legitimate use for mirrors.. consider this - Page 9

05-04-2004, 07:04 PM

Tom Keats wrote:

>
> Malkin & Pinton. That's where I acquired the piano wire
> with which I strung the hammered dulcimer I built, a few
> decades ago.

Cool! How's it sound? Do you play?

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-------------
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

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05-04-2004, 08:26 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu>,
Frank Krygowski <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> Cool! How's it sound? Do you play?

It sounds very bright and perky, with lots of sustain.
I built it back in 1974. I had a 'store-bought' one, but
I wasn't happy with its design, and it didn't have enough
courses (range not high enough), so I decided I'd have to
DIY it. I did lots of research, examined many ethnic
versions and consulted with some luthiers before even putting
pencil to paper to come up with a design.

One day I walked into a piano shop and asked the guy if he
had any spare tuning pegs, and if he'd be willing to sell
them. He asked what I wanted them for and when I told him,
he was suddenly reminded that his father had built a
dulcimer way back when. He seemed delighted at that memory,
and he happily gave me a beat-up cardbox full of 'em.

On my store-bought one, the strings' paths have too many
bends in them. On my hand-built one, they only bend
once - where they pass over the bridges. At first glance,
a dulcimer might look like a simple box with strings across
it. But there's sure a lot of trig involved, as well as
some 'engineering' to keep the strings from folding the
whole thing up like a book. I worked out my own chromatic
tuning, but I still need a couple more courses :-)
So many tunes have that high note that's just out of range.
Maybe some day I'll build another.

As a musical instrument, I find them very interesting.
So many cultures all over the globe have their distinctive
versions. Sometimes people ask me about it; to keep the
story short, I just tell them it's basically a piano with
the keyboard kicked off.

I do play, but not while riding. Some folk tunes, some
rockabilly stuff ... just tunes that tickle my fancy.
The Theme from A Summer Place sounds interesting on it.
And some Latin American harp tunes I picked up off the radio.

cheers,
Tom

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05-04-2004, 08:26 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu>,
Frank Krygowski <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> Cool! How's it sound? Do you play?

It sounds very bright and perky, with lots of sustain.
I built it back in 1974. I had a 'store-bought' one, but
I wasn't happy with its design, and it didn't have enough
courses (range not high enough), so I decided I'd have to
DIY it. I did lots of research, examined many ethnic
versions and consulted with some luthiers before even putting
pencil to paper to come up with a design.

One day I walked into a piano shop and asked the guy if he
had any spare tuning pegs, and if he'd be willing to sell
them. He asked what I wanted them for and when I told him,
he was suddenly reminded that his father had built a
dulcimer way back when. He seemed delighted at that memory,
and he happily gave me a beat-up cardbox full of 'em.

On my store-bought one, the strings' paths have too many
bends in them. On my hand-built one, they only bend
once - where they pass over the bridges. At first glance,
a dulcimer might look like a simple box with strings across
it. But there's sure a lot of trig involved, as well as
some 'engineering' to keep the strings from folding the
whole thing up like a book. I worked out my own chromatic
tuning, but I still need a couple more courses :-)
So many tunes have that high note that's just out of range.
Maybe some day I'll build another.

As a musical instrument, I find them very interesting.
So many cultures all over the globe have their distinctive
versions. Sometimes people ask me about it; to keep the
story short, I just tell them it's basically a piano with
the keyboard kicked off.

I do play, but not while riding. Some folk tunes, some
rockabilly stuff ... just tunes that tickle my fancy.
The Theme from A Summer Place sounds interesting on it.
And some Latin American harp tunes I picked up off the radio.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

05-04-2004, 08:26 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu>,
Frank Krygowski <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> Cool! How's it sound? Do you play?

It sounds very bright and perky, with lots of sustain.
I built it back in 1974. I had a 'store-bought' one, but
I wasn't happy with its design, and it didn't have enough
courses (range not high enough), so I decided I'd have to
DIY it. I did lots of research, examined many ethnic
versions and consulted with some luthiers before even putting
pencil to paper to come up with a design.

One day I walked into a piano shop and asked the guy if he
had any spare tuning pegs, and if he'd be willing to sell
them. He asked what I wanted them for and when I told him,
he was suddenly reminded that his father had built a
dulcimer way back when. He seemed delighted at that memory,
and he happily gave me a beat-up cardbox full of 'em.

