The hammered dulcimer is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more traditional styles may sit cross-legged on the floor, or in a more modern style may stand or sit at a wooden support with legs. The player holds a small spoon-shaped mallet hammer in each hand to strike the strings. The Graeco-Roman dulcimer derives from the Latin dulcis (sweet) and the Greek melos (song). The dulcimer, in which the strings are beaten with small hammers, originated from the psaltery, in which the strings are plucked.
Guy Hughes Carawan Jr. was an American folk musician and musicologist. He served as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee.
The trapezoidal yangqin is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋琴, but over time the first character changed to 揚, which means "acclaimed". It is also spelled yang quin or yang ch'in. Hammered dulcimers of various types are now very popular not only in China, but also Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India, Iran, and Pakistan. The instruments are also sometimes known by the names "santoor" and "cymbalom". This instrument had an influence on the Thai classical instrument, known as Khim (ขิม).
George Derek Fleetwood Bell, MBE was a Northern Irish harpist, pianist, oboist, musicologist and composer who was best known for his accompaniment work on various instruments with The Chieftains.
A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band is the seventh album by American singer and songwriter Rich Mullins, released in 1993. The album was very well received, and received the third place in the book CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music (2001).
Jean Ruth Ritchie was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way, many of which were Appalachian variants of centuries old British and Irish songs, including dozens of Child Ballads. In adulthood, she shared these songs with wide audiences, as well as writing some of her own songs using traditional foundations. She is ultimately responsible for the revival of the Appalachian dulcimer, the traditional instrument of her community, which she popularized by playing the instrument on her albums and writing tutorial books. She also spent time collecting folk music in the United States and in Britain and Ireland, in order to research the origins of her family songs and help preserve traditional music. She inspired a wide array of musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Shirley Collins, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Judy Collins.
Malcolm Dalglish is an American hammered dulcimer player and builder, composer, and choral director.
Mitzie Collins is an interpreter of traditional British and American vocal and instrumental music.
Gourd Music is a record label featuring acoustic instrumental music with various ensembles of guitar, cello, flute, oboe, harp, fiddle, hammered and mountain dulcimer, banjo and mandolin.
Kim Robertson is an American Celtic harp player. She was born in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and classically trained on piano and orchestral harp. Her work encompasses over 20 album projects, several volumes of harp arrangements, instructional videos, and an international itinerary of concerts and retreats. She has recorded on the Narada label and on Invincible Music for the Crimson Series of Gurmukhi meditation music in collaboration with vocalist Singh Kaur. She has also collaborated with cellist Virginia Kron on pieces from Gratitude and Celtic Christmas II, and with flutists Steve Kujala and Bettine Clemen.
Maggie Sansone is a hammered dulcimer player and recording artist from Miami, Florida.
Joemy Wilson is a hammered dulcimer player from New Haven, Connecticut. Her first instruments were the piano and violin. She also took voice lessons in high school. She started playing Appalachian dulcimer while attending Barnard College, and started playing hammered dulcimer in 1979.
Trapezoid is an American folk music group led by Paul Reisler. Founded in 1975 by Sam Rizzetta and Reisler, they began as a quartet of hammer dulcimer players. Two of the four played the traditional hammer dulcimer, while the other two played baritone and treble hammer dulcimers specially designed by Rizzetta. The name of the band reflects the shape of the hammer dulcimer. Since 1975, the group's membership and instrumentation has changed repeatedly, always with Paul Reisler as a member. Their sound has been described as a "plinking and plunking, buzzing, sweeping, ringing, droning, and wailing acoustic construction" and as "a delightful musical melange" by the New York Times.
Brenda J. Hunter is an American musician and composer best known as a hammered dulcimer player. She also plays Irish fiddle, Celtic harp, and classical piano, with the latter influence evident in her particular style on the dulcimer and harp. She won the National Championship in 1995 at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, receiving as her prize a Masterworks hammered dulcimer built by Russell Cook. She has also played a Rick Thum instrument, and currently uses a Nick Blanton Compact model on stage. She performs and teaches nationally on hammered dulcimer, also performs on solo Celtic harp, plays fiddle and hammered dulcimer with Celtic trio Banshee in the Kitchen, and was previously with Celtic duo Briar Rose.
Kevin Roth is a singer-songwriter, pianist, artist, and Mountain Dulcimer player. He is widely known as one of the leading innovators of the dulcimer around the world and has released 48 albums. He sang the theme song for the PBS television children's hit show Shining Time Station. His latest recording is "The Deviant Dulcimerist," released on the Star Gazer Productions label. A full biography and more information can be found online at www.kevinrothmusic.com.
Margaret MacArthur was an American singer and player of the Appalachian dulcimer.
Sue Harris is an English musician classically trained as an oboeist, but best known for her folk music performances with the hammered dulcimer.
Damping is a technique in music for altering the sound of a musical instrument by reducing oscillations or vibrations. Damping methods are used for a number of instruments.
The santur, is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian or Mesopotamian origins.
