should come up. It's not just hackbrett players that hold the hammers between the first and second finger using the thumb and maybe the wee finger for balance. It seems many other dulcimer traditions in the world have a grip similar to this and the over the thumb style seems to be the exception.
When I started playing before seeing any other players or tutors I started with two fingers and thumb grip because it felt more comfortable and that it gave me far better control. All those ornaments that pipers are so fond of came easier using it and it stuck.
Outside of Canada, the U.S. and some areas of Europe, the over the thumb grip is seen in Far Eastern Asian dulcimers like the Chinese yangchin and others in China's sphere of influnce. Perhaps they adopted this grip due to the light weight of the neat bamboo hammers they use. The over thumb grip gives more travel to the hammer and a bit more volume. Perhaps this is why players started using over the thumb in the first place!
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Post by Nikita on Aug 21, 2007 9:25:39 GMT 1
Actually, when I toured in China a few years ago, I met Yangquin pupils of the Beijing Central Conservatory (boy, they were so awsomely good ! we found ourselves lucky to play before them and not after...) and we had great fun trying each others'instrument . We found out that the hackbrett - with index and middle finger grip - was louder than the yangquin. but I think it was more due to the rigidity of the hackbrett hammers, and their weight - the Yangquin hammers are really feathers in the hand, than to that of the grip itself and I think the lighter the hammer is, the more you have to use the wrist to give good action. I use the inertia given by the fact that the hammers are heavier at the end. With very light hammers like the Yangqui or the Iran Santour (the Indian santoor uses heavier hammers), all the action is on the wrist...
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ceadach
Dulci-Zither (60 - 70 Posts)
Posts: 63
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Post by ceadach on Aug 21, 2007 20:34:42 GMT 1
Precisely Nikita... Those yangquin hammers weigh a fraction of most European dulcimer hammers and our hammers are much less flexible. I've seen Chinese hammers with bits of metal, shell and bone inlaied in the head of the hammer, probably to give a bit more weight. Nikita in China!!! Sounds like a good tune title actually...or the sequel to a Philip Glass opera. The Chinese have an amazing musical culture and Beijing Central Conservatory must be quite a school. A classical pianist trained there gave a recital here in the U.S and has been hailed as one of the best living performers of Liszt's music, I'll try to remember her name. She came here to St. Paul and we were all absolutely astounded!!! She played his "Totentanz" with our orchestra; I think the piano was begging for mercy afterwards! A mentor of mine plays the Iranian santur, and studied in Iran until their government kicked the Westereners out back in the 70's. His hammers are right toothpicks compared to the Indian ones or the dulcimer hammers I use. He saw my collection of hammers and exclaimed, " no wonder your instruments are so loud!!!" The handle grips of the Iranian hammers are really cool too, and meant to grip with all the fingers of the hand, which sense with their technique. Like you said they have use their wrists fully, we can get away with less!
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Post by Nikita on Aug 22, 2007 9:40:47 GMT 1
Actually, to be able just to do the entry exams in Beijing Coservatory, you'd need one or two first prizes in some other music school ... that gives an idea of the school level ! and they learn to play by ear as well as with dots, occidental music as well as chinese... but then the school itself is a huge campus, with everything, full boarding, full tuition, instrument repair and music shops... the student can live there for years without getting out, just studying... but when they've passed the final exams, they are considered as "National Living Treasures" aint'that coool?
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Post by Dick Glasgow on Aug 22, 2007 10:42:02 GMT 1
Sounds like they've earned a bit of recognition by then, Nikita!
Very different from the status of traditional musicians in the UK & Ireland.
Mind you, more & more Universities are now running degree courses on trad music, so who knows, maybe one day. Of course, many of the old trad musicians view those courses with much suspician & are sceptical of their value in producing musicians with the right approach to the music. Their worst fear, I think, is that they produce musicians who value the £ more than the music itself, but I reckon, if a musician is reared in the right atmosphere & they have a great respect for the music going into one of those courses, it'll take more than a 3 or 4 year course to drum that out of them!
That Chinese School sounds like an absolutely amazing place. I'm sure those who are lucky enough to be able to attend, consider themselves very fortunate indeed!
Cheers Dick
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dulcimike
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 155
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Post by dulcimike on Aug 23, 2007 15:28:40 GMT 1
That reminds me of something I hadn't thought about in a while - the Cuban musicians. If you've heard of the Buena Vista Social Club CDs, the musicians featured there are Cuban musicians (none playing the HD, as far as I know). And in Cuba, at least for a good number of years, the musicians were paid by the government to be musicians! Interesting, eh? Not sure I'd want that to happen in the US, since every time the government gets involved, strings are attached. But, interesting, and a different attitude toward art than in most places. Now if we could just get Chattanooga to subsidize artists fully.......they could try it out on HD players first - especially if we were doing research on how hammers affect the sound of different dulcimers. Hmmmm.
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Post by Nikita on Aug 23, 2007 21:25:22 GMT 1
Actually, there are summer schools in Beijing, for traditional instruments, even for Yang quin. but they don't consider it as "traditional" instruments, but as Chinese instruments : the music is mostly composed by modern composers, for the local instruments...
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Post by Dick Glasgow on Sept 6, 2007 11:01:07 GMT 1
Well imagine my delight when I received in the post this week, my very own pair of Hammer shaped Hammers only too find that, far from being just the novelty attraction I expected, they are in fact very nicely balanced thank you very much & what's more, they make my new Rick Thum sound quite magnificent, too!
These Hammers are actually made by Jill Weimer, who is now a member & one of us (Jilly), so I would recommend that you check out her Hammers by watching the slide show on Dan Landrum's websiteCheers Dick
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Post by Dick Glasgow on Sept 11, 2007 14:28:54 GMT 1
YES! it's been another memorable Dulcimer morning for me.
Yeee Haaa my new Paduk Hammers from Laserelegance arrived in the post today!
To my delight they are perfect for my Rick Thum Dulcimer & make it sound absolutely terrific.
I already have their Maple & the Walnut Hammers, which are wonderful Hammers, but these new ones are, for me at least, simply superb .... the Bees Knees.
They have the word Dalriada engraved on them too & this is very appropriate as we are actually living in the Irish region of that Ancient Kingdom.
In fact, for the past three years we have gone over to the Campbeltown Festival, in Argyll & performed at their Dalriada Connections ConcertYes, that's me at: IMG_2967
So I'm really looking forward to getting an opportunity to use my Dalriada Hammers over there, in the future.
Cheers Dick
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Post by Dick Glasgow on Sept 15, 2007 14:18:58 GMT 1
Well shiver me timbers, not one but TWO memorable HAMMER dulcimer mornings in the one week! ;D
Yet another small parcel dropped on the mat this very morning & inside was a delightful pair of Jill Weimer Quality HammersThese ones are chunky little dudes for sure, made of a lovely rustic Canary Wood.
Interestingly, my other Hammers, which are made mostly by Laser Elegance, are 9" and one set, which came with my 2nd hand legend are actually 9 & 1/2" long, but these little chaps are shorter at 8", so it's fascinating going from one to 'tother & seeing how quickly my hands & eyes adapt.
Many Thanks Jilly I'm know going to get lots & lots of pleasure playing with these.
Cheers Dick
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dulcimike
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 155
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Post by dulcimike on Sept 20, 2007 17:10:44 GMT 1
Well imagine my delight when I received in the post this week, my very own pair of Hammer shaped Hammers only too find that, far from being just the novelty attraction I expected, they are in fact very nicely balanced thank you very much & what's more, they make my new Rick Thum sound quite magnificent, too!
Cheers DickAh, yes. I have a pair myself, and they do play rather nicely! Glad they work for your Rick Thum.
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gypsy
Dulci-Mt-D (140 - 160 Posts)
Posts: 154
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Post by gypsy on Sept 28, 2007 4:02:32 GMT 1
YES! it's been another memorable Dulcimer morning for me.
Yeee Haaa my new Paduk Hammers from Laserelegance arrived in the post today!
To my delight they are perfect for my Rick Thum Dulcimer & make it sound absolutely terrific.
I already have their Maple & the Walnut Hammers, which are wonderful Hammers, but these new ones are, for me at least, simply superb .... the Bees Knees.
They have the word Dalriada engraved on them too & this is very appropriate as we are actually living in the Irish region of that Ancient Kingdom.
In fact, for the past three years we have gone over to the Campbeltown Festival, in Argyll & performed at their Dalriada Connections ConcertYes, that's me at: IMG_2967
So I'm really looking forward to getting an opportunity to use my Dalriada Hammers over there, in the future.
Cheers DickRemember that Paduak is notorious for oxidizing........you will want to buff them out with wool a couple of times a year to keep that pretty red.........
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