On my store-bought one, the strings' paths have too many
bends in them. On my hand-built one, they only bend
once - where they pass over the bridges. At first glance,
a dulcimer might look like a simple box with strings across
it. But there's sure a lot of trig involved, as well as
some 'engineering' to keep the strings from folding the
whole thing up like a book. I worked out my own chromatic
tuning, but I still need a couple more courses :-)
So many tunes have that high note that's just out of range.
Maybe some day I'll build another.

As a musical instrument, I find them very interesting.
So many cultures all over the globe have their distinctive
versions. Sometimes people ask me about it; to keep the
story short, I just tell them it's basically a piano with
the keyboard kicked off.

I do play, but not while riding. Some folk tunes, some
rockabilly stuff ... just tunes that tickle my fancy.
The Theme from A Summer Place sounds interesting on it.
And some Latin American harp tunes I picked up off the radio.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

05-04-2004, 08:26 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu>,
Frank Krygowski <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> Cool! How's it sound? Do you play?

It sounds very bright and perky, with lots of sustain.
I built it back in 1974. I had a 'store-bought' one, but
I wasn't happy with its design, and it didn't have enough
courses (range not high enough), so I decided I'd have to
DIY it. I did lots of research, examined many ethnic
versions and consulted with some luthiers before even putting
pencil to paper to come up with a design.

One day I walked into a piano shop and asked the guy if he
had any spare tuning pegs, and if he'd be willing to sell
them. He asked what I wanted them for and when I told him,
he was suddenly reminded that his father had built a
dulcimer way back when. He seemed delighted at that memory,
and he happily gave me a beat-up cardbox full of 'em.

On my store-bought one, the strings' paths have too many
bends in them. On my hand-built one, they only bend
once - where they pass over the bridges. At first glance,
a dulcimer might look like a simple box with strings across
it. But there's sure a lot of trig involved, as well as
some 'engineering' to keep the strings from folding the
whole thing up like a book. I worked out my own chromatic
tuning, but I still need a couple more courses :-)
So many tunes have that high note that's just out of range.
Maybe some day I'll build another.

As a musical instrument, I find them very interesting.
So many cultures all over the globe have their distinctive
versions. Sometimes people ask me about it; to keep the
story short, I just tell them it's basically a piano with
the keyboard kicked off.

I do play, but not while riding. Some folk tunes, some
rockabilly stuff ... just tunes that tickle my fancy.
The Theme from A Summer Place sounds interesting on it.
And some Latin American harp tunes I picked up off the radio.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

05-04-2004, 08:26 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].edu>,
Frank Krygowski <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> Cool! How's it sound? Do you play?

It sounds very bright and perky, with lots of sustain.
I built it back in 1974. I had a 'store-bought' one, but
I wasn't happy with its design, and it didn't have enough
courses (range not high enough), so I decided I'd have to
DIY it. I did lots of research, examined many ethnic
versions and consulted with some luthiers before even putting
pencil to paper to come up with a design.

One day I walked into a piano shop and asked the guy if he
had any spare tuning pegs, and if he'd be willing to sell
them. He asked what I wanted them for and when I told him,
he was suddenly reminded that his father had built a
dulcimer way back when. He seemed delighted at that memory,
and he happily gave me a beat-up cardbox full of 'em.

On my store-bought one, the strings' paths have too many
bends in them. On my hand-built one, they only bend
once - where they pass over the bridges. At first glance,
a dulcimer might look like a simple box with strings across
it. But there's sure a lot of trig involved, as well as
some 'engineering' to keep the strings from folding the
whole thing up like a book. I worked out my own chromatic
tuning, but I still need a couple more courses :-)
So many tunes have that high note that's just out of range.
Maybe some day I'll build another.

As a musical instrument, I find them very interesting.
So many cultures all over the globe have their distinctive
versions. Sometimes people ask me about it; to keep the
story short, I just tell them it's basically a piano with
the keyboard kicked off.

I do play, but not while riding. Some folk tunes, some
rockabilly stuff ... just tunes that tickle my fancy.
The Theme from A Summer Place sounds interesting on it.
And some Latin American harp tunes I picked up off the radio.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca