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DULCIMER (Fr. tympanon; Ger. Hackbret...

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 652 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DULCIMER (Fr. See also:tympanon; Ger. Hackbrett, Cymbal; Ital. cembalo, timpanon or salterio tedesco) , the prototype of the See also:pianoforte, an See also:instrument consisting of a See also:horizontal See also:sound-See also:chest over which are stretched a varying number of See also:wire strings set in vibration by strokes of little sticks or hammers. The dulcimer differed from the psalterium or See also:psaltery chiefly in the manner of playing, the latter having the strings plucked by means of fingers or plectrum. The shape of the dulcimer is a See also:trapeze or truncated triangle, having the See also:bass strings stretched parallel with the See also:base, which See also:measures from 3 to 4 ft.; the strings de-crease gradually in length, the shortest measuring from about 18 to 24 in. at the truncated See also:apex. The sound-See also:board has one or two See also:rose sound-holes; the strings are attached on one See also:side to hitch pins and at the other to the larger tuning pins firmly fixed in the wrest See also:plank. The strings of See also:fine See also:brass or See also:iron wire are in See also:groups of two to five unisons to each See also:note; the vibrating lengths of the strings are determined by means of two See also:bridges. The dulcimer is placed upon a table in front of the performer, who strikes the strings with a little See also:hammer mounted on a See also:metal See also:rod and covered on one side with hard and on the other with soft See also:leather for forte and piano effects. The See also:compass, now See also:chromatic throughout, varies according to the See also:size of the instrument; the large cymbalom of the Hungarian See also:gipsies has a range of four chromatic octaves, _ to The origin of the dulcimer is remote, and must be sought in the See also:East. In the bas-reliefs from Kuyunjik, now in the See also:British Museum, are to be seen musicians playing on dulcimers of ten strings with See also:long sticks curved at the ends, and damping the strings with their hands. This is the pisantir of the days of See also:Nebuchadrezzar, translated " psaltery " in See also:Dan. iii. 5, &c., and rendered " psalterion " in the See also:Septuagint, a confusion whichhas given rise to many misconceptions). In the Septuagint no less than four different See also:instruments are rendered psalterion (from Gr.

>'iAAw, See also:

pluck, pull), i.e. ugab, nebel, pisantir and toph, two stringed, one See also:wind and one percussion. The use of the word in See also:Greek for a musical instrument is not recorded before the 4th See also:century B.C. The See also:modern santir of the Persians, almost identical with the See also:German hackbrett, has a compass from ®—to= according to See also:Fetis 2 The Persians See also:place its origin in the highest antiquity. Carl See also:Engel 3 gives an See also:illustration said to be taken from a very old See also:painting' The dulcimer was extensively used during the See also:middle ages in See also:England, See also:France, See also:Italy, See also:Germany, See also:Holland and See also:Spain, and although it had a distinctive name in each See also:country, it was everywhere regarded as a See also:kind of psalterium. The importance of the method of setting the strings in vibration by means of hammers, and its bearing on the See also:acoustics of the instrument, were recognized only when the invention of the pianoforte had become a See also:matter of See also:history. It was then perceived that the psalterium in which the strings were plucked, and the dulcimer in which they were struck, when provided with keyboards, gave rise to two distinct families of instruments, differing essentially in See also:tone quality, in technique and in capabilities: the See also:evolution of the psalterium stopped at the See also:harpsichord, that of the dulcimer gave us the pianoforte. The dulcimer is described and illustrated by See also:Mersenne,5 who calls it psalterion; it has thirteen courses of pairs of unisons or octaves; the first strings were of brass wire, the others of See also:steel. The curved stick was allowed to fall gently on to the strings and to rebound many times, which, Mersenne remarks, produces an effect similar to the trembling or tremolo of other instruments. See also:Praetorius 5 figures a hackbrett having a See also:body in the shape of a truncated triangle, with a See also:bridge placed between two rose sound-holes, and played by means of two sticks. Another kind of hackbrett 7 (a psaltery), which was played with the fingers, was known to Praetorius. The pantaleon, a See also:double dulcimer, named after the inventor, Pantaleon Hebenstreit of See also:Eisleben, a violinist, had two sound-boards, 185 strings, one See also:scale of overspun See also:catgut, the other of wire. Hebenstreit travelled to See also:Paris with his See also:monster dulcimer in 1705 and played before See also:Louis XIV., who baptized it See also:Pantaloon.

Quantz8 and Quirin of See also:

Blankenburg e both gave descriptions of the instrument. (K.

End of Article: DULCIMER (Fr. tympanon; Ger. Hackbrett, Cymbal; Ital. cembalo, timpanon or salterio tedesco)

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