Post by Dick Glasgow on Jan 9, 2008 12:40:29 GMT 1
Please read this fascinating letter I just received from the newest member to our Forum, Wilfried Ulrich
I'm sure you will agree that it is a wonderful story & like me, I have no doubt you will be delighted & honoured that Wilfried has decided to join our merry little band here.
Make sure you check out his website too, for wonderful photographs of some of the beautiful instruments he has made!
Wilfried Ulrich ~ Master Luthier
Hello from Germany,
My first Dulcimer I built in 1978.
There was a TV course by John Pearse: How to make a fretboard dulcimer without a soundbox. This bigger fretboard could be fastened on anything which could be resonant. This was the time of folklore revival. I quickly built a triangular soundbox.
As a friend of mine was enthusiastic I built annother one.
I was teacher for handycraft and shopwork and soon 15 pupils were working at their own instruments.
A triangular soundbox is not very beautiful, so an hourglass dulcimer was the next. And more and more !!!
After that I got informations about the german ancestors of the Dulcimer - the Hummel.
I worked and worked and nearly 300 pupils have built their own instruments.
Now I am half time teacher and nearly full time instrument maker.
Two years ago I could reach the title of master luthier in Markneukirchen , the famous music center in Saxonia.
In 30 years I have built many instruments from medieval and renaissance times. You want to see them ? Look at my homepage:
Wilfried Ulrich ~ Master Luthier
Some weeks ago someone from Belgium posted two videos about me into YouTube.
Wilfried Ulrich on his own Epinette
Ulricus goes Japanese ~ Wilfried Ulrich playing his own "japanese hommel/hummel/epinette: a combination of an epinette and a typewriter!"
In Gooik , near Brussels was the "National Hummel Day of Belgium". They have a long tradition in playing this instrument. 50 historical Hummels from Belgium are in a small museum there.
I live on the Northsea Coast near the border to Netherland.
In 1995, the only Hummel of this countryside (East-Friesia) was found under the roof of an old farmhouse.
I now have this instrument and I am proud about that. Of course I had rebuilt that with my pupils!
Hello from Germany,
My first Dulcimer I built in 1978.
There was a TV course by John Pearse: How to make a fretboard dulcimer without a soundbox. This bigger fretboard could be fastened on anything which could be resonant. This was the time of folklore revival. I quickly built a triangular soundbox.
As a friend of mine was enthusiastic I built annother one.
I was teacher for handycraft and shopwork and soon 15 pupils were working at their own instruments.
A triangular soundbox is not very beautiful, so an hourglass dulcimer was the next. And more and more !!!
After that I got informations about the german ancestors of the Dulcimer - the Hummel.
I worked and worked and nearly 300 pupils have built their own instruments.
Now I am half time teacher and nearly full time instrument maker.
Two years ago I could reach the title of master luthier in Markneukirchen , the famous music center in Saxonia.
In 30 years I have built many instruments from medieval and renaissance times. You want to see them ? Look at my homepage:
Wilfried Ulrich ~ Master LuthierSome weeks ago someone from Belgium posted two videos about me into YouTube.
Wilfried Ulrich on his own Epinette Ulricus goes Japanese ~ Wilfried Ulrich playing his own "japanese hommel/hummel/epinette: a combination of an epinette and a typewriter!"In Gooik , near Brussels was the "National Hummel Day of Belgium". They have a long tradition in playing this instrument. 50 historical Hummels from Belgium are in a small museum there.
I live on the Northsea Coast near the border to Netherland.
In 1995, the only Hummel of this countryside (East-Friesia) was found under the roof of an old farmhouse.
I now have this instrument and I am proud about that. Of course I had rebuilt that with my pupils!